Storytelling
Storytime is not just for preschoolers. Traditional storytimes (stories,
fingerplays, songs, etc.) using more involved materials still work for
Kindergarten and 1st grade, but for grades 2 and up you need to alter your
presentation tack. Just because children have learned to read on their own does
not mean they should not be read to. All school-aged children are active
listeners and really enjoy a good tale, for 4th and 5th graders particularly if
it is silly, gross, or scary. Folktales and a “chapter a day” angle from
children’s fiction are especially effective with older school-aged children.
While children enjoy and are quite used to listening to tales read aloud, try
memorizing one and present it using props, and involving the group in a hook
line or refrain.
Puppetry
Puppetry can be adapted to the age of the audience. There are so many types of
puppets; marionettes, shadow and hand puppets are just a few. You could present
examples and talk about the various forms and cultural histories. School-aged
children enjoy doing puppetry at least as much or more than watching it. Develop
a dual program where you first teach the art of puppetry in a single program or
series setting, and then schedule a puppet play for smaller children using your
new “talent”. A puppet club could even take life among a group of dedicated
children.
Music
Music is a hit across the ages. Rounds or cumulative action songs like “The
Green Grass Grows All Around” prove quite successful with the school-aged. Folk
songs and multicultural music are educational and entertaining, you could talk
about the background of the song then play and sing together. Rhythm stick
activities incorporating more involved rhythms are also a good choice. Another
program idea involves talking about, making, and playing various instruments as
a group.
Participation
Group participatory activities are a good choice. For a classroom presentation
you could read a few of George Shannon’s Stories to Solve (series) and
invite guesses from students. Stories to Solve is a collection of folktales from
around the world that take a riddle or logic puzzle form. Some examples are the
easier “Crow and the Pitcher” which asks how was the crow able to drink from a
pitcher with only an inch of water way at the bottom, to “Dividing the Horses”
which takes some more advanced math skills since the number of horses is not
equally divisible by number of sons. Thinking games such as “mad libs” (you have
a story with blanks every few words – a noun here a verb there, an adjective,
etc. and ask children to simply give you any noun, verb, adjective, etc. then
insert them into the story to make it strange and funny) or group games such as
“library pictionary” (drawing a character or classic item from a book) are good
fun for special occasions or on a regular basis.
Arts and Crafts
Art and craft is popular with the after school crowd as a program in itself,
such as “walk-in crafts” and a quick project is also easy to incorporate into
any presentation. Crafts with recycled materials are low in cost but high
in entertainment value. Don’t worry that the concept will not appeal to boys. On
the contrary, boys are very interested in hands-on projects. Drawing/cartooning,
origami and paper airplanes are of special interest to school-aged boys and
girls. Art or craft projects can also be tied in with books. For example, you
could read Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown and have the children create their
own “Flat Bobby” and “Flat Susan”.
Computer Instruction
Many children are already very savvy users but they are always open to learning
something new. Show children how they can create “books” or greeting cards on a
publisher program, or do an online scavenger hunt. For the scavenger hunt, you
provide a list of questions from which the participants must search either
pre-selected sites or on the open Internet to find the answers. You could also
design a program that simply presents new fun and useful websites and provide a
handout for further exploration. Offer a time where children can show each other
(and you) new discoveries and tips, a kind of computer club. There are many
program possibilities; involve a computer and you will have a hit.
Drama
Reader’s theatre (acting out a portion of a book) is a fun and easy way to get
students reading and participating in creative dramatics. There are a great many
books that provide ready-made scripts for any number of participants such as
Laughlin and Latrobe’s Readers Theatre for Children. This is another
area, like puppetry, where dual program options apply; there is a program in
teaching the art and in presenting a piece. You could also encourage children to
engage in monologues or one act plays or in writing and producing an original
play. Depending upon resources, the library could host or present a single
production, create a regular (weekly/monthly meeting) drama club, or provide
something in between.
Booktalking
A technical definition of Booktalking is that it is “a presentation designed to
persuade an audience to read a book or books”. It is not a book review or
literary criticism. Booktalking is selling books to readers. While booktalking,
you are promoting a book or set of books in a very interesting way. You can
booktalk on a specific theme like “adventures at sea” or simply present a
potpourri of new arrivals each month. The idea is to talk up the book, providing
just enough information to hook potential readers, never giving away the ending.
You can include props and be as creative as you wish.
Why booktalk:
Young Reader’s Choice Award nominees make for excellent booktalk presentations. YRCA, The Pacific Northwest Library Association’s annual award is the nation’s oldest reader’s choice award. School and public library staff should engage and empower children in the voting process which takes place each spring, and booktalking the nominees is a great way to get children involved in reading and participating.
Summer Reading Programs
Summer Reading is a sacred tradition in the public library and one that should
receive wholehearted support from the school library. Summer Reading takes many
forms across the country. Whether it is called Summer Reading Program, Summer
Reading Club, Summer Library Program or Summer Library Club, the goal is the
same, to encourage and inspire reading for pleasure during the off-school months
so that skills are retained (or gains are made) upon return to the classroom and
to promote life-long learning. Summer reading is designed to make reading
enjoyable, not hard work.
Summer reading is perpetual. Planning for next year’s summer reading begins the
day after this year’s summer reading ends.
The program or club, running anywhere from 4-10 weeks, generally includes the following components:
Even if your library has an age-old routine for implementation of summer reading, the program must be tweaked every year to keep it fresh and effective. There are a great many resources for program concepts (statewide manual) new ideas, tracking reading, incentives and programming in books, journals, listservs and out on the Internet and your State Library is a great resource for summer reading planning and support materials. Area schools should be partners in promoting summer reading. School librarians and classroom teachers should be encouraged to promote summer reading. Making a point to visit area schools in late May and present at an assembly or go room to room talking up summer reading makes an impression and is quite worth your time.
There are a great many resources to assist you in program planning and implementation. Some examples are included in the bibliography that follows this course.
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