Early Literacy Messages In Action!

earlylitearcymessaging
[Graphic by Kelly of Ms. Kelly at the Library!]

Nearly a month ago, Lindsey from Jbrary tweeted this out:

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And I knew immediately that I was *IN* for this project.

Scenario

You’re avoiding using early literacy tips in storytime. You’re thinking that parents have got enough to do without adding another thing to their plate. You’re thinking that parents will feel attacked and be frustrated with you. And you might be thinking, “Who am I — a woman without children — to try and explain anything to caregivers about the children that they know best?”

And by “you” in that story, I’m actually talking about me.

Yep. It took me a long time to get comfortable with early literacy tips and using them. But I believe in them SO MUCH that I regularly include four to five tips in each week’s storytime. And yes, you heard that number right. Let me take the time to break down those concerns up above.

Concern

toddlerhandouts1. Parents have enough to do with adding another thing to their plate.

Yes, that’s true. But many parents are showing up in storytime FOR that extra guidance. So here’s how you can present it without making anyone feel like it’s an assignment: put it in that handout. Every week, I write up some of the early literacy tips from The Early Literacy Kit and tie it into Every Child Ready to Read 2. I often change up the activity to match the theme of the week. On the reverse side is an activity page for the child. (On the inside is a booklist and some fingerplays/songs that we sang that week. You can see the front and inside on this ALSC blog post.)

And now they’re there. The parents that are interested in going further can and other parents don’t have to feel guilty.

2. Parents will feel attacked and be frustrated with you.

Here’s where reading from a card will get you in trouble. I use scripted early literacy tips as a jumping off point. I will write out the whole tip on my storytime plan, but what comes out of my mouth is a completely different story.

For example, in for my Family Storytime about cake, I wrote out: “Children can help you measuring things in all kinds of ways — in deciding whether something will fit in a certain space, in cooking, and in making things. Understanding the concept of measuring begins to develop one of the mathematical skills children will need in school.” What actually came out of my mouth? “The next time you’re baking at home, ask your child if they’d like to help ‘The Little Red Hen’ out. Measuring is a great math skill!”

See the difference? The first one sounds preachy and know-it-all if I were to say it out loud. (I don’t think it sounds that way written out though.) The second way is much more conversational and it ties into the book I had just finished reading, creating a pretty flawless transition.

3. Who am I to explain anything to caregivers about *their* children?

First of all, you’re an educated early literacy specialist, that’s who! Everything that I do at storytime has a benefit or a reason behind it. The easiest way to share early literacy tips is to explain WHY you’re doing the activity in storytime.

When I passed out foam hearts to the kids to dance with during Hugs and Kisses storytime, I also encouraged the kids to give them to the caregivers and the other kids. Why did I do this seemingly silly activity? “Today, we’re practicing sharing since our toddlers will be school-age soon and in need of this skill!”

When my toddlers got too fussy, I kept it real at Cars storytime. I told the parents it was okay to put down a book if their child was becoming too frustrated. And then I did it! “Our group seems ready to get up and move, am I right? Let’s put this book away — and feel free to do this at home, too! Let’s make reading fun.”

When some parents expressed a frustration with reading the same old book every night, I introduced a new way to sing a familiar book (Brown Bear sung to Twinkle Twinkle) in babytime. “This is a great way to re-visit an old favorite in a new way!”

Patience

It takes time for these to flow out naturally and organically. And if it doesn’t for you — write them out in conversation style beforehand. Practice in your mirror. Use your family. If you have pets, dogs make great test subjects for storytime prep! (If my dog-nephew Winston tries to kiss me while I sing, I know it’s a hit.)

I actually started using tips with my Song Cube. I memorized tips to tell parents depending on what song comes up. And even after several sessions, I still have to model how to sing the ABCs to Mary Had a Little Lamb every time!

Feedback

evalutionsheetST
So, how do parents receive the tips and do they provide feedback? Here’s some quotes from our Winter 2015 storytimes. (Spring 2015 isn’t yet typed up; summer reading is coming!!)

I liked how the program included the parents or the caregiver.

I love the research and explanations that Ms. Katie provides.

[Co-worker] did a great job in teaching the parents different methods of interaction with books & our children.

Katie does a terrific job explaining the “why” behind activities.

Conclusion

And that’s why I think early literacy messages are so important. If you’d like to talk more about them, please leave a comment or hit me up on Twitter: @storytimekatie.

And make sure to check out Jbrary‘s round-up of all the posts this Friday!

June 17, 2015 6 Comments Short URLHow To

Toddlers: Food

For more information on how I plan and prepare my toddler storytimes, check out this introduction post. And for a complete list of the repeating extension activities, visit this post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one session.

The Plan

Books

t-food

Chew, Chew, Gulp by Lauren Thompson*
Edible Colors by Jennifer Vogel Bass***
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, & the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood
Lunch by Denise Fleming***

Early Literacy Tip

Songs that focus on body parts and their actions increase children’s awareness of how different parts of the body can start specific movements. By using their muscles to make the motions in a song, children develop both their gross motor skill and body self-awareness.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Songs for Wiggleworms

Featured Track: “Peanut Butter and Jelly”***

Flannelboard: “Five Red Strawberries”***

Flannelboard: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”**

Repeating Extension Activities

  • Dance Your Fingers*
  • Roly Poly**
  • Slowly, Slowly***
  • These Are My Glasses**
  • This Is Big, Big, Big***
  • Wake Up Toes**

How It Went

Tuesday morning
I had such laughter from the group when Bear ate the five red strawberries off the flannelboard. This group did an amazing job listening today, which is not our normal. I gave out egg shakers during “Peanut Butter and Jelly” and the toddlers went to town shaking them. They shook so hard we couldn’t hear the music. But that’s life, I guess!

Thursday morning (9:30)
We got through two books again today, hooray! The kids and parents/caregivers had a great time singing today, so they will love next week’s theme. (Spoiler alert: it is music!) We had low attendance today though because it was negative twenty-eight degrees in Chicagoland. One of my little boys was the best ever at naming the fruits and veggies in “Edible Colors”.

Thursday morning (10:30)
My group was strangely subdued today, but that meant we read three books, of which “Edible Colors” was their favorite. The toddlers thought I was dancing CRAZY during “Peanut Butter and Jelly”, but I got lots of laughs. Their favorite rhyme of the day was “Roly Poly”.

June 16, 2015 2 Comments Short URLToddler Storytime

Discovery!: Process vs. Product Art

discovery

This was my simplest Discovery! program for good reason: it was the end of the session and I had two presentations during the month of November to prepare for. I purposely planned the most intense programming towards the beginning when my energy would be up.

The Plan

Brief Art Storytime

discovery-art

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle
A Day With No Crayons by Elizabeth Rusch
Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin

Flannelboard: “Mouse Paint”

Free Art

I made sure to explain to parents and caregivers what a product art is and what process art is. Today, the group was going to concentrate on the process of creating and not making a product. I had different craft supplies out — paper, paper bag, paper plates, crayons, feathers, buttons, glue, scissors, markers, felt scraps, etc. The important point of today’s program was to have the kids enjoy doing their art. Furthermore, this was about letting them touch the supplies without saying “No, do it this way.” (Obviously, if it was a safety I did ask them to intervene.)

Here’s just a few pictures of the day:

  

How It Went

The kids loved the book selections. A few of my boys were excellent at color identification and color mixing. During “Mouse Paint”, they proclaimed loudly, “Those are the PRIMARY colors and those are the SECONDARY colors.” (Librarian pride!) I had several parents and caregivers compliment me on giving the kids the freedom to explore these materials without providing a sample. Overall, while this was a shorter program (about forty-five minutes instead of an hour), this was also a huge success in my book.

June 15, 2015 0 Comments Short URLPreschool Storytime

Flannel Friday: Zoo Puppets

Another gorgeous, GORGEOUS set of finger puppets from Widia’s Etsy shop FloralBlossom.

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I am adding these for the song “You Can Hear” as I did with the first set.

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Bridget is hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

June 12, 2015 0 Comments Short URLFlannels

Families: Farm

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

families-farm

Charlie Chick by Nick Denchfield and Ant Parker*
Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee*
Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Jane Cabrera
Say Hello Like This! by Mary Murphy

Early Literacy Tip

Children love being able to identify animals and imitate the sounds they make. Identifying animals, matching each sound with an animal picture, and imitating animals sounds build children’s knowledge of the world around them.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Putumayo’s “Sing Along With Putumayo”*

Featured Track: #4 Old MacDonald Had a Farm*

Flannelboard: “B-I-N-G-O”*

Flannelboard: “Open Up the Barn Door”*

Puppets: “When Animals Get Up in the Morning”*
When animals get up in the morning, they always say hello
When animals get up in the morning, they always say hello
And what do they say? [Animal noise]
And that is what they say.
Credit: Jbrary

Fingerplay: “Ten Galloping Horses”
“Ten Galloping Horses”
Ten galloping horses came through the town
Five were white and five were brown
They galloped up and galloped down
Ten galloping horses came through town
Credit: Perry Public Library

Repeating Extension Activities

I had four back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I rarely used them, but here they are:

  • Dance Your Fingers Up*
  • Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
  • Itsy Bitsy Spider
  • Thumbkin*

How It Went

I had the grown-ups bounce the kids or have the kids bounce themselves while we read “Clip Clop” and that was hugely successful. “Charlie Chick” is mesmerizing to everyone, adults and kids. Today featured some excellent “B-I-N-G-Oing and some great “Old MacDonald” dancing!

June 11, 2015 0 Comments Short URLFamily Storytime

Animals Around the World!

The Plan

Books

animalsaroundtheworld

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won
It’s a Tiger! by David LaRochelle
My Heart Is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “One Elephant Went Out to Play”

Flannelboard: “Seals on the Bus”

Action Rhyme: “Little Monkeys Swinging In the Tree”
Little monkeys swinging in the tree
All hold hands and swing with me
Swing up high and swing down low
Swing in the tree, now don’t let go!
Swing, swing like I do
Swing like the monkeys in the zoo
Credit: Step By Step — Rainforest Theme

Song & Puppets: “You Can Hear” (Tune: She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain)
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR! ROAR!
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo, ROAR! ROAR!
You can hear the lions roaring, you can hear the lions roaring
You can hear the lions roaring at the zoo! ROAR! ROAR!
(Elephants trumpeting, zebra braying, monkey eeking)
Credit: Perpetual Preschool

How It Went

Site Information
At this location, I visit four classrooms total, reading to five classrooms total. The first classroom is a combined two-year-olds classroom. Then I visit two three-year-old classrooms and finally a four-year-old & five-year old classroom. I’m at the facility for about two hours, and my voice is definitely feeling it by the end of the visit!

Topic
This particular facility selects themes for me to do ahead of time to tie into their curriculum.

Two-Year-Olds (Combined classes)
This group was definitely most involved in “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” — I think it more than helped that I encouraged all the toddlers to rock slowly with me. There’s a definite benefit to asking toddlers to do a kinetic motion along with their listening. You get a lot better results! The kids loved the finger puppets that I brought for the song “You Can Hear” and I had nearly every animal that they called out!

Three-Year-Olds (First classroom)
My most enthusiastic participants during “Hooray for Hat!”. “Hooray for Hat” was a wonderful treasure that I ordered and a co-worker pulled off the new books shelf to read aloud to all of us in the department one day. It had fast become the book that we read to each other on particularly difficult days. I was so pleased that the kids seemed to love it as much (if not more) than we librarians do.

Three-Year-Olds (Second classroom)
These kids asked once I finished “It’s a Tiger!” if I could read it again. One of their teachers copied down the book’s information and promised them that she’d buy a classroom copy. Now if that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is! They also really enjoyed “From Head to Toe” and following along with the movements in the book. (I still paper-clip the donkey page!)

Four-Year-Olds & Five-Year-Olds (Single classroom)
Another set of kids that really loved “Hooray for Hat!” and “It’s a Tiger!”. This group really appreciated the interactive reads this summer and I will definitely keep that in mind if I’m asked to return next summer. They were also really happy to see the “Seals on the Bus” flannelboard again; they had last seen it at the beginning on June and this was the middle of August at this point. More than enough time to repeat a favorite!

June 10, 2015 0 Comments Short URLOutreach Storytime

Toddlers: Hugs and Kisses

For more information on how I plan and prepare my toddler storytimes, check out this introduction post. And for a complete list of the repeating extension activities, visit this post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one session.

The Plan

Books

t-kisses

All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri***
A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy*
Dinosaur Kisses by David Ezra Stein*

Early Literacy Tip

When you give your children positive reinforcement by clapping or telling them that they did a great job, you are encouraging them to act both independently and cooperatively.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Under the Shady Tree by Laurie Berkner

Featured Track: “Blow a Kiss”***

Flannelboard: “H-E-A-R-T”***

Flannelboard: “Matching Hearts”**

Prop: Foam Hearts (With bonus song “All You Need Is Love” by Caspar Babypants)***

Repeating Extension Activities

  • A Wiggle Wiggle Here*
  • Elevator Song**
  • Slowly, Slowly*
  • These Are My Glasses**
  • This Is Big, Big, Big***
  • Thumbkin**

How It Went

Tuesday morning
I have the most wonderful storytime parents ever — I had one come to storytime WHILE IN LABOR. (She was at two centimeters with her second child coming. But I am still in awe!) Today was just a wonderful storytime dancing with a couple of my kiddos. But for whatever reason, this group always has trouble settling down.

Thursday morning (9:30)
My parents and caregivers loved “my jams” this morning. (Their words, not mine!) Apparently, we have a lot of Beatles fans still, which is awesome. All of the kids in this class practiced really good sharing with their foam hearts. They traded them back and forth and turned them in when we were done without any tears! I made sure to tell parents/caregivers that we’re working on sharing because it’s an essential school readiness skill.

Thursday morning (10:30)
One of my little boys ran straight in my arms for a big hug upon arrival! One of my little girls stood with me at the door greeting everyone because she was worried I would “forget to come in”, which is adorable and precious. The book “Dinosaur Kisses” was great interactive fun for this group!

June 9, 2015 1 Comment Short URLToddler Storytime

Interactive Play Space: Garden Shop Update!

interactiveplayspaces

Two weeks ago I posted about how the Garden Shop was created and what it looked like in its pristine condition. Here’s what changed after a month of hard play (nearly 300 hours of play!):

1. Our flowers suffered the most out of anything. Some of the leaves started to fray from constant use. I didn’t do anything to pre-treat the flowers this year, but I might next year. Maybe a coat of fabric spray will help them hold together.

2. I was, however, DELIGHTED that the corks & duct tape stayed on the whole time!

3. And of course, some of the flower bunches lost individual flowers either from use or from a child who needed to take it home. (Which I’m okay with.) This set with the tiny flowers was the one that lost the most. I could hot glue each one to the stem next year, but the cost of the product (I paid $1.19-$1.79 for each bunch) was probably not worth the time taken to glue each flower.

4. The dollar store pots. I lost half of them to crunching and cracking. Given their ability to be destroyed in a child’s hand, I’ll stock up on some extra Menards pots at the end of springtime.

5. I only “lost” one of the Velcro labels due to crunching. I barely even consider this a loss because I wound up not keeping any of the Velcro labels because they were sticky enough after the Velcro dots to not be able to be stored without getting the other labels sticky.

6. Some of the tied labels started to go very early in the process. A co-worker suggested hot-gluing the knots and the problem was resolved after that. So make sure to glue the knots if you’re tying!

All in all, one soil bag was missing (likely thrown out by a helpful patron who saw an empty plastic bag). I threw out the flowers and decided to start again new the next time. And I did print off new labels and laminated them so they are ready for the next time the center comes out.

So moving right along: storage!

1. Get a bin that works for you and your space. Ours are from The Container Store and we have both the medium and large sizes. (These used to store old circulating kits that I’m updating.) I used the large size for the Garden Shop.

2. Store all the flat pieces in a single envelope so that you’re not struggling to find a label the next time you unpack the center.

3. If a large item doesn’t fit, that’s okay. Just store it on the side of the container so you can find it for next time.

4. Label everything!! You want to know the contents before digging through a box. I’ll be making outside labels for each box once we have more than three of them. (Right now it’s easy to tell which box is which, but once I have twelve of these centers, that won’t be the case.)

5. Clean and disinfect everything before storing. I wiped down all the plastic items and let them dry. The brown felt pieces were sprayed with disinfectant and allowed to dry.

Disassembling the play space and preparing everything for storage took an entire morning of work. (Although, I was putting up the Bakery at the same time.) Speaking of the Bakery, I’ll have a post up in two weeks detailing all of the different items in that play space!

June 8, 2015 0 Comments Short URLInteractive Play

Flannel Friday: If You’re Going to the Pool…

This clip art flannelboard should be perfect for the weather! (At least I hope so. I’m scheduling this and Chicago is expecting another minor snow storm tomorrow — 4 to 6 inches….in MARCH.)

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“If You’re Going” (Tune: If You’re Happy and You Know It)
If you’re going to the pool, wear your suit,
If you’re going to the pool, wear your suit,
If you’re going to the pool, then a suit will keep you cool
If you’re going to the pool, wear your suit.
(Additional verses: hat, flip flops, sunglasses)

I used this way back a long, long time ago in summer storytime. I have the credit listed at Melissa from Mel’s Desk in the write-up, but the link no longer shows this song on Melissa’s plan. So I might have goofed! [Edited: Katie from Storytime Secrets found it!!]

The clip art was from Microsoft, which I cannot believe how badly I miss!

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Anne is hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

June 5, 2015 4 Comments Short URLFlannels

Families: Cake

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

families-cake

Eight Animals Bake a Cake by Susan Middleton Elya
The Red Hen by Rebecca and Ed Emberley*
Who Made This Cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa*

Early Literacy Tip

Children can help you measuring things in all kinds of ways — in deciding whether something will fit in a certain space, in cooking, and in making things. Understanding the concept of measuring begins to develop one of the mathematical skills children will need in school.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: The Wiggles “Yummy Yummy”*

Featured Track: #20 Crunchy Munchy Honey Cakes*

Flannelboard: “Cake Count”

Flannelboard & Puppets: “Down Around the Corner”*

Flannelboard: “Five Birthday Candles”*

Fingerplay: “Pat-a-Cake”*
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake
Baker’s man, bake me a cake as fast as you can
Roll it, pat in,
And mark it with a “B” and put it in the oven for baby and me
Credit: Childhood

Repeating Extension Activities

I had four back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I rarely used them, but here they are:

  • Dance Your Fingers Up
  • Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes*
  • Itsy Bitsy Spider
  • Thumbkin

How It Went

This was the fourth day in a row of dreary rain, so it definitely kept some of my families away which made me sad. I had a mostly preschool crowd this morning. “The Red Hen” was their favorite book, although they liked that I made “Who Made This Cake?” interactive as well. Flannelboards work SO WELL with this crowd; I love having three of them in one plan! I had the children face their caregivers during “Pat-a-Cake” and it was pretty darn adorable. Lastly, the kids did a great job of cleaning up shakers and “Crunchy Munchy Honey Cake” — everyone gave shakers back!

June 4, 2015 1 Comment Short URLFamily Storytime

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