The Alphabet Adventure of Scott Cleland
Since 1995, Scott Cleland's Alphabet Adventure, a week-long program for elementary school kids teaching them the history of letter forms, paper making and bookbinding, has been presented in schools all over the state of Minnesota to great acclaim. For the last fifteen years, he has traveled across Minnesota in a van full of original painted backdrops and recreated artifacts, recounting and reliving the history of writing. Clay, papyrus, and wax tablets give way to parchment, quills and reed pens as Scott takes kids on an adventure that spans fifty centuries, charting the evolution of the written alphabet from ancient Sumer to modern times. From cuneiform to cursive, from papyrus to paper pulp, Scott makes the vivid past alive again. Surveying the story of writing from its birth to the present, Scott will show you how to animate the book and letter arts for young students. With his own unique theatrical exuberance, he inspires kids to explore the power of the pen. He shares inexpensive and easy methods for making paper, books and other items for all ages at home or in the classroom. His greatest achievement? Thousands of kids holding hardcover books they bound themselves! Now, this fascinating story is available on DVD to enable his exciting program about the evolution of writing to be seen by kids everywhere. Can reliving the history of books and letterforms plant seeds of curiosity, scholarship and literacy in the classroom? You bet it can!
