School Visits & Residencies

Presentation grant funding is available for non-profit organizations from the CT Commission on Culture & Tourism.

Author Presentations:

Growing Up in the Congo
Slideshow & interactive discussion, 45-60 min.
This program and the stories that accompany it is a favorite with both teachers and students. With slides of rural Congolese village life, the author challenges students to consider the basics of life from a vastly different point of view. Ms. Stanley gets them thinking with questions such as "Would you sweep a dirt floor clean?" "Would you eat snake-steak for dinner?"

The author/illustrator's slides of the very first books she made at ages six through eight demonstrate to students that they, too, are capable of writing stories and making pictures from their own experiences - and possibly being published some day!

Workshops & Residencies

Story Art: Writing with Pictures

2-4 classroom visits to accompany "Congo" Author Presentation
Sanna Stanley brings students a visual history of her writing and illustrating processes from original sketches through revisions to finished book. Sanna models her creative thinking process while "writing" a story with the classroom using storyboards to construct a plot, edit, revise and flesh out details. Students gain confidence and feel ownership of the story they help to create.

Students learn new tools for composing and sequencing stories using techniques demonstated in initial presentation. Students are guided through the process of creating their own book.

Words-to-Poetry Workshops
2-3 classroom visits
Students see "words" in a new way as Sanna guides them through making connections with play. Students experience the difference between nonsense writing and starting with an idea.

Residencies (k-8)

Residencies are repeat visits to the same classrooms, designed with the school's specific curriculum goals in mind.

H is for Hope
In this residency of repeat visits, Sanna works her magic on student writers as they become author/illustrators. They participate in an international exchange when their books are sent to schools in Africa or India with the non-profit group Books of Hope. Subjects range from alphabet books to non-fiction (weather, games, geography, how-to-books).

Recent residencies have included:
- class story with 1st- & 2nd-graders
- oral history essays with fifth-graders
- poetry
- mystery writing with sixth grade
- novels with middle grades
- hand-binding student books as art objects
- science curriculum into books

Please contact Sanna Stanley for fees and availability.

Praise for Sanna Stanley's work in Connecticut schools:
"Your workshops helped our teachers to support our focus on literacy. The children were excited about learning and creating. As an administrator, I can ask for nothing more." -- Principal in Stratford

"Sanna was able to get my writers motivated to, not just write, but to work on their writing. Students that have had a difficult time expressing themselves and staying on task were transformed into authors as they took Sanna's suggestions and methods to heart." -- Teacher in North Branford

"Most impressive was Ms. Stanley's ability to construct a presentation to the student's level. She spoke to a group of kindergarten students and was able to convey the salient aspects of the job of an author and an illustrator in a very meaningful way . . . She would be an excellent presenter at any level." -- Principal in Madison

"Sanna, during her time with us, developed a rapport with students as well as with staff. Members of our Parent Teacher Organization, which funded the residency, were also very enthusiastic about Sanna's program and appreciated her approach to enriching our Language Arts curriculum." -- Language Arts Consultant, Northford

"As a result of her writing support, we have students who have won various writing contests." -- Principal, Bridgeport

"Sanna has demonstrated, on a daily basis, how arts in education is a vital element in a well-rounded educational experience. Children who are hesitant in their abilities flourish under Ms. Stanley's tutelage. Due to her unique ability to interact with children, she was consistently able to draw remarkable reflections from their own personal experiences." -- Teacher, Bridgeport

"I was totally shocked - there was a great deal of improvement." -- S. Windsor

"I have never received so many positive parent comments before." -- East Haven

"Thanks for an amazing presentation." -- Ossining NY

"Our Curriculum Director was very impressed with her style and poise." -- Baltic CT

Complete letters of recommendation available on request.

Recent school visits include: Jeffrey School, Madison, (K) presentation/talk
Enfield Street School, Enfield (3), HOTS residency connecting Story Art tools and Native American curriculum goals
Rock Hill, Wallingford (3-5), Author Presentation Day with Writers Lunch Bunch
High Horizons Magnet School, Bridgeport (1-8), Bookmaking, novel writing, oral history, mystery (each grade level had a genre and each student made a book)
Stanley T. Williams, North Branford (1), Author presentation and Story Art Workshops
St. Marks School, Stratford (1-4), Author Presentations and Story Art Workshops
Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy, New Haven(3,4) Author Presentation and Writing Workshop
Riverfield School, Fairfield (1-5) Author Presentation
Brunswick School, Greenwich (3,4) Author Presentation and Story Art Workshops