Catch the Possibilities

This is just one bandwagon I couldn't resist jumping on. Seeing how different people approach the same task has been so interesting to read. Links to all the other good stuff: Anne's post, Lisa's post, Katie's post, Anna's post.

I started out my career working in a library that had a staff of 7. They had lots of storytimes each week, so one staff member would plan a storytime several presenters would use.  Often a plan would have 6-8 books, 4-5 songs, and several extension ideas, and a craft (not always done at every storytime). Clearly way too much to do in one 30 minute storytime! The idea was that to allow each presenter flexibility to do things in her own way, one person would assemble a variety of good quality items and each presenter would choose what she wanted to fill the 30 minutes.

Even though I don't share storytime plans with anyone in my current position, I still use the same style to plan. I don't plan a specific order (Book, Flannel, Song, Rhyme, Book, etc) but leave it open to suit the energy, age, and attention of the kids who are in front of me on a given day. I usually pick between 3-5 books, at least one of which is more of a "toddler" book. I try to incorporate nonfiction whenever appropriate.

In terms of where I source my plans, it's a combination of things I have done in the past, what I know is in my flannelboard stash (I have a Google drive spreadsheet with all that info), what I find in the blogosphere (see my storytime blog roll for places I frequently check), and books I find in our catalog.

I typically get books for 3-4 weeks of storytime at once, since I may have to request them from other libraries in our system, and fill in the details 1 week before.

I tried to be more intentional with incorporating specific activities to address ECRR2 this past year, so I added a section for those activities with the practice in parentheses.

Extensions are where I put rhymes, flannelboards, etc. I have started hyperlinking things in my plans since I started blogging so that I can give due credit without having to rack my brain for the source. If I know the rhyme or script is included with the flannel board pieces, I don't bother putting the words on the plan. Same for familiar things like Scat the Cat that I just freestyle.

I have an opening and closing song that I use for an entire year (Sept-May), and then choose one or two additional songs. Sometimes they fit the theme, sometimes they don't. I include descriptions of the actions to remind myself of how the song goes, or instructions about the props I want to use. I was able to put iTunes on my work computer, and use playlists on my iPad. Before that, I used to make playlists for ~3-4 months and burn a cd to use, so I would just have to bounce tracks, not exchange discs.

If I'm doing a craft after storytime, I include a picture of the finished project, a list of the materials I'll need-- including everyday things like glue and scissors, and brief instructions on how to make the project.

So a finished plan looks something like this:

I visit a preschool one day each week, and often tailor my storytimes to whatever special theme they are highlighting that week. They did a week of "unusual" transportation, so I did my best to come up with some unique things to showcase. Its a bit random, but I really like what I came up with-- and the kids did too!

Books:
(I read just the pages about pirate ships from Everything I Know, and also identified all the vocabulary for the ship parts)


Extensions:
Song: Sail, Sail, Sail Your Ship (via Storytime Katie)

Activity: Garbage Truck Sorting (idea from Miss Sarah's Storytime)
I had leftover squares of different colored construction paper from the Little Mouse's houses craft project, so I handed pieces of paper out to the kids and they had to match their paper to the color of the garbage truck on the bag (pictures via Google). Each bag has a different colored garbage truck on each one, so I only have to haul around 3 bags instead of 6!



Flannelboard: A Hunting We Will Go (a Melissa Depper standard)
Clip-Art pairs included: chimp/blimp, sheep/jeep, goat/boat (I used a pirate ship to make it more "unusual"), and rocket/pocket

Flannelboard: Pirate Ships (pattern and rhyme from Fiddlehead Kidlit)
I used the "So Many Pirate Ships" rhyme from Andrea's post, and imported her pattern into the Silhouette Studio so the machine did all the detailed cutting for me! One ship decided to go rogue and not follow the pack :)

Songs:
I'm a Book Baby (younger group)
These Are My Glasses (preschool group)
Reach for the Sky (both groups)

I learned on Monday, through a Series of Random Events, that Minnesota is adding a Picture Book award to our current Maud Hart Lovelace awards, which are all student choice awards. The new award is the Star of the North award, which features both fiction and nonfiction picture books that have not won a Caldecott medal, have been published in the 2 years prior to the award year, with special consideration for Minnesota authors (among other criteria). I decided to feature some of the books at my last storytime as a way of introducing the award.

Books we read:


We did a very informal poll at the end. Many kids liked The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man, and several moms commented that they liked the message of Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. Personally, I love John Rocco's art in Blackout, so that was my favorite.

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)

Minnesota reporting in with a "Feels Like" temperature around 23. Watching the wind whip snow around outside the windows as light rain falls, it seems like poor timing to be posting about umbrellas. But its April! At least the sun is poking out from time to time.


Felt Board Ideas is a great site for flannel board inspiration and rhymes! She even includes a video demonstrating this rhyme, and offering suggestions for ways to extend the learning after or before the rhyme.

The umbrellas were created by an awesome teen volunteer, and were inspired by this pin (currently not available from the original source).

As you can see, each umbrella is ~6 inches from tip to tip.

Books:

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing) [so many bodies!]
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

Books:

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

Image from Open Clip Art Library

I don't typically do reviews on here because, yeah, I barely have the time to get reviews written for School Library Journal. But I ordered this book with high hopes because preschool-appropriate, orchestra-themed books are really hard to come by. I love introducing all the instruments in music programs, so I am constantly on the lookout for new material.

Groan-inducing "cat" phrases aside (there's at least one per page. Consider yourselves warned!), this is a winner. The plot is fairly simple: the "Meowstro" loses his baton before the "orcatstra" (see, I told you!) is due to go on, so he goes around asking the musicians who play different instruments if they have seen it. So you have Yoshi, who plays the taiko (Japanese drum), and Erin, who plays the harp (Ireland), and so on. I won't spoil how Meowstro solves his problem, as the baton is still missing after asking 16 people (you could easily skip some of these when reading aloud to speed up the process), but I think kids will think it is quite silly. A fairly kid-friendly glossary is included giving more information about the instruments and orchestra terms mentioned in the text. Joe Lanzisero's illustrations feature cats wearing ethnic dress from the countries mentioned and fairly detailed (for cartoons) instruments. I love the expressions on all the cats' faces!

Is this an award-contender? Not in my opinion. Will it be the best book you read aloud this year? Probably not. Is it worth buying? I definitely think so. I know I will be using this musical cat-tastrophe (buh dum shhh) in storytimes soon!

This was one of the first flannel board sets I ever made. In the craft drawers at my previous job, I found several sheets of these pizza toppings. I cut them out and covered one side with contact paper and glued felt to the back. The pizza pie I cut from a large sheet of cardboard that came with a poster I purchased. My mom helped me cover it with flannel. This has been a handy little flannelboard to have to take with on outreach visits, but velcro dots don't stick as well to the flannel as they do to felt.

I have enough pieces that all the kids get one for each hand, and then we build the pizza one topping at a time, ending with the pieces of cheese. I have always thought it would be cute to get a pizza box to put the finished product in, but for this time I brought a pizza peel from home and thanked the kids for getting my lunch ready for the oven for me. :)

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)

• Put letters on the Chicka Chicka tree; sing ABCs (Playing & Singing)
• Letter writing practice with the dry erase boards (Writing)