Mel’s Desk

Last time around for Bobbi Newman’s Day in the Life project, I kept track hour by hour of a single day. That so didn’t work out this week, so instead I’m going to list the projects I’m currently in the middle of. I’m a Youth Services Librarian, but overall I spend more time on developing programs & services than I do on the floor.

Baby Storytime

I give 2 baby storytimes on Monday mornings. Each session runs about 20 minutes, with 20-30 minutes afterwards of play time together. We just purchased some new Burgeon Group pieces for this branch and they are a big hit with our families already!

This post-storytime playtime is a wonderful opportunity for the parents to connect, for the babies to play, and for me to be available to the caregivers if they have questions about books, child development, library services…anything. Plus I get to play, too! I have been plugging our new “Book a Librarian” service to them and am hoping they can help spread the word through their networks! After storytime, I blog my storytime plan and Tweet my early literacy tip of the day.

LSTA Grant Project for CLEL

I serve on the steering committee for Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy, a group of librarians and staffers from all over the state working to promote early literacy programs and services in public libraries. We received an LSTA grant that will help us expand our website to include a collection of videos, and I am on the committee that has been working to write a Request for Proposal and hire a web development team that can do this piece for us. On Monday I met with a couple other CLEL members and representatives from Rocky Mountain PBS, who are our partners in this grant!

Book a Librarian

Our library district recently launched a Book a Librarian service, which allows patrons to schedule a 30 minute appointment with a librarian, for help with a particular in-depth information need. We are just getting started with this, but response has been strong and the feedback has been positive. We have been getting a lot of requests for help with business reference, genealogy research, and tech support, but I think it’s a natural fit for parents and educators as well & hope we receive more and more interest from those groups.

Tuesday I had an appointment with a mom who had been homeschooling for less than a year. She knew she wasn’t “maximizing” her use of the library and wanted some help with search skills. It was very fun to sit down with her and show her how to run advanced searches in the catalog, how to use our Prospector partnership, and how to access the kids’ databases.

Last week I met with a grandma and grandpa who wanted some tips on how they could support language development in their 2 year old grandson, and they were thrilled with the early literacy information and book ideas I was able to share with them. I am excited by this new service and am looking forward to more awesome appointments!

Nursery Rhyme Time

This week I took my Nursery Rhyme Time program to a preschool Parent Evening for the first time! The preschool needs to have several parent education opportunities a year. On Wednesday after school, I brought everything over to the elementary school and we ran the program from 4.30pm – 6pm. The activities are designed for grownups and children to play together, and to promote early literacy skills and kindergarten readiness, and to model to parents on how they can build language skills in their kids while they are playing together. Here’s a little guy trying to knock down a Humpty Dumpty from his wall with a beanbag. Prompts for the parents include to ask the child what size (big, medium, or small) was the Humpty Dumpty they want to knock down, what color beanbag they are using, how would it feel to fall off a wall, what can you use to put Humpty together again?

We had a really nice turnout and I had some very positive feedback from the teachers and the parents, and the kids! This is my first try taking this program out of the library, so this was an encouraging success!

Literacy Based Storytime Training

The rest of the week will be spent prepping for a staff training class I have coming up. In conjunction with our Literacy Librarian, I teach new storytime providers how to plan and present literacy-based storytimes. My session with these new staffers introduces them to our district’s storytime standards, tips for how to plan and construct storytimes, tips for matching books and activities to appropriate ages of kids, and how to present early literacy tips and information to caregivers during storytime in a seamless way. *whew*

And…

So that’s my week! I love my job because I have a chance to work on a wide variety of projects and I am able to focus on early childhood programs and services. In and around my bigger projects, I am on Twitter, reading PUBYAC, taking reference calls from our call center, answering emails…and this week I’ve been trying to figure out what ten best chapter books to send to Fuse #8 for her poll.

For Fuse #8’s poll:

I decided to go with my personal favorites from childhood, and not try to knock my brains out trying to rank Charlotte’s Web over or under The Giver or over or under Sarah Plain and Tall.

Here’s the final list!

1. Baby Island, by Carol Ryrie Brink

This is by the author of Caddie Woodlawn. I have never read Caddie Woodlawn. This book was all I needed; how could it not be? Two girls on a cruise ship are bundled into a life boat in a moment of crisis with four babies and toddlers. OMG! In another moment of crisis, the life boat is launched with NO GROWN UPS IN IT! The girls and babies manage to float safely to a deserted island! OMG! They sing Scottish songs to keep their spirits up! They keep the babies alive, fed, and in clean diapers! But OMG! The island isn’t deserted after all! They see footprints in the sand! WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?

As a child, friends, family, teachers, and classmates saw me as timid, bookish, and quiet. That’s because I was. But I was also reading this story every 8 or 9 months, getting imprinted in the process at a critical developmental window with two take-charge, can-do, kick-ass, totally unfazable personalities. I do not underestimate the effects of this book on my eventual, late-blossoming self-confidence.

2. Understood Betsy, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Another one of my girl-power titles when I was a kid. If the Baby Island girls’ confidence was the destination, Betsy’s slow growth showed me you could get there step by step.

3. Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle

I picked this up 3 or 4 times as a kid before I got into it, and now I have read it so many times and have such clear memories of so many different scenes. Ultimately, this book is on this list because, out of all the myriad influences that blended together to create my personal ethical/moral code, one thing from this book I swallowed whole: When Meg cries out against IT, “Like and equal are not the same thing at all!”

4. Wind in the Door, by Madeleine L’Engle

If Wrinkle in Time became part of my ethical understanding, Wind in the Door became part of my experience of faith: joy at the cellular and universal levels.

5. Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

Thank you Mrs Bounds for reading this to us in fourth grade! The wordplay is great, and when I realized I knew enough to get the jokes about the cart that “goes without saying,” or “jumping to conclusions,” well, didn’t *I* feel smart and in the know. But what really resonated with me then, and still does, is the revelation that Milo could only rescue the princesses because he didn’t know it was an impossible task.

6. Egypt Game, by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

When I was a kid, I loved mysteries. As with anything else you read a lot of, some were forgettable, some were okay, some were great. Only one creeped me out so much I couldn’t finish it. (Still haven’t.) And only Egypt Game was so perfectly calibrated, at that particular moment in time, to my personal sense of the possible and the impossible, that I still have a sense memory of the mounting tension and then the sheer mental relief at the end.

7. Silver Woven in My Hair, by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

The sweetest Cinderella story. Ever. I remember how delicious it felt to be reading about Thursey reading Cinderella stories, and knowing that SHE was in the middle of a Cinderella story too but that she didn’t know it yet…When I read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon this year, I felt the same way, and wished I could have given Mountain to my 9 year old self. She would have swooned.

8. All-of-a-Kind Family, by Sydney Taylor

The thick scratchy tights. The dusting-for-buttons game. Penny candy. Going to the library. Talking and daydreaming after lights out. I am not on the whole a good rememberer-of-details (see Bridge to Terabitha and Trolley Car Family, below) but I do remember so many scenes from this whole series. Because I have to choose just one, I’m choosing the first one for this list.

9. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson

Not because of the story itself, but because this was the first time I read a book with a literary allusion that I GOT. Paterson mentions that the main characters loved fantasy stories, including one about “assistant pig-keepers” and that phrase went through me like a shock: I KNEW that book, I had already read the Prydain Chronicles and I felt such an immediate connection to the characters in Bridge as a result. I have forgotten almost everything about Bridge except for the broadest of strokes, but I will never forget that moment of recognition.

10. Trolley Car Family, by Eleanor Clymer

I have absolutely no recall of any detail whatsoever about this story. I’m not kidding, absolutely nothing. But in the middle of the book there is an illustration of the floor plan of the trolley car they lived in, and I spent a long, long time pouring over it—probably as much time as I spent tracing the maps in Katie and the Big Snow—and then drawing floor plans of ways to reorganize the furniture in my room.

A dinosaur theme fits perfectly with the “vocabulary” early literacy skill we are highlighting this month.

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

BOOK: Dinosaur Vs Bedtime by SHEA

ACTION SONG: All Around the Swamp
Sing to: The Wheels on the Bus

Pteranodon’s wings went flap, flap, flap
Flap, flap, flap,
Flap, flap, flap,
Pteranodon’s wings went flap, flap, flap
All around the swamp.

Triceratop’s horns went poke, poke, poke…
Apatosaurus’ mouth went munch, munch, munch…

LITERACY TIP: Vocabulary
Everybody knows at least one preschooler who can rattle off the names of dozens of dinosaurs. There’s a reason for that! Preschoolers’ brains are wired to learn as much vocabulary as possible. So don’t underestimate them: give them all the words you can! Use the most specific terms possible and they will soak them up like a sponge.

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
I know dinosaurs came in all shapes and sizes, but we went with big things today: house/mouse, whale/pail, boat/goat, tree/bee.

BOOK: Dinosaur Roar! by STICKLAND

FLANNEL SONG: One Dinosaur Went Out to Play
Sing to: Five Little Ducks Went Out to Play
I got these incredibly cute dinosaur shapes from an old issue of Copycat Press.

One dinosaur went out to play
On a giant fern one day
She had such enormous fun
That she called for another dinosaur to come:

Raise hands to cup mouth, and call loudly: Oh, Diiiiiiiiiinosaur!

Slap hands on thighs to make “running” sounds.

Two dinosaurs went out to play…
Three dinosaurs…
Four dinosaurs…

Five dinosaurs went out to play
On a giant fern one day
They had such enormous fun
That they played until the day was done!

ACTION RHYME: This is Big Big Big*

CLOSING SONG: Sneeze Game*

*Check out the My Baby Storytime page for the words and/or citations for these weekly activities!

January in Colorado means the Stock Show’s in town! It’s a good time to read about ranches and cowpokes and learn all sorts of new words.

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

BOOK: At Home on the Ranch by GORDON
This is an easy reader book! I often check this section for beginning level readers since they can be very short. Sometimes I can find one that will work in baby storytime.

LITERACY TIP: Vocabulary
Your baby may not have much experience with cowboys and ranches and horses, but talk to them about new ideas and experiences anyway. The more we talk to our babies, the bigger their vocabularies grow. Sometimes we get bored talking about the same old daily routine with our kids. New topics can keep us motivated to keep talking!

FLANNEL SONG: If You Want to Be a Cowboy
Sing to: If You’re Happy and You Know It

If you want to be a cowboy, wear your jeans
If you want to be a cowboy, wear your jeans
If you’re a cowboy and you know it
Then your jeans will really show it,
If you want to be a cowboy, wear your jeans

Down Around the Corner
Sing to: Five Little Ducks Went Out to Play

Down around the corner at the general store
Were five cowboy hats and not one more
Along came someone with a nickel to pay
And they bought a cowboy hat and they took it away

Down around the corner at the general store
Were four cowboy hats…

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
Today we used sheep/jeep, hen/pen, pig/wig, and mare/chair

BOOK: Cowboy Small by LENSKI
I just chose a few pages of this to read!

SONG WITH PUPPETS: Down on Grandpa’s Farm

Oh, we’re on our way, we’re on our way
On our way to Grandpa’s farm
Oh, we’re on our way, we’re on our way
On our way to Grandpa’s farm.

Down on Grandpa’s farm there is a big brown horse
Down on Grandpa’s farm there is a big brown horse

That horse, she makes a noise like this, neigh, neigh
That horse, she makes a noise like this, neigh, neigh

BOUNCE: Trot Trot to Boston

Trot trot to Boston
Trot trot to Lynn
Trot trot to Grammy’s house
Bounce baby gentle on your lap
But don’t fall IN!
Gently drop baby between your legs!

ACTION RHYME: Shoe A Little Horse

Shoe a little horse
Tap on the sole of baby’s foot
Shoe a little mare
Tap on the sole of baby’s other foot
But let the little colt go bare, bare bare!
Tap baby’s two feet gently together

ACTION RHYME: This is Big Big Big*

CLOSING SONG: Sneeze Game*

*Check out the My Baby Storytime page for the words and/or citations for these weekly activities!

Babies love to look at baby faces, so I made these pieces to use with some counting rhymes. I don’t have a template for you, but they are pretty easy to make, I promise!

Draw about a 5″ circle on construction paper with a compass or trace a roll of masking tape or something. Now visualize Charlie Brown and draw two semicircles sticking out at 3 oclock and 9 oclock for the ears. The eyes go on even with the top of the ears. I used a hole punch for the open eyes! Add eyebrows, mouths, and hair and you are ready to go. I laminated them and put a velcro dot on the back. You can see a slightly larger image here.

Here’s a few things you can do with these babies!

Five Little Babies
by Melissa Depper

Five little babies sitting in their cribs
The first one said, “I need another bib!”
The second one said, “I wish I had my ball.”
The third one said, “I wish that I could crawl!”
The fourth one said, “Oh, when can we play?”
The fifth one said, “It’s been a busy day.”
Then Shhhhh went the mommies and out went the lights,
And five little babies said goodnight.

Ten Little Babies
Sing to: Ten Little Indians

One little two little three little babies
Four little five little six little babies
Seven little eight little nine little babies
Ten baby girls and boys!

Five Little Babies
Adapted from Yakaberry.com

Five little babies were playing one day
One saw a ball, and he crawled away
Four little babies were playing one day
One saw a rattle, and she crawled away
Three little babies were playing one day
One saw a blanket, and he crawled away
Two little babies were playing one day
One saw a teddy, and she crawled away
One little baby was playing one day
He saw his friends, and he crawled away.

There’s nothing particularly wintery about birds, I guess, but since our skill of the month is Vocabulary, this worked well today!

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

GUESSING GAME: Where’s Baby Duckling?
I made four different colored eggs from felt, cut them in half with a jaggedy edge. Then I hide a felt duck (this one was from a counting set we have) under one of the eggs. This is a good thing to do first, since you can set up the flannel before everyone comes in. Ask, “Baby Duck, are you in the spotted egg?” Look in each egg till you find the duckling!

BOOK: Wow! Said the Owl by HOPGOOD
This is a cute short new picture book about an owl who stays awake during the day and is amazed by all the colors she sees!

FLANNEL RHYME: Hoot Owl Count

Five hoot owls sitting in a tree
One flew away! How many do you see?
One, two, three, four.

Four hoot owls sitting in a tree
One flew away! How many do you see?
One, two, three.

Three hoot owls…

FLANNEL SONG: Owl in the Tree
Sing to: Skip to My Lou. Here’s my clip art file!

Owl in the tree goes, “Hoo, hoo hoo,”
Owl in the tree goes, “Hoo, hoo hoo,”
Owl in the tree goes, “Hoo, hoo hoo,”
Skip to my lou, my darling.

Robin in the nest goes, “Tweet, tweet, tweet…”
Duck in the pond goes, “Quack, quack, quack…”
Rooster in the yard goes, “Cock a doodle doo…”

LITERACY TIP: Vocabulary
When children know many words, it’s easier for them to learn to read, because it’s easier to sound out words that you already know! Help them learn by using a variety of terms. Instead of just saying, “Bird,” say, duck, owl, parrot, hen.

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
Today we used duck/truck, owl/towel, parrot/carrot, hen/pen

BOOK: Over in the Meadow by WADSWORTH, illus. by David A Carter
This is one of my favorite songs, so I always sing this book! We did the first 6 verses, which in this version includes the owl and let us finish with “crow,” which is a nice lead-in to…

FINGERPLAY: Two Little Blackbirds

Two little blackbirds sitting on a wall
Hold pointer fingers out in front of you
One named Peter, one named Paul
Wiggle one finger, then the other
Fly away Peter! Fly away Paul!
Move one finger behind your back, then the other
Come back Peter! Come back Paul!
Bring one finger back in front, then the other

BONUS LITERACY TIP! Acting out little rhymes like these helps build vocabulary, because your movements reinforce what the words mean.

ACTION RHYME: This is Big Big Big*

CLOSING SONG: Sneeze Game*

*Check out the My Baby Storytime page for the words and/or citations for these weekly activities!