Game of Books

Wow! Someone recently Facebook-ed this to me: http://kck.st/Q6krcH

Transliteracy Programming

So that "multimedia tween program involving conversation, music, video, print, and games" idea actually has a name ... "TRANSLITERACY" programming.  It is reminiscent of the "multi-genre" English education model and Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences.

Here are some resources:

Transliteracy Interest Group (LITA - Library & Information Technology Association).

Introducing Transliteracy: What Does It Mean to Academic Libraries? by Tom Ipri

Andretta, S. Transliteracy: take a walk on the wild side, 2009. In World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly,Milan, Italy,23-27 August 2009.IFLA. (Published) [Conference Paper].

Digital storytelling: creator's guide to interactive entertainment  By Carolyn Handler Miller

http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/transliterate-libraries-creating-conversations-for-portable-participatory-and-personalized-learning/

http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/ala-11-presentation-transforming-information-literacy-for-todays-students-libraries-as-sponsors-of-transliteracy/

http://librarianbyday.net/transliteracy/

http://librariesandtransliteracy.wordpress.com/

transliteracy.com or http://nlabnetworks.typepad.com/transliteracy/

ALA Annual Conference Schedule (Actual)

FRIDAY
8 - 6 Tour of de Grummond Collection
6 - 7: 30 Exhibit Hall

SATURDAY
8 - 10 Making Multi-Age (newborn to five-year-old) Storytimes
the Best They Can Be
10:30 - 11:10 Doing Away with Dewey: Library Innovations for Service Excellence
11:10 - 12:00 How Audiobooks Have Been Successfully Used to Engage Readers
1:30 - 3:30 Sensory Storytime: Preschool Programming that Makes Sense for Kids with Autism
4 - 5:30 Power of Play

SUNDAY
8 - 8:30 Picture Books Go Digital
9 - 11:00 Liaisons with National Organizations Serving Children and Youth Committee Meeting
1 - 2:45 Volunteer at ALSC booth

ALA Annual Conference Schedule (Planned)

FRIDAY
8 - 5 Tour of de Grummond Collection
5 - 7: 30 Exhibit Hall

SATURDAY
8 - 10 Making Multi-Age (newborn to five-year-old) Storytimes
the Best They Can Be
10:30 - 12  Doing Away with Dewey: Library Innovations for Service Excellence
1:30 - 2:30 Sensory Storytime: Preschool Programming that Makes Sense for Kids with Autism
2:30 - 3:30 Why Transliteracy
4 - 5:30 Power of Play
8 - 10 Now Showing @ ALA: Library of the Early Mind

SUNDAY
8 - 9 Picture Books Go Digital
9 - 11 Liaisons with National Organizations Serving Children and Youth Committee Meeting
11 - 12 Early Literacy Model Magic
1 - 3 Volunteer at ALSC booth

Baby Program : Creating Rich Environments

The embedded PDF below is available for download by clicking on "Baby Programs" under the "Youth Services Programs and Resources" heading in the upper right hand corner of this blog: http://librarieslearnlead.blogspot.com/


On the back side, I printed page one from this section on ZerotoThree.org: http://www.zerotothree.org/early-care-education/early-language-literacy/sharing-books-with-babies.html

Gotta Move: Everybody's Jumping (Vocabulary)

Again, I put an activity on the back of the handout.  It is a "finish the drawing" activity that has a picture of a dog, and the prompt says, "What is Andy doing? Draw his surroundings." 

The "Find the Letter" ball is one I picked up at Dollar General.  It has alphabet letters and first sound icons (e.g. the letter D is pictured with a dog) printed all over the surface, in no particular order.



As always, if the embedded image does not load, you can find the pdf under "Youth Services Programs and Resources" --> "Music, Movement, and Early Literacy Programs" at http://librarieslearnlead.blogspot.com/ .

Gotta Move: Silly, Silly, Silly (Print Motivation)

I copied page 201 from the Collaborative Summer Library Program manual on the back side of the program handout.  I'm also switching the order a bit to help with the program's flow; We're getting more and more attendance, and the one-on-one name game is becoming difficult in the large group setting.



As always, if the embedded image does not load, you can find the pdf under "Youth Services Programs and Resources" --> "Music, Movement, and Early Literacy Programs" at http://librarieslearnlead.blogspot.com/ .

Toddlers: Splish, Splash (Phonological Awareness)

If the embedded programming handout does not display below, visit the upper right hand corner of this blog: http://librarieslearnlead.blogspot.com/. Under "Youth Services Programs and Resources," choose "Toddler, ages 2 and 3." Then choose "(2011 4) Splish, Splash (Phonological Awareness).pdf"


Again this time, I put an art/craft activity on the back of the handout (not pictured below).

Preschoolers: Water, Water Everywhere

An Earth Day influenced storytime ... If the embedded programming handout does not display below, visit the upper right hand corner of this blog: http://librarieslearnlead.blogspot.com/. Under "Youth Services Programs and Resources," choose "Preschool, ages 4 and 5."  Then choose (2011 4) Water, Water Everywhere (Narrative).pdf

A colleague suggested putting a coloring sheet on the other side of the programming handout to encourage the caregivers to take it home.  I thought it was a great idea!

Babies: Share Music

As one can see, I'm including more "performance" pieces for this baby program. 

For example, I played "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on a toy keyboard to further emphasize how music helps children hear the smaller sounds that create words BECAUSE these syllables/sounds/phonemes usually occur on different musical notes.  I hope to eventually make a musical staff poster with this tune, so parents can understand the concept visually.

I also did the unfolding portion of a simple cut and tell nursery rhyme while the audience clapped the syllables.  I hope to soon post a video demonstration of this -- my version of Jean Stangl's in Paper Stories.

Click here if embedded document does not display.

Gotta Move: Eggs-travaganza

Again, I'm making a change ... to only market one early literacy tip per program and on the handout.  Note that I am not referencing Easter eggs, but rather focusing on kinds of eggs -- what can hatch from them and what they can look like (naturally) or their properties (e.g. fragile).

Click here if embedded images don't work.

Toddlers: I Spy Eggs (Print Awareness)

I'm again changing the look of my programming handout.  I'm not associating an early literacy tip with each activity.  Instead I'm including only one to three tips so as not to overwhelm the caregiver.

Note that I am not referencing Easter eggs, but rather focusing on kinds of eggs -- what can hatch from them and what they can look like (naturally).

Click here if embedded documents don't load.

Toddlers: Lambs, Sheep, Cubs, and Lions (Vocabulary)

If the embedded programming handout does not display below, visit the upper right hand corner of this blog: http://librarieslearnlead.blogspot.com/. Under "Youth Services Programs and Resources," choose "Toddler, ages 2 and 3." Then choose "(2011 3) Lambs, Sheep, Cubs, and Lions (Vocabulary)."

 

Below are some graphics I put on display and used for the introduction of the program ... and some "new" words!  (They are available in the "Graphics" folder.) 

Preschoolers: L is for Lion and Lamb

If the embedded programming handout does not display below, visit the upper right hand corner of this blog: http://librarieslearnlead.blogspot.com/. Under "Youth Services Programs and Resources," choose "Preschool, ages 4 and 5." Then choose "(2011 3) L is for Lion and Lamb (Letter Knowledge)."

Baby Program: Point to Print

If the embedded image below does not display, visit the upper right hand corner of this blog. Under "Youth Services Programs and Resources," choose "Baby Programs, 6-23 mos." Then choose "(2011 3 3 Point to Print)."

To emphasize our goal, I had a poster of our first rhyme.  (I always have posters of the opening, middle, and closing song.)




I accompanied "Kangaroo Brown" with a double-sided sign showing "Jump" on one side and a Microsoft clipart picture of a brown kangaroo on the other side:





Before "one-on-one," I emphasized that the caregivers occasionally point to the printed words in the books, stating that this will help the child become ready to read.  I mentioned that though they aren't thinking of their child reading yet, these are the same tips (providing simple signs/labels in the environment) that I provide for caregivers who come in asking for help getting their five or six year old to read.

Gotta Move: Circus Theme (Vocabulary)

If the embedded image below does not display, visit the upper right hand corner of this blog. Under "Youth Services Programs and Resources," choose "Music, Movement, (and Early Literacy!) Programs." Then choose "(2011 3) Circus Theme (Letter Cc)."

Gotta Move! Program: Birthdays (Letters Bb & Cc)

I had a LARGE group for this program today -- 20 kids and 13 adults.  With some newbies and kids ranging from infants to six year olds ... It was all I could do to keep the attention (and control!!) of the crowd and make sure everyone was as engaged as possible and having fun ...  Forget about any "talking points" on ECRR to the adults! 

That's one reason I am a stickler about making and giving the program handout below.  Before I begin, I make sure I put it in the hands of every grown up and say, "This is what we are doing and why we are doing it."  True, a few handouts get left behind, but it's an effort at communicating the importance of the early literacy skills.   

(If the embedded image does not display, visit the upper right hand corner of this blog. Under "Youth Services Programs and Resources," choose "Music and Movement (and Early Literacy!) Programs)." Then choose "(2011 2 24) Birthdays (Letters Bb and Cc)."



For the "Four Candles" rhyme, I had four plastic, battery operated candles that turned off and on.  Below are the images I used to tell "Rub a Dub Dub."  (They are available in the "Graphics" folder.)  They were also in the Sound Suitcases.  (I had a Bb and a Cc sound suitcase today.)

Tattoos, Dialogic Reading, and Unity

Here's a train of thought:

I've noticed that more and more of the people (that I help at the library) have tattoos.  Perhaps my awareness has increased with my interest in them, or perhaps more people are getting them.

Whatever the reason for this observation, I have a positive outlook on body art that is akin to my love of picturebook illustration ... and I recently stumbled on a thought which brings value to body art as a conversation piece.

With any form of artistic expression (remember my brief cell phone/ring tone post?) or striking diversity, there is opportunity for sharing ... or listening to ... a story.  There is potential for learning something new or finding a commonality.

At the very least, dialogic reading shows us that an illustration provides a platform for bonding and conversation.

Conversation and communication (as I explored in my recent article) are keys to fostering unity.

Marketing: Visual Presentation

An aspect of leadership that I see peeking through my posts (and within my life) is the topic of marketing or presentation.

I'm not only referring to how one presents oneself professionally to answer questions and resolve conflicts or how one should or could present a library program, I am also very interested in the physical, visual pieces of marketing such as the activity sheets handed out at storytimes or the displays and signage within the library.

If you look in the top right corner of this blog under "Youth Services Resources," you will find pictures of some of my displays (bulletin board and storytime set ups).  You can also visually compare my earlier storytime program handouts to my newer ones.  I am definitely working toward finding a user friendly, visually appealing, and informative take home handout that will enforce the Early Literacy Skills.

Speaking of visual presentation to market programs, I came across the MyFonts website while following a conversation on the YALSA listserv.  Use the website to determine fonts and use Da Font.com to download and choose others.

Visual organization (from websites to posters) is just as important as physical organization, and I think it is safe to say that Libraries do and are starting to recognize this in more detail.  (I'm thinking of the Information Architecture and Knowledge Management program at Kent State University.) 

I would be interested in hearing others' thoughts (and seeing others' visuals!) on this topic.

"Minds, Brains, and Early Learning: How Infants Crack the Speech Code"

by Dr. Patricia Kuhl

Babies are born with neurons, but not connections.
6 months is really a key time in baby brain dvelopment.
At age 3, children have 3 times the amount of synapses than any other age.
At age 14, the neurons have been pruned to strengthen certain connections.
The brain does have critical learning periods where it needs the right information at the right time.

See Evolution of Language
Babies hear distinction in all sounds.  They are citizens of the world.  From 6 months to 1 year, before the baby produces these sounds, the brain is sorting these sounds out.  Mother-ease, the exaggerated "baby talk" we use when talking to babies is brain food.

Children with autism prefer non-speech sounds to the same frequency, human vocalizations/speech.

Learning opportunities in the first five years are critical for children of all social economic status.  Lower SES environments, however, tend to use less complex, less thought-provoking language, and more "do" and "don't" commands.

See NeuroReport journal.

MEG machines show that TV engagement does not equal learning.
This begs the question ... What is social learning turning on in the brain?
What is the social brain?  We know that cognitive aging is slowed by exercise and social interaction.  Language is a social affair

See the Department of Early Learning