Jazzing Up the Traditional Book-Flannel-Song/Fingerplay Rhythm of Storytime -- Youth Services Forum 2014

 

Carol Simon Levin's notes for Storytime Shake-Up – NJ Youth Services Forum Oct. 1 2014

Here are some suggestions I shared, please click on each of the links for more information.


Using sign language songs ("dancing with our hands"), – great resource Pick Me Up - Fun Songs for Learning Signs has catchy tunes and drawings for each of the signs described. Any song with lots of repetition is also a good candidate, e.g. Tom Chapin's Walk the World Now Children (easy to find signs online, just Google what you are looking for e.g. "American sign language water")

Creating piggyback songs to reinforce activity sequencing, pre-reading skill, kinesthetic learning (e.g."This is the way" for the steps in baking after we read The Little Red Hen) carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/12/pre-school-storytime-whats-in-oven.html

Participatory storytelling/theater (e.g. showing how we act out The Three Little Pigs in my Houses & Homes storytime, Green Eggs & Ham for Eggs or Dr. Seuss Day, The Frog Hopi Rainstick story for our Rain storytime)

Fall Favorites:
The Little Red House with No Doors & No Windows, a Chimney On Top & a Star in the Middle (tip: instantly turn flannel pieces into hanging signs for kids to wear using plastic paper protector sleeves with stiff paper inserts & yarn ribbon to hang around each child's neck)

It's Monster Day song with flannel pieces quickly cut using pinking sheers & google eyes.

Big Pumpkin, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, One Dark Night, Old McDonald Had a Haunted House and other Halloween-themed stories & Songs.

Turkey Towel-Folding Story and Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie Prop for Thanksgiving

Stone Soup  (using our Halloween plastic cauldron plus puppets, & 3D veggies (sewn from felt) and  Snowball fight made from plastic bags for winter storytimes

These and many more ideas are posted on my blog: CarolSimonLevin.blogspot.com. Family storytelling and historical impersonations programs are at: tellingherstories.com.

Carol Simon Levin, Youth Services Librarian, Somerset County Library Bridgewater, 908 526-4016 x126. Please feel free to contact me at cslevin59@gmail.com.