I hope to see many of you at Seussathon on Monday, March 2, 2015!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0kL8Ig8SGk
Monday, February 23, 2015
Coming SOON: Seussathon 2015!
As we prepare for next week's 12th annual Seussathon, I invite you to view this short video that will hopefully give everyone an idea of what goes on during this 12-hour reading marathon. (Hint: it does NOT involve having to read for 12 hours straight!!)
I hope to see many of you at Seussathon on Monday, March 2, 2015!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0kL8Ig8SGk
I hope to see many of you at Seussathon on Monday, March 2, 2015!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0kL8Ig8SGk
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Toddler Storytime ~ SNOW!
This Toddler Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on February 11, 2015.
Books:
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
I LOVE using books from Jonathan London's Froggy series in my storytimes! Not only can we laugh at Froggy's silly antics, we can also help Froggy as he goes "flop flop flop" and produces all sorts of silly sounds! I also love how Froggy's mother is always sticking her head out the window and calling to her son. This is a great opportunity for the children to help me with the story! I point to Froggy's mother, then to the oversize letters, s-l-o-w-l-y running my finger under the letters as we all call out in our most exaggerated voices: "FRRROOGGYY!" This practice helps reinforce the concept of Print Awareness, the understanding that the lines and squiggles we know of as letters can actually tell us what to read and say!
I often remind myself that our little ones have not yet made the connection that the symbols on the page represent our spoken language. I sometimes ponder what it must be like to not yet have that association. I wonder if it might be somewhat the same as if I looked at this:
...and only paid attention to the 4 human figures that appear to be running or dancing. Imagine how my understanding of, and appreciation for, this piece of art would increase immensely if someone were to tell me that the rows of design above and below the figures actually mean something! Perhaps the top row represents the number of "suns" or days the people performed a rain dance, the second row indicates that they danced down the street past a long row of houses, the third row tells us how much rain they received, and the fourth row shows that the flood waters forced everyone to flee to the mountains for 16 days until the waters subsided.
That is a much more detailed and interesting story than "4 human figures that appear to be running or dancing"!
For our little ones, they can begin interpreting the illustrations as soon as they are born. But understanding the symbols, and their meaning, is a skill that comes gradually, with encouragement from those who care for them.
Songs:
Everybody Say Hello!
(tune: "London Bridge")
Everybody say hello, say hello, say hello,
Everybody say hello, hello Wesley!
(Wesley is my turtle puppet who pops out of my apron pocket whenever we sing this song. Then he sits quietly on his rock and listens to the stories and sings along with us. At the end of storytime he says goodbye to the children, gives them high fives, eats pretend food from their hands, blows kisses, and plays hide and seek!)
Song:
Build a Snowman
(tune: "Frere Jacques")
Build a snowman...
Big and round...
Put on some mittens...
And a hat...
Playtime Activities:
What's in the Green Box?
(tune: "Sally Wore a Red Dress")
What's in the green box,
The green box, the green box?
What's in the green box
For us to play?
Design a Snowman (inspired by Lois Ehlert's "Snowballs"):
We used precut paper snowmen, wallpaper samples, dry pasta, pompoms, beads, sequins, feathers, pipe cleaners and ribbon.
"Five Little Snowmen" and "Build a Snowman" felt stories:
Each Toddler Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).
Books:
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
I LOVE using books from Jonathan London's Froggy series in my storytimes! Not only can we laugh at Froggy's silly antics, we can also help Froggy as he goes "flop flop flop" and produces all sorts of silly sounds! I also love how Froggy's mother is always sticking her head out the window and calling to her son. This is a great opportunity for the children to help me with the story! I point to Froggy's mother, then to the oversize letters, s-l-o-w-l-y running my finger under the letters as we all call out in our most exaggerated voices: "FRRROOGGYY!" This practice helps reinforce the concept of Print Awareness, the understanding that the lines and squiggles we know of as letters can actually tell us what to read and say!
I often remind myself that our little ones have not yet made the connection that the symbols on the page represent our spoken language. I sometimes ponder what it must be like to not yet have that association. I wonder if it might be somewhat the same as if I looked at this:
That is a much more detailed and interesting story than "4 human figures that appear to be running or dancing"!
For our little ones, they can begin interpreting the illustrations as soon as they are born. But understanding the symbols, and their meaning, is a skill that comes gradually, with encouragement from those who care for them.
Songs:
Everybody Say Hello!
(tune: "London Bridge")
Everybody say hello, say hello, say hello,
Everybody say hello, hello Wesley!
(Wesley is my turtle puppet who pops out of my apron pocket whenever we sing this song. Then he sits quietly on his rock and listens to the stories and sings along with us. At the end of storytime he says goodbye to the children, gives them high fives, eats pretend food from their hands, blows kisses, and plays hide and seek!)
Song:
Build a Snowman
(tune: "Frere Jacques")
Build a snowman...
Big and round...
Put on some mittens...
And a hat...
Playtime Activities:
What's in the Green Box?
(tune: "Sally Wore a Red Dress")
What's in the green box,
The green box, the green box?
What's in the green box
For us to play?
We used precut paper snowmen, wallpaper samples, dry pasta, pompoms, beads, sequins, feathers, pipe cleaners and ribbon.
"Five Little Snowmen" and "Build a Snowman" felt stories:
Each Toddler Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).
Every Child Ready to Read® @ your library®, PLA and ALSC logos are registered trademarks of the American Library Association and are used with permission.
Baby & Me Storytime ~ 2/10/15
This Baby & Me Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on February 10 & 12, 2015.
Book:
Hugs and Kisses by Roberta Grobel Intrater
Songs:
Hello friends.
Where is Baby?
(tune: "Frere Jacques")
Where is (child's name)? Where is (child's name)?
(Cover child's face with a blanket or scarf)
There you are! There you are!
(pull cover away)
I'm so glad to see you! I'm so glad to see you!
Peek-a-boo! Peek-a-boo!
(cover and uncover child's face again)
Wave Your Bells In The Air
(tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It")
Wave your bells up in the air, in the air!
Wave your bells up in the air, in the air!
Wave your bells up in the air,
Oh, wave them way up there!
Wave your bells up in the air, in the air!
Shake your bells up and down, up and down!
Shake your bells up and down, up and down!
Shake your bells up and down,
and shake them all around!
Shake your bells up and down, up and down!
Skinnamarink
Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-dink
I love you in the morning
Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-dink
Rhymes:
Icka backa soda cracker, Icka backa boo.
Icka backa soda cracker. Up goes you!
Icka backa soda cracker, Icka backa boo.
Icka backa soda cracker. I love you!
(bounce baby side to side, then lift up on “up goes you” and hug on “I love you”)
Our activity this week was Bean Bags!
Each Baby & Me Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).
Book:
Hugs and Kisses by Roberta Grobel Intrater
Songs:
Hello, Friends!
(tune: "Goodnight Ladies")
Hello friends.
Hello friends.
Hello friends.
We're glad you came today!
Where is Baby?
(tune: "Frere Jacques")
Where is (child's name)? Where is (child's name)?
(Cover child's face with a blanket or scarf)
There you are! There you are!
(pull cover away)
I'm so glad to see you! I'm so glad to see you!
Peek-a-boo! Peek-a-boo!
(cover and uncover child's face again)
Wave Your Bells In The Air
(tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It")
Wave your bells up in the air, in the air!
Wave your bells up in the air, in the air!
Wave your bells up in the air,
Oh, wave them way up there!
Wave your bells up in the air, in the air!
Shake your bells up and down, up and down!
Shake your bells up and down, up and down!
Shake your bells up and down,
and shake them all around!
Shake your bells up and down, up and down!
Skinnamarink
Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-dink
Skinnamarink-a-doo
I love you!
Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-dink
Skinnamarink-a-doo
I love you!
I love you in the morning
And in the afternoon.
I love you in the evening
And underneath the moon, oh,
Skinnamarink-a-dink-a-dink
Skinnamarink-a-doo
I love you!
Rhymes:
One Little Baby Splashing in the Sea
One little baby rocking in a tree. (adult gently rocks child)
Two little babies splashing in the sea. (adult/child make "splashing" motion)
Three little babies crawling on the floor. (move hands in "walking" motion in front of child)
Four little babies knocking at the door. (make a fist and "knock" in the air)
Five little babies playing hide and seek. (cover eyes with hands)
Don't look! Don't look!
Until I say...PEEK! (uncover eyes)
Icka Backa Soda Cracker
Icka backa soda cracker, Icka backa boo.
Icka backa soda cracker. Up goes you!
Icka backa soda cracker, Icka backa boo.
Icka backa soda cracker. I love you!
(bounce baby side to side, then lift up on “up goes you” and hug on “I love you”)
Our activity this week was Bean Bags!
Each Baby & Me Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).
Monday, February 16, 2015
Amazing LEGO Sculptures Spotted in Omaha!
My husband and I recently visited one of our favorite Omaha attractions, Lauritzen Gardens, to see the Nature Connects 2: Art with LEGO® Bricks exhibit.
Those who have checked out any of these books from the Bellevue Public Library will be familiar with the name Sean Kenney! He is the author of these wildly-popular books:
Cool Cars and Trucks
Cool Robots
Cool City
Amazing ABC
LEGO Cool Castles
Cool Creations in 35 Pieces
Cool Creations in 101 Pieces
Totally Cool Creations
Those who have checked out any of these books from the Bellevue Public Library will be familiar with the name Sean Kenney! He is the author of these wildly-popular books:
Cool Cars and Trucks
Cool Robots
Cool City
Amazing ABC
LEGO Cool Castles
Cool Creations in 35 Pieces
Cool Creations in 101 Pieces
Totally Cool Creations
Click here to go directly to Sean's website where you'll find photos of his work. Click on "About Sean" to watch his Youtube videos, learn interesting facts (his collection of LEGO pieces weighs about 4 tons!) and even send him an email message!
Come along with me as I walk through the exhibit. I will let Sean's artwork speak for itself. Enjoy!
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