I repeated my National Library week story time from Wednesday morning for two more groups this week. Both were Pre-K classes in the neighborhood public schools. I didn't vary the routine at all, but I did have somewhat different experiences with the same material.
The Thursday morning visit was held at my library, since the school is right next door. The group was split about evenly between kids who are four and kids who have recently turned five. They must be used to longer books because they told me my stories were short. Their favorite book, by far, was Otto the Book Bear, though they were also pretty excited to read D.W.'s Library Card. They didn't know D.W. stood for anything, but they did know that Arthur was her brother. They also loved the Laurie Berkner song so much, they asked to do it a fourth time - which, of course, we did!
The teacher was lovely, and we're already working on planning more visits for the rest of this school and the start of next. She also told me I have a nice singing voice, which is always such a nice thing to say to someone who has to sing in front of groups every day. It was a great experience.
The Friday morning visit was also great. The kids were a little more free with their comments, which is the style I usually prefer, and they got into the "I'm Going Down to the Library" song much more than either of the other two. A little boy noticed right off that we missed the hen in I Took My Frog to the Library so I wound up having to confess that I skipped the card catalog page. The kids were mostly forgiving. They also enjoyed Otto the Book Bear, and unlike the Thursday group, they guessed right away that the building Otto enters was the library. Both groups, interestingly, were sure Otto would find his original book again at the library, which I have to say would have been a pretty nice ending, even if it was predictable. This group did know D.W.'s name, mostly because of the television show, and they were much more invested in her story than in any of the others.
At the end of my session, the classroom teacher introduced me to her colleagues in the same hallway who also wanted to schedule visits, so I'll be heading back to that school in the next couple of weeks for more story time. I love it when things work out so well - I think I will call National Library week a success!
Friday, April 13, 2012
All New Top 100 Picture Book and Chapter Book Polls: My Top 10 Chapter Books
Betsy Bird, the New York Public Library's Youth Materials Collections Specialist, and the writer of School Library Journal's Fuse #8 blog, is hosting The All New Top 100 Picture Book and Chapter Book Polls. Like her 2009 Picture Book Poll and 2010 Chapter Book Poll, this new one will compile responses from bloggers, librarians, teachers, and other bookish folks, to highlight the top 100 books in both categories. I am really excited that she has taken on this project again, because I missed the picture book poll the first time around, and I have never really been satisfied with the list I submitted for chapter books last time, either.
Lists are being accepted until 11:59pm on Sunday night (April 15), so there's still time to get your votes in. In the meantime, here is my chapter book list. I will share my picture book list here on the blog next Friday.
Lists are being accepted until 11:59pm on Sunday night (April 15), so there's still time to get your votes in. In the meantime, here is my chapter book list. I will share my picture book list here on the blog next Friday.
 | 1. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (Click for my review.) |
 | 2. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (Click for my review.) |
 | 3. Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me, Elizabeth by E.L. Konigsburg |
 | 4. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle |
 | 5. Blubber by Judy Blume |
 | 6. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo |
 | 7. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Click for my Goodreads review.) |
 | 8. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (Click for my review.) |
 | 9. One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin (Click for my review.) |
 | 10. The Trouble with Chickens by Doreen Cronin (Click for my review.) |
Thursday, April 12, 2012
6 Kids' Books About Sisters
 | The Secret Life of Prince Charming by Deb Caletti Quinn, her little sister, Sprout, and their half-sister, whom they've never met, set out to right the wrongs committed by their father by returning items he's taken from his former girlfriends. |
 | Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle Things become complicated between Carly and her sister Anna when Anna's body changes and she suddenly becomes "hot." |
 | Ten Rules for Living with My Sister by Ann M. Martin Pearl and her older sister Lexie could not be more different. These differences are highlighted when their grandfather moves in and the girls are forced to share a room. |
 | The Day I Had to Play With My Sister by Crosby Bonsall A big brother and little sister play hide and seek together, but they don't play the game exactly the same way. |
 | The Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck When fifteen-year-old Russell's teacher dies, he doesn't count on his older sister taking her place. |
 | The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall The four sisters introduced in The Penderwicks conspire to keep their father from dating the wrong person, while dealing with their own personal dramas at their home on Gardam Street. |
 | The Sisters Club by Megan McDonald Alex, Stevie, and Joey, the dramatic daughters of a theater owner, use their Sisters Club as the forum for sisterly conflict, friendship, enmity, and hilarity. |
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Jazz Appreciation Month Program, 4/11/12
My library system partners with the Smithsonian every year to provide jazz-themed programs during Jazz Appreciation Month. Last year, I just did a jazz-themed story time during one of my regular story time slots. This year, I wanted to challenge myself to do something for older kids, and something where kids might actually learn a little something about jazz.
Thankfully, my fiance is a jazz expert, and I was able to ask him for help. He suggested borrowing some ideas from Apple, Banana, Carrot, a program designed to teach kids to be creative with music before they even know how to read music or play an instrument. I didn't adhere to the method very closely; however, I borrowed some of its basic ideas and built a program around them.
Here is the outline of what we did:
Opening Song (with musical instruments): Hello, how are you?
We did the same hello song we always do, but instead of "Clapping my hands" I sang, "I'm playing music, you do it too." The kids got the biggest kick out of singing an old favorite in a new way. Instruments we played included rhythm sticks, shaker eggs, and triangles.
I really wanted to read a book that would be fun as well as educational. What I came up with was this great picture book which can be sung to the tune of This Old Man, but which also provides biographical information about some great jazz artists. Before sharing the book, I read it twice and noted the names, nicknames, and birthplaces of each "jazz man" so I could introduce them to the kids without flipping to the back matter every single time I turned a page. I attached my notes to the back of the book, and encouraged the kids to join me in saying "Satchmo" and "Bojangles" and trying to imitate some of the scat syllables. And of course, I sang the book, too, which makes all the difference.
I did my best to sing the parts of this I felt comfortable singing, and then I read the rest. Last year, I used the recording, and I think I would have done better to use it today as well, but it still worked out okay.
I'm a big fan of Rachel Isadora, and was really glad she had a jazz-related title. It was just short and succinct enough to be the perfect third book in this story time.
Song with Musical Instruments: "I Love Jazz" by Louis Armstrong
This song was on the long side, and the kids did not get excited about playing their instruments. I tried to make it exciting by giving them directions - "Play your instrument above your head!" etc. - but they mostly stared blankly.
Powerpoint Presentation: Click here to download.
The Apple, Banana, Carrot Method uses objects, animals and animal sounds to substitute for notes. In measures of four beats each, the selected objects can be mixed and matched, along with "shhh" (rests), to create different phrases.
The first "song" I created looked like this:
After we did this one a couple of times, we tried more complicated ones:
Craft: Composing Worksheet
My fiance happened to have the Apple, Banana, Carrot materials left over from his past life as an elementary music teacher, so he made copies of a simple activity for me. Basically, the worksheet mirrored the tables in my slides - four boxes per line - and it gave the kids animal faces to plug into the boxes. The kids cut and pasted their animals of choice, and then grabbed a musical instrument to try playing it. Some very musically inclined kids got really into it - others just liked gluing. I even had some babies and toddlers who just liked being in on the action and trying out the sounds of different instruments.
The biggest lesson learned today was that all ages programming works best when there is something in it for every age. I often get frustrated when my programs for older children are "crashed" by the little ones, but today truly felt like a success, and I think that was partly because there was such a wide range of ages. I'd like to experiment with more programs like this, where the activities work on a number of different levels for all different types of kids.
Additional jazz titles which have been on display in my library so far this month include:
- Jazzy Miz Mozetta by Brenda C. Roberts, illustrated by Frank Morrison
- Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
- Jessica the Jazz Fairy by Daisy Meadows
- Jazzmatazz by Stephanie Calmenson, illustrated by Bruce Degen
- Hot Jazz Special by Jonny Hannah
- Jazz on a Saturday Night by Leo and Diane Dillon
- Before John was a Jazz Giant by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Sean Qualls
- Sweethearts of Rhythm by Marilyn Nelson
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