Getting Ready for the Summer Reading Rush

Our annual Summer Reading Program starts on Monday, June 3, which means this past week has been a flurry of getting everything in order. Volunteers have been trained and scheduled. Early Literacy Calendars have been updated and printed. Summer Seek and Find characters have been assembled for their passive program duties. Materials have been organized. The last thing remaining for me to do is to really beef up our ready reference book lists for kids.

As is the case at many libraries, I work a shared reference desk. As a result, about 50% of the time the children's staffers are assisting with adult questions and adult staffers are assisting with children's questions. Not all staff read children's books, so I like to have ready-to-go resource lists to make sure kids get great reading suggestions regardless of when they visit.

This summer, my clipboard of resources includes a few key lists:

• ALSC's Summer Reading Lists for grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8
• A great YA "If you liked..." visual list from Kelly at Stacked Books
• Leveled reading book lists in the Fountas & Pinnell system (created by a local organization)
• A readalike map for "If you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid" as shown here

We also have state award nominee bookmarks at the reference desk, and we have Caldecott and Newbery lists within easy reach. My teen services staffer has also put together a binder with all our local schools' summer reading lists. All of these combined resources mean that reference staff have lists of great kid-friendly reads--and the books teens will be searching out for school--at their fingertips. Everything can be photocopied, and everyone can leave the library happy and with something to read. That's one of the best ways I can think of to promote a successful summer reading program.

What sorts of resources and book lists do you have ready to go at your reference desk?

May Milk & Cookies Story Morning: Plenty of fun on a holiday weekend

Over the weekend, I led my third ever Milk & Cookies Story Morning family story time program. For more specific details of my rationale in offering this new weekend program, you can see my first two posts on the topic. Suffice it to say that my personal must-haves in the program remained the same: transmedia, interactivity, a folk/fairy tale, and time for free play--this time including some simple science activities.

The program went really well, and a good crowd attended despite it being a holiday weekend. Here's what we did:

Opening Song: "Open, Shut Them"

Story: Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres
     I prefaced this story by saying it was about growing all sorts of vegetables, and I asked the kids what vegetables they knew. Throughout the story, we would point out the vegetables we like. The last page shows a feast of foods created with the veggies, and we had a fun time naming all the dishes.

Song: "Five Little Ducks"
     A roll of the song cube dictated that we would be singing "Five Little Ducks," so I pulled out five little rubber duckies as a visual counting aid. During the first verse of the song, I was pretty much the only one in the room singing and making the mamma duck's big "QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!" By the final verse, though, everyone was joyfully singing with me. A wonderful benefit of repetitive counting songs and rhymes: kids catch on and gain confidence as they go.

App: Peek-a-Zoo: Toddler Peekabo at the Zoo by treebetty
     To use this app in an interactive way in the program, I turned off narration and background music--all noise except the animal noises. I cued the app to the first "page," which shows a lion crouching in some grass. When it was time for the app, I turned on our tv and we took a walk through a zoo. Each animal has a two-stage process: one where you can try to guess the animal by what you see on the screen, and the second when the animal appears in full and you hear the sound it makes (the second page also shows the name of the animal written out, so one could talk about letters, too). I asked lots of questions to help kids guess the animal they might see next, and we used clues from what we could see in the animal's environment to help us figure it out. One of the things I love about this app is that the animals are not just your stock zoo animals--it includes a number of lesser-shown ones, like walruses, too. I engaged caregivers in a brief tidbit about the difference between using technology with children passively--e.g., sitting them in front of a tv or device unattended--and actively--i.e., engaging in the technology with them.
     As the picture shows, my iPad setup includes using a Digital AV Adapter and HDMI cable. I operate the app from the iPad, which is mirrored onto the HDTV screen.

Song: "I Know a Chicken" by Laurie Berkner
     I love this song and use it all the time. It's a perfect length for keeping kids interested, and when I pass out the egg shakers, everyone's excitement levels go up a bit. That makes for a great interactive program element.

Story: The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone
     Only one or two kids in the program were already familiar with this story, so I was very glad I selected it for our story time. It's a great one for getting kids involved in trip, trapping across the bridge, and it also allows the use of some great silly voices for the billy goats and troll.

Activity: Rhythmic Play with Scarves
     I handed out multi-colored scarves to all of the children, and once they had stood up we began waving our scarves. I put on "Dancing Scarf Blues" by Carole Peterson, and we had some fun waving our scarves around to the music.

Milk & Cookies Time!
     This weekend's selection included chocolate chip cookies and 2% milk or pink lemonade. There was at least one dad who looked like he wanted a cookie, too, but when his wife opted not to have one, he did the same. The kiddos loved it, though.

Free Play

Our science table

     As with previous weeks, I set out little play stations with lots of the library's stock of early learning toys. We had building blocks and pipe builders, build-a-monsters and wooden cars with garages. New this time were some magnetic writing boards--always great to work some writing in!--and a repurposed train table frame that I turned into a science station. I set out magnifying glasses with seashells, a starfish, and feathers to explore up close; magnet wands with a variety of sizes of paper clips, washers, and jingle bells; and a balance scale with random objects to play with weight. Every child went to the science table for at least a few minutes, which made it the hit of the free play time. All the stations get pretty well explored and the toys played with--nothing like some free time to interact with the world as you please.

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An aside: I am starting to realize that, if this program's attendance keeps growing and I still really want to focus on the free play (which requires space), I may have to adapt the milk & cookies portion of the program. My program room isn't big enough for a larger crowd to have space to sit down and move around in story time, sit at tables for the snack, and also have toys set out with room to play. I'm going to think about options like lunchbox-size cookie snack bags and juice boxes or milk cartons--things that can be enjoyed, picnic-style, without big tables and chairs and without to much threat of spills. Anyone have any ideas?

Summer Reading Rallies: A Very Specific Type of School Visit

Summer reading is afoot, which means I've spent some time over the last few weeks visiting local elementary schools to whip up excitement for our annual summer reading program. This is my second year making these specialized school visits, and I've learned a few things along the way.

There are a handful of core things I always make sure to include in these summer reading rallies, which usually include a simple slideshow:

• An image of my library -- Many kids don't know the name of the library they go to, but they recognize the building when they see it. Including a picture of my branch at the beginning of the rally helps kids make a personal connection with what I'm talking about.
• A verbal listing of all the potential prizes for signing up and reading -- It can be hard for elementary-aged children to remember specifics about what prizes they could earn, but when I rattle off a rather impressive (if I do say so) list of lots of prizes, they are left with the impression that summer reading is very, very rewarding. My library district has a lot of local sports teams and restaurants that partner to provide vouchers and coupons, so lots of those prizes I get to tout don't cost the library anything but printing.
• A slide with the next school year's age-appropriate book award nominees -- Schools in my area are really big on state book awards, and teachers regularly motivate their kids to read as many nominees as they can during the school year. That means more and more kids get ambitious and want to start reading award books "early." I've found that sharing some covers and very brief book talks of nominees is a surefire way to ignite interest in reading over the summer.
• A reminder that audiobooks count for summer reading -- Lots of kids spend lots of time in the car over the summer; I like to remind them that they can listen to audiobooks from the library whenever they're in the car, and that time counts toward their final reading goal. Knowing that they can get some reading done via audiobook makes the program seem much more manageable to many kids.
• Names of the kids who did the summer reading program last year -- My library district keeps track of the names and schools of kids who finish the program, and we report this info to the schools at the end of the summer. I hold onto the list to add a slide with the kids' names to my rallies, and I make sure to acknowledge their achievement and ask for their classmates' help in applauding them. Nothing like a bit of positive peer pressure and motivation through recognition.

I've found that these rally elements can do the most to drum up excitement and keep kids' attention.

Also, in the course of visiting schools for these summer reading rallies, I have noticed that the time I am formally alloted to speak and the time I actually have can be very different. There are two common scenarios for timing issues: 1) I'm told I'll have x amount of time, but then I end up speaking after the kids get seated, the principal talks, and the school librarian talks, which has essentially cut my time in half; and 2) I'm told I'll have x amount of time but then five (or even ten) more minutes get tacked on to better fit schedules.

When my time is suddenly shorter than I'd anticipated, I work really hard to just hit the basics. What's going to get the kids to pester their parents into driving them to the library? I only include that info, and I leave the details for when they come to the library to sign up.

When my time has unexpectedly expanded, I tell a story. Yes, I've become one of those librarians who always has a couple of stories in her back pocket, ready for any of those 3-10 minute lulls in the planned action. This past week, when teachers insisted they needed to stay in the assembly for another 5 minutes (reason still unknown to me), I told "The Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle." What could have been a chaotic 5 minutes with kindergarteners at the end of their ropes was instead a quiet room of kindergarteners rapt with attention. Crisis averted, literacy and stories affirmed.

I enjoy visiting elementary schools in the lead-up to summer reading. It helps me get all the details of our massive program straightened out, it's a way to introduce myself to tons of kids, and it promotes our program and the idea of leisure reading. It's a very specific type of outreach with very definite rewards.

Do you visit local schools to promote summer reading? How do you get the word out?

Attack on the Fort! A STEAM Program

This week, a battle took place at my library. In the program room, to be exact. Don't worry, the battleground was prepped and the skirmish was intentional. It was all a part of my school-age STEAM program, Attack on the Fort!

Our simple, unprogrammed program, which lasted an hour, consisted of four stages:

• I told the story of the Trojan War. As a preface to the topic of attacking a fort, I told an abbreviated version of the Trojan War myth. I started with the goddess beauty contest judged by the Trojan prince Paris; told of the theft of Helen from Menelaus and the sailing of 1000 Greek ships for Troy; and the 10-year stalemate that finally ended in favor of the Greeks thanks to the strategic genius of the Trojan Horse. In favor of keeping the kids' attention, I just hit the highlights and focused on the culminating action.
• We built catapults. The basic catapult construction requires 10 popsicle sticks, 4 or 5 rubber bands, a bottle cap (or other shallow cylinder), and something to affix the cap to the arm (we used velcro dots). Assembly instructions here. I demonstrated each step of the process with my own catapult, and I walked the room helping as requested.
• The kids built forts. I had plenty of large sheets of construction paper, straws, popsicle sticks, tape, markers, and scissors to allow for creativity in the fort engineering process. Once again, I was flabbergasted by the ingenuity of the kiddos. Some made turrets, some made walls, some made total fortresses.
• We had a battle. I had the children set their forts on the ground in a round; that way the battlefield was in the center of the forts, and all outward-shooting catapults would be sure to hit something. I handed out pom-pom balls as ammunition, then told the kids to prepare their catapults. I counted down for the opening shots, and from there it was total thrilling, soft, puffy war. The battle went on for a good 15 minutes, with little appearance of fatigue from any of the children.

After the program, the children were able to take home their catapults, a few pieces of ammunition, and their forts, which was obviously very exciting--the kids always love to take home their creations. I had lots of positive, enthusiastic comments from both children and caregivers who attended; they loved the simplicity and freedom of the program, and they loved the chance to get to make something that was "so cool." Attack on the Fort! was definitely that: simple, minimally-structured, and cool.

STEAM and unprogramming, two of my favorite ways to think about children's programs.

School-Age Parachute Science on the ALSC Blog

I'm over on the ALSC Blog today sharing my recent Parachute Science program, which was a hit with the school-age crowd.

Jump on over there for full details and steal this program for your library!

May Outreach Story Time

May is the last month of the school year when I visit preschools, which means it's my month to encourage kids to visit me at the library over the summer. I try and choose fun, funny, engaging stories to go out with a bang and make story time extra memorable. Here's what I've been taking to classrooms this month:

Opening Song: "Open, Shut Them"

Story: Scary Mary by Paula Bowles
     I used this story to great success at my April Milk & Cookies Story Morning, and I gave it an encore performance with this new audience. They enjoyed it, and they also thoughtfully gave comments on why it is better to be nice to others than to be mean or scary.

Story: I Don't Like Gloria! by Kaye Umansky and Margaret Chamberlain
     A colleague recommended this story as a great read-aloud last month, and I am happy to report that she was correct--my kiddos really enjoyed this story. Calvin, a dog, is dismayed to find that Gloria, a cat, is now living at his house, and his attention from his owners has dwindled. Of course he blames Gloria; until another animal is added to the mix, that is. We talked about why being friendly might be better than growling or being mad at a new pet/friend; this book would also work well for children with new siblings.

Rhyme: "The Grand Old Duke of York"
     We did this rhyme as a stretch rhyme, clapping our laps to march and then raising/lowering our hands as the rhyme dictates. Much to the children's delight, we tried to do the rhyme faster and faster until finally all we could do was move our hands. Lots of giggles ensued.

Story: There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
     This book and its counterparts by Mayer are classics for a reason: perfect pacing, safe exploration of children's fears, and humor mixed in. These books never fail to quiet the entire room of children as anticipation mounts.

Rhyme: "Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree"
     I think I would have riots on my hands if I didn't finish off the outreach year with my five monkey finger puppets and Al, my alligator puppet. Have you ever asked children to practice their alligator chomping noises? They are impressive.

Story: Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
     I hadn't originally planned on using this story this month, but when it showed up on my desk the morning of my first May outreach visit, I knew I had to work it in. This title is slightly longer than the others, but it holds high potential for absurdity and hilarity. I don't want to spoil it for you--check it out at your earliest opportunity. Suffice it to say that this was a perfect story to end with.

Closing Song: "If You're Happy and You Know It"
     Normally, I use "If you're happy and you know it, wave goodbye" as the closing verse for this song when I am indoors in classrooms. On the last story time visit of the school year, though, I'm willing to get noisy and default to the traditional "shout 'hooray!'" Oh, yes, it gets loud, especially on the last line when children really give it their all. If that last moment of fun is how they remember the year in story time? Well, then I think I've done my job.

SWAB Book and Activity Bundles & the Blog Tour Wrap-Up: Start with a Book Blog Tour

Welcome to the final entry in the Start with a Book Blog Tour! Don't forget to check out the rest of the posts from some fabulous youth services bloggers; links are in my opening post. And now, without further ado, I'll share how I'm using Start with a Book and its resources now.

I blogged last year about my Take-Home Story Time Kits, neat little bundles of stories and music for caregivers to engage in story time at home. Caregivers (and other librarians!) love them, and guess what? Start with a Book, with their 24 Summer Learning Themes (many of which contain great STEAM tie-ins), offers some great resources for a new twist on those bundles.

Right now in my library, I've got two types of bundles: Take-Home Story Time Kits for pre-readers, and Read and Do Bundles for readers (elementary-aged children). Almost everything about these bundles (save my tags, the music CDs, and the ribbon to tie them) comes from the resources on the Start with a Book 24 Summer Learning Themes. Here's what the bundles include:

Take-Home Story Time Kits - for pre-readers

• 2-3 books from the 3-6 year-old age level section of a SWAB theme
• a children's music CD from my library's list of favorites (e.g., Laurie Berkner, They Might Be Giants)
• a Growing Readers activity sheet that pairs with the theme -- SWAB theme pages include these links in section 2 - Growing Readers: Parent Tips
• a Start with a Book flyer -- so caregivers who enjoy the bundles have a pathway to finding more theme-extending activities, websites, and apps
• an eye-catching tag that does three things: 1) connects to summer reading ("Dig into..."); 2) advertises the kit's theme; and 3) gives a brief explanation of the kit and how to use it

Read and Do Bundles - for readers

• 1 book from the 9-12 year-old age level section of a SWAB theme
• printed instructions for a theme-related activity -- SWAB theme pages include these links in section 2 - Hands-on Activities and Crafts
• a Start with a Book flyer -- so readers and their caregivers have access to more activities, including the SWAB theme recommendations of Great Websites for Kids and Mobile Apps
• an eye-catching tag that does three things: 1) connects to summer reading ("Dig into..."); 2) advertises the bundle's theme; and 3) invites the reader to read and do an activity on the topic

One of the things I love love love about the Start with a Book themes--and the bundles I can create with them--are the great STEAM options. There's STEAM at a basic level: the book lists include lots of great non-fiction titles. There's also the fact that so many of the themes, even the less obviously STEAM ones, have science tie-ins. Think dinosaurs and activities involving paleontology; explorers and related navigation and astronomy sciences; nature and books, activities, sites, and apps that explore life sciences. I love any opportunity to get families involved in STEAM concepts at home, and the resources in each of the 24 Summer Learning Themes certainly encourage that. As a result, my bundles encourage STEAM learning, too.

These bundles initially took a bit of time to assemble; I needed to find the books from the SWAB theme lists, then choose and print the appropriate activity sheets and print tags. Once I had done the groundwork for the bundles, however, I made extra copies of the resources so that replenishing bundles as they check out is easy peasy (see my 2012 post for the check-out logistics of bundles).

There you have it--that's how I thought to use the resources on the Start with a Book website immediately after checking it out. Thanks to this blog tour and its bloggers, however, I now see so many other avenues for using the site. I hope you do, too, and I hope you'll consider Start with a Book as a resource to support you in your summer library services. Please share in the comments any ideas for how you are using/will use the content on Start with a Book in your library!

Don't forget to scroll down and enter the giveaway for one of the tremendous book bundles that the folks at Start with a Book have assembled--each on one of the 24 Summer Learning Themes. The giveaway entry form will only work until noon Eastern time on Tuesday, May 21, so get your entry submitted before then! Winners will be contacted via e-mail to arrange delivery.

In wrapping things up, I want to say thanks: thanks so much to Tina and Rachael at Start with a Book for first introducing me to this rich literacy resource, and thanks to my fellow bloggers for sharing their ideas on their blogs. And, of course, thanks to you readers for your commitment to always developing professionally.

I'm wishing you all summer sunshine and happy reading!