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Every Child Ready to Read in Michigan - November 2016
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This Month's Wisdom...
"Planning a storytime and you need some additional ideas? Go to the “Everything Preschool” theme site. Themes are listed alphabetically. For example, for “Pets” click on “P” and then pets. Then you can find suggested songs, art ideas and games. They also list books, but I think we can do better picks here than what they have listed!"
~ Sue McCleaf Nespeca
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One of the
workshops in the Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) Manual is a workshop to
collaborate with community partners to help children get ready to read. The
workshop lasts around 45-50 minutes and includes topics such as: research on
early literacy; the importance of early literacy skills; the important role
caregivers and parents play; the five practices; the importance of a child’s
home environment; and how the public library can help. Here are just a few of
the groups you can attempt to reach with the importance of early literacy.
1. Preschools –
(both school-run and faith-based) commercial preschools and preschools at
colleges and universities.
2. Public schools
that have preschool programs
3. Head Start and
Early Start programs
4. Healthcare providers, particularly those who already
participate in the national Reach Out And
Read Project
5. County public
health agencies
6. Local chapters of
or affiliates of the National Association for the Education of Young Children
7. Human services
agencies and shelters
8. Regional or
state-wide early literacy coalitions or initiatives such as Success by 6, the
Family Reading Partnership, Parent-Child Home Programs etc.
9. Teen parents at vocational
or high schools
10. Families at
homeless centers
11. Parents
attending WIC (women, infant and children) centers
12. Families at
migrant camps
13. Families in
housing projects or low-income housing
14. Caregivers
at adult literacy classes
15. Foster
Parent Groups
In addition to handouts
provided in the ECRR manual, here is another tip sheet you might wish to share:
"Do’s To Promote Literacy Experiences"
- Read Aloud to Children On a Daily Basis
- Read to Children for Enjoyment - Not to Teach Them to Read or
to Learn Phonics
- Do Not Use Worksheets or Ditto Sheets
- Allow Children to Ask Questions About Books You Have Read
- Talk About the Books You Have Read
- Read Different Types of Stories
- Use Wordless Books and Have Children Tell the Story Through
the Pictures
- Use Literature Extensions Whenever Possible
- Have a Variety of Writing Materials
- Have Books For Children to Look at During Free Times
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Five Little Ducks. Denise Fleming. Beach Lane,
2016. ISBN:978-1-4814-2422-6.
$17.99.
It is
exciting to see a new book by author/illustrator Denise Fleming, as her books
are so perfect for very young children. Her paper-making technique, pulp
painting, lends itself well to the large and bright child-appealing
illustrations found here. The familiar song, “Five Little Ducks,” is presented
with a few twists, but the traditional song would make a great extension after
sharing this version. In addition, days of the week are introduced for young
children to learn. And the back matter is excellent. There is much to discover
with facts presented about the characters seen in the book: the mallard duck
family; green frogs, flying squirrels; wild turkeys, box turtles, pigs and a
little girl named Anna who is photo bombed by a squirrel. And then, there is a
third way to use this book, as children are asked to go back through the story
and find dragonflies, whirligig beetles, flies, a rabbit, a deer, sheep, a
horse, crows, cows, squirrels, a dog, and a cat and kittens. Regarding the ECRR
five early literacy practices, this book works well for all five --- to child
participation (talking), singing, reading (again and again) playing (acting out
the story) and writing (drawing a favorite character from the book as one
example.) This is must purchase for every library!
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Many libraries have a “parent/teacher” section with useful
resource books that can be borrowed by early childhood educators. Even if you
do not have such a section, it would be great if you could have useful resource
books for ECE teachers to borrow (and you will love them too, as they will help
with programming.) Some of my favorites, that are popular with ECE teachers, have been written by consultant Pam Schiller. Here are a few of her books that
every library should consider for purchase:
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And
the Cow Jumped Over the Moon: Over 650 Activities to Teach Toddlers Using
Familiar Rhymes and Songs
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Do You Know the Muffin Man? Literacy Activities Using Favorite Rhymes and Songs.
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Where is Thumbkin? 500 Activities to Use with Songs You Already Know
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The complete Resource Book for Infants: Over 700 Experiences for Children from Birth to 18 Months
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The Complete Resource Book for Toddlers and Twos: Over 2000 Experiences and Ideas
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The Complete Resource Book for Preschoolers: An Early Childhood Curriculum with Over 2000 Activities and Ideas
- The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays, and Chants
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The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories and Fingerplays: Over 450 Spanish/English Selections
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The
recommended "New Book" in the above article was written and illustrated by Denise Fleming. At
her web site you can find some wonderful colorful posters about reading,
librarians, and how she does her pulp painting. Each poster is a PDF and you
can download them in color in either an 8 ½ x 11 size OR 13 x 17. To see these
posters, go to: http://www.denisefleming.com/pages/posters/posters-main.html
Planning
a storytime and you need some additional ideas? Go to the “Everything
Preschool” theme site. Themes are listed alphabetically. For example, for
“Pets” click on “P” and then pets. Then you can find suggested songs, art ideas
and games. They also list books, but I think we can do better picks here than
what they have listed!
So you
have your theme for storytime and book ideas. How about songs? We know from
ECRR the importance of using several songs in a storytime program. Go to http://www.kididdles.com/, click on “All Songs” for hundreds of song ideas, listed
alphabetically. Lyrics are given, but many songs have music notes after their
title, which means you can also hear the song sung in case you forgot or don’t
know the tune.
Many
of us use Pinterest for program ideas. If you want a one-stop place for over
1,000 open-ended art ideas (a fun end to a preschool storytime) follow this link to a great board on Pinterest.
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Doing Outreach When You Have No Time to Do
Outreach
I have
worked in all sizes of public libraries, and I did in reverse order for some
reason. I started at a large city system and worked my way up to Head of the Children’s
Room. Then, I moved to a medium-size city system and was Children’s Coordinator
for the Main Library and several branches. My next move was to a small town
library were I headed the children’s section and was Assistant Director. I finally ended up at the largest regional
system in Ohio as the Children’s Specialist. At each location, there were many
of the same responsibilities in programming– from storytimes to summer reading etc.
What was entirely different at each site was what I was able to do in terms of
outreach to early childhood educators and those who work with young children.
It was frustrating to know what you should be doing, but were unable to because
of time or staffing constraints. So, let’s just say that doing outreach is
vitally important if there is any way you can do it. But let’s reflect on what
you might do if going outside of the building is next to impossible.
1. Assemble thematic storytime kits that
can be requested and picked up at the library for special loan (some libraries
allow a longer loan period).
2. House specialized collections at
Child-Care headquarters for teachers to check out.
3. Provide monthly/quarterly
newsletters developed especially for teachers of young children - mention new
books at your library that would be great for story sharing. Also, cover
programs you are offering for young children.
4. Model to ECE’s how to do a
storytime when groups visit including having children participate in at least
one story.
5. Provide special Teacher Resource
Collections.
6. Provide an annual workshop on
topics of literacy, storytelling etc.
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