In the children’s library world, the decision to use a theme or not use a storytime theme is akin to deciding which is the superior beverage- Coke or Pepsi.  As someone who is not a consumer of dark carbonated drinks, I do not have a preference in regards to the Coke/Pepsi debate.  Now, if we were to debate what the most superior holiday candy is, I will 100% root for Cadbury Eggs (particularly the hard shell mini ones).

I digress.  

What I am trying to say is that there are two camps of thought in the children’s library world: YES - themes and NO - themes.   I see the value of using themes, but I also know the importance of selecting books, songs, bounces, and tickles that are delightful, rich in language, and that build early literacy skills.  I love a good theme - unicorn storytime?  Yes, please!  I also love using books, songs, and tickles that do not center around a specific topic.  

Sometimes, I have a deep rooted feeling that I must do this particular theme because I think that my storytime crowd will love it.  Other times I have a gut feeling that I should use specific books, songs, and bounces because I feel that my storytime crowd will delight in them.

​When it comes to ETM in storytime, I use ETM SEGs all of the time.  If they fit the theme, I consider it to be a bonus.  If not, that is perfectly fine too.  I want to try and repeat some of the SEGs as much as possible because repetition is great for the kiddos and repetition empowers caregivers to try it at home.

I have three storytime tenets when planning a storytime:

• I will use books, songs, bounces, tickles, etc. that I love
• I will use developmentally appropriate materials
• I will empower caregivers to use storytime materials (i.e., songs, bounces, books, etc.) at home

From there, I decide:

• Theme? yes/no
• Books
• ETM songs
• Additional songs, bounces, tickles, etc.

For the purpose of this post we are not going to focus on one particular storytime theme.  These are songs and bounces that can fit into any storytime.
​

​When someone calls you by name and pronounces your name correctly, it’s a nice warm and fuzzy feeling.  Being called by our name makes us feel seen.  Our names are one of the first words that we learn to recognize, spell, and write.  Names are very important in ETM.  

In the digital age we live in, human connection and social interaction are becoming even more important and valuable.  A big piece of ETM is building regard.  The facilitator is responsible for creating a welcoming and safe atmosphere - a place full of warm fuzzies.  

One of the best ways to fill a room with warm fuzzies is to sing a name song.  I focused on name songs in lapsit because I wanted to learn the names of the babies that were attending my storytime.  I also wanted the caregivers to learn who was who so that they could connect with one another during playtime.

As everyone came into the room, I had a table with laminated hearts (with velcro on the back) and dry erase markers.  Caregivers wrote baby’s name on the heart and the caregiver (or baby) put the heart on the flannel board.  It was a great way to put names to faces, to count how many participants were in my storytime, and also gave the babies ownership of something in storytime (during playtime they loved to take their name heart and walk around with it).

The song that I chose to use was “Oh, I Know” which is to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell.”  I would find one of the names on the flannelboard and say “where is James sitting today?” and James’s caregiver would raise their hand.  Then we would sing and wave “Oh, I know James.  Oh, I know James (finger cheer in the air).  Hi-ho the derry-o!  We all know James.  We would repeat this process until we sang about every baby.  The smiles, gurgles, and coos in response to their name being sung was something to behold. 

​For young children, making self-made symbols (i.e., “scribble/refrigerator art”) is the first step in the process of learning how to write.  The symbols that young children make are pretty fluid.  One day the “scribble” can represent Doug, the dog and the next day the “scribble” can represent a superhero platypus eating a can of beans.  

In ETM, song mapping allows children to make their own self-made symbol to represent an SEG.  For song mapping to be beneficial in the development of pre-writing skills, it is crucial that children have internalized the SEG before mapping.  There are a few ways to tell if a child has internalized the song: they can sing and play the song on their own, they begin to play with the language of the song, or they can identify the song when presented with a series of movements, pictures, or clapped rhythms that represent the song.  

An excellent example of internalization is the SEG that I like to use in my Tales for 2’s and 3’s storytime.  I have been using Come Along and Wave with Me for the whole storytime cycle (spring and fall - so about 24 weeks).  We have been doing the same movements in the same order.  If I were to walk into my Tales storytime next week and say “guess my song” then proceeded to do the motions of our hello song - wave, hug, twist, stretch, and wiggle without singing any of the words, the children who have been coming to my storytime every week will likely know that it is our hello song.

​Let’s pretend that I’ve been facilitating preschool storytime.  We’ve been singing and playing the song "Fly Away Little Birdie" every single week.  I notice the kids are playing it out in the play area after storytime.  The following week, we play "Fly Away Little Birdie" again, and I have them follow along as we “draw” the song in the air our fingers.  We will not “draw” the entire song.  Instead, we will “draw” short phrases like “Fly away little birdie” or “way up in the sky.”  After three or four weeks of having the kiddos mirror my movements when we chunk the song, I will notice the way that a child has chosen to “draw” the song and we will mirror that child’s movements.

Since most storytime sessions are between 10-14 weeks, that will be as far as we get with mapping and that is perfectly okay.

When you think about it, all songs tell a story.  Music is just another form of communication. Basically, music and communication go together like unicorns and rainbows.

Think of a conversation that you recently had with a friend.  Think about the way that you conveyed what you had to say to your friend.  Did you use facial expressions? Did you use your hands?

When we communicate, even if we are aware of it or not, we like to move when we speak.  Movement is an essential function. Think of movement as coffee for your brain - it helps you think.  In order for us to communicate our thoughts coherently, we employ our entire body in the process of conveying our message.  We use our voice, eyes, ears, hands, and brain! This is particularly important for children because they are still new here and they are learning how to communicate.  In her book Aesthetic Foundations of Thinking, Mary Helen Richards says “children are drawn to move when they are speaking in order to say what they mean and to develop their understanding more thoroughly.”

Talking plays a HUGE role in the acquisition of early literacy skills.  If adults do not talk to children, then they do not have the words to communicate, and if children cannot communicate then they cannot read and write!  We want to encourage talking in storytime by asking questions - “what do you think will happen next?”, “what color is the cat?”, “how are you today?” In smaller storytime groups, we can also provide children with the opportunity to explain something or to share a story of their own.  

In addition to talking, singing is an excellent way to boost a child’s language development.  Mary Helen Richards said it best “song, (is the) godmother of communication and the godchild of language.” When it comes to language development in children, ETM SEG’s are a triple threat - there is language, movement, and experience.  When children participate in the playing of a SEG, they also have the added benefits of practicing social skills and communication. Basically, SEGs are the vitamins of early literacy!

​I have never understood why the word “play” is considered a four letter word.  I have learned that play is vital to the development and education of children, but our society deems play as “a waste of time.”  We have a system in place that wishes to rush children through childhood rather than protecting their right to play. 

We forget that play helps children explore and experience the world around them.  Play leads to imagination, creativity, and innovation - a cardboard box becomes a robot companion that goes on adventures, a stick becomes a wizard’s wand, a hula hoop becomes a portal to a new world.  Cultivating imagination in the post-modern child just may lead to discoveries that will propel our society forward - a dryer that dries AND folds clothes, flying cars, a safe and renewable energy source, or the cure to cancer.

​Libraries are encouraging play by providing toys and games in their children’s departments. Children’s departments in libraries aren’t bastions of solitude and silence anymore.  They are full of singing, talking, exploring, and playing.  Caregivers are playing “dinosaurs” with their children, children are giving impromptu puppet shows, or families are sitting down to play a board game together.  

Playing has also been extended into library programming. Librarians are creating and facilitating programming that encourages imagination and play.   Librarians are also incorporating playtime into our age-specific storytimes.  

Librarians are making play the norm and I am 200% here for it.

Mary Helen Richards defined playgrounds as something “full of wonderful things for the child to use, build with, manipulate, take apart, and put back together,”  

In ETM, the Song Experience Game (SEG) is very much like a playground or children’s department. 

Benefits of playing through the use of a SEG:

• Children are having a shared experience with friends
• Exploration and creativity is encouraged
• Children learn how to navigate their surroundings (spatial awareness)
• Children work on social interaction and communication 

When I get to experience the singing and playing of ETM SEGs, I find that I am happier, more engaged, and I am more regardful of others.  If I can experience those benefits as a 33-year old, can you imagine the benefits for a 3 year old?  

For children, the play state has a slew of benefits:

• They are actively engaged - they are 100% in it to win it
• They are experiencing enjoyment and a genuine pleasure from the activity
• There is (playful) structure and routine which provides children with a sense of safety, but also encourages them to take risks.  
• Increased motivation
• Stronger language skills and symbolic thinking

When I facilitated Lapsit, I liked to tack on 10-15 minute playtime at the end.  It provided babies with an opportunity to explore our various age appropriate toys and caregivers with an opportunity to socialize and share stories.  During this time, I like to talk with the caregivers and play with the babies.  Aside from the total complete joy of getting to interact with a baby, I also had an opportunity to foster relationships with the caregivers.  

In my years of study of ETM, I realized how important it is to allow yourself to be a little vulnerable and be completely silly because it shows children that this is a safe space to explore, play, and imagine.  This session of Tales for 2s and 3s, I used an ETM favorite that I adapted “Come Along and Walk with Me” as our hello song.  Each week we sing “Come Along and Wave with Me”.  The last action that we do is “come along and wiggle with me.”  Every week when it is time to wiggle, the kids all look at me expectantly because they know that this is the part where Ms. Nicole gets super dooper silly.  Every week they laugh and wiggle along with me.  Every week, we play.

My goal as a librarian is to make play the norm in storytime.  Whether it is through using a SEG, reading an interactive picture book, playing a guessing game on the flannel board, or adding on some time for children to play at the end of storytime.  I want caregivers and children to know that play is a far more effective learning tool than flashcards, apps, and standardized testing will ever be.  Play is part of the human experience.  It allows us to create, marvel, and engage with one another. 

The Voice: A Built-In Instrument

​The first musical instrument a child knows is their own voice.   Starting from infancy, human beings begin playing with sound.  The babbling sounds that are often emitted from babies is their way of exploring their native language.  In her book, Aesthetic Foundations for Thinking Rethought Part I: Experience, Mary Helen Richards says, “we imitate what we hear most often.”  Children will explore and play with the sounds that they are supplied with from caregivers, children’s program characters, and popular music.

Children are basically born with an innate desire for music making.  As caregivers, educators, and librarians it is vital that we provide children with joyful and meaningful music making experiences.

The Amazing Auditory System

​Singing is vital to the study of language. According to Mary Helen Richards, Inner hearing is defined as the “making of hearing images”.  When a child repeatedly sings a song they begin to internalize the song.  They can “play” the song in their head without singing the song out loud.  

Singing and moving to music is the best way to boost inner-hearing.  A child that has strong inner-hearing can think of (and hear) all of  the words that rhyme with “bat.”  When you attach movement to the song, the child is able to recognize that “what I say is what I do”.

So, it’s important to start putting that auditory system to work when children are very young.  Storytime provides opportunities for young children to sing, move, say nursery rhymes, interact with their caregivers and peers, and practice the sounds of language!  

Who knew that one 20 or 30-minute storytime could do so much for the inner hearing of a child?

​Beware the Low Register

Head Voice
This is where finding the “Head Voice” comes in handy.  To find your head voice, say “A -Ha!” The spot where your voice lands on “a!” is the note that you will begin to sing/speak in.   

For the young ears of a child, it is easier for them to hear and process sounds that are produced in a higher register.  Since children imitate the sounds they hear, we also want to model good vocal habits for them too.  We want them to have healthy vocal chords that have command over their voices for the times when they have to read aloud, recite a poem, give a speech, or lead a business meeting.

Everyone Can Sing

​Mary Helen Richards said it beautifully “Everyone can sing - everyone can move to music.”  When I hear caregivers tell me “I’m not a good singer” because they were told at some point by an adult that their singing voice wasn’t “good enough” - it breaks my heart. 

We want to establish an environment in our storytimes that encourages and celebrates singing.  There is no judgment, only joy.   

Singing in Storytime

Mary Helen said, “Song belongs to every person in the same way that his mother tongue belongs to him”.

Song in storytime has several benefits:

• Encourages the eploration of sound and language
• Organizes language
• Simplifies language so that child can make it their own
• Focuses attention
• Boosts motivation because it is intriguing (and fun!)
• Creates a joyful atmosphere that delights in music-making

Song holds the power of language.  Singing with children is the key to unlocking that power.  Song makes language accessible to children.  When we think about ECRR, children cannot write, talk, or read if they do not have a strong foundation in their native language.  Song is the vehicle that we can use to help children develop their auditory and speech-processing systems so that they will be great readers, writers, and communicators.

As Mary Helen Richards said, “Song is a catalyst for communication.” 

Song in Practice: Lapsit

Name Song - Oh, I Know

from Education Through Music
To the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"

I began every lapsit storytime with this song.  I would sing the names of the babies and caregivers.

A Bouncing We Will Go

from Let’s Do It Again by Mary Helen Richards (adapted for Lapsit by N. Lawton)
To the Tune of "The Farmer in the Dell"

Bounce Old Squirrel

from Let’s Do It Again by Mary Helen Richards (adapted for Lapsit by N. Lawton)
To the tune of "Hop Old Squirrel"

​A large reason why I had become disenfranchised with the education system was due to the fact that we (as a society) are constantly putting developmentally inappropriate demands on children.

When I heard that libraries were investing their time and energies in Every Child Ready to Read, I was thrilled.  Caregivers are a child’s first teacher and a child’s biggest advocate.  ECRR empowers caregivers and also gives the word “play” it’s due.  Play should receive the amount of weight and respect that is given to the words “reading” and “math.” The play of children has academic value and I love that ECRR is acknowledging this.

My A-Ha! Moment that pieced together the components of ETM and ECRR happened last July when I was attending ETM’s week-long study in California.  After spending several hours a day thinking about ETM and literacy and speaking with several bright individuals, I realized that ETM addresses the big picture, the whole child if you will.  ECRR helps address the pre-literacy skills and caregiver instruction/empowerment.  Together, the two approaches go together like s’mores and campfires.

When we examine a majority of early childhood (Preschool-Kindergarten) standards and curriculums, the starting point for literacy instruction often begins with:

• Letter idenfication - the naming of the letters and the sounds they make
• Phonological awareness - can the child play with the sounds of language?  Can they break down and identify the sounds in a three letter word?
• Vocabulary - the words that the child has acquired from being spoken and read to since birth 

Somewhere there is a disconnect between literacy skill acquisition and instruction.  ETM bridges the gap beautifully. 

ETM is able to build a strong foundation in these areas:

• Aesthetic
• Attention
• Motivation
• Motor development - fine motor and gross motor
• Auditory processing 
• Speech processing

Why are these areas important to making sure that children start off on the right foot in school?  They are the foundation that every child needs.  ETM provides the necessary experience and context that will help make it possible for a child to learn and thrive in school.  

The overarching goals of ETM and ECRR are to foster a love of learning and reading in children.  If ETM is used regularly in storytime programming in conjunction with ECRR, I believe that it will lead to a strong foundation in reading skills. 

​Next week I will begin to dig into my favorite component of ECRR - Singing.  I plan to discuss how singing the songs of ETM can help cultivate an enjoyment for music while simultaneously building the auditory and speech processing systems in young children.

In my previous post I mentioned how the work of ETM is built on Song Experience Games (SEGs). The songs for the games come from English folksongs.  There are games for oldie, but goodies such as “Looby Loo”, “The Farmer in the Dell”, “A-Hunting We Will Go”, and “Oats, Peas, Beans.”

The Song Experience Game often includes:

• Singing
• Movement
• Dance
• Drama
• Storytelling

In her book, Aesthetic Foundations for Thinking Part I Mary Helen Richards mentions that the SEGs of ETM are meant to create an aesthetic experience which build an “aesthetic foundation for living.”  I think that notion is a wonderfully brilliant and fulfilling way to live one’s life - to find joy and to soak in the beauty, awe, and wonder in the happenings that inspire and excite us.

In the fall, I continuously played a SEG called “Come Along and Walk with Me” with my Tales for 2’s and 3’s storytime. The littles stayed near their parents and happily did the actions (clapping, hopping, stomping, etc) while their grownups sang and moved with them.  One day, they all decided that it was time to leave the safety of their caregiver so that they could participate in following me around the room! We crawled, rolled, creeped, and twisted our way around the room. There were smiles, giggles, and belly laughs. There was discovery and wonder.  In moments like these, I am reminded of how powerful singing, playing, and moving can really be.

What brought us to that fabulous moment?
Children’s librarians and educators already know the power of repetition.  For the littles in my storytime, they had been soaking up and internalizing the language of the song.  Their little brains were making sense of the song. Even though they weren’t following me around the room, they were still participating.  As they participated in the safety net of their caregivers, they worked on internalizing the song. They sang the words, they saw the actions, the heard the words, and they felt the movement.

The SEGs are designed to develop a child’s ability to listen and hear.  It is an oft repeated phrase in ETM that “children are in their bodies before they are in their heads.”  Children need to be concrete before they can be abstract.  

The more we sing and play in storytime, the more opportunities a child has to develop rich experiences in becoming a farmer or a dog or knowing what prancing and creeping look like because they have internalized those motions.

Think of it this way: when we ask them to read the word “glide” they will know what the word glide means because they have experienced gliding across the storytime room.  The SEGs are better than any flashcard, app, or workbook.  

We play, sing, and move in storytime so that they can

• rhyme
• read
• write

Imagine a world full of lifelong readers because they played, sang, and moved in storytime as children.  

That’s the goal:  to reclaim playtime for children -  because that is what they are designed to do.