Scary Scary Monsters!

Hairy Scary Monsters!

Oogily, Boogily Monsters!

Rumbily Bumbly Monsters!

BOO!

A somewhat scary storytime for 3 year olds and up.

I played Monsters in the Bathroom (OPL Link) on a loop in the 5-10 minutes leading up to storytime.

(all set up)

Hello everyone!

Can you tell me what you think my storytime is about today?

       Ooh, that's right - MONsTeRS!

How many of you have ever thought there was a monster under your bed? Oh, a lot of you.

Well, I'm telling you. It's just in your imagination.

None of those monsters are real.

Except for Alicia, now her monster was real...

Tell Bill Harley's

Alicia and the Monster

from the CD One More Time (OPL Link)

...I’m a little monster, underneath the bed…

Jumpy Jack and Googily by Meg Rosoff

(OPL Link)

(Make sure you point the book down at the kids for a good picture view- this photo just showed the jacket nicely ;))

Whew!
Who knew? Socks!!

I bet I know who else is scared of socks... black socks anyway...

(whisper) ...your mom

Black Socks

from the CD Monsters in the Bathroom by Bill Harley (OPL Link)

Sing 2-3 times so that everyone can get the tune

Oh, I know another monster - - a terrible monster - -

Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

(OPL Link)

I’m a Little Monster

(to the tune of I’m a Little Teapot)

I’m a little monster short and stout

Here is my tail and here is my snout

When I get all angry hear me shout

Roaaaaar, all run out.

Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley

(OPL Link)

Flannel story

...and don't come back unless I say so!

_____________________

Play Black Socks from the CD Do it Together by Bill Harley (OPL Link) or Nighty Noodles from the  One More Time CD as exit music.

A sign of a good storytime-- all the kids rushing up to get the books on display

New Monster Books and a Some Old Favorites

Jane and Mizmo by Matthew Armstrong
OPL Link
Always Listen to Your Mother by Florence Heide
OPL Link

What’s Under my Bed by James Stevenson
OPL Link

Socksquatch by Frank Dormer
OPL Link

My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck
OPL Link

My Mama Says There ain’t any Zombies, ghosts, . . .by Judith Viorst
OPL Link

Monsters Eat Whiny Children by Bruce Kaplan
OPL Link

My Creature Teacher by Laura Leuck
OPL Link

Goodnight Little Monster Helen Ketteman
OPL Link

Welcome to Monster Town by Ryan Heshka
OPL Link

Monster Sleepover by Scott Beck
OPL Link

Harry and the Terrible Whatzit by Dick Gackenbach
OPL Link

Monster Bed by Jeanne Willis
OPL Link

I Need my Monster by Amanda Noll
OPL Link

Monster at the End of this Book by Sesame Street
OPL Link

Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli by Barbara Hicks
OPL Link

If You’re a Monster and You Know It Rebecca Emberly
OPL Link

Bill Harley's Stories and songs on CD

Play it Again

One More Time (Alicia and the Monster)

Monsters in the Bathroom

Do It Together

Picnic Time

Picnic Party with a Beetle Boogie Bop

Prep:
Picnic blanket, basket, etc.
Hide a host of bugs under silk leaves, real leaves.

Walk in with a picnic basket on one arm and a little puppy (puppet) in the other



Bark, bark!
    Are you excited Ralph? Are you so excited?
Bark
(and wiggle to get out of arms)
   You want to play in the park, don't you boy, oh don't you
Bark Yip
   Oh you're a good doggy, good boy.
(Ralph jumps out of arms and starts sniffing around)
    Just a minute Ralph, you sit here while I set out my picnic...
    Oh you wiggly wiggly little boy - here, let's get those wiggles out...


I Wiggle My Fingers

I wiggle my fingers, I wiggle my toes
I wiggle my shoulders, I wiggle my nose
Now no more wiggles are left in me
So I can be as still as still can be.


    Oh, look Ralph, there are some kids here - Yes, you can go play
    Would you like to say hello to Ralph?
    Raise your hand if you would like to pet Ralph
take him around to those kids with their arms up,
Then Ralph starts sniffing around, something on the ground (or up on your table)
Yip Yip Yip!
     What have you found Ralph? What is it?
pull back leafy covering (fabric with leaf motif or whatever you have used to cover up a bagful's worth of bugs!
     Oh Ralph! You've found BUGS!

    I LOVE BUGS!
    You can't have a picnic without bugs!


I Love Bugs by Emma Dodd
OPL Link


    Oooh, SPIDERS!  Yummy tummy wiggly spiders . . .


Itsy Bitsy Spider

Itsy bitsy spider, went up the water spout,
Down came the rain, and washed the spider out,
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.   


     You know what else loves a nice sunny day
     - what did we see in our book - -fuzzy buzzy honey bugs...


Here is the Hive

Here is the hive
But where are the bees?
Hidden inside, where nobody sees.
Uh, oh, oh, oh
(hand shakes)

1,2,3,4,5
They're alive, they're alive!
(tickle, tickle, tickle)


    bzzzz, BzzZZzzzz, bZzzzz
    I caught one!


I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee, won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm bringing home a baby bumblee - ouch, it stung me!

I'm squishing up a baby bumblebee, won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm squishing up a baby bumblebee - ewww, it's all yucky

I'm wiping off a baby bumblebee, won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm wiping off a baby bumblebee --ughhhh, it's all over me!

I'm licking off a baby bumblebee, won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm licking off a baby bumblebee, -- my mommy won't be proud of me!


    That was really yucky!  (shudder)     
    Oh, and here, what do we have here?


Roly Poly Caterpillar

Roly poly caterpillar, into a corner crept
Spun himself a blanket, and for a long time slept
Roly poly caterpillar, wakening by and by
Found himself with beautiful wings, changed to a butterfly!


    Ooooh, another c-c-creepy crawly . . .


Slowly, Slowly

Slowly, slowly creeps the garden snail
Slowly, slowly, very slowly up the garden rail...

Quickly, quickly goes the little mouse
Quickly, oh so quickly all around the house!


Aaaarrgghh Spider by Lydia Monks
OPL Link


Criss Cross Applesauce

Criss cross applesauce
Spiders crawling up your spine
Cool breeze, tight squeeze
Gives my baby the sillies!


Can't Bug Me
from Let's Play Music


I love bugs, every bug that I see
I like the big ones, and the bad ones
And the fuzzy purple flat ones
People thing they're yucky,
But I just don't agree
No you can't bug me


    Oh what a fun day it's been! Time to go now,
    I am so glad you were here to share our park day,
    say bye bye Ralph
Bark!

Wannabe a Puppet Workshop

Just popping in real quick to announce the dates for our upcoming workshop . . .

When:

Thursday November 10th, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday November 12th, 10:00 a.m.

Where:

Orem Public Library

What:

A hands on workshop where you get to explore your creative side and turn a stuffed animal into a puppet. Supplies are provided free for all of our storytelling volunteers. Other attendees are welcome, but you will need to call for details. (no worries, it is still free)

Best of all... you get to take home and keep your creation.

RSVP required.

So come on in and join the fun!

Amy

____________________________

Official Invitation

Dear Storyteller,

Want to add a little bit of the unexpected to your storytimes? Want to have something extra in your bag of tricks? Want to just have fun?
Join us for our Fall Storytelling Workshop as we explore with a little hands-on creativity.

There are as many ideas as there are blogs and hits from a Google search. This fall we will give you a list of some favorites, show you some ideas we have gathered from far and wide and then get down and dirty as you actually make your own Wannabe Puppet. Expert puppeteer Joe Flores will be here to assist us as we turn a few stuffed animals into puppets!

Supplies will be provided, but if you have some of the following you would like to bring for your personal use, please feel free:

• Glue gun, with glue sticks
• Felt pieces
• Long (new) dark colored socks or White (non-athletic) socks
• Needles and Thread
• Scissors
• Plastic Canvas / Large plastic ice cream tub lids or quart-size yogurt container lids
• Heavy duty scissors for cutting plastic
• Make-up sponge (for applying contact glue)

Amy has been collecting and washing a plethora of Wannabe’s (stuffed animals who really want to be puppets). There will be enough for everyone, but if find your perfect Wannabe, feel free to bring it instead.

We know an hour is not a lot of time for a project like this, but don’t despair; our goal is to give you all the instruction, ideas and supplies you need to get a good start. You are welcome to come both days if you would like. Workshops will be held on Thursday, November 10th at 7:00 pm, or on Saturday, November 12th at 10:00 am. Please RSVP by calling 801-229-7161.

We hope what we create at this workshop will be a fun addition to your future storytimes. As always, we feel that the best thing about Laptime and Storytime is YOU. You find the great books, you put the effort into knowing your material, you and your love of sharing and caring shines through each time you present a program. Kids can sense how you feel about books and reading. It’s that infectious adoration of good books that turns the littlest of our Littles into those avid readers and book hounds. Thank you!
Sincerely,
OPL Children’s Staff

Storytelling Training Tips
Orem Public Library Children’s Services

November 2011

 Dear Storytellers,

Thank you so much for wonderful Laptime and Storytime programs in October. What a rewarding part of our day to see the kids and families sparking to the stories, songs and activities you provide for them.

As rewarding as storytimes can be, there are challenges. This month I’d like to share a few tips about dealing with disruptive behavior. These ideas come from the book Crash Course in Storytime Fundamentals by Penny Peck (OPL Link). You all handle disruptions very well already, so we hope this newsletter will be a nice review of things you already understand.

• SET EXPECTATIONS BEFORE THE PROGRAM BEGINS
 o As library staff we know one of our roles during storytime is to . . . (read more)

...and carry your cloak at all times

It never hurts to pack your Halloween supplies for the month of October...

No Laptime teller?

No problem!

Just pull on the witch's cloak, slip on some witchy shoes, grab a super freaky broom (on permanent display at the OPL), set up a good fiery and feathery cauldron to stew, and warm up the foggy bubble machine for one fabulously fun last minute laptime ;)

____________________

Oooooooo OOOooooo oooOOOOOoooo

ooOOOoooOO Ooooo ooo OOOooooo

. . . BOO!

The line-up: A list of the Halloween favorites
(this is a round-up of previously published LT/ST Halloween ideas)

Fingerplays and Poems

1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Witches

One little, two little, three little witches

~ fingers up, one, two, three

Fly over haystacks, fly over ditches

~ one hand flies up and over

Slide down moonbeams without any hitches,

~ slide the fying hand down the other arm

Hi Ho Halloween's here

~ hands on hips, then hands up, palms out

Who has Seen the Wind

by Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I or you.

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing through.

If You're a Monster

Tune: If You're Happy and You Know It

If you're a monster and you know it, wave your arms.

If you're a monster and you know it, wave your arms.

If you're a monster and you know it,

Then your arms will surely show it.

If you're a monster and you know it, wave your arms.

Added Verses: Show your claws, Gnash your teeth, Stomp your feet

Halloween Night

(Tune: Frere Jacques)

Jack-o-lanterns, jack-o-lanterns,

Hall-o-ween, Hall-o-ween!

See the owls gliding,

Coal black cats are hiding,

Ghosts go "Boo," ghosts go "Boo!"

Black Cat

A big black cat with eyes so green

Went out on the night of Hallowe'en.

He saw a witch.

He saw an owl.

And then he began to "Meow, meow, meow."

In The Graveyard

Tune: Clementine

In the graveyard, In the graveyard,

When the moon. Begins to shine

There's a doctor. Crazy doctor

And his monster,

Frankenstein.

Oh, my monster, Oh, my monster,

Oh, my monster, Frankenstein

You are very, Very scary

Don't come near me

Frankenstein.

This Old Ghost

Tune: “This Old Man”

This old ghost, he played one,

He played peek-a-boo on the run.

With a biga-buga boo! And a clappity clap

This old ghost is a friendly chap.

Other verses:

This old ghost, he played two…in a shoe

This old ghost … three…behind a tree

A Haunting We Will Go

Tune: A Hunting We Will Go

Oh, a haunting we will go,

A haunting we will go,

We'll catch a ghost,

And put him on a post

And then we'll let him go.

Oh, a haunting we will go,

A haunting we will go,

We'll catch a cat

And put him in a hat

And then we'll let him go.

Oh, a haunting we will go,

A haunting we will go,

We'll catch a witch

And put her in a ditch

And then we'll let her go.

Owl's Eyes

See my big and scary eyes,

Get ready for a big surprise.

put them on and peer out.

BOO!

Tricks and Treats

Knock Knock

Knock, knock, knock

~knock on floor

Peek in

~cover baby’s arms over eyes and quickly uncover

Open the latch

~cover baby’s arms over chest, then quickly extend out to sides

And walk right in

~walk fingers up baby’s tummy

How do you do Mr. Chinny chin chin?

~tickle baby under chin

Doughnut

Here is a doughnut

~form circle with fingers and thumb

Round and fat.

There’s a hole in the middle

~look through your circle

But you can’t eat that!

~shake head

Five Little Ghostesses

Five little ghostesses,

Sitting on postesses,

Eating buttered toastesses,

Greasing their fistesses,

Up to their wristesses.

Oh, what beastesses,

To make such feastesses.

Trick or Treating

Tune: Are You Sleeping?

Trick or treating, trick or treating.

BOO BOO BOO

BOO BOO BOO

Trick or treating, trick or treating.

I scare you I scare you

What time is it when a ghost comes to dinner?

!!! TIME TO GO !!!!

Books

Funny Bones! by Charles Reasoner

Witch's Hand by Peter Utton
OPL Link

Aaaarrgghh Spider! by Lydia Monks

Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini

Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian
OPL Link


Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann
OPL Link

 

Go Away Big 'Orange' Monster

from Go Away Big Green Monster by Edward Emberley
OPL Link

Music

Tis the night of Halloween...

Let’s Play Music song

Igora

We had way too much fun today to not share!

Let's welcome Igora from Mother Goose Land, recently entrusted by that font of laptime lore--Mother Goose herself--to do the Orem Library's Laptime on this fine fall day.

Boo!

Solving the Reading Riddle and a little extra

Speaking of large fall crowds for story and laptime, we only had 99 at our Laptime today, but still, it's an impressive picture!

On to other things -

As a library staff we have been reading and reviewing Rita Soltan's book Solving the Reading Riddle: The Librarian's Guide to Reading Instruction.

Here is my review of Chapter One, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it - yes, I enjoyed writing it.

Solving the Reading Riddle

by Rita Soltan

A Review of Chapter 1 by Amy
OPL Link

p.s. any mistakes or misinterpretations are my fault and not Rita's

We’ve come a long way baby…

We started with the new big thing, a revolutionary breakthrough, Basal Readers, ie: Dick and Jane. These didactic and culturally white-washed sight readers were exactly what schools needed. Predictable text with illustrations of kids doing what was taking place in the text, great for providing visual clues to beginning readers just starting out.

Ah, but enter the 1960’s and cultural awareness. In comes synthetic fabrics to make your life easier, wash and wear spandex , and along with that; a new synthetic code-breaking approach for our early readers, Phonics, ie: huked on fonics werked fer me! It didn’t take long, what with child invented spelling, and more classroom failures, for us to realize that the phonics decoding method was not all it was cracked up to be, there were still too many floundering readers.

So it was back to Basal Readers, albeit, with a more diversified cast of characters to appeal to the culturally aware or spoon fed to those unaware. Back to a ‘Dick and Jane’ method of sight reading, but with new emphasis on trade literature, a lucrative business as it turned out for the publishing industry. But still, even with review questions following each little story, even with a more relaxed and less controlled vocabulary, with its lengthy teacher’s guides and even scripts, the results were still not up to par. Great literature was being revamped to the point that it was dull and boring, and moreover, children were being grouped by reading level within the classroom – from the best to the worst and every kid in class knew it.

What to do? Well, it was now time for the Whole Language revolution. A new revolution this time, one of listening, reading and writing! Surely this ‘whole’ approach would work. Unfortunately the teachers were given training and directives for changing their classroom, but given minimal to no support for implementation. Gone were the pre-packaged basal reading classroom packages, teachers were now expected to create their own literacy program. Misused and misunderstood, the Whole Language had, once again, despite some success, failed our would-be readers.

Enter the 'Voice of Reason', a program for the twenty-first century, or—more pragmatically—it’s the current working theory… Balanced Literacy

Now it isn’t sounding out the words that are important, it’s being able to read independently. No longer just basal, no longer just decoding, it is going to take all the methods—together—to assist emergent readers in:

-Deciphering word shapes into sounds and meaning

-Incorporating instinctive and sophisticated guessing

-Using prediction and anticipation to create comprehension

-Adding linguistic clues to gain comprehension
(you know what black is when you encounter it because you already know white)

-And resorting to sounding out words that are not in their sight repertoire
(the same as non-medical adults do when confronted with a medical text or other unfamiliar tome)

The news so far is good, although there are still some struggling readers that are still being left in the lurch, despite our current ‘balanced’ approach.

In the end, it’s going to take a village, or in my personal view; fabulous storytime, impossible to resist laptime and numerous encounters with caring and engaging librarians in the very earliest stages of life, for the littlest of the littles to gain a familiarity, a fondness and a firm grasp on what is reading, and how to do it.

In the words of Joaquin Miller in Columbus, “Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"

Carry on librarians and storytellers, help these kids conquer new worlds, explore new horizons and break through all barriers—reading and otherwise—through an early love of literature! Carry on! Carry on! and on!