Mice – Toddler Storytime

Posted on October 21, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I know that cats usually follow mice, but I decided to do things the other way around for this storytime session.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands, Clap Your Hands” from Tickles and Tunes by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

INTRODUCTION: with Mouse Puppet from Folkmanis

My friend this time was my brown mouse puppet. I had him come out and be shy to the audience (really, this is the only puppet-y thing I know how to do.) Then I pretended I didn’t know what he was and we went over his features together: 2 ears (where are your ears?), a little nose (show me your nose!), etc until they told me he was a mouse!

BOOK:

Mice by Rose Fyleman, illustrated by Lois Ehlert

MOVEMENT: “Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Mice

FLANNELBOARD:
Little Mouse, Little Mouse
(Pattern & Rhyme from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz & Dick Wilmes)

Little mouse, little mouse
Are you in the (insert color here) house?

I know I use this rhyme a lot, but it is one of my favorites. I like hiding other animals in the different houses so that it is a surprise when things are uncovered. The ones picture above are from some of my ArtFelt sets. I also like to leave one house empty with “nobody home”.

MOVEMENT: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Thank You Bear by Greg Foley

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Fingerplays and Footplays by Rosemary Hallum and Henry “Buzz” Glass

VIDEO:

“Playground” from Play Time Maisy

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Mouse’s Birthday by Jane Yolen illustrated by Bruce Degen
Book: Pip & Squeak by Ian Schoenherr
Book: Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley
Book: Lunch by Denise Fleming

HOW IT WENT:
This was a fairly good storytime. I am finding that the puppets seems to be a good way of kicking off the show. I don’t know if I will have puppets for all my different storytime themes, but so far it works alright. Mice was a great book to read. At the 10 am storytime, I didn’t do a very good job of emphasizing who it was that liked mice, so I made sure at the 11 am storytime to point that out. It was fun, and I think the colors carry very well. The groups were having trouble sitting still towards the end of storytime, so I shorted Thank You Bear by skipping a few of the pages. It worked just fine.

I originally meant to show the Dancing episode of Maisy – after the short episode the song was “The Wheels on the Bus” and I thought that might appease the heckler from last week. However, I didn’t cue the DVD correctly, so we watched Playground instead. Since the kid didn’t have a breakdown about “The Wheels on the Bus” I’m thinking we’re good.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 44 people 11 am: 44 people

* For these songs, please see my Storytime Movements & Music page

Mice – Infant Storytime

Posted on October 21, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

If you are going to do a cat storytime, it seems only fair to follow that up with a mice storytime! So today, we celebrated the many ways that mice are nice.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Roly Poly*

PARENT TIP: Rhymes with movement, like Roly Poly and other bounces, strengthen your child’s body and helps them develop control.
(taken from The Early Literacy Kit: A Handbook and Tip Cards by Etsy Diamant-Cohen and Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting. Available at the ALA Store)

BOOK:

Lunch by Denise Fleming

MOVEMENT: “Clap, Tap and Bend” from It’s Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

FLANNELBOARD:
Little Mouse, Little Mouse
(Pattern & Rhyme from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz & Dick Wilmes)

Little mouse, little mouse
Are you in the (insert color here) house?

I know I use this rhyme a lot, but it is one of my favorites. When using it with the infants, I put fewer houses up on the flannelboard so it doesn’t take as much time. I like hiding other animals in the different houses so that it is a surprise when things are uncovered. The ones picture above are from some of my ArtFelt sets. I also like to leave one house empty with “nobody home”.

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:
I
When the Elephant Walks by Keiko Kasza

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Hickory Dickory Dock

(Template and Rhyme from Mother Goose’s Playhouse by Judy Sierra)

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down.
Hickory Dickory Dock.

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Mice Squeak, We Speak by Tomie DePaola

HOW IT WENT:
This was a good storytime. I only realized now, when writing it up, that I had forgotten to do our tickle rhyme during this storytime! That was ok, though, because we had someone from Head Start come to talk about the early programs that they offer. It made up for that time.

I am going to try to work in some more parent patter/parent tips during my infant toddler storytimes. I got this one from a great book and cards set from ALA. It’s super helpful and easy to use, and gives lots of great parent tips along with an activity for each of them. I always feel slightly uncomfortable with parent tips, because who am I to tell a parent what they should be doing, especially since I do not have children myself. But I need to accept that I do have knowledge they may not (especially when it comes to early literacy practices), and that it is perfectly appropriate to share that knowledge with them.

ATTENDANCE: 47 people

* For these songs, please see my page Storytime Movements & Music

Cats – Toddler Storytime

Posted on October 16, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Meow Meow! I thought we would start this session out with cat stories.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Your Hands, Clap Your Hands” from Tickles and Tunes by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

INTRODUCTION: with Cat Hand Puppet from ArtFelt

I mentioned that I brought a friend along, then had the kitty wave to the kids, and the kids wave back. I’m not super comfortable with puppets, but I’m trying!

BOOK:

Mama Cat has Three Kittens by Denise Fleming

MOVEMENT: “Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*

10 Cats

FLANNELBOARD:
5 Kittens in the Bed

(rhyme and pattern from page 116 of a book that I do not have the title of! This flannelboard was one of my mom’s, colored by my dad, so I don’t know where it’s from)

(Adapted from “Ten in the Bed”)
There were five kittens in the bed,
And the little one said, “It’s crowded. Roll over.”
So they all rolled over, and one fell out;

There were four kittens in the bed…
There were three kittens in the bed…
There were two kittens in the bed…

There was one kitten in the bed,
And the little one said, “I’m lonely.”

So they all got back in the bed,
And the little one said, “Good night!”

MOVEMENT: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Thumpy Feet by Betsy Lewin

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Fingerplays and Footplays by Rosemary Hallum and Henry “Buzz” Glass

VIDEO:

“The Truth About Puppies and Kittens” from The Poky Little Puppy and Friends

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas
Book: I See Kitty by Yasmine Surovec
Book: Where is Tippy Toes? by Betsy Lewin
Book: Meeow and the Pots and Pans by Sebastien Braun (or any Meeow book)

HOW IT WENT:
Every time I finish one session of infant toddler storytime I think, “I am going to find some new music to use with this group!” And then the weeks go by, and I think about it, but I have so much other stuff that I am working on that I forget about it, then before you know it, it’s time to start storytime again. So, while I didn’t revamp all my songs, I did decide to try out a new opener — and I think this one is going to work well. (Which isn’t surprising. All Kathy Reid-Naiman’s stuff is great.) Also, Thumpy Feet worked really well with the toddler group. Before I began the story I told the group that we were going to pretend to be cats, and do the same things that Thumpy did. Interactive fun! The video wasn’t my favorite, but I wanted something rather short since it was the first storytime of the session and the kids are not used to sitting for so long.

EDITED TO ADD: I had forgotten about this until I was writing my outline for the next storytime, but I did have a child upset because we didn’t do the Wheels on the Bus. My fabulous colleague, Marie, who did the Summer session of infant toddler storytime would do that as a regular song with the kids, I think. This kid really wanted to do the Wheels on the Bus on the Screen that we use for our films. What do you do when your rotate storytellers? Do you try to incorporate things that others do to provide continuity? Or do you each do your own thing? I felt kind of bad because he looked like I was breaking his heart.

ATTENDANCE: 10 am: 48 people 11 am: 51 people

* For these songs, please see my Storytime Movements & Music page

Cats – Infant Storytime

Posted on October 15, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I had so much fun at our cat eStorytime that I decided to continue with the theme for the beginning of our fall infant toddler storytime session. Plus, I can’t believe it has been so long since I did a cat storytime for this age group!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: Roly Poly*

BOOK:

Sleepy Kittens by Jill and Martin Leman

MOVEMENT: “Clap, Tap and Bend” from It’s Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

FLANNELBOARD:
Five Kittens in the Bed

(rhyme and pattern from page 116 of a book that I do not have the title of! This flannelboard was one of my mom’s, colored by my dad, so I don’t know where it’s from)

(Adapted from “Ten in the Bed”)
There were five kittens in the bed,
And the little one said, “It’s crowded. Roll over.”
So they all rolled over, and one fell out;

There were four kittens in the bed…
There were three kittens in the bed…
There were two kittens in the bed…

There was one kitten in the bed,
And the little one said, “I’m lonely.”

So they all got back in the bed,
And the little one said, “Good night!”

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

I Love Cats by Barney Saltzberg

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Hey Diddle Diddle

Flannelboard from Little Folk Visuals

Hey Diddle Diddle, the cat and the fiddle.
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed, to see such a sight.
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

TICKLE: Round and Round the Garden*

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Meeow and the Pots and Pans by Sebastien Braun (or any Meeow book)
Brownie and Pearl Hit the Hay by Cynthia Rylant, pictures by Brian Biggs (or any Brownie & Pearl book)

HOW IT WENT:
Although I presented this storytime just yesterday, it feels like forever ago. I forget how tiring our 3 back-to-back infant-toddler-toddler storytime days are.

ATTENDANCE: 50 people

* For these songs, please see my page Storytime Movements & Music

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.

Mammoths and Ice Age – Preschool Storytime

Posted on September 13, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I noticed that there seemed to be quite a few new books about mammoths out, which inspired today’s Ice Age theme. Also, it may have something to do with the fact that today’s high is 102° and I am longing for cooler weather. While this may seem like a strange theme for preschool storytime, it was actually really successful!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

BOOK:

How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Kate Hindley

MOVEMENT: The Mastodon
(With a quick name changes this Elephant fingerplay is now about an ice age mammal.)

The mastodon goes like this and that (walk heavily from side to side).
He’s terribly big (hold hands out to side)
And he’s terrible fat (bring hands around to make circle around tummy).
He had no fingers (wiggle fingers).
He had no toes (wiggle toes).
But goodness gracious — what a nose! (Make a trunk with arm).

FLANNELBOARD:
The Mammoths in the Ice Age

(Templates from coloring pages from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science)

(to tune of: “The Wheels on the Bus”)
The mammoths in the Ice Age went
trumpet, trumpet, trumpet,
trumpet, trumpet, trumpet,
trumpet, trumpet, trumpet.
The mammoths in the ice age went
trumpet, trumpet, trumpet,
All around the land.

Other verses:
The saber tooth tiger in the Ice Age went growl, growl, growl…
The ground sloth in the Ice Age moved slow, slow, slow…
The camel in the Ice Age went spit, spit, spit…
The dire wolf in the Ice Age went howl, howl, howl…
The man in the Ice Age said big, big, big…

BOOK:

Me Hungry! by Jeremy Tankard

MOVEMENT: “Jump Up, Turn Around” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem by Jim Gill

BOOK:

A Mammoth in the Fridge by Michaël Escoffier and illustrated by Matthieu Maudet.

VIDEO:

“Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct” from Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late … and more stories by Mo Willems based on the book by Mo Willems

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Me Want Pet! by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Bob Shea
Book: Mammoth and Me by Algy Craig Hall
Book: Mammoths on the Move by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Kurt Cyrus
Book: Hot Hot Hot by Neal Layton

Rhyme: Mammoth Walk
(another adaptation of an elephant movement)
Right foot, left food, see me go (stomp on right foot first, then on left).
I am shaggy and big and slow.
I go walking down the ice.
With my trunk and tusks so nice. (make a trunk, then tusks with arms.)

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
My fiancé was teasing me about how this seemed to be a really specific storytime theme, and that he thought it was pretty weird. I said if you had been doing storytime for almost 8 years you wanted some variety. And it turned out to be a great storytime! All listeners really seemed to enjoy How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth, as well as the rest of the books. The flannelboard went better than I thought it would, considering this is one of the first ones I’ve developed from scratch. And thanks to information from the La Brea Tar Pits Page Museum I found out that all these animals were found in those tar pits — which means they lived around here at one point! Next time I do this storytime I think I will bring along some nonfiction to show pictures of what the animals looked like – I overheard a child ask what a mastodon was and it would have been nice to have something to show the kids. I know the movie was a bit of a stretch for this theme, but we didn’t have any good preschool-aged movies to show. So before showing the film I asked if any of the kids knew what extinct meant (DIED!), and explained how all the ice age animals we were talking about were extinct, and how the dinosaurs were extinct before these animals existed. And then I played the movie, and no one really cared if it tied in with the theme because it’s a great story and they all enjoyed it anyway.

ATTENDANCE: 53 (adults and children – it was a mammoth-sized storytime)

*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

Farm – eStorytime

Posted on September 8, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

I’m so excited to post this today! Thanks to the hard work of my amazing colleague AnnMarie, my library recently bought some iPads, installed AppleTv in our Story Room, and will soon have iPads loaded with librarian-selected apps available for play on tables in the Children’s Room. To go with these investments, we decided to have a monthly digital storytime for preschoolers, that I am lucky enough to present!

We thought about incorporating iPads into our regular storytimes, but in our community there are some parents who don’t want their children exposed to screen time. In order to accommodate them, yet still embrace this new and fun technology, we decided to have a (mostly) all digital storytime at a separate time than our traditional preschool storytime. Also, this allows us to offer another service at a different time — hopefully opening up service to people who are not able to attend our Saturday storytimes.

While it has been a bit of a challenge to find good apps to fill the whole time (mostly because I am new to looking for them and to the format), there are many great resources out there that helped get me started. Among them are: Little eLit, Digital Storytime (especially their wonderful categories section that helped me work around a theme), School Library Journal’s app reviews, and Kirkus App Reviews.

So: Enough back story — let’s move on to Friday’s first-ever eStorytime!

Opening Slide on SlideShark:

I wanted to use a presentation app to display slides with song lyrics on them, and used the Slide Shark app for this. With Slide Shark, I created the slides using PowerPoint on my work computer, then just email them to myself and opened the PowerPoint with the app to upload it to Slide Shark.

SONG:

“Come Along and Sing with Me” (to tune of Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush.) (I found this song in my fingerplay box without a citation, so forgive me for not giving credit.)

APP:

Barnyard Dance by Loud Crow Interactive. Based on the book by Sandra Boynton. (iOS, Android, Nook: $3.99)

Barnyard Dance is a fantastic app, and basically the reason I decided my first eStorytime would be farm themed. It has settings that allow you to read the story with no narration, but still get the sounds from the book. Finally we can share Boynton’s wonderful (but small) books in storytime (Ok, so I have with her lap size board books, but still…)

FINGERPLAY:

“Two Mother Pigs”
(Again, I’ve had this rhyme forever, so forgive me for not giving credit.)

APP:

Peekaboo Barn by Night & Day Studios (iOS, Android, Kindle: $.99)

Peekaboo barn starts with an opening scene of a barn exterior. Then you hear a knocking sound, followed by the sound of a farm animal. When you tap the screen, the barn door open and it reveals the animal that was making the sound. We played this as a guessing game – I let the animal sound play a couple of times, and the audience guessed what the animal was inside. While it may sound easy, a few of the animals are pretty difficult to guess (rabbit, llama).

MOVEMENT:

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

PRINT BOOK:

Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
As a break for the eyes, I wanted to make sure to keep at least one print book in the mix.

APP:

Felt Board by Software Smoothie (iOS: $2.99)

On the Felt Board App, we sang Old MacDonald. I set up the barn, the sun, and the farmer on the screen ahead of time (You can save scenes using the camera icon on the app, and then retrieve them in the gallery setting.) We sang the first verse, and then I was going to have the audience participate by choosing animals from the Animal menu in the app and singing about them. The app or screen froze (more about this in the how it went section), but the final screenshot is what it would have looked like at the end of our songs: we had an alligator, a duck, a badger, and a cow on our farm.

APP:

Pass it On! by CJ Educations. Based on the Book by Marilyn Sadler, illustrated by Michael Black. (iOS: $2.99)

We were going to finish up with an ebook app, Pass it On, but as I started to read it the image froze on the screen.

APPS WE SHARED SLIDE:

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

APP: Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Farm from Nosy Crow (iOS: $.99)
APP: Busy Bear on the Farm from Nosy Crow (iOS: $3.99)

THOUGHTS ON THIS eSTORYTIME:

For my first eStorytime, I thought this one went pretty well. It was actually a blast to do, and the audience seemed to have a really good time. I prepped the audience at the beginning of the storytime, welcoming them to our FIRST EVER storytime of this type, and asking them to bear with me as we were sure to experience some technical difficulties. And we did.

Things started off just peachy – Barnyard Dance went great, Two Little Pigs was great, Peekaboo Barn was great. But then I started having communication problems between the AppleTV and my iPad — the screen no longer wanted to mirror images. Ok, no problem, we just went ahead and did the movement without the lyrics up on the screen.

It was time for the print book, so I closed the cover of my iPad to read the story. Of course, I had forgotten that there was a screen saver that runs on the AppleTV when it’s asleep, so the whole time I was reading there were beautiful baby animals on the screen behind me. Which of course, were a bit more interesting to some of the kids than the book I was reading. Note to self: change the screen saver back to just a black, blank screen.

So then I went and turned the iPad back on, and was still having problems with iPad/projector communication. I don’t know if it was the wi-fi or what, but the app would work on my iPad screen, but freeze on the large projector screen. So, we just sang Old MacDonald without the help of the app.

After, I tried again to get the mirroring to work properly, and started reading Pass It On. But just like the cow in that story, the image once again was stuck on the large projector, but not my screen. So we had a good laugh over the parallels between the story and our tech experience and moved ahead to close up with our ending movement.

If I got the chance to do this all over again, I would have asked our Tech guy to sit in with me on this first storytime. That way, whenever I ran into snags he would have been able to see what they were, instead of me having to explain them to him later. Even if he could not have fixed them in that moment (which may have interrupted the flow of the program), he at least would have know what they were. I think we are going to do a mock run-through before my next eStorytime next month where he will get to see what’s going on.

I’m very grateful that even with all these mishaps, the audience still seemed to have a wonderful time, and were supportive of the library trying something new. We really do have fantastic patrons.

One thing that did seem to go well was how I set things up on my iPad. I actually made a folder specifically for this storytime, so that I didn’t have to scroll back and forth between all my apps. It looked like this:

As you can see, just like books for a regular storytime, I have more apps than I would actually ever use. I always feel it’s good to have options, just in case. When storytime is over, I just pulled these out of this folder, and am ready to start working on the next one for next month’s program

ATTENDANCE: 19 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

Thoughts on eStorytimes/Digital Storytimes

Posted on September 5, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Since digital / e- / iPad storytimes are becoming a regular service that many libraries are providing, including my own, I wanted to take a little time to explore the issue on my blog.

When first thinking about using iPads, ebooks, and apps in storytime part me wondered: what was the need for it (from an early literacy perspective rather than a digital divide one)? While this is an area where much research is currently being done, I just felt like we didn’t know yet what the implications for early literacy were. Children are already exposed to so much media, do we really need it in storytime as well? Shouldn’t it be alright for library storytime to focus on print books and stories? If children 2 and under should have no screen time, and children over 2 should have limited screen time, isn’t storytime the perfect place for a digital break? Are we trying to embrace iPads just because they are sexy, rather than because they offer real benefits?

But just because something makes me uncomfortable, doesn’t mean I don’t want to learn more about it. Like any good researcher, I want to collect my facts before making a decision. So I talked to other professionals. I attended many different trainings on how to use the iPad in storytime. I read blog posts. I tried to see the issue from both sides.

And I started seeing a different way of looking at iPads and storytime use. Parents are already using iPads with their youngest children. I am sure we have all seen a time when an iPad was used as a babysitter — entertaining a young child while a parent was getting something done. And you know what? That’s okay. It is not my place to judge parents. Parents have busy lives and use the tools at their disposal. But if parents are using this technology why not show them that it can be MORE than a babysitter?

We already model how to interact with books in storytime. I often feel, especially with my infant storytime, I feel like that’s the main reason I’m doing it. Yes, the infants are receiving a benefit from storytime, but parents are seeing examples of great books for their children. They are seeing how to do dialogic reading — even if they have no idea what it is called. They are learning how books are starters for conversation or related activities like songs and fingerplays.

So why not do the same with ebooks and apps? Why not show off wonderfully produced, educational apps the same way we highlight great books? Why not model how an app can be a starting point for conversation and learning with children?

In addition, apps cost money. And there is no place really to “try before you buy”. Yes books cost money as well, but it is easy enough to read through a picture book before deciding to purchase it. And there are so many apps out there. Of course, plenty of places review apps, but it is often best to decide after seeing them in action The library can help with this as well, by bring attention to really good, useful apps.

And when I saw using apps in this way, it began to make more sense to me to use them in library programming. Another thing helped me be more okay with iPads in storytime was when my library was discussing offering them as a service we decided to develop an eStorytime separate from our traditional storytime, rather than including the iPads in our current storytime program. We have our traditional storytime, that runs once a week, and then we added a monthly storytime were we focus on apps and ebooks. Soon, this may seem like a ridiculous and artificial division, but it helped me get my head around trying something new while still remaining faithful to a tried and true ideal. Also, some parents in our community don’t want their children exposed to screen time — having separate programs allows us to accommodate both.

To some extent, I still think I am making my mind up about iPads and storytime. I am interested to see what we learn from research about their use and early literacy. But I’m also ready to try out some new ideas. And you know what? I just presented my first eStorytime today and it went pretty well. Both parents and kids found it fun, engaging, and were exposed to some new-to-them high quality apps. And I can’t help but think that’s a good thing.

You’ll start to see my eStorytimes outlines being posted on here. I hope you find them useful if you are thinking of starting your own digital storytime, already have one at your library, or just want to find some new fun apps to share with kids.

As always, please feel free to continue this conversation in the comments. I would love to hear what you have to say about iPads, apps, storytimes and libraries.

Outer Space – Preschool Storytime

Posted on August 2, 2014 by jeninthelibrary

Today’s preschool storytime was out of this world! We celebrated outer space with fun songs, stories and rhymes. Thanks very much to Falling Flannelboards, SLC Book Boy, Storytime with Miss Tara, and Mel’s Desk for providing some rhymes and inspiration for this storytime.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Jump Up, Turn Around” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem by Jim Gill

BOOK:

I Want to Be an Astronaut by Byron Barton

MOVEMENT: Rocket
(taken from SLC Book Book)

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
Whooosh! (Jump into air)

FLANNELBOARD:
5 Little Aliens

(I didn’t record my source for this rhyme at the time I found it, but I think it was from here: BLCS WikiSpaces)

(to tune of: “Five Little Ducks”)
5 little aliens went out to play
Over the moon across the milky way
Mama/Papa Alien cried “Hep, hep, hep”
But only 4 little aliens came floating back.

…continue with 4, 3, 2, 1…

No little aliens went out to play
over the moon to the milky way
Mama and Papa alien cried, “Hep, hep, hep”
and ALL the little aliens came floating back.

BOOK:

Sheep Blast Off! by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple

MOVEMENT: If You’re Going to the Moon
(taken from Mel’s Desk via Falling Flannelboards)

(to tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It)
If you’re going to the moon, wear your suit (ziiiiip)
If you’re going to the moon, wear your suit (ziiiiip)
If you’re going to the moon and you want to get there soon
If you’re going to the moon, wear your suit (ziiiiip)

…wear your boots (stomp, stomp)
…wear your helmet (pat head, pat head)
…wear your gloves (clap, clap)

(After storytime, I also thought it might be fun to add this verse to kick things off:
If you’re going to the moon, you must get dressed (say “Oh yes!)).

VIDEO:

“Beegu” from Reading Rainbow based on the book by Alexis Deacon

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! I’m Off to the Moon! by Dan Yaccarino
Book: There Was a Bold Lady Who Wanted a Star by Charise Mericle Harper
Book: Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricelli
Book: Zoom , Rocket, Zoom! by Margaret Mayo, illustrated by Alex Ayliffe
Book: Astro Bunnies by Christine Loomis, pictures by Ora Eitan

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
Today was a really fun storytime! Everyone seemed to enjoy the theme. And even when I made some little mistakes (like turning off the display lights instead of the regular lights when I told the kids to blow them out. I just had them clap them back on and then blow harder. And then I forgot to bring the screen down and had to have a preschooler remind me), things still went really well. I wasn’t sure about using I Want to Be an Astronaut at first, because I thought it might be too slow-paced for the preschoolers, but when I read the page about eating food one of the children said, “He’s upside down!!!” about the astronaut illustration and everyone laughed. So it went better than I thought it might, and led to some talk about what you would be able to do while in space.

ATTENDANCE: 37 (adults and children)

*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

Jen in the Library

Storytimes, Programs and Library Thoughts

Mice – Toddler Storytime

Mice – Infant Storytime

Cats – Toddler Storytime

Cats – Infant Storytime

The Digital Shift: Appvisory in the Children’s Library

Cats – eStorytime

Mammoths and Ice Age – Preschool Storytime

Farm – eStorytime

Thoughts on eStorytimes/Digital Storytimes

Outer Space – Preschool Storytime