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July Virtual Book & Fun Club: Me, Frida, & The Secret of the Peacock Ring

7/16/2020

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​Our Virtual Book and Fun club is our COVID-19 friendly version of our Book and Cookie book discussion group. 

Book and Fun Club is a monthly online only book discussion group for students in third through sixth grade.  We get together on Zoom to discuss the monthly book pick for one hour.

To keep the Book & Cookie tradition alive, we encourage everyone to bring treats to snack on while we chat on Zoom.
The Book: Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes
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Paloma's summer plans are ruined when her mother decides to take a temporary teaching position in Mexico City.  

Paloma decides to try and learn more about her deceased father and to connect with her Mexican roots.  In the process, she stumbles upon a mystery.  Just like her favorite fictional detective, Lulu Pennywhistle, Paloma decides to crack the case!
The Plan:
What's Your Detective Name?
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December Book & Cookie Club "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon"

12/19/2019

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Book and Cookie Club is a monthly book discussion group for students in third through sixth grade and an adult caregiver.  I have been facilitating Book and Cookie Club at my library since December of 2015.  This is one of my favorite school-age programs to plan and lead. 

At my new library, I take turns facilitating Book and Cookie Club with two of my colleagues.  Instead of facilitating Book and Cookie monthly, I facilitate it four times a year.


The way that I lead Book and Cookie has changed as well due to the participants that come to the program.  Most of the participants that come to Book and Cookie are older (4th and 5th grade) and I have more caregiver engagement.  As a result, we have more of a discussion format.
The book: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
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This is the second time that I have selected Where the Mountain Meets the Moon for Book and Cookie Club. Grace Lin is one of my favorite authors. Grace has such a way for weaving together a story that is compelling, exciting, and wonderous. I also find it fascinating how the children perceive Minli's running away from home versus how the adult caregivers feel about it. The themes of family, fortune, gratitude, friendship, and kindness all lend themselves to a really great discussion.
Icebreaker: Minli's Bag
Materials Needed:
  • paper treat bags
  • paper list
  • pencils

Activity Description:
Before Minli leaves home she places these eleven items in her bag:
  1. chopsticks
  2. fishnet
  3. needle
  4. uncooked rice
  5. copper coin
  6. gourd
  7. pot
  8. water
  9. dried bamboo
  10. knife
  11. rabbit rice bowl

If you were to leave home to change your family's fotune, what items would you take with you?  On your paper, write down the eleven items you would take with you and place your list inside of your bag.

When I say "fortune" get into (pairs or a group) to compare your lists.
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Discussion
I used the discussion questions from The Educator's Guide by LB School & Library
Activity: Painting Watercolor Dragons
Materials: 
  • Crayola watercolor paint pens
  • Strathmore water color paper

Activity Description:
Participants will use the provided materials to create a watercolor dragon
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March Book & Cookie Club: "The Case of the Time Capsule Bandit"

3/18/2019

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Book and Cookie Club is a monthly book discussion group for students in third through sixth grade and an adult caregiver.  I have been facilitating Book and Cookie Club at my library since December of 2015.  This is one of my favorite school-age programs to plan and lead.

This month we discussed "The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit" by Octavia Spencer.
Scavenger Hunt
I divided our participants into two groups.  They had to answer questions about the book and answer the question correctly in order to be lead to the next question. The questions were hidden in different places within the Children's Department.  The last question lead them to the children's reference desk where they were given a cryptogram puzzle to solve.  Once they solved the puzzle they could choose a "Top Secret" note pad or pencil as their prize.
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Fingerprint Lab
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I purchased a Spy Day activity kit from Teachers Pay Teachers that had the idea and printable for this station.  
Masters of Disguise
Part of being an excellent detective/spy is being able to come up with amazing disguises.  I set-up a mini photo booth, my personal puppet stash, photo booth props from Target, and an iPad for The Crew to snap photos.  These are pictures that the kids took.  
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Laser Obstacle Course
I used crepe paper to create the obstacle course.  The kids had a lot of fun trying to squeeze, bend, and wiggle their way through this "laser" obstacle course.
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Secret Message Decoder
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I used the bookmark Ellison to cut out rectangles of red cellophane paper.  I also created the template for the decoder to fit that Ellison die.  

The kids made their decoder then used them to read the spy jokes.
Morse Code Keychain
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We made Morse Code keychains using our initials!  The kids loved getting to make something they can display on their backpacks.
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February Book & Cookie Club: Hidden Figures (Student Adaptation)

2/25/2019

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​Book and Cookie Club is a monthly book discussion group for students in third through sixth grade and an adult caregiver.  I have been facilitating Book and Cookie Club at my library since December of 2015.  This is one of my favorite school-age programs to plan and lead.

Our book for this month was “Hidden Figures (Student Adaptation)” by Margot Lee Shetterly.  I have wanted to incorporate some nonfiction titles into our Book and Cookie Club reading for a while.  I want to challenge The Crew and try to get them to read some genres that they do not always read on their own.  I know that nonfiction can be a bit dry for some readers, so I thought that using a book that was turned into a movie would stir some interest.
Discussion Activity - Padlet
We used a Padlet to talk about two questions: What is it like when you are the first to do something?  and Why is it important to have a support system?
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Space STEAM Challenges
I found the coolest downloadable resource called "Space STEM Challenges" from Kim Carroll on Teachers Pay Teachers.  It had lots of great activities that I just had to print off.  It was a huge time saver and I am so glad that I will be able to use some of the activities again in our Makerspace.  

​I also bought some badges from Amazon and made NASA badges for the kids to wear.
NASA Badges
I created the badges on PicMonkey with graphics from Pixabay and Clipart Library.
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September Book & Cookie Club: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

9/26/2018

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Book and Cookie Club is a monthly book discussion group for students in third through sixth grade and an adult caregiver.  I have been facilitating Book and Cookie Club at my library since December of 2015.  This is one of my favorite school-age programs to plan and lead.

Our book for this month was "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin.  This is one of my favorite middle-grade fantasy novels.  I also recommend the audiobook for this book as well!
Create a Dragon
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Our discussion game this month involved the neatest dragon floor puzzle I have ever seen and some questions that I wrote and put into a Google Slide presentation.  When The Crew answered a question correctly, they were able to select a puzzle piece from the box.  I liked that this discussion game had a cooperation component to it.  Everyone had to work together to assemble our awesome dragon.
Monkeys in a Barrel
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One of my favorite parts of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is when Minli, our brave and clever heroine, tricks the greedy monkeys in the forest.  So, we played Monkeys in a Barrel.  
Paper Lanterns
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The Crew made paper lanterns.  I found instructions on how to make the paper lanterns on Teachers Pay Teachers.  
Minli's Bag Word Find
I made a word find with all of the items that Minli packed into her bag before she left to find the Old Man of the Moon.  I used this Word Search Maker on The Teacher's Corner to generate the wordsearch.
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Family Storytime: School

9/14/2018

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The 2018 - 2019 school year is upon us!  The teacher in me always gets excited about all of the school supplies in the store.  I still wander the Target Dollar Spot looking for cute pens and pencils because I need to have a purple pen with cat ears or a mechanical pencil with a llama eraser.  If I were a dragon, I'd hoard cute school supplies. #ExTeacherConfessions

While the kiddos (and maybe some of the teachers) may not be quite ready to go back to school, I know that I am looking forward to my last year of grad school!

PRE-STORYTIME MUSIC

These are the songs that we listened to before storytime began.  If you are interested in checking out these songs, the album cover images are linked to Amazon so you can listen to a sample and/or purchase these great songs!
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"Good Day Sunshine"
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"Books! Books! Books!"
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"There's a Dog in School"

PRE-STORYTIME ACTIVITY: I-Spy School

I found a really neat school themed I-Spy activity on Teachers Pay Teachers.  I-Spy books are very popular at my library so I thought a pre-storytime I-Spy activity would be just the ticket!

HELLO SONG

Credit:  Verona Storytime
To the tune of "Jolly Good Fellow"


We’ll wave hello together,
We’ll wave hello together,
We’ll wave hello together,
Because it’s fun to do.
 
We’ll give a hug together,
We’ll give a hug together,
We’ll give a hug together,
Because it’s kind to do.
 
We’ll high five together,
We’ll high five together,
We’ll high five together,
Because it’s fun to do.

LETTER OF THE WEEK: Ss

I like to use the collage to talk about different objects that begin with the letter of the week.  We sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".  We talked about grilled cheese vs. peanut butter and jellly sandwiches. 

RECORDED MUSIC

These are the songs that we danced to during storytime.  If you are interested in checking out these songs, the album cover images are linked to Amazon so you can listen to a sample and/or purchase these great songs!
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"Wheels on the Bus"
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"Jump! Jump!"
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"Legs and Arms"
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"Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"

BOOKS

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ACTION RHYMES & SONGS

Come Along & Walk with Me
from Let’s Do It Again! by Mary Helen Richards  an ETM Song
To the tune of "Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow"

Come along and hop with me
Come along and hop with me
We’ll hop and hop
and hop and hop
so come along and hop with me

Come along and march with me
come along and march with me
We’ll march and march
and march and march
so come along and march with me

Come along and twirl with me
come along and twirl with me
We’ll twirl and twirl
and twirl and twirl
so come along and twirl with me
Everybody
​Credit:  Nicole Lawton

Everybody stomp, stomp, stomp
Everybody jump, jump, jump
Everybody slap, slap, slap (slap knees)
Everybody tap, tap, tap (tap head)
Everybody twist, twist, twist
Everybody bend, bend, bend
Everybody clap, clap, clap
Everybody sit, sit, sit
Tickle the Clouds
Original version from Laptime Songs
Adapted by:  Nicole Lawton

Tickle the clouds
Tickle your toes
Turn around
And tickle your nose
Tickle your shoulders
Tickle your knees
Let’s read another story
Sit down please
Dance Your Fingers Up
Credit Storytime Katie

Dance your fingers up, dance your fingers down
Dance your fingers to the side, dance them all around
Dance them on your shoulders, dance them on you head
Dance them on your tummy, and put them all to bed

GOODBYE SONG

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​from Carole Peterson's Tiny Tunes album, Adapted by Nicole Lawton
To the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"


Now it's time to touch your toes
touch your toes, touch your toes
Now it's time to touch your toes
Touch them now

Now it's time to touch your nose
touch your nose, touch your nose
Now it's time to touch your nose
Touch it now

Now it's time to touch your head
touch your head, touch your head
Now it's time to touch your head
Touch it now

Now it's time to wave goodbye
Wave goodbye, Wave goodbye
Now it's time to wave goodbye
​See you all next time

POST-STORYTIME MUSIC

These are the songs that we listened to after storytime.  If you are interested in checking out these songs, the album cover images are linked to Amazon so you can listen to a sample and/or purchase these great songs!
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"I'm Gonna Catch You"
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"With a Little Help from My Friends"
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August Book and Cookie Club: Extra Credit

8/29/2018

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Book and Cookie Club is a monthly book discussion group for students in third through sixth grade and an adult caregiver.  I have been facilitating Book and Cookie Club at my library since December of 2015. This is one of my favorite school-age programs to plan and lead.

Our book for this month was "Extra Credit" by Andrew Clements.
Icebreaker: Book Besties Matching Game
I like to open every meeting with an ice breaker.  I think it is a fun way to get everyone acquainted.  I broke the group up into two separate teams.  Each team received a deck of Book Besties cards. The team that correctly matched the Book Besties the fastest was declared the winner.
Making the World More Awesome
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​Participants answered the three prompts featured in the photo.  Our book this month discussed kindness and tolerance, so I thought that this would be a good whole group activity.  I loved seeing the responses that The Crew came up with.  I think that this next generation is going to change the world!
Fort Making 
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Abby, one of the main characters in "Extra Credit", builds a fort in a forest area near her home.  I brought in this Tote-A-Fort kit that I had purchased on Amazon and the campfire that I created for (Not So) Happily Atfer Hours in July.
Magnetic Poetry
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The main characters - Sadeed and Abby, write poems in their letters.  The Crew had the option to try an acrostic, diamante, or free verse poem.  The explanation sheet for the diamante poem came from Read, Write, Think.

I purchased a kid's set of magnetic poetry from Amazon and the magnetic dry erase boards are from my teaching days.
Design a Stamp
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Sadeed and Abby talk about the designs on the postage stamps.  Some of the stamp designs varied from the classic Forever stamp to smiley faces and unicorns. 
Knot Tying
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Abby's favorite pastime is rock climbing.  Abby talks about how she has to tie special knots when she goes rock climbing.  I put out books from our nonfiction section that show how to tie different types of knots along with some rope.
Spread Kindness
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The Crew was provided with materials to create their own cards that they could send or give to a friend or family member.
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July Book & Cookie Club

7/25/2018

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Magic is in the air!  The Party That Shall Not Be Named is just a couple of days away!  I managed to remember to choose a book with magic and fantasy this month so that I could promote The Party!

Our book for this month was Upside Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins.
Book Trailer
Activities
Icebreaker: What's On Your Mind?  A Drawing Game
I borrowed this game from my boss.  We played it at one of our department meetings this past winter.   It’s pretty low prep and the results are hilarious.

Participants are given a paper plate and a marker.  Have the participants place the paper plate on top of their head.  Remind participants that the plate must stay on their head until the activity is complete.

For an extra challenge, you can have participants use their non-dominant hand to draw!

As participants hold the paper plate on their head, tell them to draw the following:
  • A flower in some grass
  • To the left of the flower, draw a bunny rabbit
  • A sun in the sky
  • To the right of the flower, draw a squirrel climbing a tree
  • Draw some birds in the sky
  • Draw a ladybug on top of the flower
  • Give the sun a pair of sunglasses
  • Draw some clouds in the sky

Participants can take their plate off from the top of their head and look at their remarkably hilarious art!
Stations
All of our station activities honored a character from Upside Down Magic.
Animal Flip Book
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Since Nory, the main character from Upside Down Magic, can flux into more than one type of animal at a time, I thought it would be cool to create  an animal flip book.

I found the original idea for the flip book from Sketchbook Challenge.

I made a new version, including a unicorn because I LOVE UNICORNS!  

I had participants color in the pictures.  When they were done coloring we bound the book together using a comb binding machine, and then we cut horizontally on the lines.  
Yoga Poses & Breathing Exercises
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Ms. Starr likes to have her Upside Down Magic (UDM) students do yoga so that they can get in touch with their feelings.

I hung up some posters of various yoga poses from Mindful Practices Yoga and I also shared some breathing exercises from Childhood 101. 
Ice Paint Pictures
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​Elliott is a flare that freezes everything he touches.  I had pictures of every day objects that participants could collage onto a piece of paper then paint over with “ice paint”.

Ice paint consists of glue, shaving cream, and glitter.
Balloon Yo-Yos
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Andres is a flyer that floats 24/7. 365 days a year.  In honor of his flying talent, we made balloon yo-yos.  The supplies are pretty simple (flour, balloons, funnel, and rubber bands) and this is a fun (and messy) activity. 

​Messy activities are the best because they =  #MaximumFun!
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Mess = #MaximumFun and the need for a vacuum cleaner
Rock Decorating
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Bax is a fluxxer that turns into a rock.  So, in honor of Bax we decorated some smooth river rocks with gold, copper, and silver sharpies!  One of the kiddos from The Crew made a rock for me that says "I love unicorns" that will serve as my post-it note paperweight at my desk :)
Game: Catch the Dragon
​I planned a game of “catch the dragon” where I would place the dragon in the middle of the room.  I would ask a question about the book, and the first person to grab the dragon could answer the question.

However, we never got to the game because everyone had so much fun trying out the different stations.
Goodie Bag
During the summer I like to make goodie bags for Book and Cookie Club.  The bags have activities and items that are themed around the next month's book.   Next month, we will be reading and discussing Extra Credit by Andrew Clements.  Since it will be August and the 2018-2019 school year is almost upon us, I wanted to have some items that the Crew could use at school!

This is what went in the bags for this month:
  • Naperville Public Library Pens 
  • Assorted Stickers
  • Emoji Post-It Notes 
  • Letter writing bundle/snail mail activity:
    • envelopes (2/bag),
    • blank postcards (2/bag)
    • blank index cards (2/bag)
  • granola bar recipe 
  • pocket poems 
  • nature scavenger hunt activity
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Family Storytime: Be Yourself!

4/14/2018

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Clipart by Krista Wallden of Clipart by Krista Wallden of Creative Clips. Graphic designed on PicMonkey.
It is a common practice in our library for librarians and associates to take turns creating a basket of storytime materials.  The librarian or associate assembling the basket will select a theme.  A storytime basket contains: 20-30 books, flannel board stories, prop stories, puppets, rubber stamps, and any other materials the curator of the basket deems necessary.   

This week, it was my turn to assemble the basket.  I decided to create another social justice storytime basket full of materials that celebrated everything that makes each and everyone of us unique.  

The Plan

This is my fourth social justice storytime basket. For lists of my other social justice storytimes, click here.  I received some positive feedback from a couple of caregivers, so I think that it is safe to say that the theme of "Be Yourself" resonated with several of my storytime attendees. 

If you are interested in seeing the materials I selected for this week's storytime basket - click here.

For my Saturday Family Storytime outline and plan - click here.

Books

Happy in Our Skin celebrates what makes each and everyone of us unique - from freckles to fingerprints, there is no one that is exactly like you!

Be Brave Little One is a very gentle and loving read.  The sentiments expressed in this book are what every caregiver wishes for the children in their care.

My Heart Fills with Happiness features a young girl and the daily activities that bring her joy.
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April is National Poetry month so I wanted to include a poem in storytime today.  I read "Beautiful Bird" from My Village: Rhymes from Around the World.  I selected this poem because it is very vibrant and evokes a feeling of spring, which we could certainly use with the continuation of winter weather.
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Flannels

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This Little Baby
credit: Storytime Secrets
The first little baby said, "I'm so big!"
The second little baby danced a jig.
The third little baby sat down on the floor.
The fourth little baby crawled to the door.
The fifth little baby learned to run.
All the little babies had so much fun!
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I found the idea for this flannel on the blog, Storytime Secrets.  I used clipart from Krista Wallden of Creative Clips to create this flannel.  

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10 Friends Today
Credit: Fun with Friends at Storytime Blog
​One friend, two friends, three friends, four
In they come right through the door.
Five friends, six friends, seven friends, eight
Nine friends, ten friends make it great!
Ready to listen, ready to play,
Ten little friends are here today!

Hooray!!
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I found the idea for this flannel on the blog, Fun with Friends at Storytime. I used clipart from Krista Wallden of Creative Clips to create this flannel.

To protect Krista's wonderful work, I cannot share the files for the images that I used for these flannels.  If you like the images, you can purchase them from Krista's Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

Recorded Music

These are the songs that we listened or danced to in storytime.  If you are interested in checking out these songs, the album cover images have links where you can listen to a sample and purchase these great songs!
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Pre & Post Storytime: "I Like Myself", "Smart, Unique, Spcial" & "Born to Win"
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We danced to "Can't Wait to Celebrate"
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We danced to "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes"
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We danced to "Hokey Pokey"
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Goodbye song: "Say Goodbye"

Songs

We'll Wave Hello Together
credit: Verona Storytime

We’ll wave hello together,
We’ll wave hello together,
We’ll wave hello together,
Because it’s fun to do.

We’ll give a hug together,
We’ll give a hug together,
We’ll give a hug together,
Because it’s kind to do.
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We’ll high five together,
We’ll high five together,
We’ll high five together,
Because it’s fun to do.

Come Along and Walk with Me
credit: The Richards Institute of Education & Research

Come along and walk with me
Come along and walk with me.
We'll walk and walk, 
and walk and walk.
So, come along and walk with me.

Come along and tiptoe with me
Come along and tiptoe with me.
We'll tiptoe and tiptoe,
and tiptoe and tiptoe.
So, come along and tiptoe with me.

Come along and bend with me,
Come along and bend with me.
We'll bend and bend,
and bend and bend.
So, come along and bend with me.
*note for bend: this is a great opportunity to cross the midline and have children invert themselves.

Come along and twirl with me,
Come along and twirl with me
We'll twirl and twirl,
and twirl and twirl.
So, come along and twirl with me.

Come along and sit for me,
Come along and sit for me.
We'll sit and sit,
and sit and sit.
So, come along and sit for me.

I adapted this song for my Baby Lapsit program.  The tune of this song is the same as the Lapsit version except the actions are different.  To hear the tune for this song -- click here.

Other Activities

Pre-storytime activity

I like to have a pre-storytime activity for caregivers and children to do while they wait for storytime to get started.  This week's activity asked children and caregivers to share what makes them special.
family_storytime_activity_i_am_proud.pdf
File Size: 209 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

I purchased the clipart for this activity from the amazing Krista Wallden of Creative Clips.

Letter of the Week

Each week, we feature a letter of the week.  This week's letter was the letter Yy.  We practiced making the sound of the letter Y then I went through the collage of items that begin with the letter Y.  I like to have participants shout out what they think the items are.  Yak was a bit tricky!
letter_y_pictures.pdf
File Size: 501 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

I purchased the clipart for this collage from the amazing Krista Wallden of Creative Clips.
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Techno Thursday: Digital Storytelling for Libraries

4/12/2018

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This week’s assignment in my Technology class focused on Digital Storytelling, which is a video created by a library or librarian for marketing or advocacy purposes.  We were placed into groups and tasked with creating a 3-4 minute long video that incorporated images, narration, and music.

My Technology class is a hybrid course, which means we meet in person once a month.  During last night’s April meet-up, we were given time to create our videos. My group members and I traded a few emails over the past week because we wanted to be able to hit the ground running when we met face-to-face.  We also did some brainstorming via Google Docs, specifically about what age groups we work with, programs we have done, and ideas we had for our video. We ultimately decided on a video that promoted diverse books for young children, elementary students, and teens.  Each of us selected two books and wrote a book talk for each book.

When it was time for us to get into our groups, my group retreated to a little techno nook that is the Secret Garden of the School of Information Science (SOIS) program at Dominican University.  I had no idea that this room of technological goodness existed until one of my group members suggested that we go in there to work on our project. One of my group members hooked up her Macbook to the two large monitors in the SOIS computer lab to screencast her computer, which enabled us all to see our project and offer suggestions.  This assignment also provided me with an introduction to iMovie. I liked how iMovie allowed us to record our narration and adjusted the volume of our narrator when we added background music. It was like techno magic!

I really enjoyed putting together this project and felt that my group collaborated well.  We each contributed to the final product: one of my group members is a total whiz at iMovie and made our video look slick, the other group member had great suggestions for edits to the video, and I was able to come up with an introduction and conclusion for our video using some pieces from my Social Justice In the Stacks webpage.  I am pretty proud of what we created.
I think that Digital Storytelling can be a really fantastic marketing tool for libraries.  I am on the planning committees for two of my library’s biggest annual celebrations - Harry Potter Day and Star Wars Day.  I think that highlighting some of the incredible photos taken at last year’s events would be a really great marketing tool for promoting both celebrations this year.  I also think that this could be used to create videos on our library webpage to promote new books, our kid favorites section, and even share some early literacy tips! As a digital consumer, I know that I gravitate toward videos and images and I am certain that the customers my library serves function similarly.  Short videos are a great way to promote library programming and materials.
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    About the Author

    Children's librarian.  Unicorn wrangler. 
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    This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work
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