Next up in my Best-Of-Mel’s-Desk summer series…ten of my favorite baby storytime plans! These are the storytimes where, looking back, I feel like it all came together: good books, fun bounces, and songs that make me happy.
In no particular order, here they are!
We know that children who have lots of experience manipulating, using, and reading books before they go to kindergarten have an advantage in reading readiness over children who don’t. That’s because children with book experience understand many print conventions already. They know that there’s a title on the cover of the book, they know the book opens from right to left, they know that the story doesn’t start on the very first page of the picture book, they know that to read we pay attention to the black squiggles on the page and we look at those lines of squiggles from left to right. Children who know all this can dive right into learning how to decode those squiggles, while children who don’t must spend time getting acclimated to what print is and how print works before they can begin to try to sound out the words on the page.
A study published earlier this year showed that teachers can make a difference in their children’s reading readiness simply by adding a few simple activities to their shared reading every week. Teachers were trained to draw their students’ attention to the print in books, by short actions such as running their finger under a few words as they read or by noticing the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters.
When we add simple print awareness activities to storytime, we are modeling to parents the ways that they too can build their children’s understanding of print, even before they begin to learn to read. One thing you can do in storytime is spend a little extra time looking at the book and cover before you begin reading it.
You might show the book to the children as usual, but after you read the title aloud, read it again, pointing to the words on the cover. You might look at the differences between the front cover and the back cover images, naming which is which. (“Look, here’s the title of the book, it’s on the front cover. I know this is the front because it has the title and because it opens this way [open the front cover from right to left]. Here’s the back. What looks different on the back?”) You can talk about the picture on the cover and ask if it looks like it tells us anything about the story. You can point out the author and illustrator’s names. You can point out the capital letters on the cover that match the initials of children in your audience. (“Oh look, here’s a letter D! Dora’s name starts with a D.”)
After you explore the cover of the book for a little bit, then tell the parents, “When you spend some time talking about the cover of a book, pointing to the words or the letters of the title, your child begins to learn to pay attention to the print as well as the pictures. Before they can read, they will need to learn that we read the words on the page and not the pictures! Talking with your child about print will help them get ready to read.”
Then go on and read your book with the children!
Welcome to July already! This is the month where my family’s summer really kicks into gear, so I’m going to be taking it easy here on Mel’s Desk and will be scheduling some best-of lists for a few weeks. I can’t say that tagging and organizing posts has been my strong point as a blogger 🙂 so I’m hoping these highlight posts will point you to some stuff you haven’t come across yet!
To start things off I have a list of posts with original printable patterns:
Two Little Blackbirds / Two Little Black Bats
You may already have a shapes storytime in your rotation! It’s easy to add a quick message to the adults explaining the link between learning shapes and learning letters.
Take a minute during a shapes book or a shapes flannelboard activity to talk about the differences between shapes with the children: the numbers of sides, the numbers of corners, the curves, all the things that help us tell one shape from another.
Then, tell the parents, “When you talk about shapes with your child, they start to learn what features make them the same and different. Being able to tell the difference between a triangle and a circle is the same skill they will use to tell the difference between an “A” and an “O”! Talking with your children will help them get ready to read.”
Here’s some flannelboards you can use to talk about shapes:
Building Blocks
Five Strawberries
Summer Shapes
And a Shapes Baby Storytime Plan.
I’ve read 5 books in the last 2 weeks!
What’s so amazing about that? Well, it’s the same number of books I read all the way through in the previous four months.
For over a year, and maybe even closer to two, I have been in a really baffling reading slump: Nothing sounded good, what I started I wouldn’t finish, I’d read reviews and log titles into Goodreads but never put holds on them, I’d walk past the new book shelves at work without wondering if my authors had fresh titles out. If I felt like reading, I’d re-read something really familiar.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I was still reading a book or two a month, but that’s pretty slow going for me; my usual pace before this had been two or three titles a week.
It was SO WEIRD. And I know this is a little off-topic for this blog, but I found myself thinking about reading A LOT over the past month or two, and wondered if anyone else had dealt with something like this!
I had a conversation on Twitter about it with a few people on June 12. And then all of a sudden, a few days later, I seemed to snap out of it. I brought home almost a dozen books, I finished the first one on the 15th, and two more on the 17th and 18th, and two MORE on the 23rd and 24th. (I’m a Goodreads addict, that’s how I know.) Now I’m in the middle of three more and can’t wait to pack books for vacation and it feels so good to be reading again!
The good thing about a reading slump is that when it's over, you have 2 books to read in all your series
Why do reading slumps happen?
I’ve been thinking about mine, and I have a couple theories.
One is that I’ve been in a pretty intense phase of research, learning, synthesizing, and writing for the past year or so at work. In response to the new Every Child Ready to Read materials, I’ve been investigating how children develop cognitively in terms of reading, writing, talking, singing, and playing. I’ve taken in a lot of information, and I’ve been responsible for increasing amounts of content creation to provide early literacy information and support to our staff.
Another factor I think is how my Twitter network has grown over the years. I’m following almost 500 people–200 of them youth services librarians–and SO MANY links to SO MANY interesting articles float past in my feed every hour. I don’t read them all, who could? But I know I’m reading way more long essays online than I used to, and I love it. It’s like having a subscription to 100 magazines!
The last piece of the puzzle is that last year I challenged myself to read 365 picture books. And I did! I can’t remember the last juvenile chapter book that I’ve actually finished, but my picture book reading has been higher than at any other time of my life as a children’s librarian.
So in thinking about it, I’m realizing that my reading slump wasn’t really a slump–I’ve just been reading different types of works and in different formats.
So why would the slump end now?
Well, maybe I’m adjusting to the type and level of informational reading I’m currently managing at work. Also, a number of high-energy projects I was working on this winter and spring outside of work wrapped up by the end of May. (Yahoo! Summer!) And maybe I just started missing that feeling of finishing a really great new story!
Whatever is the cause of my reading slump or the reason for it ending, I’m just happy to be back in my old groove. It felt funny to be a librarian who “wasn’t reading,” especially since I keep an eye on so many great book review blogs…sometimes it felt like I was the only person in the world who didn’t have a favorite new title to talk about!
Finally, here’s some of the great suggestions I was offered on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. Do any of these work for you when you need a reading boost?
@andiemama says it helps her to have a list to work through, and a reason to read something. For instance she reads through the Caudill nominees every year. Then, if her other books aren’t appealing, she just picks up a title from the Caudill list. eBooks (yay portability & accessibility) and audiobooks also mix it up a bit and help keep reading fresh.
@tcy28 says that non-fiction helps her get out of a rut, sending her in new directions, as does genre-hopping. Trying a completely new kind of story (for her it was steampunk) can help get you going again!
@readingchick likes a challenge, such as the 48 Hour Reading Challenge, or a group challenge, to get her going again. She also mentioned audiobooks as helping her when she’s in a slump.
@ipapaverison said she had a reading slump when she was teaching middle school, and that’s when she started reading 2 or 3 books at a time…which worked to get her out of it!
Has this ever happened to you? Why do you think it happens? How did you get out of your slump? Did your reading habits or patterns change once your slump was over?
Here’s a slightly different way than last week’s post to model writing in storytime.
After you share a book or a song with a number of objects or animals or characters in it, you can go back and write them all down in a list!
Keep your young audience in mind when you choose a book or song to use for this activity; we shouldn’t bog down storytime by creating a super-lengthy list. So maybe writing down all the things Pete the Cat steps in would work better than writing down all the food that the Very Hungry Caterpillar eats! Or when you want to try this activity, you could start by only singing three or four verses of The Wheels on the Bus or Old MacDonald instead of six or seven.
So, read your book or sing your song with the kids, then say something like, “Wow, we sang about a lot of parts of that bus! We started by singing about the wheels. [Write down “wheels” on the board.] What else?” Help the children remember “wipers,” “windows,” “doors,” or whatever verses you chose.
Or if you read a book like, “Clip-Clop,” by Nicola Smee, you could list all the animals in the book: Horse, Duck, Pig, Cat, and Dog. Turn the pages of the book so that the children can remember all the animals.
When you’ve finished your list, you can tell the parents, “When you make lists of interesting objects with your child, it gives them a different way to think about and learn new words. This helps them become a good reader because they will encounter words in many different ways when they read. Writing with your children will help them get ready to read.”
Last year I posted a few times about Fourth of July storytime ideas, and one of the activities I mentioned but haven’t tried yet is ribbon rings.
Well, I am actually going to be around the week of the Fourth this year–usually we are on the road and I miss that storytime! We are definitely going to sing “It’s a Grand Old Flag,” and I figured this was as good a time as any to try some ribbon rings with my babies.
I knew I wasn’t going to have the patience to wrap ribbon all the way around 15 shower rings, and I didn’t want the lengths of ribbon to be too long, anyway. So I bought two packs of plastic shower rings and pulled out one sheet each of red, white, and blue felt.
I cut the felt vertically so I had 1/2 inch x 12 inch strips of each color. If you have some sewing tools around, a rotary cutter and a mat make this a zippy task. But scissors and a little patience work just as well.
When I had all my strips cut, I got out the rings.
Then it’s just a matter of looping your strips around the ring.
Tighten it up…loop the strips over the clasp of the ring, which will keep it from pinching little fingers and leave a smooth curve for holding on to.
Add as many strips as you like! I just did one each of red, white, and blue.
Finished set!
You can turn on the music and march while waving your ribbons, or you can see if you can make shapes in the air (squares, triangles, curvy lines, rainbows), or you can pretend to be fireworks and jump up high and shake your ribbons on the way down, or you can have older kids make the letters of their names, or you can make the ribbons move like a bunny or a snake or a bumblebee…
Have fun!
The round up is at Shawn’s place today!
Check out the Flannel Friday website!
In storytime lately, we’ve been talking about how playing leads to reading, so here’s a storytime all about toys and games.
OPENING SONG: Hello Song*
OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*
BOOK: Saffy and Ollie, by Opal
This is one of a new series of charming board books with stories just right for 1s and 2s. In this book, Saffy the giraffe is playing with a rock and doesn’t want Ollie to play too. Then the rock gets stuck in a hole, and who can help get it out? Ollie is kind and helps Saffy and Saffy invites Ollie to play.
LITERACY MESSAGE: PLAYING
The more children know and understand about their world, the more background knowledge they will be able to bring to the books they read. This helps them become good readers because what they already know gives them context for the new ideas that they read, and makes it easier to make sense out of what’s on the page. Talking while you play with your child starts to build their understanding. “Oh, look, the ball can’t roll because it’s stuck in a little hole. Balls can only roll when the ground is flat and smooth.”
FLANNEL RHYME: Purple Car, Purple Car, What Do You See?
Sometimes we play with rocks and sticks, and sometimes we play with cars and trucks! A longer description of this activity is at my More Things That Go storytime post.
ACTION SONG: Bumpin’ Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon
Now let’s take a ride in a red wagon!
Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon
Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon
Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon
Won’t you be my darling?One wheel’s off and the axel’s broken…
I’m gonna fix it with my hammer…
Bumpin’ up and down in my little red wagon…
FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
Today we used dragon/wagon, duck/truck, crab/cab, and goat/boat.
BOOK: Max’s Toys by WELLS
My sister gave me this book when we were both in college because Max is awesome. The back cover showed a picture of Max hugging Ruby’s doll Emily and just oozing contentment. When Rosemary Wells redid the illustrations to this board book, that final image was dropped. It kinda broke my heart! But this is still an excellent book for baby storytime!
FINGERPLAY: Three Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
I shortened this up a bit for the babies.
ACTION SONG: Roll Over!
Again, I only started with 3 things in the bed, to make it a little shorter for the very young audience.
There were three in the bed and the little one said,
“Roll over! Roll over!”
So they all rolled over and one fell out!There were two in the bed…”
ACTIVITY: Roll, Roll, Sugar Babies
So grateful to Reading Chick for teaching me this one!
Roll roll sugar babies
Roll roll sugar babies
Roll babies hands over each other like Wheels on the Bus
Push
Gently push baby’s arms…lean forward or back if they are sitting on your lap, or pull on their arms if they are lying on their backs. Remember to make sure the motion is “pushing” from their point of view!
Pull
Gently pull baby’s arms
Clap clap clap
Clap!When I asked my grownups for other verses we could do, one mom suggested “Head, toe, clap, clap, clap.” Love it!.
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!
I have great news! With a catch!
The good news first:
The Early Childhood Librarianship program at the University of Denver has received continued funding from the Institue of Museum and Library Services! Two years ago DU launched this program, the first of its kind, designed to educate youth services librarians in early childhood development issues and prepare them to be early literacy advocates in their libraries and in their communities.
The first cohort of Early Childhood Librarianship fellows is graduating this spring and summer, and the continued funding means that there will be spots for 20 more fellows in this unique program.
The catch?
The fellows are to start classes THIS fall–2012. Since the DU Library and Information Science Program just received notice of the funding, this is obviously a pretty tight turnaround.
BUT if you or someone you know has been considering library school anyway, is interested in and passionate about early childhood services and early literacy, and can move to Denver (the program is face-to-face rather than online), this could be a super opportunity.
I have had the good fortune to have served as one of the public library advisors to the program and as a mentor to the first cohort of fellows. I am so excited this program exists and is sending youth services librarians with early childhood expertise out into the world. I can’t wait to meet the next group of students! Will you be one of them?
From the announcement posted by program chair Mary Stansbury on the Colorado LIBNET listserv:
We are so pleased and honored to announce that the DU Library and Information Science Program has been awarded IMLS funding for a second round of Early Childhood Librarianship fellowships. These fellowships will commence with the Autumn 2012 quarter.
The University of Denver Morgridge College of Education will also contribute to the fellowship funding, bringing the total amount of funding for each fellow to $37,984. This amount is 60% of the tuition of the DU MLIS.
Twenty fellows will be selected.
Coursework for this fellowship will include LIS foundational coursework, courses in early childhood, children’s, and young adult materials and services, and classes in the Child, Family, and School Psychology Program on brain development, language and literacy acquisition, and special needs children and families.
The MLIS is a 58 quarter credit degree. Fellows must complete the MLIS by June 2014. For more information about the DU LIS Program, please visit: http://www.du.edu/education/programs/lis/index.html
Applicants for the fellowships must also be admitted to the MLIS degree program. Application information can be found at http://www.du.edu/education and by contacting edinfo@du.edu.
If you or someone you know is interested in this fellowship opportunity, please go to: https://udenver.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_50e6ROd97FUSTty to submit contact information.
I’ve always loved Miss Julie’s descriptions of her Beginning Reader storytimes and appreciate how she incorporates writing into her routine. As I thought about writing and storytime, I wanted to do something similar for preschool storytime. Since the age group would be younger than Julie’s, the emphasis would need to be more on modeling the writing and on building print awareness rather than on decoding activities.
Here’s one way this might work with a preschool group…let me know what you think!
This is an activity to pull out when you have a book with a particularly rich illustration, or a couple of detailed puppets, or something else with exceptional visual interest. You’ll need a large sheet of paper or a whiteboard and a marker ready to go.
After you’ve read your book or used your prop, tell the children something like this:
“One of the reasons I liked reading that book with you today is because of this great picture…” or “Aren’t these puppets fun to look at?”
Describe a detail you like about your picture or prop. “I like this picture because of all the colors of green in the leaves.” or “I like that this puppet has especially fuzzy hair.”
Invite the children to tell you a few details that they notice, or something they like about the picture or prop.
Write down some of the words they use on your board.
After you’ve gathered a few comments, you can say, “Wow, look at all these cool words you used! [point to them as you read them one by one]. Parents, when you write down what your children tell you, your kids get practice using all the great words that they know, and they will also start to make the connection between the words that they use and the writing on the page. These are great stepping stones to learning how to read.”
.jpg)
