May Outreach Story Time

May is the last month of the school year when I visit preschools, which means it's my month to encourage kids to visit me at the library over the summer. I try and choose fun, funny, engaging stories to go out with a bang and make story time extra memorable. Here's what I've been taking to classrooms this month:

Opening Song: "Open, Shut Them"

Story: Scary Mary by Paula Bowles
     I used this story to great success at my April Milk & Cookies Story Morning, and I gave it an encore performance with this new audience. They enjoyed it, and they also thoughtfully gave comments on why it is better to be nice to others than to be mean or scary.

Story: I Don't Like Gloria! by Kaye Umansky and Margaret Chamberlain
     A colleague recommended this story as a great read-aloud last month, and I am happy to report that she was correct--my kiddos really enjoyed this story. Calvin, a dog, is dismayed to find that Gloria, a cat, is now living at his house, and his attention from his owners has dwindled. Of course he blames Gloria; until another animal is added to the mix, that is. We talked about why being friendly might be better than growling or being mad at a new pet/friend; this book would also work well for children with new siblings.

Rhyme: "The Grand Old Duke of York"
     We did this rhyme as a stretch rhyme, clapping our laps to march and then raising/lowering our hands as the rhyme dictates. Much to the children's delight, we tried to do the rhyme faster and faster until finally all we could do was move our hands. Lots of giggles ensued.

Story: There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
     This book and its counterparts by Mayer are classics for a reason: perfect pacing, safe exploration of children's fears, and humor mixed in. These books never fail to quiet the entire room of children as anticipation mounts.

Rhyme: "Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree"
     I think I would have riots on my hands if I didn't finish off the outreach year with my five monkey finger puppets and Al, my alligator puppet. Have you ever asked children to practice their alligator chomping noises? They are impressive.

Story: Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
     I hadn't originally planned on using this story this month, but when it showed up on my desk the morning of my first May outreach visit, I knew I had to work it in. This title is slightly longer than the others, but it holds high potential for absurdity and hilarity. I don't want to spoil it for you--check it out at your earliest opportunity. Suffice it to say that this was a perfect story to end with.

Closing Song: "If You're Happy and You Know It"
     Normally, I use "If you're happy and you know it, wave goodbye" as the closing verse for this song when I am indoors in classrooms. On the last story time visit of the school year, though, I'm willing to get noisy and default to the traditional "shout 'hooray!'" Oh, yes, it gets loud, especially on the last line when children really give it their all. If that last moment of fun is how they remember the year in story time? Well, then I think I've done my job.

SWAB Book and Activity Bundles & the Blog Tour Wrap-Up: Start with a Book Blog Tour

Welcome to the final entry in the Start with a Book Blog Tour! Don't forget to check out the rest of the posts from some fabulous youth services bloggers; links are in my opening post. And now, without further ado, I'll share how I'm using Start with a Book and its resources now.

I blogged last year about my Take-Home Story Time Kits, neat little bundles of stories and music for caregivers to engage in story time at home. Caregivers (and other librarians!) love them, and guess what? Start with a Book, with their 24 Summer Learning Themes (many of which contain great STEAM tie-ins), offers some great resources for a new twist on those bundles.

Right now in my library, I've got two types of bundles: Take-Home Story Time Kits for pre-readers, and Read and Do Bundles for readers (elementary-aged children). Almost everything about these bundles (save my tags, the music CDs, and the ribbon to tie them) comes from the resources on the Start with a Book 24 Summer Learning Themes. Here's what the bundles include:

Take-Home Story Time Kits - for pre-readers

• 2-3 books from the 3-6 year-old age level section of a SWAB theme
• a children's music CD from my library's list of favorites (e.g., Laurie Berkner, They Might Be Giants)
• a Growing Readers activity sheet that pairs with the theme -- SWAB theme pages include these links in section 2 - Growing Readers: Parent Tips
• a Start with a Book flyer -- so caregivers who enjoy the bundles have a pathway to finding more theme-extending activities, websites, and apps
• an eye-catching tag that does three things: 1) connects to summer reading ("Dig into..."); 2) advertises the kit's theme; and 3) gives a brief explanation of the kit and how to use it

Read and Do Bundles - for readers

• 1 book from the 9-12 year-old age level section of a SWAB theme
• printed instructions for a theme-related activity -- SWAB theme pages include these links in section 2 - Hands-on Activities and Crafts
• a Start with a Book flyer -- so readers and their caregivers have access to more activities, including the SWAB theme recommendations of Great Websites for Kids and Mobile Apps
• an eye-catching tag that does three things: 1) connects to summer reading ("Dig into..."); 2) advertises the bundle's theme; and 3) invites the reader to read and do an activity on the topic

One of the things I love love love about the Start with a Book themes--and the bundles I can create with them--are the great STEAM options. There's STEAM at a basic level: the book lists include lots of great non-fiction titles. There's also the fact that so many of the themes, even the less obviously STEAM ones, have science tie-ins. Think dinosaurs and activities involving paleontology; explorers and related navigation and astronomy sciences; nature and books, activities, sites, and apps that explore life sciences. I love any opportunity to get families involved in STEAM concepts at home, and the resources in each of the 24 Summer Learning Themes certainly encourage that. As a result, my bundles encourage STEAM learning, too.

These bundles initially took a bit of time to assemble; I needed to find the books from the SWAB theme lists, then choose and print the appropriate activity sheets and print tags. Once I had done the groundwork for the bundles, however, I made extra copies of the resources so that replenishing bundles as they check out is easy peasy (see my 2012 post for the check-out logistics of bundles).

There you have it--that's how I thought to use the resources on the Start with a Book website immediately after checking it out. Thanks to this blog tour and its bloggers, however, I now see so many other avenues for using the site. I hope you do, too, and I hope you'll consider Start with a Book as a resource to support you in your summer library services. Please share in the comments any ideas for how you are using/will use the content on Start with a Book in your library!

Don't forget to scroll down and enter the giveaway for one of the tremendous book bundles that the folks at Start with a Book have assembled--each on one of the 24 Summer Learning Themes. The giveaway entry form will only work until noon Eastern time on Tuesday, May 21, so get your entry submitted before then! Winners will be contacted via e-mail to arrange delivery.

In wrapping things up, I want to say thanks: thanks so much to Tina and Rachael at Start with a Book for first introducing me to this rich literacy resource, and thanks to my fellow bloggers for sharing their ideas on their blogs. And, of course, thanks to you readers for your commitment to always developing professionally.

I'm wishing you all summer sunshine and happy reading!

Start with a Book Blog Tour with Brooke Rasche

Today's stop on the Start with a Book Blog Tour takes place on Reading with Red, where Brooke explores some of the early literacy potential on the site. Head over to read her tips and tricks, then enter the giveaway drawing!

For more information on the Start with a Book Blog Tour, check out the opening post.

Start with a Book Blog Tour with Kendra Jones

Today's stop on the Start with a Book Blog Tour takes place on Read Sing Play, where Kendra shares some of the resources that she found on the site and plans to use. Head over to see her tips and enter the giveaway drawing!

For more information on the Start with a Book Blog Tour, check out the opening post.

Start with a Book Blog Tour with Abby Johnson

Today's stop on the Start with a Book Blog Tour takes place on Abby the Librarian, where Abby explores the resources available to help librarians support emerging readers. Head over to find her tips and curated links, then enter the giveaway drawing!

For more information on the Start with a Book Blog Tour, check out the opening post.

Start with a Book Blog Tour with Sarah Bean Thompson

Today's stop on the Start with a Book Blog Tour takes place on GreenBeanTeenQueen, where Sarah expounds on the ways the Start with a Book theme lists can help librarians help caregivers read to their kids. Head over for great talking points to share with caregivers, and don't forget to enter the giveaway drawing!

For more information on the Start with a Book Blog Tour, check out the opening post.

Start with a Book Blog Tour with Marge Loch-Wouters

Today's stop on the Start with a Book Blog Tour takes place on Tiny Tips for Library Fun, where Marge waxes excited about the site's 24 Summer Learning Things and some ways they support librarians' work. Head over to catch her enthusiasm and enter the giveaway drawing!

For more information on the Start with a Book Blog Tour, check out the opening post.