|
Every Child Ready to Read in Michigan - October 2017
|
|
|
This Month's Wisdom...
"I love easy
nonfiction books that tell a story, and yet the child learns some simple facts.
Since the Every Child Ready to Read Project encourages us to use more
nonfiction books in storytimes, it is always great to find one that works."
~ Sue McCleaf Nespeca, referring to "Give Bees A Chance" by Bethany Barton.
|
|
|
For almost two years now, the Library of
Michigan has been providing training and support for ALA’s Every Child Ready to
Read Project. However, many of you might also have heard of the term
“Supercharged Storytimes” and wonder what, if anything, it has to do with the
Every Child Ready to Read Project. This will be one topic to be included in the
last webinar that the State Library is offering on November 28 at 2:00 p.m. (see
more information on that webinar below in “Reflections.”)
Do public library storytimes make a
difference? Is there evidence that these programs actually help children
eventually learn to read? These are two of the questions that arose when the
iSchool of the University of Washington was awarded two grants by the Institute
for Museum and Library Services for their Project VIEWS (Valuable Initiatives
in Early Learning that Work Successfully) and VIEWS2 research. The basis of the
VIEWS2 research was used when creating the Supercharged Storytime program. A
VIEWS2 Planning Tool (VPT) was used to observe storytimes in forty libraries,
and 240 storytime observations were conducted. The goal was for librarians to
become more intentional with planning and reflecting on early literacy content
in their storytime programs.
The VIEWS2 Planning Tool supports the
practices of the Every Child Ready to Read Project 2nd edition,
which describes five practices: talking, reading, singing, playing and writing.
However, the terminology that was presented in the Every Child Ready to Read
Project 1st edition also plays a part. Those six practices were:
print motivation, print awareness, phonological awareness, vocabulary,
narrative skills and alphabetic knowledge. So here are the VIEWS2 Early
Literacy Domains: Communication, Language Use, Phonological Awareness,
Vocabulary, Comprehension, Print Concepts, Alphabetic Knowledge, and Writing
Skills.
In Supercharged Storytimes, for each of
the above domains there is a chart of early literacy behaviors broken down by
three age groups: birth to 18 months; 18 months to 36 months; and 36 months to
60 months.
By following suggestions from the VIEWS2
Planning Tool, librarians are asked to try out some of the behaviors, a little
at a time. Here are some questions that can be asked:
1.
What is my plan for my storytime?
2.
How can I be intentional
about incorporating some behaviors from the VIEWS2 early literacy domains into
the activities I have designed around the ECRR practices?
3.
What early outcomes am I looking for in my
storytime?
4.
How might I be interactive and engage with the children and parents or caregivers
during my storytime?
5.
What impact is the early literacy focus of my
supercharged storytimes having on the children and parents/caregivers who make
up the community I serve?
6.
How can I articulate to my community and
community partners how my supercharged storytimes support early literacy,
strengthening children’s ability to enter school ready to learn to read?
Want more information on Supercharged
Storytimes? Consider attending the webinar on November 28, and if you wish to
invest yourself more fully in this project, consider purchasing the book that
is mentioned on the website below.
|
Supercharged
Storytimes: An Early Literacy Planning and Assessment Guide, published by ALA Editions, recommends “simple interactive
ways to emphasize early literacy techniques and encourage children to use and
practice their pre-reading skills while preserving the delight inherent in
storytime.” And unlike other storytime resources, this offers guidance in
performing assessment, as well as giving tips for planning and conducting
storytimes.
WebJunction is a free resource that you can explore which will
give you much information regarding Supercharged Storytimes. Here you can:
- Access free archived orientation content
through the Supercharged
Storytimes course in the WebJunction catalog! Learners
will be prompted to log-in to our free catalog and/or create a user account.
- Review the Supercharged Storytimes orientation
outline, which includes details on the learning objectives, core content,
and dynamic social learning platform deployed in this program.
- Access ideas and inspiration from fellow
storytime providers at the Supercharged Library.
- Familiarize yourself with the Project VIEWS2
research and resources for librarians and educators at the VIEWS2 website.
|
Groovy
Joe: Dance Party Countdown. Eric Litwin. Orchard, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-545-88379-5. $17.99.
Here is the sequel to the popular Groovy Joe Ice Cream & Dinosaurs by the author of the first
couple Pete The Cat books that
everyone loved. The early Pete books
were of course illustrated by James Dean, and his falling out with author Eric,
led to a string of Pete the Cat books
by Dean that mostly were not as popular with kids. Eric branched out on his own
and wrote the Nut series, which were
mildly popular until he hit upon his dog character, Groovy Joe. These books are
very amusingly and successfully illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site).
As with the first book, there is a link to the music at www.scholastic.com/groovyjoestories.
At the site, you can download Eric telling/singing the story, and you can
download the “Disco Party Bow Wow” song. There is also a video of Eric and
children doing the moves for the song, and there is a trailer for the
book. The story is a vehicle for simple
multiplication (the most difficult problem being 4 + 4 = 8). You have got to
give it to Eric, he knows how to get kids up on their feet and dancing ---
which is great for storytimes!
|
|
|
Old MacDonald Had a… Zoo? Iza Trapani. Charlesbridge, 2017. ISBN: 978-1-58089-729-7.
$16.99.
Trapani is well-known
for her song picture books where she takes a popular children’s nursery song,
and then adds additional verses to make an enjoyable story. At best count, this
is her 14th such book. This one however adds quite a twist on the
traditional song. The first verse is conventional, with Old MacDoanld having a
cow on his farm mooing away. But here comes the twist – the second verse “Old
MacDonald in the sty…Saw a kangaroo hop by….With a hop hop up, and a hop hop
down, her a hop, there a hop, Everywhere a hop hop, Mucky mud went flying high,
E-I-E-I-O.” This verse is followed by a havoc-creating elephant, zebras,
monkeys, and crocodile. He loads them all on his truck and returns them to the
zoo, from where they had escaped. There have been numerous books lately with
different themes on Old MacDonald, but this will make a great storytime choice,
and the illustrations are very child-friendly.
|
Give Bees a Chance. Bethany Barton. Viking, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-670-01694-5.
$16.99
I love easy
nonfiction books that tell a story, and yet the child learns some simple facts.
Since the Every Child Ready to Read Project encourages us to use more
nonfiction books in storytimes, it is always great to find one that works. This
may be a tad long for the younger or restless group, but I think it could be
shared with your older storytime kids that have been coming regularly and can
handle longer stories. Either way, it is also a good choice for one-on-one
story sharing and is by the award winning author of I’m Trying to Love Spiders. There are plenty of facts here
presently humorously and with colorful appealing illustrations “Honeybees have
hair on their eyes!” “Bees sometimes communicate by dancing!” “An average queen
bee can lay up to 2,000 eggs in one day!” A nonfiction winner!
|
|
|
On November 28, the last webinar that is
part of Library of Michigan’s two-year Every Child Ready to Read Initiative
will be offered. I am hoping many of you will consider registering for the webinar here. There will be
a short recap of the Every Child Ready to Read Project, and then information on
Supercharged Storytimes, and finally information on Demco’s Very Ready Reading
Program, which also centers on adding early literacy practices within your
library storytimes.
You will be seeing more on the subject of
Supercharged Storytimes in the future.
For example, ALSC (ALA) will be holding its 2018
National Institute on September 27-29, 2018 in Cincinnati,
Ohio. Sixteen programs total will be
offered. One of the sixteen is entitled Every Child Ready to Read and
Supercharged Storytimes: How these two research h-based projects connect and
add value to early learning:
Research from the PLA/ALSC Every Child Ready to Read Project and
VIEWS2 research that produced "Supercharged Storytimes" have
overlapping early literacy domains/skills which promote early literacy
behaviors for library staff, parents, caregivers and children. This program
will address how librarians can use this knowledge to support early learning in
storytime programs and throughout their community.
Also,
OCLC Online Computer Library Center,
Inc. was awarded $249,969.00
from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to further the Supercharged Storytime project. Here is a description
of what they intend to do with this award granted:
“OCLC
will partner with state and regional library systems, including New York State
Library, Minnesota State Division of Library Services, and Southeast Florida
Library Information Network, to expand the Supercharged Storytimes early
literacy curriculum, and then deploy it nationally by offering a free
self-paced online course for all library practitioners to access; training 100
facilitators to lead learning cohorts in their libraries using the online
course; and training up to 20 expert online trainers to deliver the curriculum across
each state and regional systems. The project will result in as many as 1,600
children's librarians nationwide better equipped to intentionally incorporate
research-based concepts that promote literacy outcomes in young children during
storytime programming. Collaborators on the project include the Public Library
Association and the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading.”
|
|
|
|
|