Flannel Friday Round-Up 2/15

This week’s round-up will be using a linking tool again! Though it is a thumbnail version on the site, you still need to click through to see it since I’m a WordPress.com hosted blog.

Borrowing instructions that Andrea shared: To share your Flannel Friday post, please click “Add Your Link” by the cute blue frog. Please enter the URL for your post rather than your website and label your post as “Post Name (Blog Name)” i.e. “Rockets! (Storytime Katie)”



If there are any tech problems, I will be around on Twitter (@katietweetsya) and you are also welcome to leave a link if the linking tool doesn’t work! Looking forward to everyone’s amazing submissions!

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Special Announcements!!


Anne is still accepting submissions for the Flannel Friday map! If you have participated in (either through blogging OR through reading) Flannel Friday, please add your name to the map. No need to give specific city if you don’t want to!

Sharon has announced that March 8th’s round-up will be a special one where everyone can write about what Flannel Friday means to them! You can find all the details on her blog.

February 13, 2013 9 Comments Short URLAnnouncements

Number Six!

The Plan

Books

number-six

Digby Takes Charge by Caroline Jayne Church
The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy
I Love Bugs by Emma Dodd
Scoot by Cathryn Falwell

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Six Little Bumblebees”

Song: “Six Little Ducks”
Six little ducks that I once knew
Big ones, little ones, fair ones too
But the one little duck with a feather on his back
He led the others with a quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack! Quack, quack, quack!
He led the others with a quack, quack, quack
Down to the water they did go
Wibble wobble, wibble wobble to and fro
Home from the water they did come
Wibble wobble, wibble wobble, ho-hum-hum!
Credit: Childhood

Craft

Again, we worked on our coloring books!

How It Went

Six was another great number for books…though I did struggle to find extension activities for it. For whatever reason, the even numbers have been far harder than the odd numbers. I did stretch it a bit with “I Love Bugs,” but since most bugs have six legs, that counts in my book! Their favorite book was probably “Digby Takes Charge” at this storytime.

February 13, 2013 0 Comments Short URLOutreach Storytime

Hibernation!

The Plan

Books

hibernation

Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead
Hibernation by Margaret Hall
Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows
Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Ouch”

Fingerplay: “Here is a Cave”
Here is a cave. Inside is a bear. (bend fingers on one hand; put thumb inside)
Now he comes out to get some fresh air. (pop out thumb)
He stays out all summer in sunshine and heat.
He hunts in the forest for berries to eat. (move thumb in a circle)
When snow starts to fall, he hurries inside
His warm little cave and there he will hide. (put thumb inside fingers)
Snow covers the cave like a fluffy white rug.
Inside the bear sleeps all cozy and snug. (place one hand over the other)
Credit: King County Library System

Song: “Hibernation” (Tune: “Alouette”)
Hibernation, time for hibernation.
Hibernation, time to go to sleep.
In the winter, where’s the bear?
Sleeping in its log or lair.
Where’s the bear? Log or lair. OH!
In the winter, where’s the frog?
Sleeping by a pond or log.
Where’s the frog? Pond or log. OH!
In the winter, where’s the snake?
In the mud beneath the lake.
Where’s the snake? Beneath the lake. OH!
In the winter, where’s the bat?
In a cave is where it’s at.
Where’s the bat? Cave it’s at! OH!
Credit: Songs for Children

Song & Puppet: “Sleepy Bear” (Tune: Thumbkin)
Where is Bear? Where is Bear?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you this winter?
Very tired, thank you.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep.
Credit: Preschool Education & Music

Craft

st-hibernation1

At craft, we made a paper bag with a hibernating bear inside! I got this craft from Play Create Explore and you definitely need to check out the amazing photo-by-photo instructions. My teen volunteers had no trouble putting this one together!

How It Went

This was a quieter storytime, which was kind of ironic given the subject matter. The kids liked “Time to Sleep” and “Bear Has a Story to Tell,” but responded mostly to our non-fiction title, “Hibernation!” Seeing the real images of the animals really piqued their interest! And as always, “Sleepy Bear” brought lots of giggles when we woke Bear up over and over to sing the song again.

February 11, 2013 4 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

Parenting Section, the 100s, and Picture Book City

picturebookcitypng

In this installment, I’m going to be talking about the difficulties in moving some non-fiction into Picture Book City.

For the most part, integrating non-fiction into the subject categories was a really easy thing to do. Animals? Straight into Nature. Community Helpers? Growing Up / Jobs. Fairy tales, nursery rhymes, songs, everything had a place. Except for a lot of the 100s.

Where do we put those books on loss? Divorce? Abuse? Should we create a Parenting Section and move all those titles there? But what about the picture books like “I Remember Miss Perry” (teacher loss) and “Remembering Crystal” (friend dies) that were already in picture books? Should we pull all the tough topic books out?

After a few days of asking Twitter for suggestions about Parenting Sections, I ultimately decided that we didn’t have the shelf space or the need to have a parenting section. But I needed to make a rule about what kind of books went into Picture Book City and what books went in J Non-Fiction.

Where to put this?

Where to put this?

I decided that topics that every child goes through (loss, in particular) should go in Picture Book City if it was in picture book format. Topics that are not universal (divorce, abuse) wound up in J Non-Fiction. We have updated our pathfinders for parents who are hesitant to ask for books, and are monitoring the situation to see if I need to re-think the decision.

Part of Picture Book City is taking a chance, making a change, and be willing to throw it out if it doesn’t work!

Next week, I’ll talk about our largest section so far — Favorites.

February 7, 2013 7 Comments Short URLHow To

Number Five!

The Plan

Books

number-five

Bears in Beds by Shirley Parenteau
Five for a Little One by Chris Raschka
Little Quack by Lauren Thompson
Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: Five Little Strawberries

Action Rhyme: “Five In the Bed”
There were five in the bed
And the little one said, “Roll over, roll over!”
So they are rolled over and one fell out
(count down)
Credit: Childhood

Action Rhyme: “My Five Senses”
A small mouth for eating, (Point to mouth)
My nose for smelling, (Point to nose)
My two eyes for seeing, (Point to eyes)
My two ears for hearing, (Point to ears)
My two hands for touching (Point to hands)
And my head? (Lean head on both hands, as if to sleep)
Credit: Pierce County Library

Song & Puppets: “Five Little Monkeys”
Five little monkeys swinging in the tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, you can’t catch me, no you can’t catch me
Along comes Mr. Crocodile as quiet as can be
And snaps that monkey out of that tree!
Credit: Childhood

Craft

We continued working on our coloring book!

How It Went

Five is a great number! I had a lot of material to work with and the kids absolutely LOVE when I sing/chant “Five Little Monkeys” because I’m ruthless when it comes time to snap those monkeys. Lots of laughter and clapping there. “Bears in Beds” was probably the group’s overall favorite book, although I did have someone shout out “THAT’S MY FAVORITE BOOK MISS KATIE” when I pulled out “Little Quack.”

February 6, 2013 0 Comments Short URLOutreach Storytime

Storytime Rules

As promised, here’s a look at the Rules for Storytime posted in my room.

storytimerules

After I got back from ALA Midwinter, I actually re-did these so that I could share the file, which you can access here: storytimerules. It is a PDF, and it is a large file (11×17), so you may have to use two sheets or shrink it to work in your storytime situation.

Obviously, I have both English and Spanish on there. We have several staff members who do our translations and we tend to translate more based on Mexican Spanish since that what’s our population is mostly comprised of.

[Thanks to reader Adriana, the PDF has been corrected for some translation errors! I didn’t update the picture though since it gets the point across as is.]

I mention the rules as I introduce myself and storytime. These are mostly rules for parents rather than for the child. If I need to redirect an adult, I will look at them and then glance at the poster. Most of the adults figure it out pretty quickly.

Since I don’t have signs for the kids, I do a lot of attention getting exercises if they are all over the page. I often preface a book with “Who’s got Criss-Cross Applesauce?” and wait for everything to resettle before reading. I find that, generally speaking, the kids don’t need the rules written out as much as the parents do.

If you have any questions, please let me know!

February 5, 2013 16 Comments Short URLAnnouncements

Socks and Shoes!

The Plan

Books

socksandshoes

Dog In Boots by Greg Gormley
Duck Sock Hop by Jane Kohuth
Pete the Cat: Rocking In My School Shoes by Eric Litwin
Which Shoes Would You Choose? by Betsy R. Rosenthal

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes”

Flannelboard: “Socks Match-Up”

Action Rhyme: “Old Shoes, New Shoes”
Old shoes, new shoes
(Child) is wearing (description) shoes
One, two, three, four
Now I stomp them on the floor!
Credit: Preschool Education

Action Rhyme: “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”
One, two, buckle my shoe (pretend to tie shoes)
Three, four, shut the door (clap hands)
Five, six, pick up sticks (pretend to pick up sticks)
Seven, eight, lay them straight (pretend to lay them)
Nine, ten, begin again! // That’s the end!
Credit: Childhood

Fingerplay: “Shoes”
(start with hands close together and move them farther apart with each pair)
Baby’s shoes
Child’s shoes
Mother’s shoes
Father’s shoes
GIANT SHOES
Modified from: Youth Literature

Craft

st-shoes1

Scratch art once again appears! My little kids cannot get enough of this stuff!

How It Went

This was a particularly wonderful storytime for me because it took place during our school system’s winter break. I got to see a lot of kids who had “graduated” from storytime come back with younger siblings. I had a great time hearing about their new classrooms and teachers and friends. The kids LOVED the extension activities and in particular, the fingerplay “Shoes.” During the books I read about teaching them the fingerplay, a lot of the kids played along as Dog tried on different kinds of shoes.

February 4, 2013 5 Comments Short URL, Family Storytime

In Case You Missed It!

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Welcome to the semi-regular installment of “In Case You Missed It!”

This week is a little bit light since Firefox crashed while I was going through my starred posts in Google Reader and I lost half of what I wanted to link! Posts span the last two weeks, since ALA Midwinter got in the way of making this a weekly feature. Since it’s a long couple of weeks, I separated posts out by topic instead of post date. Let me know which way works better!

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    On Librarianship

  • Melissa writes about touchstones and what little momentos can get you through the day when it’s rough! On my desk, I have a postcard that one of my dear ILOAs e-sent me, my Scaredy Squirrel puppet (the first book I read kids at my library was “Scaredy Squirrel”), a crayon art piece that my teens and I made, and drawings from my storytime kids who interrupted storytime to give me.
  • Anne has her follow-up results post about Ethical Problems #2 — the answers are FASCINATING to read! I didn’t get a chance to answer since I was at Midwinter, but a lot of my answers would have needed clarification; ethical questions are so tricky!
  • Abby wrote a great post about why joining ALA matters and why she’s renewing her ALA membership. As someone who has really gotten a great return on her own investment into ALA, I absolutely agree with Abby!
  • Live bloggers once again invaded the ALSC Blog for Midwinter, offering their insights into tons of programming, events, and meetings!

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    On Books

  • YOUTH MEDIA AWARDS. Do I need to say anything more?
  • Marge breaks down her ten truths about award reactions! This list is GOLD and was picked up in AL Direct!

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    On Programming

  • Abby talked about STEM programming with her “Mad Science at the Library” program for grades 3rd-6th. Basically, her blog post made me jump up and down with space nerd geekery. I really want to try this for my kids at some point!
  • Amy shares the results of her programming style survey! I love learning that I’m not alone in how I plan my programs.
  • Marge is still rocking her 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program. Her post has a great round-up of links all about the program’s inception and her library’s specific events and materials.

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    On Early Literacy/Childhood

  • Mollie wrote a brilliant post about early literacy and speech development! The breadth of knowledge shared blows me away and I can’t wait to start implementing some of what I learned in storytime practices and passing it along to my storytime families!
  • Melissa also has another Early Literacy Storytime Idea — Pointing to a Word! If you are struggling for ways to teach your parents in storytime, look no further than Melissa’s tips.
  • Beth gave two wonderful lists about Early Childhood blogs *outside* of the library world! I definitely added quite a few to my Google Reader account! Here’s the links to List 1 and List 2.

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    On Flannel Friday

  • Sarah has the Mushy Gushy Valentine Round-Up from two weeks ago — make sure to get your ideas bookmarked and done before Valentine’s Day!
  • Anne has this week’s round-up which includes a survey in preparation for Flannel Friday’s second anniversary!! Please go add your information if you’ve ever participated in Flannel Friday!
  • Sharon has a Flannel Friday Announcement, all about preparation for Flannel Friday’s second anniversary!! If you don’t have a blog, I am willing to host guest posts for this special occasion!

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See you next week!

February 3, 2013 8 Comments Short URLAnnouncements

Flannel Friday: Little Birds

This delightful Flannel Friday comes from Melissa at Mel’s Desk!

Melissa uses these with the Elizabeth Mitchell song “Little Bird, Little Bird.” I did purchase the song and have added it to my storytime playlist, but I still have to learn it for myself!

I don’t have these scheduled for a storytime yet, but these birds were so sweet, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make them!

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Anne is hosting this week’s Flannel Friday round-up. You can visit her blog to link up with us! Even if you are not participating this week but you have participated in Flannel Friday before, please visit Anne’s blog to complete a survey about Flannel Friday for its anniversary!

For more information about Flannel Friday and joining us, please visit the Flannel Friday website.

February 1, 2013 8 Comments Short URLFlannels

ALA Midwinter!

alamidwinter

Just a heads-up that I was at ALA Midwinter this week and am working on getting caught up from all I missed! Regular posting will start again tomorrow with an entry to Flannel Friday!

If you’re visiting from the Preschool Services Discussion Group, I will have the photos of my storytime rules up next week on Tuesday!

January 31, 2013 0 Comments Short URLAnnouncements

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