Opening
I know a New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff for Exercise Party
Books
Tuck Me In! by Dean Hacohen
Where’s My Teddy? – Jez Alborough (Big Book Version)
Lion’s Lullaby by Mij Kelly
Literary life wearing all the hats in the program room, on desk, and out in the world.
For outreach this month I was curious to find more of the books my teens had read. I found an idea on One Stop English for an A-Z Race. I tested their knowledge with an A-Z Title Race. Each student got a sheet of paper with A through Z listed down the page and a line for the title. The rules are extremely flexible but this is how we played. We broke into groups of 2-3. Everyone had 10-15 minutes to think of book titles and list a book per line of the alphabet. The word could be anywhere in the book title so you could use Fault in Our Stars for the F, O or S. I suggested they not use words like a, and, the and so forth because they are too easy. I encouraged the students to think of books in a series (they could use Diary of a Wimpy Kid and all of its volume titles), titles they read for school and books that had been made into movies; anything to jog their memories. When the students started to run out of ideas we did a lightning round where they were allowed to use the teacher's classroom collection for ideas. This was supposed to last one minute but I usually gave them them more time. Once the time was up we went around the room a bit randomly reading our A title and B titles and so on. Going over the titles took longer than expected. I allotted about 10 minutes it was never enough. You could easily fill 30-45 with this race. The students and teachers enjoyed themselves and it gave me a better idea of the types of books to share with the classes next month.
Need another activity for a Teen Halloween Party or a Teen Movie Night featuring a scary film? Similar to my Movie Monster Quiz Printable from last year, this Horror Movie Poster Quiz is designed for minimal output on your part. Simply print the 20 pages featuring 20 horror movie posters with their titles conveniently blocked out. Save a copy of the answer key for yourself. Print enough pages of the last quiz page for each teen or group of teens to have their own. (Or if you want to save some paper but you have access to a projector and computer, try showing the files as a slide show.) Attach the pictures to a wall, tabletop display pieces or lay them on tables around a room. To make things easier I have given the teens an list of movie titles. You can make the quiz harder by providing the titles later in the game, say after 5 - 10 minutes or you can just watch them sweat. Read over the answers and provide prizes to the winning teen, teens or group. 
Howdy
For tonight's activity I decided to host a Janken Competition. Janken (じゃん拳 janken) is the Japanese equivalent of Rock Paper Scissors, but taken to a whole new level in terms of usage and importance in daily life. (WikiJet) To hold your own competition you will need a way to show videos of other competitions to give your teens an idea of how exciting the sport can be. They did air Rock Paper Scissors competitions on ESPN while back but I don't think this will compel my teens to play. You will also need some props. Each opponent needs an item to shield their head and an item to hit with. I used two buckets and two paper swords. You can also use two hats and two pool noodles. Or two dust bins and two inflatables hammers like those at the carnival. The best way to explain the rules if you watch the video. I work in a public library and this video does show two men kissing instead of hitting each other. Kissing is against the rules but the video is fine. Depending on your audience you may need to find another video or alternative method of explaining the rules. Another good video is a Jankenpon contest on a Japanese game show.
Opening
Stand Up Sit Down Song by Rick Goldin| Turtle Fun |
HowdyThe Social Justice in YA Lit Project/Discussion, using YA literature to discuss a variety of social justice issues including own voices, representation, discrimination, education, poverty and more.
I originally wanted to include this activity with my Cherry Blossom Festival, but I overplanned it. Using the bingo card generator at My Free Bingo Cards, I added 60 manga and anime titles along with some Japanese words and phrases. You can use the printable below to make 30 cards. The PDF file also includes 2 cards for the caller which you can cut up and put in a bucket or bag so your choices are more random. I used a bag of craft buttons as the bingo chips. I didn't include a free space but this is an option you can add if you make your own boards online. For prizes, I gave away Pocky and some Easter bubblegum from clearance. When I told my teens we were playing Otaku Bingo, one of them replied "great, I like tacos." I dearly hope they were teasing but sometimes you just can't tell. | Soot Sprites |
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| Minute Manga for the theme sushi. |
Inspired by Jen in the Library's program Bikes - Preschool Storytime 


Five Little Nails
Five little nails, standing straight and steady.
Here I come with my hammer ready!
Bam Bam Bam! That nail goes down.
Now there’s just four nails to pound.