Musical Monday IX: ETM in Lapsit

Happy Musical Monday!  Have you been looking for the Musical Monday post on reading?  I promise I did not forget about it!  I wanted to incorporate books and reading in my posts about ETM in storytime programming.  Today I am going to talk about how I used ETM in my baby lapsit programs.

Past Musical Monday Posts:
Education Through Music
The Song Experience Game
Early Literacy in ETM
Every Child Ready to Read and ETM
Sing
Play
Talk
Write
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The Great Debate: To Theme or Not to Theme?

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.

Planning Storytime

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.
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Name Song

​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. 

​This song is great for learning names.  I knew all of the names of the babies that came to Lapsit because of this song.   One of my regular Lapsit caregivers came into storytime one day and said that she was using the song at home to sing about different family members.  

Bounces

I adapted a few of the SEGs into bounces.  I was able to use them in my Lapsit storytime with great success.

A Bouncing We Will Go

Come Along and Bounce with Me

Bounce Old Squirrel

Songs

Puncinella

Fly Away Little Birdie

Did You Ever See a Baby?