The Crankie Connection

Crankie Performer Ellen Gozion

​Pennsylvania based Crankie Performer Ellen Gozion ( http://www.ellengozion.com/ ) joined  Skyline Middle School for a presentation of the history of Crankies, the process of creation and afterwards guided teachers through a hands on workshop showing how we can use the art form to connect literacy and art in the classroom.

What is a crankie?

A crankie is an old storytelling art form.  It's a long illustrated scroll that is wound onto two spools. The spools are loaded into a box which has a viewing screen.  The scroll is hand-cranked while the story is told. It can be accompanied by a narrative, song or tune. The workshop and project are making curriculum connections to literacy, math, music, drama and art!

Students started to create their own collaborative scrolls this week. A variety of short folk tales were sifted through to pick the groups inspiration for their crankie. Students started by storyboarding the scenes of the story and dividing it into at least 10 scenes. The art classes are working on 11 different  scrolls and will work next week to create artwork on the 25 foot scrolls. Stay tuned for updates on our progress and our efforts to present our Crankies in an after school performance with the drama department on March 20, 2018!

For more information on Crankies check out The Crankie Factory
The guest artist visit and the collaborative project with drama & art students was funded through a Harrisonburg Educational Foundation grant awarded to our librarian, Sandy Parks, drama educator Rebecca Rogers, Choral educator Deborah Mongold and resident Art Lady Ms Kincaid