Storytime Providers Meme

Five Truths and a Lie. 

I love all these ideas expect the first one.  As a Youth Librarian I serve children and teens so I know the reality of baby storytime.  I think it's cool that I can do all the things. 

Laura

Disclaimer 

Favorite Blogs and Websites

Howdy
I don't like to assume things. I will never forget being at a youth services seminar as a freshly minted librarian.  I felt desperately out of place.  I was trying hard to look and act more  knowledgable than I felt. The speaker said "well now we've all read Whirligig," and she moved on to other things.  I had to sit there with my squirmy self.  I was unable to admit that I hadn't read the book and that I didn't even know the author.  I was miserable at my  unfamiliarity with the book and my inability to articulate what I needed. I made a note and resolved to find this sacred text I had some how missed in graduate school. I later read Whirligig by Paul Fleischman and also Seedfolks. I am glad to have been led to such good fiction but I wish I didn't have to be shamed into learning.  

A wise adult told me once that "when you assume, you make an a** out of you and me."  While this idea might not be safe for work, it certainly gets the point across.  Misinformation is a terrible foundation for communication. 

I am working on a page of Online Resources. It's all sorts of handy stuff for storytimes, youth programs, employment and management.  Its a pretty broad swath so I'll pull out some highlights for you.

Ask a Manager - I swear I read this for fun.  If you have a question about your boss or employees.  If you want to know about salary and timecards and interview etiquette, you should bookmark this website.  You will love the facebook page for quick updates.  It's like Dear Abby or Ann Landers for the employment world.  Not all the scenarios are library related but we work with people and people issues are universal.  You will find a common thread here.  

Jbrary - I love scarves, egg shakers and bean bags.  Guess who else does?  Jbrary does!  I think they are more excited about my storytimes than I am.  They have an awesomely diversified social media presence so you can learn however you like.  I can honestly say I use at least one of their ideas in every Preschool storytime I do. I am hoping for more parachute ideas.  *pretty please*  Be sure to check out their Blogroll with many other online resources for youth services. 

KCLS -  This is the YouTube channel for The King County Library System of King County, Washington.  They are adorable.  Not sure you can list that on a resume but hey there are worse traits to have. Can you carry a tune and be instantly engaging?  If not these YouTube videos are right up your alley.  I get frustrated when I read a rhyme or song and I think "well maybe you think that's to the tune of America the Beautiful but I just cannot make that work."  KCLS will help you out.   I really appreciate that they will sing, dance to and just plain demonstrate the entire rhyme or song.  

Sunflower Storytime -  This is a really comprehensive blog.  It's well organized and a has a lot fun things to offer from preplanned storytimes on a variety of themes, to hands on crafts and other activities.  I actively subscribe to page updates via email and I have a ton of the emails archived for later dates to help me stay ahead on my planning.  I am madly in love with the printables, which are super sharp and reproduce nicely.   I really appreciate the school age ideas, they always give me a nudge in the right direction.

Storytimes to Go and More - This closed Facebook group is a wealth of knowledge. While that might sound corny, it can be a relief to know that the answers are out there.  Sometimes I just need to talk to other Youth Libs.  Maybe I have a question about behavior in storytime, or how to train my brain to finally remember this week's rhyme.  Better minds have walked these trails before so why not benefit from the experience of others when you know there is an easier way.  Personally I like to beat my head against a wall at first but once I'm ready to ask for help, this group is always there for me.

Storytime Underground -  If I were the President of Storytime and I had a cabinet of librarians to inspire me they would be The Storytime Underground.  Half the time I'm not even sure what sort of program to do next and before you can say Ram-a Lamb- a ding dong, I have more ideas than my Pinterest boards can accommodate.  I find this group to be highly motivated and very encouraging.  In moments of stress and weakness,  I enjoy the camaraderie of the highly caffeinated Storytime Underground.  

Enjoy!


Laura

Disclaimer

Preschool Storytime - Lego/Construction

Howdy

This is the program that I sweated and fretted over so it would be perfect for job interviews.  It may be a bit neurotic but I did have a great time presenting this storytime to my preschoolers and their parents.

Opening

• Song - Hello Everybody by Peter and Ellen Allard
• Book - Tip Tip, Dig Dig by Emma Garcia
• egg shakers -  Construction Time on Sunflower Storytime.

• Song - Everything is Awesome from The Lego Movie Soundtrack
• free dance with egg shakers 

• Hello My Name is Joe - Peter and Ellen Allard 

• Felt Board - Five Little Legos 

Originally I wanted to do Five Little Legos, which I had seen on Thrive After Three. Sometimes I'm limited by my own imagination but this time I was limited by supplies. So I made up a new rhyme for counting Lego Blocks.

5 legos in a tower tall
I want to knock them over and make them fall
I'll clean up my toys one by one

Felt Lego blocks that stick to nearly
everything, even wool pants.

let's count to see when I am done

4 legos in a tower tall
I want to knock it over and make them fall
I'll clean up my toys one by one
let's count to see when i am done

3 legos in a tower tall
I want to know it over and make them fall
I'll clean up my toys one by one
let's count to see when i am done

2 legos in a tower tall
I want to knock them over and make them fall
I'll clean up my toys one by one
let's count to see when i am done

1 lego in a tower tall
I want to knock it over and make it fall
I'll clean up my toys one by one
But theres nothing to count because we are all done.

• Book - Who made this cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa 

• Felt Board - Dump Trucks
• I saw this idea from Construction Time on Sunflower Storytime.  They suggest you use colored paper strewn on the floor and encourage the children to match the colors of the paper to the colors of the truck.  In the original there are three trucks but I had fives colors from the Lego project so there are five trucks too.

Great simple shapes I can use over
and over again. 

Dump trucks, dump trucks, Cleaning up the town.
Do you see any garbage lying around?
Pick up the trash and match it to a truck, 
Soon the whole town will be all cleaned up!

• Book - Diggers Go by Steve Light

• Finger Play - I’m a Builder Tune of “Frere Jacques” (Modified from the original by Jean Warren)

I’m a builder!
Hear me pound!
Hear my sound!
Tap- a tap, a tap-tap
Tap-a tap, a tap-tap
All day long!
All day long!

• Book - Trucks Go by Steve Light

• Finger Play - Five Little Nails (Modified from the original by Melissa Depper, Denver Colorado)

Five little nails, standing straight and steady.
Here I come with my hammer ready!
BAM! BAM! BAM! One nail goes down.
Four little nails are left to pound.

Four little nails, standing straight and steady.
Here I come with my hammer ready!
BAM! BAM! BAM! One nail goes down.
Three little nails are left to pound.

Three little nails, standing straight and steady.
Here I come with my hammer ready!
BAM! BAM! BAM! One nail goes down.
Two little nails are left to pound.

Two little nails, standing straight and steady.
Here I come with my hammer ready!
BAM! BAM! BAM! One nail goes down.
One little nail is left to pound.

One little nail, standing straight and steady.
Here I come with my hammer ready!
BAM! BAM! BAM! That nail goes down.
No little nails are left to pound.

• Book - Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker

Closing 

Peter Hammers

Laura

Disclaimer

Mock Newbery Award - 2015 Wright State University

Howdy
I attended a 1st Annual Mock Newbery Awards hosted at Wright State University. We met Saturday, January 17th from 9am-2pm at the Charles & Renate Frydman Educational Resource Center in Allyn Hall.  Prior to meeting we had all read 10 fiction titles with the potential to be considered at the real Newbery Award. I read most of my books as e-ink but I learned that people on the Newbery committee are required to read all potential titles in print, so no audiobooks, e-ink, manuscripts, galleys are ARCs are allowed. 

The announcement of the 2015 Youth Media Awards will take place at 8:00 a.m. Central time on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, during the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibition in Chicago. (YMA)

 We debated the pros and cons of each of the ten titles.  Below are main ideas to take away and the results of our vote. 

Candidates:

• Alexander, Kwame The Crossover Houghton Mifflin Harcourt                           (ISBN13: 9780544289598) 

Pro - verse format, sports, strong parents, rhythm and flow, parents took turns taking care of each other, family dynamic, solid involved married, responsible adults, relevancy, realistic, figurative language, chapter titles structure the novel as though it were a game, sibling rivalry, advice that we hear but don't accept, look like you aren't paying attention but you consider it later

Con - hard to visualize things, couldn't always tell brothers apart, seemed more teen than juvenile, moves on the court are too advanced for junior high kids, newspapers don't often cover the junior high games even an all star team for junior high, foreshadowing with father was a missed chance to do something

• Auxier, Jonathan The Night Gardener Amulet Books/Abrams                           (ISBN13: 9781419711442) 

Pros - amazing art work, embedded storytelling, fun characters, kids as the smart ones, sister as strong protector, reference to other stories , good emotional content, loss of parents put in historical context, advanced vocabulary, mystery, stories to deal with conflict, concept of the ghost in the tree, crutch called courage, movie potential, what are you willing to put up with even if it’s hurting you or killing you

Cons - not enough art work, slow plot, not scary enough, the ending as sort of a let down it felt like the easy way out, too dark? absent parents, predictable, elements of background knowledge the children may not have a reference to or familiarity with

• Engle, Margarita Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal, HMH Books for Young Readers (ISBN13: 9780544109414) 

pro - novel in verse, good way to learn about a new topic, school use with history lesson, emotions, frame for talking about current events, different styles of poetry like those for the animals, concrete poems, human impact on the environment , complete picture, language was beautiful, believable characters, learned the most, comparison to South African Apartheid

con - most readers won't be familiar with any of the history, teen,  need to convince a teacher to use this as a class novel, don't see teens picking this up off the shelf

• Lloyd, Natalie A Snicker of Magic Scholastic (ISBN13: 9780545552707) 

pro - fun quirky family, magic, vocabulary, Jonah is a strong character who follows his beliefs, refreshing, fun, wove in real experiences, hopeful and uplifting, words matter more than you know, symbolism, creates a connection to other characters with the words, emotional language, wins you over, debut novel, kids crave a bit of the expected, family setting is realistic, attractive cover but not childish, old souls

con - too familiar, too predictable, easy to compare to many other novels

• Martin, Ann M. Rain Reign Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan (ISBN13: 9780312643003) 

pro - dog story, character with unique challenges, Aspergers, single parent, strong uncle, unexpected ending, based on truth story, teaches empathy, quick accessible read for a wide audience, understand Rose’s worries and those of her classmates, contrast of father's voice with uncle's voice, uncle saw the good in her, fun with homonyms, very clear in her descriptions, see her improvement with support of the uncle, feel her frustrations, no one was trying to change her, learning coping skills, think about the things that we say

con - characters were caricatures, only main character and family seemed real, does not seem realistic that if her schedule was changed so often that she got upset but at home lots of things went wrong that she handled better, character being left home alone

• Preus, Margi West of the Moon Amulet Books/Abrams (ISBN13: 9781419708961) 

pro - cultural details, folklore, vocabulary, story of the crossing was instructive, can understand how much people what they were willing to go through to get to America, unique, fresh, mystery of the sister, master storyteller, makes you want to hear the tale, seamless, journey, suspending disbelief, distinguished 

con - few adult characters are redeemable, helpful notes are at the end to explain every thing but you really need the notes during the story to understand the plot as it is happening,  fairy tales are over done, beginning was contrived, disconnected with reality, abrupt ending, dark and unresolved elements

• Sheinkin, Steve The Port Chicago 50 Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan             (ISBN13: 9780804167444) 

pro - compelling history, first hand accounts, great  for classroom use, unique content and presentation, positive contribution to Civil Rights knowledge, power of redemption, takes away from the shining glory of war stories, hard realities, strong details, parallel to Tuskegee Airmen, narrative nonfiction, made it personal, well researched

con -  bland writing, not descriptive , needed notes on the pages to explain where the information came from, court room drama was sort of glossed over, needs to work with a great storyteller, reader is left with a lot of questions, help reader put information in context 

• Starmer, Aaron The Riverman Farrar Straus Giroux/Macmillan                         (ISBN13: 9780374363093) 
  

pro - strangely compelling characters, story draws you in, dark, unpredictable,  two sides to everything, all the characters were duplicitous, science fiction elements 

con - maybe too dark, references to sex and kissing, for older readers, part of a trilogy , kids do a lot of mischief with pee in balloons, and someone is shot but they never call the police, sexual abuse, confounding, hard to explain or pitch to readers 

• Wilson, N.D. Boys of Blur Random House (ISBN13: 9780449816738) 
  
  
  

pro -  boys are amazing like superheroes, magic, great imagery, strong themes about family, brotherhood and loss , relationships, adventure, appealing, strong mystery, dominant setting, Beowulf references, coach as leader, not horror but scary, visceral and tactile

con - dark magic , father is married to a swamp witch, geography unclear, doesn't deal with race, white woman is married to a black man but it’s not an issue, would it work better in a fictional town?, transition from realistic to magic is abrupt, doesn't deal with poverty

• Woodson, Jacqueline Brown Girl Dreaming Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin     (ISBN13: 9780399252518)

pro - historical fiction, autobiography in verse, family, emotions, strength, lovely and touching, each poem can stand alone, flows beautifully, style was a good choice for the story, strong visuals, see change in history,coming of age,not the change agents just trying to survive, scared to have a voice, stand the test of time, relevance, tired of traveling, inner conflict, loved her mom but didn't like who mom was

con - slow pace, pictures at the end and not interspersed, how did she decide what to put in and what to leave out, no reconnecting with father, leaves out author's homosexuality, doesn't touch on her difficulty reading, how did she overcome her issues in school to be a writer

Verdict:

Winner:

• Woodson, Jacqueline Brown Girl Dreaming Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin (ISBN13: 9780399252518)

Honor:

• Alexander, Kwame The Crossover Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (ISBN13: 9780544289598)

• Martin, Ann M. Rain Reign Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan (ISBN13: 9780312643003)

Laura

Disclaimer