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Sure, you can use your five fingers to remind yourself about ECRR2 but it’s going to be a snowy PLA, so if your mittens are hiding those fingers, just remember to TALK! The preconference sessions panel gave us a mini-session on presenting ECRR2 and then moved on to their successes (and roadblocks) to bringing it to their communities. I’m always on the hunt for new tips to share with parents, so here’s a few I’m taking with me:
*Every time you read a wordless book with your child, it’s a different experience. Tired of reading the same books over and over? Wordless books can be a sanity saver!
*Children learn 9 new words each day
*Lullabies get a lot of mileage in a child’s life. The song that is part of a bedtime routine for a toddler helps calm a sick 4 year old or ease an anxious 8 year old.
*Librarians have the opportunity to be media mentors for families. (“Media mentor” is a new phrase for me, but it’s one I can see using frequently)
Today I will be sending out a new issue of the Growing Bookworms email newsletter. (If you would like to subscribe, you can find a sign-up form here.) The Growing Bookworms newsletter contains content from my blog focused on children's and young adult books and raising readers. I currently send out the newsletter once every two weeks.
Newsletter Update: In this issue I have four book reviews (middle grade through middle school), as well as a post documenting some of my daughter's emerging literacy skills, and a tip for growing bookworms related to not bookshaming your child. I have one post with links that I shared on Twitter recently.
Reading Update: I've been having a rough combination of computer troubles and pressing work deadlines (isn't that always the way?) over the past week so, so my reading has been a bit lacking, Still, in the last two weeks I read:
Kevin Henkes:The Year of Billy Miller. Greenwillow Books. Early Middle Grade. Completed February 14, 2014. Review to come.
Jonathan Stroud:Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase. Disney/Hyperion. Middle Grade. Completed February 24, 2014, on MP3. I'm not planning to review this because it has already received so much acclaim (including winning a recent Cybils award), but I did enjoy it. I look forward to the next book.
Sue Grafton:R is for Ricochet. Berkley. Adult Mystery. Completed February 21, 2014, on Kindle. After reading two of these Sue Grafton books in the past few weeks, I am ready for a break, but I imagine that I'll return before too long to finish catching up on this series. The nice thing is that these are very popular, and hence are available on Kindle from my local library.
We're also still reading to Baby Bookworm these days, of course. You can check out the complete list of books we've read to her this year on my blog. She still surprises me in her reactions sometimes. Last night we read Buglette: The Messy Sleeper by Bethanie Murguia fo the first time in a long time. And it was too scary for her (there's a crow that threatens the bugs in the story). We had to immediately turn to some Little Critter and Fancy Nancy to chase the chills away, so that she wouldn't have nightmares. I'm considering giving the Winnie the Pooh stories a try soon, though. Definitely not scary!
What are you and your family reading these days? Thanks for reading the newsletter, and for growing bookworms.
I wouldn't call this one a milestone, but my daughter and I came up with a little literacy-themed game earlier this week. I was working on the computer in my office. My daughter came in, climbed up into my lap, and asked if she could "use the letters" on the computer. So I opened up a notepad application, and she started typing words.
She would suggest a word (generally the name of someone important in her life), I would tell her how to spell it, and she would find and press each letter on the keyboard. She was able to type "Mom" (see previous post) and her own name without any spelling help, though she required a bit of help in finding the letters. Where possible, I would sound out the word, and let her figure out what the corresponding letter. Had it not been bath time, I think that this game could have continued for quite some time.
So we have:
Practice at spelling;
Practice at recognizing which letters go with certain sounds;
Practive at memorization, as she worked to remember where each letter was located on the keyboard (something that is hardly intuitive); and
Fun with Mom.
Item #3 is extra-challenging on my computer, because some of the letters have been worn off due to repeated use (the "n" is completely gone, presumably because I have several in my name).
It's not that I'm eager to have my child spending more time on electronic devices. But it does please me that she enjoys making words, whatever the format. And the seek/find/remember aspects of doing this on the keyboard are a learning bonus. I won't be pushing this activity, but I will be receptive to it when she asks for it. Because really, work can usually wait a few more minutes...
“We all have only one life to live on earth. And through television, we have the choice of encouraging others to demean this life or to cherish it in creative, imaginative ways.” Fred Rogers
When Mr. Rogers looked at the new medium of television in the 1950s, he saw nothing of value for children. But instead of writing it off, he saw the potential of the new medium to reach children and crafted an entirely new approach and way of using television. That is the model that I look to in using technology with children. Do you approach new media with fear or look for the potential, for “creative, imaginative ways” that enrich life?
Many librarians are familiar with and emphasize the five practices of ECRR2 (Every Child Ready to Read 2) in library programs. Can we highlight these practices with intentional use of technology? These would be good ways to model best practices for parents and caregivers.
talking
Visit the Fred Rogers Center’s Early Learning Environment or Ele (pronounced “Ellie”) for short. Here you will find a variety of media focused on improving children’s language and reading skills. You can create your own Ele, search by age, activities (talking and listening, reading, writing, playing, arts, math & science) and media type (books, videos, games, songs, interactive tools, mobile). The Ele brochure notes that “Talking is teaching. Talking with children is a great way to support early literacy skills. For every activity on Ele, we provide suggestions on how to talk about it, and why it matters.” The Ele is a wonderful resource to recommend to parents, teachers, child care providers and others in your community as well as to find some of the best media you can use yourself.
singing
Try the Everyday Grooves app (free) from the Fred Rogers Center which provides catchy songs to accompany everyday activities and help parents create a sense of routine for their children. Examples include getting dressed, bathtime, brushing teeth, clean up, and my favorite, “We Like to Read.”
Sing along with Grow A Reader (free) from the Calgary Public Library which includes videos of 25 different action rhymes and songs. Features some pretty awesome librarians too!
reading
Does your library subscribe to Tumblebooks? Have you ever used one in a storytime? Incorporating one can be a great way to make patrons aware of a library resource that is often underutilized. In storytime I like to show the print book and then the Tumblebook. In a read-aloud Tumblebook, the text appears on the page and words are highlighted as the book is read aloud. The other day I was helping an ESL tutor find materials and she was delighted to discover this feature. She explained that parents of the children she tutors want to help their children learn English and understand the importance of reading aloud, but they do not know how to read English themself. The Tumblebooks can make it possible for these parents to read aloud with their children.
Explore the International Children’s Digital Library (free, there’s also an app!) This one-of-a-kind library is devoted to children’s books from around the world, many of which are not available in any other format, in many different languages. The site’s interface is designed based on research by children — thus you can search by color of cover, and other kid friendly ways..
writing
Touchscreens are great for those little hands that don’t have the fine motor skills to use the mouse or even grasp a crayon yet. Squiggles! is an open-ended app that encourages creativity. When children are done and press go, their scene comes to life, teaching them that the marks they make are meaningful. (free)
Storybird is a website focused on storytelling (free, with registration required). A variety of artwork in different styles is provided, and you write the story. This tool is great for parents and preschoolers to explore together. Suggest starting with just three parts – beginning, middle, and end – to help young children begin to understand the structure of a story. I encourage children to think of their story first, before using the computer. Then, choose artwork. Children can tell the story (talk!), while the adult responds, prompts as necessary and transcribes their words. My son’s preschool teacher took the time to ask children about what they drew and wrote the words on the back of their artwork. These words explaining his first scribbles were his first stories. Storybird is another way to create stories and since they are digital, can be easily shared with family far away.
It’s all about creating a story, with children helping choose items for the story, and starring the Pigeon of course. Children have more control depending on their age: at the most basic level, the egg, the app uses shake and create technology, whereas the chick allows children to make choices. They can also record their own voices and make as many silly stories as they like.
Alien Assignment is an “augmented reality” app from the Fred Rogers Center (free). Children must interact with their environment to accomplish their mission of helping the aliens fix their spaceship. It has a scavenger hunt feel, where children must take a picture of “something you sit on” so the computer can fix the captain’s chair, or take a picture of “something smelly” to fix the garbage disposal. This app requires getting up, moving around, and talking with an adult . . . and it’s really fun!
Families will enjoy the wonder of the day from Wonderopolis (a site created by the National Center for Family Learning “to help you find learning moments in everyday life”). Curiosity, the desire to learn, begins with wonder . . . and this is a great place to start.
Technology changes rapidly and there are so many choices facing parents today that it can be overwhelming. The latest guidelines on media use by the American Academy of Pediatriacs state that “Parents, educators and pediatricians should participate in media education, which means teaching children and adolescents how to make good choices in their media consumption.”(See more at: Managing Media) Librarians can help parents discover some of the best resources out there. Media literacy skills can be built along with early literacy skills. We can encourage parents to be involved with their kids media diet, to ask questions about what they are doing, and most of all, to explore new media together. In the midst of it all, we can continue to talk, sing, read, write, and play with young children.
Robin L. Gibson is a Youth Services Librarian at the Westerville Public Library in Westerville Ohio and member of the Children and Technology Committee.
I shared a while back the fact that my daughter and I were dabbling with chapter books, as an adjunct to a read-aloud diet consisting mainly of picture books. I'm pleased to report that this week we finished our very first early chapter book. I had read a few middle grade titles to her when she was a baby (The Secret Garden, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Penderwicks, the complete Winnie the Pooh), but it's not like my daughter was following the plots or anything at that point. We'd also read (and re-read) quite a few easy readers (mostly series titles featuring characters she is already familiar with). But this is the first longer book that she listened to, cover to cover.
On the recommendation of Jim Trelease in The Read-Aloud Handbook, I ordered a copy of Two Times the Fun by Beverly Cleary. Two Times the Fun is a 96 page book, aimed at a reading audience of 6 to 9 years old (probably more on the earlier end of that). I found it perfect for my 3 1/2 year old listener. Two Times the Fun is about preschool-age twins, Jimmy and Janet and the ordinary events of early childhood. Jimmy digs a big hole, Jimmy and Janet go to the shoe store, that sort of thing.
I think the key to this book was that my daughter could relate to the twins' experiences. This enabled her to listen, even though we would sometimes go a couple of page spreads without seeing a single illustration. In fact, she ended up not paying particularly close attention to the illustrations at all. She moved around her room instead. But she kept listening.
Two Times the Fun consists of four independent chapters (basically short stories). We read the first two chapters in one sitting, and the next two chapters in two separate sittings, over about a four day total time period. She remembered details between readings, like who Mr. Lemon was (the highly affable mailman). And she loved it when I would point out similarities between the characters in the book and herself ("Do you know anyone who likes to pretend like Janet does?" "Me!").
I liked that Two Times the Fun wasn't message-y. It's classic Beverly Cleary, albeit for the youngest of readers, with regular kids doing regular things. There wasn't much vocabulary that I had to define for my daughter. A few times I started to explain what an expression meant, but found that "Mother" was explaining that to the twins on the next page, anyway. All in all, Two Times the Fun was a just-right fit for us. I only wish that there were more books about Jimmy and Janet.
Incidentally, I've started a page, as well as a sidebar list, to keep track of chapter books that we finish. Right now the list numbers 1. But we're off to a great start! I'll keep you posted.
We are all aware that libraries have been changing. Librarians are busy making future plans and choices for their Children’s and Youth Services departments. Build a Makerspace? Invest in e-reader devices for patrons to use in the library or check out? Buy a 3-D printer? Bring a Smart Board into story time? The jobs ads posted for Children’s and/or Youth Services librarians usually contain the term “tech-savvy” in the description.
Now, before you start thinking this is going to be an anti-technology post, let me assure you otherwise. I’m not arguing about the important role of social media and digital choices in today’s library. Of course technology is imperative, pragmatic, ubiquitous, and learning new technologies is fun! I love my e-reader and the convenience it provides me with. I love that at 9pm when I realize I have read every single book in the library book pile to my child 10 times each, I can quickly download a couple of e-books from my library. I’m just saying that as librarians and librarians-to-be, may we never forget about the value of books for children. I speak of the physical objects.
Young children are developing so many skills…….fine motor, gross motor, and cognitive. Babies and toddlers need to grab at books, squeeze them, chew on them, and throw them. Preschoolers need to hold books, feel the cover, turn the pages, point, and learn about upside down and right side up. All children need to be able to pick up books, study the cover, browse through them, discover their interests, and make choices.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that “Pediatricians should continue to urge parents to avoid TV- and video-viewing for children younger than 2 years.” As far as fostering and supporting the many areas of development in our children, parents are faced with many choices. As for developing collections, programs, and reinventing the space in our libraries dedicated to children, librarians are faced with many choices. Let’s not forget, there are so many ways to support healthy brain development, and books play such an important role.
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Courtesy photo from Jill Eisele
Our guest blogger today is Jill A. Eisele. Jill is a Youth Services Assistant at Bellwood Public Library. She has received her BS in Child Development at Northern Illinois University, and is currently an MLIS Candidate at Dominican University.
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.
If you’d like to write a guest post for the ALSC Blog, please contact Mary Voors, ALSC Blog manager, at [email protected].
Flannel Friday is fast approaching it's second anniversary. As the auspicious day approaches, participants in Flannel Friday are sharing what this movement has meant to them. Sharon over at her blog Rain Makes Applesauce is gathering the posts of participants. All are worth reading.
I myself am not a flannelist anymore. Or a prop-meister. Or a storytime provider. I once was and enjoyed that part of my work more than I can say. But even as a manager, I love and appreciate the efforts in the field of storytime and early literacy and the great places people are taking them. So, though I am not an active participant and really just an observer, let me still share with you what these intrepid folks and their blogs have meant to me and my professional life.
The blogs that participants are encouraged to start have often blossomed well beyond sharing flannel stories and patterns. Many of these new bloggers have expanded their content with thoughts about their work, programs, children's services and issues swirling around youth librarianship. When I celebrated the linkiness of my life a few weeks ago, it was also a homage to FF folks who have jumped into the blogosphere with both feet and enriched my thinking and work life so profoundly.
The FF community also led me fully into the world of Twitter. Many of these bloggers were the first tweeps I followed and chatted with. They have become a community of friends that I rely on and learn from.
I am in awe of the founders of (thank you, thank you) as well as the participants in this amazing grassroots effort. You have affected a sea change in youth librarianship and connectivity.
So, this isn't a book for teens or kids or with kid or teen appeal, but it is a book on child literacy and how to make kids readers, so I think it's still a good Nonficion Monday fix.
At work this week, I wrote an informational sheet for parents about why reading aloud to your kids is super-duper important and really good for them. When I was googling around for some sources to back up the things I've been taught in my youth services career, I found a lot of references to this book. I read the first two chapters on Google books and then went to the bookstore on my lunch break to just buy it. (I would have purchased immediately if it were available as an ebook, but alas and alak.)
I KNOW reading aloud is important to kids. You don't need to convince me. In those first two chapters I had the info I needed for my project, so why did I feel compelled to buy the book to tell me something I already know?
Well, as you hopefully already know from books such as Where Is the Green Sheep?, Fox is a really good story teller and writer. I wanted to read more.
Her basic premis is that we need to read aloud to our kids all that we can and that if we do, they will easily learn to read and become life long readers. Sadly, there's a lot of "research shows..." "experts say..." "studies prove..." but NO SOURCE NOTES. No bibliography. Nothing. There's also no real data, just lots of story after story about her own daughter, her editor's son, some neighborhood kids, and other kids she's come across in her work. Fox was an early literacy prof for a number of years and as she says in her introduction, "I speak with the authority of an international literacy consultant and the intensity of a writer, but I'm most passionate when I speak as an ordinary mother" and that shows. I don't doubt the studies and experts and research exist, but I want sources (mostly so I can follow up and read that research! Because I am a literacy nerd and I need data when I talk to parents about the best way to prep their kids for school.)
Because the evidence is all anecdotal, I think she oversells the benefits of reading aloud. Although she qualifies it at the end that "most children don't learn to read at home. They learn soon after they start school..." during most of the book, her case reads that if you read to your kids a lot, and play literacy games with the text, your kid will teach themselves to read at age 3. And that's not the case. Some will (Dan did) but not all. I mean, her chapter called "The Proof" is only one story about a kid named Justin who could identify his favorite books at 6 months and sit for an hour reading 20 books in a row and at 21 months he had a speaking vocabulary of 500 words and could sight read 20 words. Fox has never met Justin, his mom just emailed her via her website.
I trust what she's saying, I don't doubt her overall point... BUT.
I think the chapter on *how* to read aloud to kids is great. New parents are freaked out about everything and tend to overthink it. The chapter does as good of a job as possible explaining vocal inflection in an entirely written medium. They're things I don't think about a lot as I've always been very good at reading aloud (probably because I was read to so much as a child) but it's a great chapter that I'd also recommend for new youth services librarians who do programming. (I had to read a story as part of my job interview. It's a skill you need to have!)
Her take down of phonics as a reading instruction method is WONDERFUL and while it's not totally applicable to the thrust of this book, I'd LOVE to hear to talk about programs like Accelerated Reader.
There are some great new-to-me points as well. She completely convinced me to never answer "well, why don't you try to sound it out" when asked what a word is. I'm not sure that's something I'd do as a librarian, but I'm sure I would have done it as a mother. But, as Fox explains, when you stop to sound it out, you lose your flow in reading. You forget the rhythm and language, plot and characters of the story. Stopping for that one word makes the rest of the book that much harder. Having someone *give* you the word lets you continue at speed.
Despite my issues with the scholarship involved, I did really enjoy the book, even though I already knew and preached the importance of reading aloud to young children (I mean, Dan read aloud to the Kung Fu Princess before my epidural wore off. Her first read-aloud experience was The Economist.) I think the anecdotes-as-proof style reads more easily/less academically to the lay person (especially as this is targeted at new parents who are probably very sleep deprived) BUT, a few pages of source notes at the end would have been most beneficial.
I don't regret buying it though. It was an easy, fast read and has me all jazzed up about why I do what I do.
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0 Comments on Nonfiction Monday: Reading Magic as of 9/17/2012 9:50:00 AM
For years librarians have sought out bilingual books–books that included both English and another language. We continue to do so and, in fact, several recent posts on listservs have asked for potential sources for these bilingual books. They are seen as important tools in the development of literacy and are aides in learning a second language. Reading skills transfer across languages and if you can read in one language you can read in another as you learn another language. What I’m finding interesting now is the increasing availability of polyglot, or trilingual, books. Yes, we’ve had a few books in the past that include rhymes, phrases, or songs in multiple languages, but each entry has usually been in English and one other language. I’m curious whether the increase in polyglot books is a trend that will continue and I’m also interested in how the books are being used in storytimes and with young children.
The Little Pim book series by Julia Pinsleur Levine recently released several board books with different sections of the text in English, Spanish, and French so that the child being read to can learn words in all three languages. Little Pim, the trademark panda, is featured in stories that showcase colors, feelings, animals, and numbers. Each page has some task for him, such as finding the red item or identifying the happy face, and pull tabs or flaps that reveal the answer or the correct item.
Another concept book, Counting With Cats Who Dream by Cara Armstrong was originally going to be published only in English and French. The story features short vignettes about different cats, where they live, and what they dream about as the reader counts cats from one to ten. I was asked to read an advance copy of the book and comment on it. Part of my feedback was that the book would be even more useful for a bilingual/multicultural storytime if it were also available in Spanish. Sometimes publishers do listen and the story is now to be released in the three languages.
So how are librarians using books with multiple languages? Do they work for storytimes? Are parents who want their child to be able to speak more than one –or even two– languages finding them? What other languages will we start to see mixed in with English and Spanish? Are young children learning to count cats in multiple languages? What other titles are out there? Please share your experiences.
Having toys and play at the library is certainly a timely topic: the revised Every Child Ready to Read includes play as one of the five practices to promote early literacy. ALSC sponsored a program at ALA on this topic entitled “You Want Me to Circ WHAT?! or How to Best Utilize Toys as a Literacy Tool in Programs and as a Fun Part of Your Lending Collection.” Toys are a great, child-approved way to integrate play into the library, and this session had quite a few ideas for making that happen:
No space is too small for incorporating toys into the library. Whether you have a room, a playhouse, a closet, a table, or just a bit of space under some shelves, you can add toys successfully. Wall panels work really well, too.
Adding toys is not a “go big or go home” scenario: a small selection of toys is just as beneficial as a huge variety. A child engages with one toy at a time, so a few puzzles are just as satisfying to a child as a roomful of different items.
Need to justify spending some of your budget on toys? Offer programs that highlight play and give plenty of opportunities for kids to play with the library’s toys. Start off with a short book and a song, then spend the rest of the program letting kids and caregivers go to play stations. Ideas for stations include playdoh, blocks, letters, etc., all with brief instructions for grown-ups to encourage interacting with the toys.
Adapt activities for older children, too; they also benefit cognitively from play, and making play a family affair does more to ensure the practice will continue outside of the library.
I was so energized by this session that as soon as I returned from Anaheim I ordered magnetic drawing boards to have out in my children’s area. More play initiatives are in the works.
I love this article brought to my attention by LIS News today. It talks about the importance of print knowledge in a preschooler's journey towards reading. It's not enough to just read to kids - it's important to involve them in the words and print experience. The blog post cites a study published in the May-June issue of the Journal of Child Development as one example: "Ohio State professor Shayne Piasta and her coauthors report that when preschool teachers drew students’ attention to print while reading to them, the children’s skills in reading, spelling and comprehension improved. These positive results were long-lasting, too, still showing up a full two years later."
This is an early literacy skill that librarians have been working with parents to develop for many years now. I am glad to see it receive more study and more ink and publicity. The reading parents do with their kids with print knowledge in mind can be so much more enriching. Articles like this inspire me to keep going!
0 Comments on Yeah, It's Not Just the Reading as of 1/1/1900
In a post earlier today, I offered tips about offering an infant/toddler musical storytime program for groups of up to 150 people. Here is a sample program:
Mother Goose & More Sample Program*
Hello Song:
Hello Everybody (tune from the CD: Sally & Erika, Here Comes Mr. Bear!)
Rhyme w/ puppet:
Old Mother Goose when she wanted to wander…(tune: variation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) puppet: Mother Goose
Song w/ puppets:
When Cows get up in the Morning (Sunseri, Baby-O!: When Ducks Get Up in the Morning) puppets: cow, duck and, today’s surprise, monkey!
Fingerplay:
Itsy Bitsy Spider -1st and 3rd verses use traditional lyrics. 2nd verse: “The itsy bitsy spider met a baby bug. ‘Hi’ said the spider and gave the bug a hug. ‘Ugh!’ said the bug, your hug is much too tight. I’m sorry said the spider, I meant to be polite!” from the picture book Eensy Weensy Spider by Hoberman
Pop Goes the Weasel -introduce w/ weasel & monkey puppets
Shaker Song:
No More Monkeys –introduce with monkey puppet (Asheba, Putumayo Kids Presents: Animal Playground)
Book:
The Wheels on the Bus, Cabrera -encourage gestures while singing
Lapjogs w/ teddy bear:
A Smooth Road to London Town`(from Reid-Naiman, A Smooth Road to London Town)
The Elevator Song (from Sunseri, Baby-O!)
Book:
Ten Little Fingers, Kubler -encourage gestures while singing (tune from Reid-Naiman, More Tickles and Tunes)
Shaker Song:
Upside Down Johnson, Sing-a-Longs and Lullabies for the film Curious George
Goodbye Song:
“Goodbye girls, goodbye boys, goodbye grownups, we’re glad you came today! Bring home books, bring home music, enjoy them together, we’ll see you here next time!” (tune: Goodnight Ladies)
*all songs are sung a cappella, except Shaker Songs, which are recorded music we dance to with shakers
_________________________________________________
Two years ago my library tried something new: a 100% musical storytime called Mother Goose & More for infants and toddlers through 2 and their caregivers. We now present it 50 times a year; on the mornings we schedule the program we offer it twice. We stop admittance when we reach the room capacity of 150, which we routinely do.
If someone had told me when I first started conducting lapsit programs many years ago that it was possible to present a storytime to such a large group, a program that was instructive and inspirational for the adults and joyful for the babies–or simply that such a program wouldn’t be outright chaos–I wouldn’t have believed it. But it does work, and I believe the magic ingredient is music.
We sing everything in Mother Goose & More: every nursery rhyme, lap jog and book. Even with such a big group and so many active toddlers, everyone stays focused on the material during the 30-minute program because the music keeps them engaged. We pay attention to music–that’s why ad jingles work and why some of us still occasionally sing the ABC song in our heads when alphabetizing!
Along the way we’ve learned valuable lessons about how to make such a program successful. Here are my Top 10 Tips for designing delightful and effective early literacy programs for a large audience:
1) Present the material in a variety of ways. Mix it up and keep things moving! I sing some rhymes with puppets, show some on the flannel board (make your flannel board figures as easy to see and as large as possible), and share other rhymes with a teddy bear bouncing in my lap. I present fingerplays and use plenty of gestures and baby signs, too. I encourage older children to stand up and move to a rhyme with their whole bodies, while infants stay jogging in laps. (Later today, I’ll post a sample program.)
2) Learn tunes to the rhymes. I’ve learned tunes from many sources, but my two “go to” musicians are Kathy Reid-Naiman and MaryLee Sunseri. If you’re shy about singing, remember that Fred Rogers (creator of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood) was shy, too, but he worked on overcoming it because he felt so strongly about the importance of his work. You don’t need a beautiful voice to share music effectively–think of the wonderful Dan Zanes with his endearingly raspy voice. What parents need to experience is the fun of singing together and how much their baby loves it. It’s your enthusiasm that matters, not your perfect pitch!
3) Select picture books you can singand whose illustrations carry. Look for picture books based on nursery rhymes and songs. Most rhyming pictures books can be sung to familiar tunes such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Frere Jacques. Here are some picture books I love to sing.
4) Get up and boogie! I sprinkle two pieces of recorded music into the program which we all get up and dance to. When the attendees enter the room we hand out either scarves or shakers to use for dancing. They keep these with them throughout the class, and put them back in a box on their way out. I play all sorts of music–anything
0 Comments on Mother Goose Programs Families Flock To! as of 4/25/2012 10:11:00 PM
Young library patrons enjoy some tea with Bobette.
As youth librarians, we understand the connection between children’s participation in imaginative play and early literacy. Room for this play, however, is difficult to find in smaller library locations where space and storage must compete for shelving, computers, and seating arrangements. At our Hope Mills Branch of the Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center in North Carolina, we don’t have the room in our community facility to house bunches of toys in our collection. Fortunately, our system has devised some creative ways, beyond our traditional story times, to encourage children to play and explore. Both programming and partnerships allow room to foster imaginative play without the need for more physical space.
One of these interactive programs, Preschool Performers, combined dramatic arts and music to develop children’s connection to storytelling. Our young participants acted out scenes from traditional folktales or original short stories. Children also participated in familiar nursery rhymes with accompanying actions, singing and dancing to selections on CD. Attendees manipulated puppets from our professional collection and played an active role in sharing flannel and magnet board stories. Our costumes consisted of minimal supplies; we relied heavily on construction paper masks and paper bag puppets. Our groups practiced once a week for almost a month. An audience of the participants’ families and friends attended a grand performance the evening of their final practice. Children and their families were able to see their names in print as our Community Relations Department created a program for the show.
Our library system adapted this series from programming spearheaded by Madison Public Library in Wisconsin. We presented this program at our Headquarters Library on our stage in our large activity room, but it could easily be set in a conference or story time room at smaller branch locations. The North Carolina Public Library Director’s Association awarded this series the best children’s program from a large library system in our state that year. This programming provided a forum for children to experience the dramatic arts in a relaxed environment.
Our Hope Mills Branch also focuses on play with one of our current programs starring our wildly popular puppet Bobette. Bobette is identical to our story time mascot monkey Bobo; parents reserve her for a few days or a week, allowing their children opportunities to play with Bobette at home. This program allows children to relieve the story time experience as they pretend.
Families involved with this program describe the creative ways their children play through a journal Bobette brings with her to their home. Children delight in celebrating the monkey’s attendance at birthday parties and special events; they also play the role of caregiver for their new friend, combing Bobette’s fur and brushing her teeth. A parent recalled her child’s special recollections with Bobette. “We ate breakfast together. We read a lot of books, and we had a movie night. Bobette is the happiest monkey I ever met, and she always makes me smile.” (Bobette’s favorite food is plastic apples.) This program encourages play at home with little staff involvement.
These programs celebrate exploration and imagination, but our library also brings in toys to our branches during special library programs due to our relationship with the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County’s Resource Lending Library. Youth librarians, early childhood educators, and
0 Comments on A Little Play Goes a Long Way as of 3/28/2012 10:00:00 PM
Like all of ALSC’s webinars, the Every Child Ready to Read webinar is led by a real library expert, Elaine Meyers. Elaine has served on the Every Child Ready to Read Task Force, as well as a consultant for the second edition. Her areas of expertise are youth services planning, evaluation and staff training. The presentation will be a conversation between Elaine and Saroj Ghoting and Dorothy Stolz.
ALSC prides itself in offering high-quality webinars from librarians with many years of service, children’s library academics who have published extensively in their fields, or children’s literature professionals who understand the relevance of programming in libraries. When weighing your options for online professional development, please consider the quality and caring of ALSC instructors.
To sign up for Every Child Ready to Read: New Conversations on Research, Relationships and Partnerships, please visit the ALSC Webinar page. For information on prices and scheduling, please contact Jenny Najduch, ALSC program officer at [email protected] or 800-545-2433 ext. 4026.
0 Comments on Next week: Every Child Ready to Read Webinar! as of 1/1/1900
The ALSC 2011-2012 School-Age Programs and Services Committee recently announced the updating of the Great Early Elementary Reads book list. The committee recommends these titles for children who are just learning to read and beginning to read on their own. The books included were published between 2009 and 2011.
Don’t have a lot of space in your branch for elaborate
language rich activities? Don’t fret… use the floor! Many libraries have
created simple language rich spaces on the floor that provide ways for kids to
learn and practice the alphabet, counting and more!
At the branch where I work, there is a hallway that connects
the Children’s section to the meeting room that is used for Storytime. This
hallway is used each week by hundreds of kids so we transformed that functional
space into a learning spot by adding frog decals with the numbers 1-10 on them.
Now when kids walk the hallway to Storytime, they count the frogs as they hop
from one to the next.
Be careful to pick places that are low traffic so that kids can
be engaged in the activity without holding up or causing a disruption to other
customers.
Other Ideas to use the floor for meaningful activities:
If you have stairs put the alphabet on the steps
for kids to recite as they climb.
Hopscotch on the sidewalk outside the library or
in the lobby.
Themed interactive rugs with the alphabet or
colors and matching rug squares.
Right and left footprints on the floor leading
to the Children’s section.
Be creative and remember you don’t have to take up much
space or spend a lot of money to have great language rich library environments!
1 Comments on Activities on the Floor!, last added: 11/28/2011
I always work to incorporate music and singing in storytime. Kids love singing, and, as we all know, it can play an essential role in early literacy development. Vocabulary development, rhyming, and the ability to pick out the smaller sounds in words are just a few of the benefits of incorporating songs and singing in your storytime.
There are lots of easy ways to incorporate music in storytime. Many songs have been made into full-length picture books.
The Wheels on the Bus by Paul O. Zelinsky is a classic song that children recognize and love. This version has lots of flaps and movable parts that are particularly fun with smaller groups of kids.
David A. Carter’s If You’re Happy and You Know It is a fun pop-up book. Kids love singing along, and the pictures are big and bold enough for a larger group.
Whenever I use Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes in storytime, kids beg to have it repeated. Singing! Dancing! Learning colors! It’s all good!
Kids also love the newest Pete the Cat book by the team of Eric Litwin and James Dean, Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes.
In a recent storytime, I projected a video by Jim Gill featuring Beethoven’s Five Finger Symphony onto a large screen at the front of the room. Kids and grownups alike clapped, danced, and sang along, and then they begged to do it again!
There are so many ways to incorporate music in your storytime. What are your favorite ways?
0 Comments on Using music and songs in storytime as of 1/1/1900
The new ECRR 2 introduces five simple practices kids can engage in that will help them acquire the skills to be ready to read; singing, talking, reading, playing, writing. Most of these skills can be practiced easily at the library with Language Rich Environments. However, when you say write in the library most Librarians will cringe! Keep in mind that you can practice writing without a crayon, pen or pencil or paper. The practice of writing involves the recognition of shapes and letters as well as small motor coordination and then the combination of the two. When trying to incorporate writing in your children’s
space, think of activities that will develop small motor coordination and shape and letter recognition. I am listing a few that I have included in the children’s room at the Lexington Park Library, where I work as well as some I have seen in other spaces.
Magnetic Letters- like those for a refrigerator
Toddler Keyboards on AWE computers- for letter recognition
Bead Mazes- small motor coordination
Touch and See- scribbling and writing shapes and letters
Alphabet Bags- letter recognition
Magna doodles- scribbling and writing shapes and letters
How do you “write” at your library?
0 Comments on Writing in the Library! as of 1/1/1900
One of the best professional development opportunities I have is teaching a class on programs for youth in libraries. I learn so much from my students! Many of the students are already working as teachers or in public libraries so I try to make the assignments very practical. For one assignment, students are required to observe a storytime program at another library. Even the most experienced programmers find this to be enlightening as they always learn something new or are reminded of something they used to do but haven’t included in a program for years. For another assignment, they put together a sample storytime.
This past summer Stephanie Leslie, who volunteers in an elementary school library while attending graduate school, submitted a Halloween program that I thought was just too wonderful not to share. I love the simplicity of the craft and the way it reinforces early literacy skills for preschoolers but it would also be a good craft for early elementary students to enjoy. So if you need ideas for your storytime, here is Stephanie’s plan.
Books to share:The Halloween Kid by Rhode Montijo, H is for Haunted House: A Halloween Alphabet Book by Tanya Lee Stone, and Trick or Treat, OldArmadillo by Larry Dane Brimner.
Fingerplay: “Five Little Pumpkins”
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate (Hold up 5 fingers)
The first one said, “My, it’s getting late.”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.” (Point up with index finger)
The third one said, “But we don’t care.” (Point to self and shake head no)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run, let’s run” (Pump arms and tap feet)
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun.”(Throw hands up the air)
“Oo oo,” went the wind and OUT went the lights. (Wave arms and then clap on OUT)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
Finger Puppets Song: ”The Haunted House” (Sing to the tune “Wheels on the Bus” )
The ghost in the house goes “Boo! Boo! Boo!”
“Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo!”
The ghost in the house goes “Boo! Boo! Boo!”
On Halloween.
(Additional verses)
The steps in the house go “Creak, creak, creak…”
The cats in the house go “Meow, meow, meow…”
The bats in the house go “Squeak, squeak, squeak…”
The witch in the house goes “Cackle, cackle, cackle…”
Looking for ways that your library can serve teen parents and their children? At Santa Clara City Library, we can say that our family literacy librarian wrote the book on it – literally. Our own Ellin Klor, along with Sarah Lapin from the San Mateo (CA) County Library, co-authored Serving Teen Parents: From Literacy to Life Skills (ISBN 1598846930.) Ellin and Sarah wrote the book based on their extensive experience in partnering with community agencies to deliver quality programs to this high-need population.
I recently interviewed Ellin and Sarah about their new book, and asked them to share advice for librarians interested in outreach to this underserved audience.
What can readers expect to learn from your book? Ellin: We decided to approach our book from the concept that teen parents are operating in two very different arenas – as teenagers who are working through the maturation process, and as parents who have to be responsible for the well-being of their children. Sometimes these two roles can be contradictory and even in conflict. In our book we address the needs that teen parents have in both areas, and what libraries can do to support them. Examples are educational and vocational information programs, parenting through children’s books, recreational programming like crafts and cooking, and young children’s early literacy and learning through reading, singing, and play. In addition, we provide background information on the social emotional situation of teen parents, communicating effectively with teens, the development and funding of teen parent services, staff training, and how to establish community partnerships.
Sarah: This book offers best practices and professional anecdotes for effective programs to use with teen parents and their children. There is a diverse array of program ideas, as well as a step-by-step guide on how to implement them with the groups the readers works with in their own community.
How do you adapt a traditional storytime format to fit the needs of teen parents and their children? Ellin: Plan for lots of interactivity and emphasize simple songs and fingerplays. Select books that lend themselves to participation. Draw the parents in by having them use puppets for a song like “Old MacDonald.” Model activities that will be easy for the teens to do again on their own at home. The age of the children may vary from infants through early elementary, so plan activities that are flexible enough to work for a wide age range. Minimize your dialogue between activities and keep everything moving, but stay calm because it’s easy for your group to get wound up. Understand that this may be a new experience for both parents and children, and it may be several storytime sessions before they participate. Be flexible, embrace the chaos if it happens, and don’t dwell too much on perfect storytime behavior. Sometimes the best thing to do is to follow the group’s lead. Integrate early literacy techniques into your program by briefly highlighting their value as you use them. Keep smiling!
Share a success story. Sarah: At a local transitional housing facility, I work with a great group of young moms while the children are enjoying a storytime in a separate room. In one workshop, the teen mothers were asked to create their own storybook for their children where they could share a personal story or choose a topic that aligned with the specific interests of their young boy or girl. A new mom in the group was having difficulty figuring out how to create this individualized
1 Comments on High Need, High Impact: Outreach to Teen Parents and their Children, last added: 9/28/2011
Watching grown-ups and little ones interacting with words is a sight to see. Honestly, it’s incredibly beneficial for the child and an uplifting phenomenon for people in our profession – so, yes, why not words on the floor?
Wait?! Back up.
Let me tell you about our Floor-etry. First, floor-etry is a poem on the floor. That’s it. It’s simple and vastly influential in the process of creating an early literacy environment. We here at the Allen County Public Library got the idea from Saroj Ghoting’s website for early literacy. In a presentation put together by Dana Bjerke, Joanna Redman and Kelly Wussow from the Hennepin County Library, you can flip through different slides and see inspiring ideas that make words accessible to even the littlest of patrons. We thought, “We can do that!”
And we did! We wrote a poem that is actually just a string of similes so the reader can start anywhere in the circle and the poem makes sense. We typed it up in HUGE, easy to read font, printed it out on bright paper and cut out the words. After cutting out the words, we laminated each one and added Velcro to the back for a temporary hold. We placed the poem in the front of our department in the shape of a (yellow) sun!So, yes, why not words on the floor!
Floor-etry really is Every Child Ready to Read friendly. When we are at the reference desk, we see little ones talk to their grown-ups about what is on the floor, and we watch the interaction start between the two. The grown-up and child walk around the circle while reading the words out loud. The circle is a fun walk way for the little ones to play around; they hop in and out of the center and step on the words as the grown-up reads. Hopefully, the floor-etry will inspire grown-ups and little ones alike to write their own poetry! After all, big words in a big circle on the floor are a perfect way to say, “HEY, Look at me! Words are fun! Poetry is fun!”We think the little ones in our library appreciate it!
Our guest blogger today is Erica Anderson-Senter, Children’s Librarian at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Erica can be contacted at [email protected].
If you’d like to write a guest post for the ALSC Blog, please contact Mary Voors, ALSC Blog manager, at [email protected].
0 Comments on Floor-etry as of 9/26/2011 10:17:00 PM
In an earlier post, I anticipated happily the arrival of the new version of Every Child Ready to Read. And sure enough, the new approach to presenting early literacy parent workshops, with its emphasis on the 5 activities parents can do with their children from birth to get them ready to read, is a vast improvement.
We just got the packet of materials in late June, and I spent July training small groups of children’s librarians at our 72 branches and Central Library on the new product, with two more groups to go in August. Though we haven’t yet had the opportunity to give the new workshop to parents, our children’s librarians are enthusiastic about the attractive, interactive, and flexible new presentation.
Here’s what we like:
The slides are attractive, with photos representing many different ethnicities
There are very few words on each slide, and very little jargon
The talking points (no script – hurray!) allow the presenter to vary the length of the presentation, to spend more time on some slides and less on others, and in general to adapt the presentation to the needs of the particular audience
There are 3 distinct segments to the presentation – info on the 2 categories of skills needed to learn to read; the 5 activities that strengthen these skills; and how the library can help parents reinforce the skills
There are plenty of opportunities to talk about books and to interact with parents or ask them to participate
The emphasis on the 5 activities is empowering – most parents do talk, read, write, sing, and play with their kids, and have lots of examples to give
The accompanying handouts for parents are great (though a bit wordy)
The workshop is so simple and straightforward that librarians feel ready and eager to take it out into the community to parents
Here are some problems:
Though I preordered back in April, I didn’t receive the packet of stuff until very late July! If I hadn’t gotten my hands on the packet at ALA in June, I wouldn’t have been able to start training my staff in July. So now I have 2 packets…
The PowerPoint slide presentations are great, and there are several to choose from, including one just for training staff. But – our branch librarians, who are mandated to go out into the community and give these presentations to parents who may not be library users, don’t have laptops/tablets and portable projectors at their disposal! And it’s the rare Head Start or daycare center that has this kind of equipment. So I’m getting laminated 11” x 17” versions of each slide made for each branch, with the talking points on the back, so that librarians will still be able to use these great visual aids if they want. Mind you, the entire workshop can be done with no slides at all – but the slides are helpful.
The ECRR products are only available in English! This is a major problem for us and for most library systems, I’m betting. I’ve heard that a Spanish version is coming, but we’ve had to go ahead and get the handouts and so on translated in-house.
The ECRR website has no information for parents; it’s basically just a place to get background information and to order the (not inexpensive) packet. It would be great to have a pdf of the parent brochure and handouts on the website, at a minimum
Folks aren’t super-crazy about the poster
But overall, we’re thrilled.
0 Comments on ECRR2 – ready to roll! as of 1/1/1900
The questions are familiar to children’s librarians:
• “Where are the ‘K’ books?”
• “My son has a Lexile of 850. The teacher wants him to read a book on his level.”
• “Can you tell me which book has the most points on the Accelerated Reader test?”
These are examples of questions that result from instructional systems used by schools. These instructional programs incorporate leveling methods which attempt to identify books that match a student reading level. Leveling strategies are well documented for teachers and classrooms.
Since 2008, I have been teaching an ALSC online course, Reading Instruction and Children’s Books. Librarians who enrolled in this course have explored methods of calculating readability using mathematical formulas such as this one:
The mathematical formulas for calculating reading level are based on numbers such as word length, sentence length, sentences per paragraph and pages per book. Reading levels are communicated to students by sorting books into bins, preparing book lists, searching databases or publishing numbers on book covers.
Publishers put large numbers on covers of their beginning book series in an attempt to attract emergent readers. Here are some examples from five series with level 1 on their covers:
An examination finds that the difficulty of text varies from one publisher to another and even varies within books of the same series. Lisa Taylor, who took my course in 2009, wrote in Children & Libraries about “The Conundrum of Choosing Book Levels” (Winter 2010, pg. 84). She discussed publisher numbering of easy books and asked, “…why one publisher’s Level 1 may be so different from another.”
This year I have been teaching the ALSC webinar, Leveling Easy Readers. I started by searching Library Literature, the Wilson database that indexes over 155 library periodicals, for articles on leveling. I was surprised to find that nothing has been published about how this topic applies to libraries. This was particularly perplexing to me since I recall discussions with librarians who indicated they have been leveling their books for several years, are currently designing a leveling system or are partnering with local schools to provide access to leveled books and quizzes.
I have begun to collect some examples of leveling from public libraries and have made them available on a wiki: http://leveling.pbworks.com. If your library has a leveling system or you have a story to share about leveling, please send it to me at [email protected] so that I can add it to the leveling wiki.
Kate Todd has worked as a librarian for The New York Public Library and Manhattanville College. She is currently working on independent projects, including online teaching for ALSC. Her webinar, Leveling Easy Readers, will be offered on Tuesday, August 23 at 1:00 pm Central time.
0 Comments on Leveling and Libraries as of 1/1/1900
Every Child Ready to Read second edition shipped last week and here it is, on my messy desk! I haven’t read it cover to cover yet (I had to share with my staff right away), but I did read enough to fall in love.
Now the six skills are great and they transformed the way I spoke to parents and the way I presented storytimes, but when pressed I could only ever come up with five skills…thankfully there was always a poster or a handout nearby that I could refer to when I got stuck. And the six skills haven’t gone anywhere, they are just backstage.
What I love about ECRRII:
The simplified language – and only five practices to remember – five is my limit
Constrained and unconstrained skills – I am still learning new vocabulary!
The Learning Spaces presentation – what a wonderful way to convince funders that these spaces are important.
Focus on community partnerships – libraries can’t do it alone, but we need to be viewed as key players in early literacy education!
Two short sentences stood out for me more than anything else: “Consistently communicate messages about the importance of developing early literacy skills in children from birth to age five. Repeat messages at regular intervals for the greatest impact.” (p.11)
Librarians need to live and breathe early literacy. We need to tell every parent (at the reference desk, in storytime, out in the community and in workshops): play, sing, read, write & talk with your child! It is a recipe for success!
0 Comments on Do you have it yet?? as of 8/5/2011 4:58:00 AM
Newsletter Update: In this issue I have four book reviews (middle grade through middle school), as well as a post documenting some of my daughter's emerging literacy skills, and a tip for growing bookworms related to not bookshaming your child. I have one 
I'm currently reading Mark Frost's 
On the recommendation of Jim Trelease in 
Marge, shall I add this to last week's roundup??