New Year and Newest Content Added

So, I'm gearing up for (and have been very busy preparing for) the American Library Association Mid-Winter Conference this week ... and for the final discussions on the Odyssey Award's (secret) final nominations list!  So excited!

While I haven't posted, I have been adding content to the "Youth Services Programs and Resources" area.  For example, recently added a Counting program for 2s and 3s and a Clocks and Counting program for 4s and 5s.  There is a Moon and Stars program for 2-5 Music and Movement program.  You'll see the corresponding public bibliographies on Worldcat.

Enjoy!

Gotta Move : Stop and Go / Red and Green Storytime

PDF here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByZSJgcQD22tQjc2UXVVYWFmb3c/edit?usp=sharing

Programs Added

These programs are now available through the Google Docs links on your right:

Programs for Families All Ages: (2013 11) Butterfly Science

Programs for 2-3: (2013 11) Food

Programs for 4-5: (2013 11) Food

Programs for 2-5: (2013 11) Fast and Slow Fall

Gotta Move Programs

Here are some of my most recent Music and Movement library programs for ages 2-5: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByZSJgcQD22tTkp6aGlMVnFyd28/edit?usp=sharing UP AND DOWN https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByZSJgcQD22tMzRsMzhtZkJsVm8/edit?usp=sharing DANCE https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByZSJgcQD22tWjhpYnplSXUydFU/edit?usp=sharing STORMS https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByZSJgcQD22td29QZDdrQmZqSTA/edit?usp=sharing VEGETABLES

Gotta Move! Our Bodies

I'm excited to present this upcoming storytime! The ear stick puppets will be silly, and I'm working on becoming more conscious about putting a calm down/fine motor rhyme before the Sitting Story. Mag Board pieces -- sorry about google docs moving my labels to the wrong pages :( Ears to cut out, laminate, and tape to a stick! ALL IMAGES FROM MICROSOFT CLIPART.

Gotta Move: Trees

Baby Program: Right-Left ... Up&Down ... Run, Run, Run!

Gotta Move: Noises in the Night

For summer, we grouped the babies, toddlers, and preschoolers into this multi-age, early literacy program. 

We asked the babies to sit in the front, and during the program, provided modified movements for caregivers to do for the babies.  For example, for Wee Willie Winkie, we encouraged the parents to move the babies' feet and lift and lower them on "upstairs" and "downstairs."

I introduced the program by saying, "Let's have fun, be active, and get ready to read!"

I used an iPad to project a sun, a sunset, and a moon scene on a screen (via a VGA adapter and VGA cable) as we repeated Wee Willie Winkie and changed the time on a toy clock from 8 to 9 to 10 o'clock. 

We used puppets/props along with physical/animal motions during Little Owl's Night.

I ended up using the cricket vs. grasshopper activity as my "waiting activity" -- waiting for everyone to come in and get settled before actually starting the program.

ASL and Nursery Rhymes

Are you familiar with Kathy MacMillan's incorporation of sign language into library storytimes? http://kathymacmillan.com/

What about pairing this rhyme with "Itsy Bitsy Spider" ... even in baby programs?

http://youtu.be/3I7ZvXPxvHk

What about using the following signs as you present "Jack Be Nimble" to babies and toddlers?  Even if they aren't making the signs themselves, the motion will keep their focus on you as the presenter:

http://youtu.be/cS_XURvuMQA

(Having trouble emedding the videos ... Please follow the links.)

Baby Programs for Lapsitters (Talk) and Walkers (Sing)

This is the first time I've used Microsoft Publisher for my baby program handouts. I did not include our standard opening, middle, and closing song. Since I know I'll be doing the baby programs this week and for the next two weeks, too, I'm planning some additional overlap.

Next week we'll do "I'm a Little Teapot" without the book. Also, the cloth pieces I'll use for "Mary Had a Little Lamb" this week have reflective moon/star/planet stickers; I'll use the sticker side of them for a "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" prop next week. The kids will get to play with them two weeks in a row. (Like other libraries, we do a 15-20 minute program followed by a half hour of free play (parent socialization!) for all.)

I've also planned ahead to have the "Walkers" try to bring a stuffed animal with them next week so we can do "Tiptoe Teddy Bear" or other such music and movement songs. Of course, I'll have extras on hand for those who need to borrow one.

Also, LOVE this new album of lullabies; it even has a male singing some! It's pricey and hard to get via Amazon, but individual songs are available to download from iTunes:

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/ .

Stories to Share: Alligator's Whistle

I've started a new side bar ("Stories to Share") where I'll post the text (and later, the audio ...) of stories I tell or retell.

The sheet music for the "Alligator's Whistle" can be found in The Storytelling Handbook by Anne Pellowski.  I play a recorder during the musical sections.  However, one could also sing, as lyrics are provided in Pellowski's book:

The Microsoft clipart images are used as a visual prompt to remind me what gestures or visual props to use.  Sometime, I'd like to print the text on large poster board, probably in four sections.  Then, the audience could read the story at the same time ...

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/ .

Charles R. Smith Jr. (Virginia Hamilton Conference)

To paraphrase, Charles R. Smith Jr., in true multicultural literature, every individual grows.  For him, it appears that photography and writing, particularly poetry ("finding the right words, not necessarily fancy or long or rhyming"), is the mode for individual and societal sharing and ultimately, growth.

During his presentation at the 2011 Virginia Hamilton Conference on April 8, he performed his poems and shared his life; As a child, "I turned to books ... to help me fly" (from track 10 on About Me) and became inspired by various artistic and noteworthy African Americans (see track 11 from Inspirations), including Ms. Nikki Giovanni, who was also a speaker at the conference.

He is a phenomenal performer and witty wordsmith (you'll get his flavor as you listen to track fifteen "I Am a Poet - a Capella"), but I wish I could have recorded and put his presentation on Youtube.  When I got Portrait of a Poet signed (only MP3 downloads are available on Amazon), I did ask if he had already put performances on Youtube.  He answered that he hadn't but that they may have been posted by others.  While I haven't found such poem performance videos, here is a link to Simon and Schuster's Youtube video where he discusses his 2010 Coretta Scott King Award (illustration) book My People.  You can also view a still of the performance in my photo collection below.

One of his last thoughts was, "We are all made up of a variety of things that make us human beings."
 
Thank you for your work, Mr. Smith.

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.

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: Letter B (bells, bears, and ...)

Here's my newest outline for a music and movement program that addresses the six early literacy skills:



(If the image above does not load, go to "Youth Services Programs and Resources" ---> "Music and Movement Programs" --> "(2010 12 16) Letter B.")


Before "The North Wind Doth Blow," I will pass out the following pieces to the children:



(If the image above does not load, go to "Youth Services Programs and Resources" --> "Graphics" --> "North Wind Doth Blow (pieces).")

As I point to the words on the poster (that I got from enchantedlearning.com), I'll ask the child with the next word/image to come up and place it on the sticky board.