Flannel Friday-Humpty Dumpty

This week's selection is brought to you from my stash of stuff that I like to use.  The pattern and the rhyme are both included in the book Best of Dr. Jean: Puppets and Storytime by Jean Feldman.

I colored and cut out a copy from the pattern.  Humpty Dumpty is laminated to hold up through multiple uses.  The kids like to see my fingers in the leg holes.  Plus, since he is a puppet, he can act out the rhyme (him falling is always fun).

This week's round-up is hosted at Miss Courtney Meets Bobo.

Upcoming Dates
On March 15 Flannel Friday will be 2 years old!  If you haven't had a chance yet, visit our map and tell us where you are from.  As we get closer to the big day, Rain Makes Applesauce will be hosting the March 8 round-up.  We are asking everyone to share what Flannel Friday means to them.

March 1 is the Dig into Summer Reading Extravaganza.  It will be hosted here and the placeholder will be up the week before.

March 15 is the Flannel Friday Birthday Extravaganza.

Our New Early Literacy Center

Last fall, I read this great post on the ALSC blog about a Post Office Early Literacy Center that the Lexington Park Library put together.  I have been looking for a center like this to add to our library and was quite impressed.  Because it has multiple parts, you can scale it back or enhance it, depending on your clientele or space.

To put our early literacy center together, our biggest obstacle was space.  While I love the idea of individual mailboxes for the characters, we have no where to put them at this time.  Just about every inch of our branch has a purpose and it is difficult to rededicate that space.  Our tables are always filled (in fact, we could honestly use more) so we couldn't take one away to set up the center.  We have no empty wall space where we could add a hook for the mail carrier costume or signage to go with the center.  What we did have, though, was metal endcaps for our shelves.  We split our center in two and put it at the ends of two aisles.

Here's what we did:
1.  We purchased 2 red Kritter tables and 2 yellow Kritter chairs from Ikea.  The tables are really sturdy and will hold up well.  I am not so sure about the chairs, but the two tables are still easily accessible without chairs.

2.  The mailbox and the post office sorter were bought from Lakeshore Learning.  When we purchased ours, the post office was on clearance (whoo hoo!), but it looks like it is on their web site again.  You will also need wet erase markers to write the names on the sorter.  We bought the mail carrier costume for our Main Library, but we just don't have space at our branch.

3.  Now we needed supplies.  Since we were purchasing from Lakeshore Learning already, we bought our newsprint there.  We are using the grade 1 newsprint because this is our target audience.  We want to catch those kids who are just learning to write.  Most of our office supplies are bought through Office Depot and we found beginners' pencils.  I chose the ones without the erasers because I would like the pencils to stay with the station and not be taken to do everyone's homework (which would happen).  Then we needed a way to sharpen the pencils.  Office Depot also sold a sharpener with a larger hole for the beginner-sized pencils.  We also needed a reusable way for kids to mail their letters.  The smallest size that we could find was a 5x7 clear envelope.

Next we got everything set up and put the new furniture together.  We chose our characters based on those that we display at our various locations and on our 100 Books to Read Before Kindergarten list.  We added labels to the envelopes and made a cool stamp out of our logo.  Then we tried to fit our envelope into the sorter slot.  Sigh.  It was too big.  I went back online to look for something smaller to no avail.  Then another staff member suggested cutting off the bottom and using booktape to seal the plastic together.  It works and it looks good.

Everything has been totally set up for 3 days now.  I probably have at least 10 letters that I can use for future promotional stuff.  There have been countless others where kids practiced writing their name, the character's name, and drew pictures of elephants (story time topic this week).  I am impressed with how successful it actually is.  Since I have money leftover from the clearance price on the post office sorter, I will be purchasing more paper as we will need it.  If you are looking for something new to do at your library, I would definitely recommend this project!

Nonfiction Displays and Common Core

One of my goals this year is to get all of those great nonfiction materials that we order into the hands of teachers.  With the new Common Core standards being implemented, the emphasis is on more quality nonfiction.

Displays are an easy way to collect books on a theme and put them in the hands of our users.  Plus, displays increase circulation.  One study has displays increasing circulation 90% for books that were on the shelf.  Since I am just happy if they go out, a display seemed like a good first step.  Unfortunately, our building has almost no display space.  What we did have, though, was an empty range of shelves.  By shifting the shelves around, I made it look more like a separate entity, rather than books just standing up on the shelves.

This month's theme is "Nonfiction Award Winners".  With the recent announcements of the Sibert Award and ALSC Children's Notables, this is a great time to highlight some of those titles.  I figure that I will shift it around ever month or so to highlight a new nonfiction area or homework topic.

I created this display late Friday and by Monday morning, almost half of the books were gone.  That is pretty gratifying for little effort.  To refill the empty spaces, I am now adding previous award winners too since I didn't specify a year on the sign.

I think that my first step towards my goal is a success!  Now onto project #2-nonfiction teacher newsletters.





Favorite Authors

As I have been going through the ALA 2013 Notables list, I noticed that there are authors that I always order.  Their books are always good or fit our collection exactly right, that when I see their name, I am searching in our ordering system to find their next books.  I know that I could place them on standing order like I do our series books, but then I miss the fun of seeing what's coming out (honestly, it is like Christmas morning!).


Picture Books

• Eric Carle
• Lois Ehlert
• Candace Fleming
• Kevin Henkes
• Eric Rohmann
• Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• The Steads (both Philip and Erin)
• Melanie Watt (I am a gigantic Scaredy Squirrel fan.  Almost as big as Pete the Cat)
• David Wiesner
• Mo Willems
• Paul Zelinsky

Chapter Books

• Christopher Paul Curtis (Quality stuff & Michigan author)
• Lois Lowry
• Sarah Pennypacker
• Laura Amy Schlitz (She has been really hitting the Newberys recently.)
• Gary Schmidt (Quality stuff & Michigan author)
• Raina Telgemeier

Nonfiction

• Nic Bishop (Animal books and Michigan photographer.  Really, how can you beat that?!?)
• Karen Blumenthal
• Russell Freedman
• Steve Jenkins (I can't have enough animal books.)
• Phillip Hoose (Check out his recent record.  Really, they are all award winners.)
• Deborah Hopkinson
• Sy Montgomery
• Jim Murphy
• Kadir Nelson
• Jack Prelutsky
• Doreen Rappaport

The one important note about this list is that it is constantly evolving.  There are always new authors & illustrators appearing on the scene and new awards being presented.

Flannel Friday-If You Like Your Eggs Scrambled

I will admit it-this is another flannelboard that started out as a joke.  It was my coworker's birthday on Monday and I told her that I would make her a flannelboard out of her favorite food (which is bacon).  Now, I don't know if you have every looked, but there really are not flannelboards or rhymes that use bacon.  I finally lucked out on the KCLS Tell Me a Story page.

The pieces were all made out of felt with thread details.  (I figured that the thread looked a little fancier since it was her birthday).  This flannelboard will work with any breakfast or food story time.  Personally, I can't wait to pair it with Flip Flap Jack.

 

If You Like Your Eggs Scrambled

(To the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It)

 

 

If you like your eggs scrambled, clap your hands.
If you like your eggs scrambled, clap your hands.
Yes, they’re yummy and they’re yellow
So you’ll be a happy fellow.
If you like your eggs scrambled, clap your hands.

 

If you like your eggs fried, jump up high.
If you like your eggs fried, jump up high.
Yes, they’re yummy and they’re yellow
So you’ll be a happy fellow
If you like your eggs fried, jump up high.

 

 



If you want bacon with your eggs, wiggle your legs.
If you want bacon with your eggs, wiggle your legs.
Yes, they’re yummy and they’re yellow
So you’ll be a happy fellow
If you want bacon with your eggs, wiggle your legs.

 

 

If you want toast instead, nod your head.
If you want toast instead, nod your head.
Yes, it's yummy and it's great,

So you'll be glad that you ate.
If you want toast instead, nod your head.

 

 

This week's round-up is hosted by Anne at So Tomorrow.  Even if you don't have a chance to post, stop by the round-up and add your location to her giant map in preparation for Flannel Friday's 2nd Birthday Extravaganza!



Singing with Kids

I realize that not everyone likes singing with kids.  In fact, despite my music major and background, I am one of those people who used to hate to sing in front of people.  Last Monday when I had a playdate with my nieces and nephews, I heard my husband say, "Wow, I have never heard Lisa sing before.  I can't believe that is what quieted Fallon's screaming."  (Fallon is my 5 month old niece.)  It made me start to think.  Then later in story time that week, I noticed that I was actually singing (where people could hear me, not just moving my lips).  How did I get to this point?

While these may not all work for you, here are some things that I have done over the past 12 years that may have gotten me to this point:

1.  Do you know any babies that you can hold?  Over the past 7 years, I have acquired 8 nieces and nephews and I see many of them multiple times a week.  I am constantly holding them, singing to them, playing with them, etc.  I have found that singing to a baby is kind of like our PAWS for Reading program (or a Reading to the Dogs program).  Babies really don't care what you sing or how you sing-they just like that you do it.  If you can't think of anything to try, I would start with Old MacDonald (because this song can really go on forever).  The name game is also fun (they like hearing their name and it is just funny).  Chances are if you can be a little silly in front of a baby, you can be a little silly in other areas of your life too (like story time).

2.  If you're still not ready to grab a microphone and perform, what about finding cds that fit your songs and taste to add as your story time accompaniment.? The thing that is important for this to work is to find music that goes slow enough for you to sing along with.  The kids will sing along if you sing, but if you are still shy, pass out lyrics sheets to the parents.  While you may get a few rolled eyes the first time, most will participate because what we are doing looks fun!  Plus, if you pick a song with actions, your audience will be looking at your hand motions and not your mouth.

Also, when in doubt, if you can mouth "watermelon" to any song and it looks like you are singing.
3.  Is there a music group that has you humming along when people aren't watching?  Chances are they fit your musical tastes and registers.  Most of us have to drive to work and can pop in a cd.  This is a good time to sing along where nobody else can hear you (you just may get some strange looks from other drivers if you pull off an air guitar).  Just as an example, Maroon 5 is my cd of choice (the singing isn't too high, the songs are catchy, and I can actually follow along to the words).  If they are on the radio, I find myself singing along.  While I am not going to sing their songs in story time, the more you do something (like singing), the more comfortable you get.


My best advice is to do what is most comfortable for you while not taking you totally out of your comfort zone. 

Literacy Fun

Our branch is in the process of creating a post office early literacy center based on a posting from the ALSC blog a couple of months back.  Yesterday, I set up the first part of the center to clean up some of the mess by my desk.

 

As you can see, it is a table and a mailbox.  Over the past 24 hours, I have watched numerous kids playing "library book drop" by putting their dvds in the slot and pulling them out the side.  Then today, we had actual letters that kids had written on pieces of scrap paper.  It is amazing what kids will come up with!