Sebastian (a lady) Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Our library storytime reader is moving and storytime is currently on indefinite hold until they have a new volunteer. I'm thinking that could be me. I spent last night re-reading my copy of the Read Aloud Handbook and my 9 yo wants to be an assistant reader. Does anyone have words of wisdom? I'd take suggestions from readers or families with a lot of experience as storytime listeners, too. Any any tips of good reading lists for storytime. I'm thinking that the Sonlight list has some good books, but they might be better for side by side reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRG Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I've been a school librarian for 3 years now and have also worked in a public library doing storytime. I like to have themes that go along w/the seasons, holidays, etc. I'm assuming that this is for preschool age (?) I would read no more than 3 books. I start w/the longest book first and then do some kind of physical activity--music with actions or just simple stretching and getting the wiggle bugs out. Then I read the shorter books. After that you can have some kind of craft planned. HTH :) Book lists--Sonlight is a good place to look and the CM list is good too. I would also check out the Caldecott lists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East Coast Sue Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I've done this at my public library. It is a fun way to volunteer. We do a story, puppet show or skit, and a craft. They are all tied together loosely on a theme, like "animals" "families" "numbers." The only advice I can offer is make sure all kids have an adult guardian/parent. Sometimes parents will try dropping off a child and leave! What might even be worse than that is that the library doesn't like to call the authorities when children as young as 2 or 3 yrs old are left alone at the library- They are reluctant to get involved or call the police... of course, this is just from my experience... I still enjoy volunteering but I make sure each child enters storytime with an adult!!! Happy reading! Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I've done quite a few storytimes, and my mom is veteran super-storytime lady. What age group are you thinking of? For toddlers, here is what I do, choosing a theme for each week (stories and flannel-board song, maybe one or two other songs will go with the theme): Greeting song Here we are together, or something similar Story Shake my sillies out Another song, like Thumbkin or Eensy-weensy spider Story Flannel-board song/nursery rhyme Action song Action song Another song Goodbye song You only need a fairly limited selection of songs, since they like the repetition. We also use a puppet who comes out at the beginning and end for a couple of the songs and hugs afterwards. Ours is a large fuzzy rabbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Our library storytime reader is moving and storytime is currently on indefinite hold until they have a new volunteer. I'm thinking that could be me. I spent last night re-reading my copy of the Read Aloud Handbook and my 9 yo wants to be an assistant reader. Does anyone have words of wisdom? I'd take suggestions from readers or families with a lot of experience as storytime listeners, too. Any any tips of good reading lists for storytime. I'm thinking that the Sonlight list has some good books, but they might be better for side by side reading. I haven't actually been over to the story time that was running previously. It would be pre-school or younger, at least until summer time, when school is out. We live on a military base overseas. Many of the families are bilingual/bicultural with quite a mix of languages, but Japanese and Tagalog probably being the most dominant. I don't have much experience with group storytelling, but I love books and I hate to see this just fall by the wayside. Especially as I'm working on building bridges with the library to expand their children's collection after they move into their new building this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I haven't actually been over to the story time that was running previously. It would be pre-school or younger, at least until summer time, when school is out. We live on a military base overseas. Many of the families are bilingual/bicultural with quite a mix of languages, but Japanese and Tagalog probably being the most dominant. I don't have much experience with group storytelling, but I love books and I hate to see this just fall by the wayside. Especially as I'm working on building bridges with the library to expand their children's collection after they move into their new building this summer. great ideas already! another plug for instituting some sort of activity. an easy thing to do is print out pics of objects in the books and glue/tape them on popsicle sticks. Hand them out at the beginning and have the kids watch for that item. when it does appear in the story, have them place the popsicle stick item in The Cup ;) w/ the bilingual culture, I'd definitely include a story in another language. If you can speak it great, if not, invite a special speaker :) Another fun idea: invite someone who wears a uniform to come read a story. Kids love uniforms --even if it's "just" a baker, lol! Firemen and police officers are hits. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Whatever you do please don't talk/read in that sing-songy contrived voice that so many people seem to do with preschoolers. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 I like the object on a stick idea. It sort of makes it like a book I Spy game. I'm not sure uniforms here would have the same novelty. Although they might find non-Navy uniforms more interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 We have a great storytime at out library. One thing our librarian does that is nice is do the same songs to start each week. At that age the kids love the repetition. She does 2-3 short songs/fingerplay to start. And then during the storytime she does other songs/fingerplays in between books but those usually somewhat relate to the book. Another thing the kids love is that she has a basket each week that has a stuffed animal or puppet in it. It stays covered until the very end and then she brings it out to say hi and all the kids can pet it. The animal has some relation to the theme of the books. My boys often play "storytime" with a pile of books and a puppet. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 We sometimes go to the storytime at my parents' local library when we're visiting in the summer. They seem to have a pretty basic format: opening song, two books, then a craft. Sometimes instead of reading two books they'll have one book and an activity song (like Where is Thumbkin). I wish they had the craft better laid out; they had two long tables but the supplies never were laid out, so everyone was jostling to get to one or two spots to get everything. What was nice is that they were usually crafts that people could take and go, if you weren't able to stay and do the craft there you could take it home with you to do later. I will second whoever said that parents/adults need to stay. A couple of times they had someone bring a group of kids (like 15 kids with 2 adults) and it was really not a fun experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 (edited) Keep in mind that children, particularly young children, lack a censor button. They are often very honest and difficult critics. There are plenty of Simon Cowells in the preschool set. The person doing the reading and choosing the activity must be prepared to deal with the response. Edited April 20, 2009 by JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenS Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Having attended storytimes as a kid, done them as a librarian, and then attended them again as a parent (and watching all my old favorites retire) ... I'll say the biggest key is Controlling Your Audience. Let the kids know you are the one running the show, not the kid having the tantrum in the corner. (This goes to chatty parents too.) Plus kids will want to interrupt and tell you all about their similar experiences ... you have to be able to redirect them, let them know they can tell you all about it afterwards but 'right now we are reading this story'. The other biggest key is Knowing Your Material. It makes me cringe when storytellers read a book, especially a classic, and get the words WRONG! (Especially funny when there are readers in the group who point it out to them, but a bit rough on the storyteller.) I learned a lot during my stint as a storytime leader, and I learned even more watching as a parent with my old favorites (pre-retirement) guiding the groups. They were amazing, and I know now I was pretty terrible. :) The newer ones just don't have the same group control or mastery of the material that the old librarians did. Definitely alternate books with wiggly activities like songs or finger plays or rhythm instruments. Ending with a craft can be nice. Leading a storytime can be a BLAST and there are lots of good guides out there for ideas. There's a series called Story Stretchers that might be fun. Or looking at curricula like Before Five in a Row, or the stuff at www.homeschoolshare.com might give you ideas too. Active stories like "Going on a Bear Hunt" are usually a big hit. We made our own out of the simple reader "The Berenstain Bears Ride the Thunderbolt" ... I read the story once to the kids, then had them all line up behind me train-style, and we walked our way through the story as I read it again, pretending to go up, up, up and down, down, down, and all that. You can come up with some really cool ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I am a veteran storytimer at my library. That is one of the first ways that you get your foot in the door at the library. Volunteer to help shelve books, read at storytime, etc. It gets you on the inside with the librarian. My experience with storytime is I read to ages 6 and down. I would type up the story on a sheet of paper and tape it to the back of the book. I numbered it so I would know when to turn the page. I practiced with my children. It made it easier to keep the children's attention instead of reading the book and then showing the pictures. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 It turns out that there were two different storytimes running, one with a craft that attracted preschoolers and another one more for toddlers. The one for toddlers is still running and will be for at least a few more months. This was the one I watched yesterday. I hadn't realized how much bigger even my youngest was than these little ones. It doesn't seem like those years are so far behind me, and yet I really can't remember what it was like to have such a tiny kid as these precious toddlers were. There were about 22 kids there. The adults seemed to stay right around the circle. I couldn't tell if the adults were all parents or if some where day care folks. The storytime lady did a great job, with a couple opening songs, little ditties in between stories that helped get the wiggles out and some action rhymes. She was obviously very organized and knew what she wanted to get done. She had a 3-4 stories plus the songs and it took about 20-30 minutes. Actually one thing that struck me was that few families made a trip into the children's section to get any books (the story area is right outside the children's room). Of about 12 groups, only 2 went in to get books. (Although that may be related to the day care attendance). So it looks like the opening would be in the preschool story time. I'm not sure that I feel interested in doing a craft. So I'm thinking of volunteering but saying that it would by storytime only and no craft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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