Encouraging Dramatic Play in the Library

In Children and Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children's fall 2024 issue, Wisconsin's own Terry Ehle, Tami Feuerstein and Sally Taylor have a wonderful article on their thoughtful approach to incorporating early literacy practice in everything they do.

The abstract for the article states: "A moving child is a learning child. Playing is the best way to learn. And the number one factor in preparing children for success is loving interaction between them and their primary caregivers—the parents or “embedded” persons who are their first, favorite, and most important teachers. Those research-based beliefs are the foundation of the Lester (Two Rivers, WI) Public Library’s (LPL) early literacy approach, and we build upon it by incorporating into all programs, including dramatic play, the American Library’s Association’s Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) five early literacy practices: read, talk, play, write, and sing."

The article shares the philosophy behind their approach and a ton of ideas and tips on how they created dramatic play spaces that work. 

You can access the article here at the journal's website [Practice the Practices: Kids Learn Big in Dramatic Play Areas. Ehle, Terry et al. Children and Libraries Journal. Fall 2024. Vol 22, No. 3.]

Ask Jbrary Crowdsources Answer to First "Ask Jbrary" Question

We recently shared on the YSS blog Jbrary's "Ask Jbrary" project - the idea of crowd-sourcing answers to questions about storytime and early literacy.  We hope you had a chance to share your wisdom as Lindsey gathered opinions.

Last week, Jbrary published the results of the first question that her readers responded to:  "Dear Jbrary, I am saddened to see so many caregivers glued to their cellphones and missing out on all these rich “serve and return” opportunities. What can I say or do at storytime to help caregivers engage with their young children?"

Stop here to read all the great ideas, tips and support from front-line librarians! [Caregivers on Devices at Storytime. Krabbenhoft, Lindsey. Jbrary blog. August 12, 2024]

Ask Jbrary!

The Jbrary team is planning to start crowd-sourcing answers to some of the vexing storytime/early literacy questions people ask them. 

Lindsey Krabbenhoft recently wrote: "Over the years we’ve received hundreds of emails with questions about storytime. Sometimes I don’t have the capacity to respond as in depth as I would like, and sometimes I feel the question would be better answered by a group. The new thing I want to try is sharing the questions I receive with the readers of this blog and giving others an opportunity to respond [on the blog]."

The plan is to leave the submission box open for a week or two and then Lindsey will respond with a blog post incorporating her own and the crowd-sourced answers.

Check out the first question and weigh in! [Ask Jbrary: Caregivers on Devices at Storytime. Krabbenhoft. Jbrary blog. July 30, 2024.]

Cheerleading - and Waiting - for Early Literacy

Recently we shared an ALSC post from Tess Prendergast here at our YSS blog about ways to incorporate early literacy tips conversationally with caregivers. Shortly after that post published Lindsey Krabbenhoft at Jbrary weighted in with additional thoughts and ideas on this important work.

Lindsey writes: "First I’ll draw your attention to Why & How to Offer Supportive Early Literacy Messages by Tess Prendergast. I especially like how Tess stresses the “Supportive” part. She says, “For caregivers who do not yet know why kids need rich language and literacy experiences, early literacy tips should offer validation, support and encouragement, not judgment.” When I speak to other staff who offer storytimes a common concern I hear is that early literacy tips come off as preachy, judgmental, or didactic. To add to Tess’s advice, I try to think of it like I’m the early literacy cheerleader of storytime. Here to pump you up and congratulate you on spending this time with your little one in all the ways that support their communication."

To read her additional thoughts on how she uses OWL (observe, Wait, Listen) as a mdeling technique that can also be used in lieu of literacy messages. Great food for thought and practice!

Click here to read her full post and resources. [Being an Early Literacy Cheerleader in Storytime and the Power of Waiting Krabbenhoft, Lindsey. Jbrary blog. June 24, 2024.]

Play Ideas for Early Literacy Library Fun

Emily Mroczek-Bayci has been doing a very practical series on using the 5 literacy practices with tots at your library for the ALSC blog. In her most recent post from last month, she explores how to use PLAY in your activities and with books.

Emily writes:  "As children’s professionals, we know the Every Child Ready to Read concepts. Maybe you address a certain one in every program. Maybe parents ask more about them. Maybe you can say them in your sleep. Maybe you didn’t realize they had a name, but are still using them all in your daily work. Whatever your story is, the five key practices (talk, read, sing, write and play) aren’t going anywhere. This is the fourth post of a five-part series on concrete ideas to use ECRR in programming.

Today’s post is about PLAY. Children learn through dramatic and pretend play, express themselves and practice narrative skills."

Please stop here to read her ideas and find links to her previous posts exploring Talk; Write and Read. [Ready Ideas for Ready to Read: PLAY. Mroczek-Bayci. ALSC blog. December 13, 2023.]

Using Literacy "Asides" in Storytime

In a recent ALSC blog post, Maria Trivisonno shared tips on using literacy asides within our storytimes. She suggests that December is a great time, while we pause many storytime sessions, to work on adding to our toolkit of literacy we incorporate into storytimes. 

As a trainer in Ohio, she and her colleagues base their training work on asides on the seminal work done by Melissa Depper of the Arapaho District Library. In this post she shares Melissa's handout!

Click here to read the post. [The Art of Literary Asides in Storytime. Trivisonno, Maria. ALSC blog. November 28, 2023]

Let's Play in the Library

In a recent ALSC blog post, the ever-amazing Tess Prendergast addresses ways that dramatic play in the library enhances literacy and learning for our youngest patrons.

Tess writes: "Because you work with children, you see them at play in different ways all the time. At any given moment in the children’s library, you might see them putting on a puppet show, building with blocks, pretending to go on a bear hunt, or playing with an interactive app. Play is an integral part of childhood, and children experience play as intrinsically rewarding and intensely enjoyable. We also know that play in all its forms fosters children’s language, literacy, and cognition. It also provides rich developmental opportunities across all domains. Play is so important to the lives of children, it is enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 31 which states that all children have the right “to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.”

She goes on to suggest way to incorporate play in library spaces and early literacy programming - and provides the research to back up her examples.

To read the post, please click here. [Supporting Dramatic Play in the Library. Prendergast, Tess. ALSC blog. November 18, 2023.]

Ideas for Storytime and Early Literacy Play

Two recent ALSC blog posts looked at program ideas for our youngest patrons. 

On Sept 3, Ariel Barreras shared a number of engaging early literacy programming ideas that can expand the types of programs you do beyond storytime. You can read her post here. [Early Literacy Program Ideas for Your Library. Barreras, Ariel. ALSC Blog. September 3, 2023.]

A few days later, frequent contributor Kary Henry reflected on the use of themes in storytime.  She uses them and explains why. And her surprising choices help us see that there are a wide array of thematic approaches beyond leaves or colors! Please stop here to read her mind-expanding thoughts sparked by early literacy guru Mel Depper. [To Theme or Not to Theme...  Henry, Kary. ALSC Blog. September 5, 2023.]

STEM for Early Learners

One of the sessions at the 2020 Virtual Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy conference was called Early STEM is Early Literacy: And You're Probably Doing It Anyway. The presenters, Heather Lee of the Idaho STEM Action Center and Jennifer Redford of the Idaho Commission for Libraries, drew parellels between the six early literacy skills and five early literacy practices AND early STEM practices. If you registered for the conference, I encourage you to listen to the recorded version of that session if you haven't already.

If you don't have access to the recording, here are some resources that you can use:

Let's Talk, Read, and Sing about STEM: Tips for Preschool Teachers and Providers (pdf)

The Five Practices and the Early Literacy Components Support Each Other (pdf)

Engaging Children in STEM (45 minute self-paced tutorial with brief videos)

Talking Points about Early Literacy STEM

The ALSC blog's Overview of the Last Six Months listed the top nine most popular ALSC blog posts from that period. Though I read it often, there were a few listed that I had missed. One of the most useful as I plan the upcoming spring storytime season is STEAM and Storytime Tips by Guest Contributors Saroj Ghoting and Pamela Martin-Diaz.  The early literacy talking points and the connections to reading, science, and math these points make are great starts for storytime scripts and creative fodder for making up your own. 

Do you incorporate early literacy talking points into your storytimes? Do you have handouts for caring adults? 

If you're a YSS member, we'd love to hear how you engage and empower parents around the many types of literacy and growing readers. Comment on this post or send a blog submission to Aimee Schreiber, the YSS Blog Administrator at the email shown in the header.

CLEL Bell Picture Book Awards for Early Literacy Announced

Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy is happy to announce the 2018 CLEL Bell Picture Book Awards for Early Literacy!

The five winning books consist of one title in each of five categories selected from a shortlist of 25 titles. Each category represents an early literacy practice: Read, Write, Sing, Talk, and Play. The books, in their content, theme, or design, support caregivers’ interaction with their children through these five early literacy practices. Research has shown that engaging children in these practices builds language skills and prepares children to become successful readers.

READ: The Library Book by Tom Chapin and Michael Mark; illustrated by Chuck Goenink
A rainy day entices a girl to the library.  Sitting in her favorite chair, she is soon surrounded by literary friends including Winnie the Pooh, Madeline, Pinnocchio, and more. After a fun visit to the library, she checks out her favorite book to take home and read.  This book models a child’s love of reading and how it can be enhanced by a trip to the library.

WRITE: Little Plane Learns to Write by Stephen Savage
Little Plane loves flight school where he and the other planes are learning to write in the sky. His arcs and dives are excellent, but he can’t seem to get the hang of loopity-loops. Finally, tracing the round shape of the moon inspires Little Plane to write the perfect loopity-loops. Drawing circles, arcs, and lines helps children learn to form letters, just like Little Plane.

TALK: Say Zoop! by Herve Tullet
Say Zoop! encourages children and caregivers to interact with the pages of the book by inviting them to place their fingers on different colored dots and make the sounds that the book describes for each dot. Making noises helps children practice the different sounds in words which will help them in acquiring language.

SING: Motor Goose by Rebecca Colby, illustrated by Jef Kaminsky
Motor Goose is a compilation of classic nursery rhymes that have been rewritten with a transportation theme. Each page is a song centered on a different vehicle and set to familiar tunes such as Mary Had a Little Lamb or Itsy-Bitsy Spider. This book supports singing with children, whether it be classic nursery rhymes or modern children’s classics.

PLAY: Things to Do with Dad by Sam Zuppardi
A boy and his dad start the day making pancakes together, but dad’s looming to-do list puts a damper on their shared fun. The boy alters the list, inventing imaginative ways he and his dad can complete the chores together. This book models a variety of ways that adults and kids can playfully interact during their daily routine.

For more information and for a free activity sheet for each winning title, please visit the award website.

Talk, Read, and Sing Together Every Day: Tips for Families

Resources for early literacy information abound, but I just discovered a new one that has a wonderful handout to share with parents and caregivers of babies and toddlers. Right now, I'd like to share it with you! You can view and download it HERE.


More resources and information can be found at the Talking is Teaching website.

'"Talking is Teaching: Talk, Read, Sing" is a public awareness and action campaign that helps parents recognize their power to boost their children’s early brain and vocabulary development through simple, everyday actions - like describing things while walking outside, or singing songs together during bath time. Using books, parent videos, text messaging, social media, and information from expert partners, Talking is Teaching empowers parents and caregivers with fun and easy ways to improve their babies' learning.' (from http://talkingisteaching.org/about)

CLEL Bell Award Winners

Pixabay

The Bell Awards were created in 2012 to recognize picture books that provide excellent support of early literacy development in young children. The shortlists can be accessed and the information sheets can be downloaded for free at the CLEL website: http://www.clel.org/

The five winning books consist of one title in each of five categories representing an early literacy practice: Read, Write, Sing, Talk, and Play. The books, in their content, theme, or design, support caregivers’ interaction with their children through early literacy practices. Research has shown that engaging children in these practices builds language skills and prepares children to become successful readers.

The winning titles are:

READ: The Summer Nick Taught His Cats to Read by Curtis Manley; illustrated by Kate Berube (New York: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 2016)
Nick loves spending time with his cats, except when he wants to read: his cats lay on the pages of the books and make nuisances of themselves! Nick decides to teach his cats to read, so they can all enjoy books together. Just like Nick’s cats, some children will be enthusiastic learners and others will struggle. This book describes a wonderful variety of activities that will support all children on their learning journeys.

WRITE: Alphonse, That is Not OK to Do! by Daisy Hirst (Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick, 2016)
Natalie loves to create art with her little brother, Alphonse. When she catches him eating her book, however, Natalie is mad and channels her anger into her art, drawing beasts and a tornado chasing Alphonse! Drawing and scribbling allows children to tell stories and express their feelings before they learn how to write words and sentences.

SING: Rock-a-Bye Romp by Linda Ashman; illustrated by Simona Mulazzani (New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2016)
This bedtime romp starts with the familiar lines of "Rock-a-Bye, baby, in the treetop" only to head off on an adventure, taking baby into a bird's nest, through a farmyard, over a waterfall, and onto the back of a flying hawk. All the words of the book can be sung to the tune of Rock-a-Bye Baby. Changing the words to a familiar song is a fun way introduce a child to new vocabulary and to make children laugh.

TALK: Puddle by Hyewon Yum (New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016)
Stuck inside on a rainy day, a mother coaxes her son to enjoy the day inside by drawing a picture of the rainy day together. After drawing and talking, they decide to go outside and splash in the puddles. The entire story is told through the conversation between mother and son and models how to engage children in the rich conversations that develop language skills.

PLAY: Box by Min Flye; illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw (New York: Abrams Appleseed, 2015)
A box can contain a fun new toy, but even more fun is what you can do with the box after you open it! With lift-the-flaps and fold-out pages, this book is just as much fun to play with as it is to read. The dramatic play and imagination that an ordinary box inspires develops language, vocabulary, and narrative skills as children act out their own stories.

Manitowoc's 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Event

Submitted by Susie Menk, Youth Librarian at Manitowoc Public Library

In August, Manitowoc Public Library hosted a 1000 Books Before Kindergarten Event.  We wanted to do a graduation party but decided that might limit participation.  We decided to just do an event to celebrate 1000 Books before Kindergarten—for those who have already completed it, for those who are in the middle of the program and for those who have never heard of it.

We planned several stations based on the five early literacy skills—reading, writing, singing, playing and talking.  We started out the event by gathering everyone into our normal storytime setting and doing a read aloud book.  The book was read twice, once just a read through, the second time a dialogic reading.  

It was fairly obvious to parents, which type of reading engaged their child more, which lead into a brief (VERY SHORT) discussion of the five early literacy skills.  We encouraged parents to do the stations WITH their child and as you can see in the photos, they did!!!

Many of the ideas we used can be found on the Manitowoc Public Library Pinterest page. 

We did Song sticks, upper and lowercase matching games with plastic eggs, color matching with clothespins, flannels, nursery rhyme games, a puppet theater, dress up clothes, letter matching with pool noodles pieces, magnets on a board, writing and drawing on a white board, flannels, shape matching and creative play with Legos™.  Most of these materials are things we keep on hand or were cheap and easy to make. 

It was a great success.  The best part is we kept the activity pieces and parts and now have them to use in storytimes!

Resources for Growing a Reader from Frisco Public Library's Early Literacy Day

If you haven't seen the Grow a Reader post on the ALSC blog about early literacy training days, it is interesting. Even better is this wealth of materials linked to at the bottom of the post which includes the handouts from the Early Literacy Day from the Frisco Public Library:
http://www.friscolibrary.com/earlyliteracyday

There are some scalable ideas to implement in a small library or a large one about play, STEM-based learning for young children, enhancing talk with intentional activities, and storytime activities to enhance school readiness.

The librarians at Frisco Public Library have also put together a set of three online early literacy classes geared towards parents and caregivers of Babies (Birth to 17 months), Toddlers and 2s (18 months to 2 years), and 3-5s (3 to 5 years). The classes can be taken by anyone, do not require a library card, and may count towards continuing education credit for childcare providers. Find those courses and more information HERE.