Quick tips: Daily Vroom Early Literacy App

Yesterday was the first day of the second run of Child Development, Library Space and Behavior. Every week of the course, I include one "quick tip" video that can be used right away to help with behavior.

This is also the beginning of an otherwise busy season for me, but I want to keep writing as it has done me good and will do me good; and I say, god bless it! (...any other Christmas Carol nerds out there in cyberland? Any RENT nerds chuckle at my use of the word "cyberland"?) So I figured where I can I'll share a "quick tip" that's been useful to me lately at work.

Today I want to share a wonderful app that you and your family patrons can access for free: Daily Vroom.

So You're Subbing a Preschool Storytime

*Updated in 2018 with a few changes/current favorites
Yesterday I subbed for a preschool storytime at one of our member libraries. Having come from a library that had librarians in each age group, this was the first program I’d done for the preschool set in… awhile.  I thought I might share my plan and some tips, since this time of year is prime time for vacations and illnesses,  and you may find yourself (an adult services librarian, director, library assistant, shelving aide, on-call reference librarian, archivist) asked to be a last-minute substitute for a beloved storytime. Because let’s face it, it may not happen all the time, but it will one day. Sooner rather than later, depending on the size of your library and staffing. And I hope you find this post useful.

Having come from education and libraries, I can tell you that being a substitute is one of the toughest jobs there is. That’s because children, as chaotic as they may seem, thrive on routine and familiarity. And sorry, substitute, but that already puts you in the negative zone, because you’re different.

But here’s the thing: You’re not supposed to be as “good” as the regular storytime provider. Families may ask about their regular storytime routines. Please take these as what they are: expressed appreciation for the storytimes they know and love. They are not a criticism against you. I promise that if you were their regular storytime provider, they would love you just as much.

Field Trip Adventure Time! with Bryce and Erin

GET IT?

If not please immediately read this post

And learn more about Adventure Time.

FOR THE CHILDREN.

I'm so happy to have this [GIFs and commentary by me] guest post by Erin, a Twitter friend and a student of Marge's CE class. I snagged her when she mentioned me in a tweet about scripting library tours FIELD TRIP ADVENTURES! I was on vacation, and was completely stoked to see her write up in my inbox when I got home! 

And remember, if you'd like try your hand at blogging or if you want to share your version of something you found here (like Erin and Ariel and Julia), please email me at brycedontplay at gmail! I would love to have you create my content so I don't have to.


This guest post is by Erin Davison, Library Assistant II in the Youth Services Department in Holland MI, where she lives with her husband Peter and cat Charles Simic. She used the phrase "done borrowed" in reference to my script idea-- correctly, I might add-- so of course she grabbed the attention of this former Southerner.  Hit her up on Twitter: @erinisinire.

My name is Erin and I was a Lurker [Bryce Note: Hi, Erin.]. My feedly is chock full of smart, creative people's blogs. I joined Twitter almost 2 years ago primarily to follow smart, creative librarians. Last summer, I had the chance to attend ALA and Guerrilla Storytime where I first had the inkling these librarians "rock stars" were actually PEOPLE. I recently had the opportunity to attend MIKidLib14-an unconference planned by Lisa Mulvenna, Anne Clark and Andrea Vernola-and it was at that conference I realized I might be a smart, creative person who had ideas and could help other people. And when Amy Koester wrote the "There is Something Rotten in the State of YS Professional Development" post I felt like it was written for me. I just want to thank all of those blogging, tweeting, Tumblring, Facebookgroup librarians who've been of immeasurable help to me professionally. I WAS a Lurker. I won't be any longer.

[Anyway, back to Erin]
I follow Marge on Twitter and she mentioned something about a class she was going to be teaching online through University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension on Power Children's Programming on a Budget (aside: I do not have my MLS. I've spent the last 13 years thinking that SOMEDAY I would do it, but I just didn't want to commit. In addition to knowing this class would be invaluable to our department, I also figured it would be a good opportunity for me to see if I was capable of keeping up with an online class while working and if online learning was even a good fit for me. University of Wisconsin has, of late, become my first choice school if and when I finally decide to take the leap!).

This.class.has.been.amazing. There have been so many ideas and so many practical ways to implement these ideas regardless of the size or budget of a library.

Week 5 introduced us to Preschool Programming and that's when serendipity really hit. Our department was in the process of revamping our preschool tours-having something that was consistent regardless of who was giving the tours-and when I read the 3 blog posts Marge highlighted, I knew it was exactly the direction we needed to go.

That was last Saturday. Less than a week later, I went for it. 

We decided to go with the "Dog's Colorful Day" idea as we had 10 areas of the department and library we wanted to highlight. I put together a rough "script," printed Dog on card stock (and on the reverse side I printed our upcoming Elephant and Piggie Spring Break programming schedule), scrounged the library for any colored dot stickers I could find (note: preschoolers WILL ask if you don't have a purple sticker. Like the book. Because they're smart like that!), printed BIG dots and hung them in the areas we wanted to highlight with containers of cut up dot stickers and away we went!

We started in the storytime room where I straight up cribbed Sara's opening question about who owns the library: "The librarians! The books own the library! Important people!" Their mouths literally dropped open when I said "Actually EVERYONE in Holland owns the library! YOU do too!" [Bryce Note: This is actually Marge's line] That was the moment I knew things were going to be just fine. We went on to talk about sharing and taking turns and I showed them examples of materials that were damaged by other people. The sadness in the room was palpable when I held up a copy of Gregory the Terrible Eater in pieces. They vowed to always take care of library materials, we read through Dog's Colorful Day and off we went on our library adventure. 

Things I learned: 

• Yes, taking a sticker off the backing with our fingers is great way to help develop fine motor skills. It's also not exactly the most efficient way to hand out stickers to 23 3-5 year olds on a 45 minute schedule. One of our awesome aides was a huge help as were the teacher and parents. Next time? I will hand teachers/parents strips of ALL of the colors at the beginning to peel off at each station and hand out to kids.

• There are so many exciting things in the library! The AWE stations! The puzzles! The wooden carousel! The CONVEYOR BELT! Next time, as we approach our next station, I'm going to have everyone hold their hands in the air when they see the big dot and keep it up until everyone's hands are in the air to help keep focus. I can't fathom the awesomeness  horror [edit by Bryce] of an enormous wooden boat in the department. Our small carousel quickly turned into a jungle gym. I feel your pain.

• The "backstage tour" part where we got to see the conveyor belt was a big hit. Maybe too big of a hit. Next time we'll have a big strip of yellow tape and instruct everyone to not.cross.the.line. 

We used to do a short "storytime" and then a tour through the department (we didn't go downstairs to see where we get library cards or the book drop conveyor). I really really really believe this format is so much more meaningful for preschool aged children. There is something repetitive and concrete they do at each highlighted area. They go home with something from the library. It's tied to a BOOK. And it's developmentally appropriate.

[Bryce Note: For an idea that solves the sticker problem, check out Dinosaur vs. the Library over at Reading with Red]

Prescriptions for Literacy: An Unsolicited Rant

Source

“If children know six nursery rhymes by age four, they are more likely to be in the top reading group at school by age eight.”

“Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they’re four years old, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they’re eight”

These are two quotes attributed to Mem Fox. That is each quote in its entirety. They both get at the same thing, but have different ages and different numbers of rhymes. And, there is no citation

These are the things that keep people like me, Amy at Catch the Possibilities, and Mel at Mel’s Desk awake at night. Probably because I found a great cohort of nerds that I have the pleasure of talking shop with at all times. In case you’ve ever wondered what my Twitter feed is all about, it’s mostly discussions that lead to rants like the one you’re reading right now. You're welcome.

The Think-Aloud Librarian

Source

Over the weekend, I helped an 8 year old girl find a "Jack and Annie book." I led her to the Magic Treehouse books, talking the whole time: "Oh yeah! The Magic Treehouse books. I know exactly where those are. They are in our Chapter Book section, under O. The author's last name is Osbourne. So here's books by authors who start with N.... Okay, O! Here we go, Osbourne. Right here."

Sound familiar?
You're a Think-Aloud Librarian.

Why Do We Do This? 
It sounds like we're talking to ourselves, right?
In the education world, we call it the "think-aloud": a little tidbit that helps students follow your train of thought or reasoning; or, in a student-directed lesson, help you understand the student's train of thought or reasoning. In either instance, it's a chance an opportunity for learning.

Story Action Pod: BOT edition

C/O Mr Schu Reads

So after the overwhelming fun that emanated from our last Story Action Pod (which, by the way, was a landslide victory with a write-in candidate) I was energized to create another one. After all the sharks and trains, I decided that the Story Action Pod was severely lacking in the robot department.

I went with "Boy +Bot" by Ame Dyckman and Dan Yaccarino, which I snatched greedily from the fingers of an unsuspecting child while laughing maniacally and possibly pointing before tearing off on my Harley. 

Or from the new picture books display. I promise. It's another one of those, though, that we probably should have more copies of, because it is literally never available. So after I checked it out to myself, I smacked one of these bad boys on it to prevent it from walking away:

Pete the Cat and his Groovy Field Trip Adventure!

I am stoked by the Pinterest-sharing success of my preschool field trip adventure to the library based on "Dog's Colorful Day" by Emma Dodd.

This year, we decided to change it up by:

Why 1000 Books Before Kindergarten?

Our library has a 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program. It's awesome.

Here are the reasons that it's awesome:
1) The kids know that they're a part of something. Something big.  Whenever they finish 100 books, they come to turn in their sheet, waving it in the air and skipping. You can tell they're really proud.
2) Parents are cognizant about their role in school readiness. Reading before school is not only a fun way to bond as family, it actually does terrific stuff to the brain. Like map it to be smart.
3) It benefits us, it benefits them. Our circulation numbers increase. The families have a successful, productive visit to the library. The kids feel good coming to the library. Snag 'em early.

Here's not a reason why it's awesome.
1)Studies show that kids should read 1,000 books before Kindergarten. Despite that the idea has been passed around a lot for the last year, no one has ever scientifically concluded that kids should read 1,000 books before Kindergarten.

Preschool Tour: Dog's Colorful Day



 After the success of the school-aged tourlibrary Field Trip ADVENTURE!, we decided to revamp the preschool tour library Field Trip ADVENTURE!.

As always, the preschool tour we offer revolves around a book. Last year was "Knuffle Bunny" by Mo Wilems. This year the book du jour is "Dog's Colorful Day" by Emma Dodd.

Cover of the book "Dog's Coloful Day":
A wyote dog with a black spot on its ear sniffs a rainbow bone