Construction – eStorytime

Posted on September 7, 2016 by jeninthelibrary

In August we had the last of our Summer eStorytime series. I realized that I already had a few different apps on construction, so I decided to use some of those and build an eStorytime around that theme.

Opening Slide on Keynote:

SONG:

Welcome Song

MOVEMENT:

Cranes
Cranes reach up. (reach up)
Cranes reach down. (reach down)
Cranes reach out, (reach straight out)
And all around. (turn around)

taken from Pre-K Fun

APP:

Build and Play 3D from Croco Studios ( iOS, Samsung, Android)

We started storytime by building a construction vehicle – a crane! I was a little worried at first, because we had more kids than there were pieces to put in the puzzle, but then at they end when the crane was finished you could play with the controls on it, so the kids who didn’t get to put a piece on the crane did that.

eBook/APP:
App - Sleepy Moles Moving Day5

Sleepy Mole’s Moving Day from Ginger Whale illustrated by Melanie Matthews

Mole is sleeping when he is rudely awakened by construction workers who have flooded light into his home — and now it’s too bright for him. So, he sets off to find a new place to sleep. At this point in the app, users are able to choose-their-own-adventure type app, which kids being able to pick from different directions on the screen to choose where Mole should dig. After digging for a while, Mole eventually finds a place to sleep and the story ends.

MOVEMENT:
Rocket

(to the tune of: “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”)
This is the way we pound our nails,
pound our nails, pound our nails.
This is the way we pound our nails,
So early in the morning.

Other verses:
saw our wood
use a screwdriver
drill a hole
stack the bricks
paint the walls

(rhyme taken from Pre-K Fun)

APP:
App - Sago Mini Toolbox 1

Sago Mini Toolbox ($2.99; iOS, Kindle, Android)

There are two different ways to play using this app. When the app first comes up, you can choose to build different things with Dog, or just play with the different tools with Bird. We chose to build with Dog, and the kids had fun doing different actions to make Dog a house, and Gnome a Basketball hoop.

Song/Movement:
Johnny Works with One Hammer

Johnny works with one hammer
(move one hand up and down as if using a hammer)
one hammer, one hammer.
Johnny works with one hammer,
Then he works with two.

Johnny works with two hammers
(move two hands up and down as if using a hammer)
two hammers, two hammers.
Johnny works with two hammers,
Then he works with three.

Johnny works with three hammers
(move two hands up and down as if using a hammer and stamp one foot)
three hammers, three hammers.
Johnny works with three hammers,
Then he works with four.

Johnny works with four hammers
(move two hands up and down as if using a hammer and stamp two feet)
four hammers, four hammers.
Johnny works with four hammers,
Then he works with five.

Johnny works with five hammers
(move two hands up and down. stamp two feet, and nod head)
five hammers, five hammers.
Johnny works with five hammers,
Then he goes to sleep!

BOOK:

What Can a Crane Pick Up? by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, illustrated by Mike Lowery

APP:

Little Builders from Fox & Sheep (iOS, Android, Amazon; $2.99)

Little Builders opens on a scene where a lot of construction is taking place – there are streets to sweep, buildings to paint, roofs to lay and more! For this storytime, we choose to build a brick wall. You have to lay down the mortar cement, and that put a brick down on top of that. Of course, you can put down bricks without the cement, but your wall may not hold when a strong wind comes! Each child got to put down a brick.

APP:

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld from Oceanhouse Media ($3.99,iOS)

This book is based on the book of the same name. Oceanhouse Media always does a faithful job of turning books into apps in a respectful, fun way.

MOVEMENT: “Storytime’s Over”*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Sago Mini – Trucks and Diggers (iOS, Kindle, Android; $2.99)
APP: Nosy Crow – Bizzy Bear Builds a House (iOS, $3.99)
APP: Dr. Panda Handyman (iOS, Kindle, Android; $2.99)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:

I did this storytime a while ago, so I don’t remember too many pointers that I wanted tell myself. I do remember, though, that I need to watch my time more carefully when doing an eStorytime. It takes a lot of time to go around the room and have the kids participate, so I often run over and what is supposed to be a half hour storytime turns more into 45-50 minutes.

I had a good size group for this one.

ATTENDANCE: 15 people (children and adults)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

Please note: App prices were correct at the time of writing this blog, but may have changed since. All prices taken from the iOS app price. There may also be changes to available platforms for apps as well.

Special thanks to Digital Storytime for their app reviews by subject, that make putting together a themed eStorytime much easier.

Outer Space – eStorytime

Posted on July 21, 2016 by jeninthelibrary

I’ve been a little slow in blogging about my estorytimes this summer. So here’s the one I presented on July 8th. I’m considering it a posting success since I’m getting it done before the end of the month!

Opening Slide on Keynote:

SONG:

Welcome Song

APP:

Lazoo: Squiggles! (iOS, free)
(This may now be available as part of the Lazoo Art Box, iOS, $1.99)

Each child got a chance to draw a squiggle behind a rocket to help blast off into space! (Ok, well, to blast us off into a storytime about space, anyway.)

eBook/APP:

Monster’s Socks (iOS, Android; $1.99)
created by Jordan Stone and Martin Hughes, music by Bob Schneider

Monster’s Socks have run away and he sets out on an epic quest to find them, that leads him through fields, over water, and into space.

This is an interesting app, because instead of page turns, you walk Monster through his adventure. Whenever Monster comes across a yellow circle, the text of the story appears. It’s a fun and engaging tale, and since my group was a little older this time it seemed to work pretty well (it’s a bit long).

MOVEMENT:
Rocket

I’m a rocket on the ground (crouch down on ground).
Waiting quietly without a sound (say softly and put finger to lips)
Light this fuse on my little toe (wiggle little toe, or point finger at toe).
Ready for blastoff, here I go! (Put hands over head to form rocket point).
5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 (Jump into air)
Whooosh!

(rhyme taken from SLC Book Boy)

PRINT BOOK:
Zoom, Rocket, Zoom! by Margaret Mayo, illustrated by Alex Ayliffe

APP:

Felt Board from Software Smoothie ($2.99; iOS)
I used Felt Board to recreate this rhyme taken from Mel’s Desk via Falling Flannelboards

If You’re Going to the Moon
(to tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It)

If you’re going to the moon, wear your spacesuit (ziiiiip)
If you’re going to the moon, wear your spacesuit (ziiiiip)
If you’re going to the moon and you want to get there soon
If you’re going to the moon, wear your spacesuit (ziiiiip)

Other Verses:

…wear your boots (stomp, stomp)

…wear your helmet (pat head, pat head)

…wear your gloves (clap, clap)
…are you ready and dressed? (say, “Oh yes!”)

I was so excited that Felt Board had all the pieces I needed to turn this rhyme into a digital flannelboard story! I started with just the woman on the space background, then added the different pieces of clothing as we got to those. Ok, sure the spacesuit had gloves and boots connected to it, but we jazzed things up a bit using a different color. Fun!

Song/Movement:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

APP:

Sweet Dreams Mo from StoryToys (iOS; $2.99)

Mo can’t sleep without his friends! So he voyages into space to bring them home.

A charming bedtime story app, this one was fun because each of the kids in the audience got to take a turn tapping at the different plants where Mo’s friend’s are hiding. I thought this one might take too long when I tried it on my own, but it seemed to work really well with the group.

MOVEMENT: “Storytime’s Over”*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Sago Mini Space Explorer (iOS, Android, Kindle; $2.99)
APP: Twinkle Twinkle from SuperSimple Learning (iOS, $2.99)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:
This was my largest eStorytime yet! I had a summer school group come in. At first I was worried that not everyone would get to touch and tap along with the stories, but it worked out really well. I was also glad that the group was a bit older, since both the book apps I chose to use were on the longer side.

I did learn an important lesson — make sure your iPad (or other tablet device) has enough space on it to run the apps properly. Since I’ve been working on eStorytimes for a while I’ve collected quite a few apps, and they are taking up precious memory on my device. I think that’s why my iPad froze TWICE! during this storytime. The first time we sang the “If You’re iPad’s disconnected song”. The next time was during our last story, and it didn’t look like things were going to unfreeze early enough to make it worthwhile. Lesson learned. Time to delete! Also future self: buy more memory than you think you need!

One of the best parts of this storytime was afterward, I had a parent there who asked me about the apps I used. She said that she was a teacher and that she really liked what I had done with those, and wanted to try something similar with her students. It made me feel like a real media mentor, and in the best way — but do no explicit teaching, but just by showing an example of what this technology can be.

ATTENDANCE: 18 people (children and adults)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

Special thanks to Digital Storytime for their app reviews by subject, that make putting together a themed eStorytime much easier.

Boats – eStorytime

Posted on June 21, 2016 by jeninthelibrary

Summer eStorytime came a lot faster than I anticipated! (Doesn’t everything in the summer-library-world come faster than anticipated?), so I decided to stick with a theme I had done, and just make it digital. This was my eStorytime from 6/10/2016.

Opening Slide on Keynote:

SONG:

Come Along and Sing with Me

APP:
app-Build and play 3d2

Build and Play 3D from Croco Studios ( iOS, Samsung, Android)

To start things off we began by building a toy boat! I had the kids try to put the different pieces of the boat together.

eBook/APP:

A Shark Knocked on My Door from Mighty Yeti ($2.99 iOS, Android, Kindle)

On a rainy day, a boy and his grandma build a boat to sail down the streams on the street, only to have it fall down the gutter. Imagine their surprise when a shark knocks on the door to return it!

This story felt a little long for the group I had, so I shorted it by just reading until the Shark says he has to leave for pizza dinner, and didn’t share the undersea adventures portion. It worked just fine that way.

MOVEMENT:
My Little Sailboat

PRINT BOOK:

Mr. Gumpy’s Outing by John Burningham

APP:

Boats from Sago Mini ( $2.99: iOS, Android, Kindle)

Sago Mini’s Boats is, just like all Sago Mini apps, wonderful. In this one, you help Harvey the dog choose his boat, and then float along to visit his friends at different islands. Once we reached the island, I had kids help with whichever activity we found there

APP:

Felt Board from Software Smoothie ($2.99; iOS)
I used Felt Board to recreate the rhyme “5 Sailboats” taken from Felt Board Ideas

Five Little Boats
5 little boats went out one day
Over the waves and far away
With the wind they began to rock
And one little boat returned to the dock.

4 little boats….

I started with the five pirate ships (those were the only boats I could find on the app) on the mostly blue background. (They also have a lovely shoreline one, but that was harder to fit all five ships on.) Each time a boat returned to the dock, I just deleted it from the board.

eBook/APP:

Boats by Byron Barton from Oceanhouse Media ($1.99; iOS)

A classic transportation book comes to life as an app. My group for this storytime skewed younger, so this app seemed like a good fit.

MOVEMENT:

These were two takes on the same melody. It was fun!

APP:

Fiete by Ahoiii ($2.99 iOS, Android)

Fiete is a sailor. Kids choose different icons on the screen, and then help Fiete with some simple tasks. I had each child take a turn choosing one of the icons, and then completing the associated activity. Again, this app is a good one for younger children.

MOVEMENT: “Storytime’s Over”*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Finn’s Paper Hat by Tizio BV ($2.99, iOS)
APP: How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long, illustrated by David Shannon from Oceanhouse Media ($3.99, iOS)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:
Like all my eStorytimes, this one was small, but it was still bigger than some of the ones I’ve had in the past. And, since I want the kids to interact with my iPad, it’s probably better that it doesn’t get too big. I think the kids and parents had a good time, and one of the parents asked about the different apps we used, which i I think is always a good sign.

ATTENDANCE: 6 people (children and adults)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

Special thanks to Digital Storytime for their wonderful app reviews by subject, that make putting together a themed eStorytime much easier.

Dogs – eStorytime

Posted on November 18, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

It’s been a while since I posted one of my eStorytimes. So, here is my monthly storytime I did in October about dogs.

Opening Slide on Keynote:
Slide1-2

SONG:

Come Along and Sing with Me

APP:

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell (no longer available as an app)

This is a wonderful adaptation of the beloved board book into an app. It’s simple, with the boxes that were lift-the-flaps in the print edition transformed into tapp-tastic fun. I just wish it was still available in the app store.

MOVEMENT:
Rover Can

We had fun pretending to be dogs! The kids enjoyed chiming in with suggestions for other things that dogs do.

eBook/APP:

Sago Mini Friends from Sago Sago (FREE; iOS, Android, Windows, Amazon)

Every Sago Mini app is amazing. In Friends, you get to choose a friend to be (we of course, picked Harvey the dog) and then visit other animal’s houses to play fun activities. When we played, storytime participates got to tuck Robin the bird and Harvey into bed, make a flower grow with Jinja the cat, blow up some balloons and more!

PRINT BOOK:

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

I’ve learned that it’s a good idea to keep something up on the screen while I am reading the print book, or else I end up getting our screensaver with photos (which the kids usually find more interesting than whatever I am reading), or the menu for Apple TV (which is ugly). When I first started doing eStorytime, I would put the cover of the book that I was going to read on the slide. But as I went on I found that didn’t afford me enough freedom to mix things up if I got a different audience than expected, or if I just wasn’t feeling the book that day. So I switched to a more generic screen shot like the one on the right. That works better for me.

APP:

Felt Board from Software Smoothie ($2.99; iOS)
I used felt board to do the song/rhyme “Five Little Puppy Dogs”

Five Little Puppy Dogs
5 little puppy dogs by the kennel door
One left the crowd, then there were four.
4 little puppy dogs, running round a tree
Mother called one home and then there were three.
3 little puppy dogs playing with a shoe
One ran after a cat, then there were two
2 little puppy dogs having so much fun
One went to find a bone, then there was one
1 little puppy dog sitting in the sun,
She went in the kennel and then there were none.

I started with five dogs on a blue background. Re-reading this rhyme again, I may see if I can add a dog house as well next time. Each time a puppy went away, I deleted it from the screen. I also had the kids doing this as a fingerplay with me, so they were using their fingers to do the rhyme.

APP:

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd, from Penguin New Zealand ($4.99; iOS)

A fun, straightforward ebook with a great rhyming scheme. Fans of Dr. Who take note: David Tennant narrates! (Of course, not for my storytime, but you know if I ever want to hear him I can just turn the narration on…)

APP:

Just Me and My Puppy by Mercer Mayer, from Oceanhouse Media ($1.99; iOS, Android, Kindle, Nook)

MOVEMENT:

Puppy Dog, Puppy Dog

MOVEMENT: “Storytime’s Over”*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Animal SnApp: Farm illustrated by Axel Scheffler, from Nosy Crow (I’m not sure if this app is still available) I liked this app a lot, and was hoping to use it, but I’ve found that some of the apps from Nosy Crow mirror strangely when I try to use them with our AppleTV. Anyone else have this problem?
APP: Meet Biscuit by Alyssa Capucilli, from iStorytime ($2.99; iOS, Amazon) Capucilli’s loveable dog in app form.

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:
This was a fun, but small, eStorytime. In some ways, the smaller groups work better, because it means more kids can interact with the iPad. But, I’m wondering if this is a good program to keep doing. Maybe Friday mornings aren’t the best time? Maybe our community isn’t interested? Maybe I need to do more publicity? So, since most of the Fridays that I work in November and December are holidays, I have decided to go back to the drawing board with our eStorytime program and evaluate if and how this can be done better.

However, since I’m behind in posting my eStorytimes, there will probably still be a few to go up on the blog.

ATTENDANCE: 4 people (children and adults)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

Airplanes – eStorytime

Posted on July 24, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

In the midst of Summer, with everyone taking vacations, I thought it would be fun to feature airplanes in today’s eStorytime!

Opening Slide on Keynote:
Airplanes eStorytime - 2015-07-24

SONG:

Come Along and Sing with Me

APP:

100 Planes from Michael Krynski ($2.99; iOS)

This simple app, part of the 100 things series, shows lots of pictures and has videos of all types of planes. I wanted to use this as a started for what the theme of storytime was going to be. I just showed a few different pictures from the app, and then played a short video clip.

APP:

Build and Play 3D from Croco Studio ($2.99 ; iOS, Android, Samsung app)

Before we read stories about planes, I thought we should build our own. Build and Play 3D is an app that includes a bunch of different toys (trucks, airplanes, robots, etc) and then you “assemble” the parts of the toy by touching and dragging on your tablet. It’s a fun way to build shape recognition and puzzle solving skills. I learned about this app at “Explore, Play and Imagine: Interactive Tech Time in Kids Library Programming” a presentation at ALA 2015 by staff from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburg.

eBook/APP:

Planes by Byron Barton from Oceanhouse Media ($1.99, iOS)

This book is what made me want to do a plane storytime. Based on the print book, it translates beautifully into a vibrant app. While the price above is for the single app, you can also buy the Bryon Barton Collection #1 from Oceanhouse Media which has Planes, Trains, Boats and Trucks for $4.99.

FINGERPLAY:

The Airplane
The airplane has great big wings (arms out at sides)
Its propeller spins around and sings (move arms in circle)
The airplane goes up (raise arms)
The airplane goes down (lower arms)
The airplane flies high (arms out at sides)
Over our town. (turn in a circle with arms out at sides)

APP:

Felt Board from Software Smoothie ($2.99; iOS)
I used felt board to do the song/rhyme “Five Little Airplanes” I found from pattyshukla on YouTube.

Five Little Airplanes
Five little airplanes flying around
Zoom…zoom…zomm
One decided to touch down …zoom
Leaving 4 little airplanes flying around.

Continue song with 4…3…2…1…

There were not little airplanes flying around
Then all 5 airplanes left the ground
Zooooooom!
All five airplanes flying around.

I started with five airplanes on a blue background. When we sang about them flying around I used my fingers to touch the screen and move the planes gently. When it was time for one of the planes to touch down, I just tapped on the trash can for the board, then on one of the planes so it would “zoom” away. When you get to the last verse of the song, just add five new planes to the screen. Fun!

PRINT BOOK:

My First Airplane Ride by Patricia Hubbell, illustrated by Nancy Speir

APP:

Plane Wash from Happy Touch Apps (FREE; iOS)

The title of this app explains it perfectly — you wash a plane. First, select which type of plane you’d like to clean. Next, go step by step to make sure that plane is sparkling – rinse it, scrub it, wipe it and dry it! For this app, I brought it down to the kids and we took turns doing the different cleaning activities.

MOVEMENT:

“Shake My Sillies Out” by Raffi from More Singable Songs

eBook/APP:

Around the World by James Carter and Anne Wilson from Collins Big Cat (FREE; iOS)

A brief story about children who travel around the world through sun and snow and visit Africa, India, and China. I just read the story part of the app, but one of the fun features of this (and all the free Collins Big Cat apps) is that they all come with a story creator section. You can use this to make your own stories using set backgrounds, objects, and characters from the story. Then add your own text. You can even record and listen to the stories you create.

SONG: “Storytime’s Over”*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Bamba Airport from, Mezmedia ($3.99; iOS): Similar to all the other Bamba apps, where you get to guide characters through all the steps of an airport or plane ride.
APP: Dr. Panda’s Airport from Dr. Panda ($3.99; iOS, Android, Amazon, Windows) Like Bamba Airport, take animals through the airport
APP: I Learn with Transportation from Dada Company ($2.99; iOS, Andriod, Amazon) Children learn shapes, colors, numbers and more by way of various methods of transportation.

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:
This storytime went pretty well! I think I am getting the hang of eStorytimes! (Knock on wood.) I had a really small group of people today (as you can see from the numbers below), but the adults were really interested in the apps I was using, and took lots of photos so they could remember them. One caregiver was very effusive in her compliments to me as well, saying that she liked that I stuck with a theme and she was very impressed by me. That was very sweet. And ti’s a nice thing to look back on and remember for when my programs don’t go so well.

ATTENDANCE: 4 people (children and adults)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

Shapes – eStorytime

Posted on March 14, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

When planning this storytime, it felt like there were a lot more good apps/ebooks about shapes than print ones about them. (At least in my library when I was last-minute-planning.)

Opening Slide on Keynote:
Shapes eStorytime - 2015-03-06 start slide

SONG:

Come Along and Sing with Me

APP:
Toddler Teasers – Shapes (FREE; iOS)

I thought it would be fun to start out the storytime by allowing kids to identify different shapes. I was asking my colleague AnnMarie (our resident iPad guru) for ideas about apps to use and she mentioned this one. It had exactly what I was looking for, except I wish I had played with it a bit long before deciding to use it. Because after a few kids got to play, you then “earn a sticker” which takes you out of the app a bit. It wasn’t a big deal, and you can continue playing after that, it’s just a reminded to use the apps for longer before I bring them out so there are no surprises.

APP:

Four Little Corners by Dada Company

In Four Little Corners little square wants to play with the little circles, but he can’t fit through the round door! Can the friends figure out a way to get everyone inside?

FINGERPLAY:

Draw a Circle
Draw a circle, draw a circle (draw a circle in the air with your finger)
Round as can be
Draw a circle, draw a circle
Just or me.

Draw a square, draw a square (draw a square in the air with your finger)
Shaped like a door
Draw a square, draw a square
with corners four.

Draw a triangle, draw a triangle (draw a triangle in the air with your finger)
With corners three
Draw a triangle, draw a triangle
Just for me.

APP:

Sago Mini Pet Cafe by Sago Sago ($2.99, iOS)

This time, we played the “dog” game with Sago Mini Pet Cafe. In this game, a purple shaded version of a food is placed in front of the animal and the user has to drag the purple shape with their finger to match it to the white shape. When you get it right, the shape shows you want it is, the animal eats it, and then you get to see what the animal things of the food. Dog is not a fan of broccoli, apparently. I walked around with the iPad so that each of the children present had a turn to match the shapes.

eBOOK:

The Shape of Me and Other Stuff by Dr. Seuss from Oceanhouse Media (iOS, Android Kindle, Nook, $3.99)

The Dr. Seuss story comes to life in this app. The app will say the name of some of the shapes when you tap on them, so this makes it fun to have the guess what a silhouette is, and then see if they are right!

MOVEMENT:

“Jump Up, Turn Around” by Jim Gill from Jim Gill’s Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

APP:

Tino the Triangle from Larixpress (iOS; free for starter story, $1.99 for full story)

This was a fun app to read/play because it is half story, half guessing game. The story begins, and as you tap the yellow triangle it turns into the blue background page with an animal noise sound. The children can guess the animal and then tap again to see if they are correct! Some of the noises are actually pretty difficult to decipher.

SONG: “Storytime’s Over”*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Round is a Mooncake by Roseanne Thong, Illustrated by Grace Lin from PicPocket Books ($2.99 iOS)
APP: Geoboard by The Math Learning Center from Clarity Innovations (FREE; iOS) (To make shakes on the board)
APP: Busy Shapes by Seven Academy ($1.99; iOS) (This may have been a good alternative to Toddler Teasers Shapes that I used in the beginning)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:
After looking through the estorytimes I have done, I realized that most of my technical issues arise when I am moving from one media to the other (like from iPad mirroring to cd). This time, so as to avoid that, I decided to play the Jim Gill action song I use through the iPad. I forgot to add it to my playlist, but I did find a streaming version of it online and just went there to play it. And it worked!

ATTENDANCE: 14 people (children and adults)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

App prices were correct at the time of writing this blog, but may have changed since. There may also be changes to available platforms for apps as well.

Birds – eStorytime

Posted on February 6, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

After one blissfully tech issue free eStorytime, it’s back to having to deal with a few. I think it’s just a matter of doing this enough to figure out what is going wrong, so I know what to do to fix it. But, glitches aside, this was still a great fun time! And I had parents after asking about some of the apps — exactly what we want to happen!!

Opening Slide on Keynote:

APP:

Animal Sounds – Fun Toddler Game by Innovative Mobile Apps/Alligator Apps
(FREE; iOS)

Before storytime I actually had a eStorytime regular asking me what the storytime was going to be about. I used this app to have the children figure out the theme. For this app, I turned of the mirroring function of the iPad so that you couldn’t see the images on my screen. Then I played an animal sound, and had the children see if they could guess what it was. (I also used this same intro for my cats eStorytime, but used a different app).

SONG:

Come Along and Sing with Me

I should have done this prior to doing the bird sound app, but I was so excited to start with that I forgot about our song. I used Keynote to project the lyrics to parents.

APP:

Jerry’s Day Out! by Ink Robin ($2.99 ;iOS)

A cute story of a budgie bird who gets lost in New York, and travels all over the city to be reunited with his friends. The kids especially loved the break dancing pigeons interaction on the app. I really like this story, and think it would be perfect for one-on-one sharing, or with an older audience, but it may have been too long for my preschoolers.

FINGERPLAYS:

Little Robin Redbreast
Little Robin Redbreast (make fist and join thumb & index finger)
Sitting on a rail (rest wrist on edge of other hand)
Nibble nabble goes his head (move thumb & index finger up and down)
Wiggle waggle goes his tail (tilt wrist over other hand)

5 Little Birds
Five little birds without any home (raise left hand fingers)
Five little trees in a row (raise right hand fingers)
Come build your nest in our branches tall (interlace fingers)
We’ll rock you to and fro (sway nest gently)

APP:

Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App! by Mo Willems from Disney ($5.99 ;iOS)

I selected the Big Pigeon version of the storytelling mode, where the Bus Driver asks kids different questions and then records their answers to place in the story. It is one of the most adorable and funny things hearing the completed story “Don’t Let the Pigeon play the Game” we created.

SONG:
If the iPad’s Disconnected
(to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”
song taken from Cen Campbell)

If the iPad’s disconnected clap your hands.
If the iPad’s disconnected clap your hands.
I can fix it in a minute
I just have to re-connected it.
If the iPad’s disconnected clap your hands.

MOVEMENT:

“Jump Up, Turn Around” by Jim Gill from Jim Gill’s Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

APP:

Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton from Loud Crow Interactive (iOS, Android, Nook Color; $3.99)

Reading Jerry’s Day Out!, creating our own Pigeon story, and a few technical difficulties meant this storytime was running a little longer than planned. I changed my plan up a little bit to use this shorter story as the last element of the storytime. It wasn’t a hardship at all, since all of Boynton’s ebooks are amazing!

SONG: “Storytime’s Over”*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Angus the Irritable Bull from Watermark LTD (2.99; iOS)
APP: Felt Board by Software Smoothie (for two little bluebirds, or lots of other bird fingerplays (iOS: $2.99)
APP: Pete and the Secret of Flying by Apps4Kids.com (FREE; iOS)
APP: Peepers I Say, You Say… by Once Upon an App ($1.99; iOS)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:

This was really fun, and it was especially great to have the kids work together to create a story with the Pigeon App. Since this is my first time using that one, I would like to try it more and see what the different ways of building stories are and which works best for my groups. This was the app that I had a parent ask about at the end of storytime as well. I just wish there was some way to share the stories created on the app somehow – save it so I could send it to parents who participated, etc. I’m sure it doesn’t allow this due to copyright issues.

My tech issue this time was mainly that I had issues going from iPad sound to the cd player sound. I think I just need to make sure I have the tuner on for CD time, but make sure it is off for iPad time. There was a mirroring issue also around this time, but the iPad’s disconnected song made everyone laugh and helped smooth things over.

ATTENDANCE: 8 people (children and adults)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

App prices were correct at the time of writing this blog, but may have changed since. There may also be changes to available platforms for apps as well.

Shopping at the Market – eStorytime

Posted on January 9, 2015 by jeninthelibrary

Something amazing happened at this storytime, dear readers. There were no technical difficulties! The wireless worked! My iPad cooperated! The apps never froze! This is all especially wonderful since our main tech guy was out today. Hooray!

Opening Slide on Keynote:

I was thinking about no longer using the Powerpoint slides in between my presentation, but I really like putting up the words for the fingerplays and the rhymes so parents can sing along. Maybe just do it for when I need it?

SONG:

Come Along and Sing with Me

For this presentation, I actually deleted the text that says it’s to the tune of “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush” because I found that I kept singing it to the tune of “London Bridge”.

BOOK APP:

A Day in the Market story by May Tobias-Papa, illustrated by Isabel Roxas from Adarna house (iOS: $2.99; Android Free)

A wonderful story about a little Filipino girl and her trip to the market with her Nanay. You have to interact with the app in order to turn the page, and on some pages this can take a lot longer than others (especially the large market scene). But, there is a lot to talk about while that is on the screen, so it didn’t feel too forced during the storytime. Since my group was small today, I had the children tap and interact with the app during the sorting activity in the middle of the story and the cooking game at the end. Once they touch the device though, that’s all they want to do.

FINGERPLAY:

“Five Little Cookies in the Bakery Shop”
(I found this rhyme via the King County Library System Site. You should really watch their video because it is adorable.)

The rhyme seemed to be a big hit with the group.

APP:

Toca Store by Toca Boca (iOS; $2.99)
The kids help me set up a store together, each one got to pick out a few items they wanted to sell by actually tapping the iPad (The kids came running up to do this. It only went as well as it did because we had so few children there.) Then I played the customer and asked the group how much each item should cost. We counted the money together. Parents really wanted the purse when they found it magically supplied money for items if you didn’t have enough to buy it.

MOVEMENT:

“Jump Up, Turn Around” by Jim Gill from Jim Gill’s Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

PRINT BOOK:

To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda, illustrated by Janet Stevens

APP:

Nursery Rhyme with Storytime (iOS: FREE)

We read “This Little Piggy” from this app and did it together as a fingerplay as well.

APP:

Dino-Store by Roger Sedarat, illustrated by Trade Loeffler, from Bluemarker.
(iOS, FREE)

This is such a fun and funny story — and it’s free! Leo and his father go to the grocery store and are surprised when their large eggs hatch into dinosaurs on the way home! The interaction of the story is subtle, but funny.

APPS WE SHARED SLIDE:

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Just Grandpa and Me from Oceanhouse Media (iOS, Android, Nook, Kindle, HP TouchPad: $1.99)
APP: Five Little Monkeys go Shopping from appropos (iOS,$2.99)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:

This was a super fun storytime. I only wish that we got more people attending! Those who do come, however, seem to enjoy it. And having only a few people come does me we get to interact more, so I suppose that is the trade off.

Thanks to the wonderful category page at Digital-Storytime that helps me come up with theme and app ideas.

ATTENDANCE: 5 people (children and adults)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

App prices were correct at the time of writing this blog, but may have changed since. There may also be changes to available platforms for apps as well.

The Digital Shift: Appvisory in the Children’s Library

Posted on October 9, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Last week I presented at my first conference, The Digital Shift, presented by Library Journal and School Library Journal. A co-worker and I spoke about our recent project using iPads with children’s programming in the library. If you listened to that — thanks so much! And if not, it’s not too late do see our presentation.

School Library Journal just posted this wonderful recap and from that page you can also still register to see all our presentation. Take a look — I hope you find it useful!

And I’m still flipping out a little that we were featured on SLJ’s landing site:

Cats – eStorytime

Posted on October 3, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Today was my second-ever eStorytime! I learned a lot from the first one, so this one went a lot more smoothly. Sometimes you just have try something out and learn from your mistakes.

Opening Slide on Keynote:

I discovered that Keynote can do the exact thing that I was using Slide Shark to do last month. I just emailed a copy of my PowerPoint slides to myself, and then opened them using Keynote. Right now it is still easier for me to use PowerPoint on my work computer to get everything figured out, but maybe in the future I will just create things directly in Keynote. I also created more slides this time for the slide show, because I wanted to make sure I didn’t have dead air time on the screen where the AppleTV settings came up, or worse the screen saver. (The screen saver we had last time was set to cute animals. No one pays attention to a book being read when there are cute animals on the screen.)

APP:

Free Animal Sounds by Hakim Boukhatem (iOS: Free)
Before I announced the storytime theme for today, I said we were going to play a game. I turned off the mirroring element of the iPad, and held the iPad it towards me, then played the animal sound of a lion. I had the kids try to guess what made that sound. Then I turned the iPad around to show them the picture. I did this for these four different animals, then asked what they had in common — they were all cats!. Some of the sounds can be a little scary, so you may want to test them out before doing with really little ones. And it’s harder to guess a real animal noise than you might think! While I wish this app didn’t have banner advertising along the bottom, I do like it because it has large enough pictures that an audience can see on the iPad screen itself. I also like that the sound is the only thing that plays — not the animal’s name, thus making a game like this possible.

APP:

A Present for Milo. Written and Illustrated by Mike Austin. from Ruckus Mobile Media. (iOS: $2.99)
In this delightful book app Milo the cat and mouse are having a fun chase around the house. I just wish there was an option to turn off the narration of the story, but still retain the sound effects. Since, as of this writing, there isn’t, I just muted the iPad and read the story at my own pace. This worked perfectly. There are lots of places to click to find more mice hiding throughout the story, and many interactive elements. Since you can only use one interactive element at a time, they do sometimes feel slow to load.

FINGERPLAY:

“Ten Little Kittens”
(I don’t know where I got this rhyme from, it’s been so long. Forgive me for not giving credit.)

APP:

Sago Mini Pet Cafe by Sago Mini (iOS: $2.99)
Such a fun app! For this, we entered the Pet Cafe then, since we were having a storytime about cats, we tapped on the Cat game. I had children count up the pieces of toast as I added them to the plate, then we figured out who wanted to eat them together. Since I only had 3 kids in the group this time, I also walked up to each of the kids with the iPad and let them move the toast to who should eat it. Fun!

MOVEMENT:

“Jump Up, Turn Around” by Jim Gill from Jim Gill’s Sings Moving Rhymes for Modern Times

PRINT BOOK:

Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

APP:

Felt Board by Software Smoothie (iOS: $2.99)

On the Felt Board App, we did two different activities.

First, I had a few different cats set up, and then we made the sounds for each cat:
The tiny little kittens go mew, mew, mew
The tom cat goes Meow
The cat with the fiddle goes Fiddle Fiddle Fiddle
And the big jungle cat goes ROAR.

Next, I had a scene set up with a house, a large cat, and a tiny mouse and we did the following rhyme:

GREAT BIG CAT and TEENY LITTLE MOUSE

There was a GREAT BIG CAT

(Say “great big cat” in a big voice, make one hand be the cat)

and a TEENY LITTLE MOUSE

(Say “teeny little mouse” in a small squeaky voice, have other hand be small mouse)

Who ran around and around (Roll cat and mouse around each other)

in a tall, tall house! (Stretch arms above head)

Until that TEENY LITTLE MOUSE (Say “teeny little mouse” in a small squeaky voice)

got caught at last (Have cat catch mouse)

Because that GREAT BIG CAT (Say the “great big cat” in a big voice)

ran around so fast! (Roll cat and mouse around each other real fast)

(Rhyme from ArtFelt. They also have an amazing puppet set to go with it.)

APP:

Bean’s Night. Words by Sarah Hines Stephens, Picture by Anna Grossnickle Hines. from appropos. (iOS, Android, Nook $1.99)
All of the Bean apps from appropos are great for storytime. You have the option of turning the narration off, yet the fun sound effects still remain. They are based on board books, so the text is quite limited, but the story was so charming that the 3-5 year olds seemed just fine with it.

APPS WE SHARED SLIDE:

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Bean’s Baby from appropos (iOS, Android: FREE)
APP: Bean’s Games from appropos (iOS, Android: $1.99)
APP: Scruffy Kitty from wingedchariot (iOS: $4.99) I like this app, I just wish there was an option to turn off the narration!

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:

Technology-wise, this eStorytime went much better than my first. Taking my own suggestion, I asked our technology guy to sit in on this one, just to make sure everything was running fine. And of course, nothing went wrong, probably because he was there. But, I’ll take that! I also realized that turning off iPad’s sleep mode and requiring a login upon starting was probably a good idea. Oh! And during a practice session I realized it’s also a good idea to turn off all notifications for the iPad — don’t want any Facebook messages popping up during storytime. Of course, this all could be avoided if I used the professional iPad instead of my own personal one, but I like the ease of being able to practice with my own whenever I want, and adding new apps as I find them.

Also learning from last time, I put a slide of the cover of Kitten’s First Full Moon up on the screen behind it while I read the story — no adorably cute animal screen-savers this time. At the end of storytime, our tech guy let me know there was actually a button on the projector that lets you set the screen to blank, without fully turning off the projector. I think I will try this next time. There’s also a button for blank screen and muted sound. So helpful to know, and I wouldn’t have found it on my own.

We had a much smaller group of people at this one — only 6 people. I think we ran out of flyers. Must print some more.

Here’s looking forward to next month!

ATTENDANCE: 6 people (children and adults)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

All app prices were correct at the time of writing this blog, but may have changed since.

Jen in the Library

Storytimes, Programs and Library Thoughts

Category Archives: eStorytime

Construction – eStorytime

Outer Space – eStorytime

Boats – eStorytime

Dogs – eStorytime

Airplanes – eStorytime

Shapes – eStorytime

Birds – eStorytime

Shopping at the Market – eStorytime

The Digital Shift: Appvisory in the Children’s Library

Cats – eStorytime