Every Child Ready to Read

Put ‘Battle’ books on your summer read list

2011-06-02T10:33:00.007-04:00

The Catawba County Library’s Summer Reading program goes hand-in-hand with the Battle of the Books reading list.

The North Carolina Battle of the Books list has been released, and Catawba County Library System has them all available. Any of the titles would be excellent choices for children participating in the Summer Reading program, an incentive to keep young people reading when school is not in session.

Battle of the Books challenges kids to test knowledge of literature and help instill a love of reading. Kids in grades 5-8 prepare for the contest by reading from a pre-selected book list sponsored by the N.C. School Library Media Association. The reading list offers sound choices for kids. The titles are highly regarded children’s literature representing a cross-section of subjects and genres: biography, adventure, fantasy, examples of world cultures and so on.

This year’s list includes:

Grade 5
How Tia Lola Came to Stay by Julia Alvarez
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney
The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Cromer Byars
Dr. Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Extra Credit by Andrew Clements
Free Baseball by Sue Corbett
Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi
A Strong Right Arm by Michelle Y. Green
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
Blue by Joyce Hostetter
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 by Lauren Tarshis
The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright

Grades 6-8:
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
Beneath My Mother’s Feet by Amjed Qamar
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James. L. Swanson
Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
Good Night, Mt. Tom by Michelle Magorian
Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery by John Feinstein
Mockingbird by Kathryne Erskine
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Road to Tater Hill by Edith M. Hemingway
Romiette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flame by Michael Scott
The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The Other half of my Heart by Sundee T. Frazier
The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
The Roar by Emma Clayton
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Treasure Island (Complete & Unabridged)by Robert Louis Stevenson

Catawba County Library System will have multiple copies available on specially marked shelves. If you cannot find a title, be sure to ask a librarian.

Sign up on-line for Summer Reading

2011-06-01T13:21:00.000-04:00

This year families can sign up for the annual Summer Reading program at Catawba County Library without leaving home.

For the first time ever, library system website allows parents to register their children on-line as well as download and/or print a reading record, coloring page, calendar of events and other resources.

To sign up, log on to http://www.catawbacountync.gov/library and click on the large green box at the center of the page.

Families may still sign up in person at any county library location.

Regardless of how one registers, there are a number of new on-line services available to help young readers add to their summer book tally. Among them are TumbleBooks, interactive books in audio/visual format, and e-books which can be downloaded to an e-Reader or personal computer.

Summer Reading is an annual initiative of the library system to encourage ages 0-18 to continue their reading habits while school is not in session. Studies show that keeping kids attuned to books during vacation helps them retain what they’ve learned which makes for a smoother adjustment when school begins in the fall.

This year’s Summer Reading themes are “One World, Many Stories” for children age 11 and younger and “You Are Here: Cultures around the World” for ages 12-18.

Summer Reading 2011

2011-06-01T13:02:00.002-04:00

Summer Reading has started for 2011 at the Catawba County Library System.

This year’s Summer Reading themes are “One World, Many Stories” for children age 11 and younger and “You Are Here: Cultures around the World” for ages 12-18.

Summer Reading is an annual initiative of the library system to encourage ages 0-18 to continue their reading habits while school is not in session. Studies show that keeping kids attuned to books during vacation helps them retain what they’ve learned which makes for a smoother adjustment when school begins in the fall

The library has a great selection of children and teen books in print as well as audio and e-book form as well as online services such as Tumblebooks.

Families may sign up in person at any of the seven county library locations. Pick up a reading bag with your reading record and other fun stuff and start reading. Attendance at library programs is encouraged and we hope we will have fun and interesting crafts that reflect different countries.

All programs are free and open to anyone. Children’s programs should be suitable for any age. Please check with your local branch library for dates and times.

Parents can help children read

2011-04-11T11:23:00.006-04:00

Parents sometimes ask what they can do to help their children develop a love for reading.

Parents are the greatest influence on their children and are often the most important factor in getting children ready to read. Generally parents know their children best and can interact with them more frequently. Children learn by doing things and they love doing things with their parents. When parents take the time to read, tell stories or sing nursery rhymes with their children, they demonstrate that this is something fun. This is one of the greatest influences in developing a reader.

Early literacy is what children know about reading and writing before they can actually read and write. Research shows that children get ready to read years before they start school. You can help your child learn important skills now so they can become good readers.

Generally, parents of a child from birth to about two years old should be aware of six pre-reading skills that can help your child. These skills will continue to help children through ages three to four and five to six years old.

1. Print Awareness - Noticing print, knowing how to handle a book and knowing how to follow the words on a page.

2. Vocabulary - Knowing the name of things.

3. Letter Knowledge - Knowing letters are different from each other, knowing their names and sounds and recognizing letters everywhere.

4. Phonological Awareness - Being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words.

5. Print Motivation - Being interested in and enjoying books.

6. Narrative Skills - Being able to describe things and events and tell stories.

We will discuss these skills and provide possible books for their use in future posts.

Between the Lions

2009-12-30T09:30:00.003-05:00

PBS has a great show called "Between the Lions" about libraries and reading. Here is a link to the website where there are some terrific resources for family reading activities.

http://pbskids.org/lions

WHKY Library Segment

2009-02-25T15:45:00.003-05:00

Hello, I’m glad to be here with you representing the Catawba County Library system. My name is Donna Fox and I am a Library Service Specialist at the St. Stephens Branch library. We are one of the seven library branches located throughout Catawba County. Newton is the main library for our system.
I am here to talk to you about the importance of early childhood literacy. According to research there are six pre reading skills that children must learn in order to learn to read. Every Child Ready to Read @ your library is a project of the Public Library Association and the Association for Library Service to Children. A series of workshops have been developed to train library staff on early literacy. Several of the youth service staff in the Catawba County Library system have taken this workshop and are implementing this training in our preschool story times. We provide this information to parents, care givers, child care facilities and also in a blog that can be accessed through the Catawba County Library website: www.catawbacountync.gov/library. I am glad to be able to share this information with you at this time.
What is early literacy? Early literacy is what children know about reading and writing before they can actually read and write. Research shows that children get ready to read years before they start school. The best teachers for your preschool children are you the parents. You know your child best. They will be the most receptive to learning when they are in a good mood. You know them best when it comes to judging their moods. You can teach them reading skills in ways that are easiest for them. Take every chance you have to read with your child, talk about stories, sing songs, and play word games. Children learn best by doing things.
A quote from “Becoming a Nation of Readers”, states that: “The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children. This is especially so during the preschool years.” We offer several preschool and toddler story times on different days and times at our seven libraries and have staff on hand to assist parents with book selections and how to navigate the library.
There are six skills that preschoolers need to learn for early literacy. They are Vocabulary, Print Motivation, Print Awareness, Narrative Skills, Letter Knowledge, and Phonological Awareness. I know that this may start to sound like it is complicated but it is very easy to break down. Most of you are doing this with your child already, but just didn’t know what it was called. I will briefly explain what each of these six skills are.

Narrative Skills are being able to describe things and events and tell a story. You can tell your child stories, ask them to tell you about something that happened today, read books together, help them to understand that a story has order (first-next-last), read books more than one time, and switch rolls – have them tell you the story and you be the listener.

Print Motivation is being interested in and enjoying books. Take your child to the library, make reading together a special time for the two of you, and let your child see you reading.

Vocabulary means knowing the name of things. When you are with your child talk about what is going on around you and about how things work and about feelings and ideas. Read together every day. Research shows the children who have larger vocabularies are better readers. Knowing many words helps a child recognize written words and understand what they read.

The skill of Print Awareness is noticing print, how to handle a book and how to follow the words on a page. Point to words as you say them, read out loud any labels, signs, lists, menus, etc… Let your child hold the book and “read” to you. If you hold a book upside down see if your child can tell you how it is suppose to be held. If a child is comfortable with printed language they will feel comfortable with books and understand that print is useful.

Letter Knowledge is being able to tell that letters are different from each other and knowing the name of each letter and the sounds they make. You can write your child’s name using magnetic letters, clay, sand, pudding, etc… Point out and name letters when reading books, signs, and labels. Knowing the name and sounds of letters helps a child figure out how to say written words.

The last but surely not the least is Phonological Awareness. This skill involves being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words. You can ask your child if words rhyme, dog & cat or cat & hat. Say rhymes and make up silly rhymes. Sing songs, songs have different notes for each syllable in a word. Read some poetry and make up some short poems. Most children who have difficulty reading have trouble with Phonological Awareness.

Every parent can have a big role in helping your preschool child develop literacy skills that will help them to become readers. Remember that there are many resources available to you in the community, the public library being one of them. Children need to know how to read by third grade to be able to keep up with the demands of their curriculum. If we can develop a love for reading at an early age, children will become lifelong readers. For your school age child remember that the Catawba County Library system offers a summer reading program to help keep their reading skills fresh during the summer break. This year’s theme is “Be Creative @ Your Library” You can access a listing of upcoming events or read the Every Child Ready to Read blog, through the internet at www.catawbacountync.gov/library. I hope to see you soon at the library. In the words of Dr. Seuss: The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. Give your child the world with a good early foundation in literacy.
Thank you.

ECRR Concept of the Week (11/8/07)

2007-11-08T17:38:00.000-05:00

Phonological Awareness - Singing songs is a good way to help your child hear syllables in words. In most songs, each syllable in a word gets a different note.

Example: During my morning storytime we read Lois Ehlert's "Eating the Alphabet". While reading the book, everyone discussed thier favorite fruits and vegetables. We went through the book and found some fruits and vegetables that were common and then we found some that were not so common. I found a song that emphasized the fruit or vegetable of each child's choice and everyone enjoyed singing about their favorite fruit or vegetable.

Fruits & Vegetables Are Good For Me
Sung to: Oh McDonald Had a Farm

Fruits are very good for me E I E I O

And so I eat them happily E I E I O

With a banana here, a banana there, here a banana, there a banana

everywhere bananas

Fruits are very good for me E I E I O.

*Extra Tip: It is also a good idea to have color pictures of the frutis and vegetables you are singing about.

~April Green -Youth Service Specialist SW Branch of the Catawba County Library System.

ECRR Concept of the Week (10-11-2007)

2007-10-15T13:58:00.000-04:00

Most of us are not trained as a English as a Second Language teacher. But, the early literacy concepts of Every Child Ready to Read works well for children of other nationalities who may not be familiar with the English Language. An excellent pointer for childcare workers is to label everything. Then, take your class on a "field trip" around the room. Walk around and point to the objects and read the labels. The once unfamiliar words will become more familiar. This will also be good practice for English speaking children also. Working with someone that does not know your language can be difficult and frustrating for both parties. But, as the old adage says, practice makes perfect.-Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR Concept of the Week (9-27-07)

2007-09-30T16:52:00.000-04:00

In a recent copy of Parents magazine, a mother shared a story of how she would tell stories to her infant and use him as the main character. She did it as a way to amuse herself and, as she said, she hoped him. There was a caption that said that psychologist have found that babies as young as 4 1/2 months can recognize the sound of their own name. "Babies are also able to distinguish and recall new words when they hear them come right before or after their name, so making your child the star of the story plants the seeds of a broad vocabulary." This is an excellent example of incorporating an early literacy concept into together time with a child. Making up stories about your young "hero" will build vocabulary, narrative skills, and will help develop language skills. And, which kid wouldn't want to here a story where their favorite person (themself) is the star of the show?-Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR Concept of the Week (9-20-07)

2007-09-20T17:31:00.000-04:00

Print Awareness is knowing the names of things. There are many ways that children can become more aware of print because the printed word is everywhere. When you are reading to your child, follow along with your finger. And when you are reading to yourself let your child see you follow along with your finger. Point out signs such as STOP, EXIT, or ENTER. Write their name in big letters on a piece of construction paper. Trace their finger over the letters while slowly reading it. There are so many ways to bring awareness to the written word. Making your child familiar with printed language will only make them more comfortable with books. And it will give them an understanding of the importance of print.-Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR Concept of the Week (9-13-2007)

2007-09-13T15:12:00.000-04:00

In the most recent copy of School Library Journal, there is an article about recognizing that every child learns differently. For instance, some boys do better in a classroom environment where they can get up and walk around, jump, sit under the desk or whatever. Sitting still all day for indefinite periods of time is almost an impossibility and can stifle learning. The same can be said for young children on the path to reading. During storytime, children do not always sit perfectly still and listen. Sometimes, they get up, look out the window, turn in circles, take off their shoes or whatever else picques their curiosity at that time. And you know what? That's okay! Adults tend to think that children should act in a certain way, but their little brains are telling them something else. The important thing is that they are seeing someone model reading while at the same time the other kids are modeling how to listen to the story. Young children are learning that reading is fun. And before it can ever be educational, it must be fun to them. So the next time you try to read to a child and they get up to pick a piece of lint from your shoes, just keep reading. Before you know it, they will be so engrossed in the story that you may just have to read it again.-Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR Concept of the Week (9-6-07)

2007-09-06T13:33:00.000-04:00

Have you ever noticed that some young children have incredible fluency? I think there is a simple answer for why that some children are better speakers than others. Their allowed to talk. Parents and those around them allow them to do the speaking without constantly shushing them. This is like dialogic reading. Dialogic reading allows the child to be the storyteller and the adult to be the audience. The child isn't told to be quiet or listen, but is encouraged to participate. In storytimes, allowing participation can be accomplished by asking questions of the audience ("What do you think will happen next?"), allowing children to chime in with chants, rhymes and songs, or by having the children point to pictures and saying the names of objects. Not only does the child build vocabulary and narrative skills, but he also builds confidence. This confidence will one day make him a fluent and fluid reader. -Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR Concept of the Week (8-30-07)

2007-08-30T08:14:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, just hearing someone else read can be very beneficial to a younger child. In their school career, children are going to hear many different teachers, librarians, parent volunteers, other children, etc… read to them. These different voices help shape your child’s inflection, narrative skills, and phonological awareness. For younger children, try a Read Along Kit. These Kits are available at the library and are books that are accompanied by a CD with a recorded story. This might be a fun way for your child to hear the story as you both follow along. And, maybe for an afternoon, you will have a slight reprieve from reading Thomas Goes to Town.-Amy P. Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR Concept of the Week (8-24-07)

2007-08-24T11:35:00.000-04:00

Even babies can start learning reading concepts way before they are ever ready to read. Find a picture book with big pictures of people’s faces or one that describes body parts such as The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss or Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes by Judy Hindley. Point to the pictures and describe them, them point to the same body parts on them and encourage your baby to touch or grab it. This will help your baby search for patterns while listening and looking, a useful skill that will help in school.-Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR Concept of the Week 8-16-2007

2007-08-17T16:08:00.000-04:00

Reading to a toddler can be a challenge. Sometimes, you have a very small window of opportunity before they decide they have had enough. But, there are ways to engage them when reading. Pick pictures out of the book and see if they can find a matching one in their real world. Small children definitely relate more to what is real to them. This little practice will be a fun and educational game that will build vocabulary. -Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System.

ECRR Concept of the Week (8-02-07)

2007-08-02T13:52:00.002-04:00

Fables are fun, but are not always understood by younger children. For instance, this week in Story Time, we used selections from Aesop's Fables to entertain the children. Unfortunately, these stories can be complicated and the morals are lost on younger children. This is where puppets make wonderful props to bring a story to life. I noticed that the stories in which I used props seemed to capture the interest of children more than those without props. Props are not just a fun thing to use so the kids can play. Props can be educational because they encourage conversation and build narrative skills, an important ECRR concept. And who wouldn't want to hear a story they can "touch" rather than just see?-Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR

2007-08-02T13:52:00.001-04:00

ECRR Concept of the Week (7-26-07)

2007-07-26T11:38:00.000-04:00

This week for storytime, our theme was camping. This was a great time with younger preschoolers and school-aged children. The stories used were Quiet Night by Marilyn Singer, Good Night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins and Under the Moon by Dyan Sheldon. Ranger John Sutton from Baker's Mountain came to talk to the youngsters about safety in the wild and he also brought a friend, Shadow (a 5 foot King Snake). The older kids loved the snake, but I was not so sure. A good time was had by all! One of the activities that I did with the kids was a campfire story. Basically, this was a story that I told using something that I memorized and some puppets for props. When using Every Child Ready to Read Concepts, it is not always necessary to have a book in hand. Sometimes, the parent or caregiver might want to make up a story for the child. This challenges the child to use their imagination. The use of props is a great way for them to practice visualizing what they read. Also, when making up stories, see if they want to add to it. They might just surprise you with some pretty terrific ideas of how to story should go. The great thing about making up stories with your child is that you never have to worry about hearing the same one twice. -Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library

ECRR Concept of the Week (7-19-07)

2007-07-24T12:55:00.000-04:00

Have you ever watched the wonder in a child's eyes when they learn something new? Try using easy nonfiction books. These books are great for learning and entertaining. Especially the science books such as books about bugs, spiders, dinosaurs, and various animals. They give good information and have great pictures. If you pair this with a picture book, you can take a fun story and make it a teaching experience. Here are few to try:

Curious George by H. A. Rey with Monkeys and Apes of the World by Rita Gelman
(Gelman's book has interesting tidbits that can be shared with younger children even if they won't sit through the whole book)

The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown with The Farm by Gail Saunders-Smith
(Saunders Smith uses great photos with simple text to describe work on a farm)

Dinosaur Stomp by Paul Strickland with What is a Dinosaur? by Niki Walker & Bobbie Kalman
(The nonfiction text is lengthy, but by the end young children will have a better picture of dinosaurs)

ECRR Concept of the Week (7-12-07)

2007-07-12T11:29:00.000-04:00

This week at one of our Summer Reading Programs, we had a local artist do a program entitled "Find the Artist in You." The artist did a fantastic job of incorporating literature into her program using the books My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss and Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. The kids at the program were school age and all were readers, but this same concept works with the younger preschool kids as well. Using some sort of artistic activity in conjunction with a book is a great way for children to explore what they heard in a story. At our weekly storytimes, we usually have some sort of craft project that reinforces our stories. It's a great way to teach skills and have fun, too!-Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR Concept of the Week (7-5-07)

2007-07-05T15:27:00.001-04:00

The Summer Reading Program is a great activity for the entire family. Even young non-readers can participate when moms and dads read to them and log their books. This is also an excellent opportunity for older siblings to read to their brothers and sisters. They both benefit. The older ones get to brush up on their reading skills while the younger non-readers get to hear someone else read (an important step in early literacy). Siblings get to spend quality time together, hopefully with no fussing or fighting. Now that’s a great summer program the entire family can enjoy!-Amy Dawson, Youth Services, Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR Concept of the Week (6-27-07)

2007-06-28T11:24:00.000-04:00

Letter knowledge is recognizing that each letter is different with different sounds and different names. A great way to increase a child's letter knowledge is to use alphabet books. In the children's picture book section of the library there are many alphabet books such as Alpha Oops!: the Day Z went First by Alethea Kontis, Alphabet Adventure by Audrey Wood, and Alligator Arrived with Apples: a Potluck Alphabet Feast by Crescent Dragonwater. These books are great for alliteration (ex. a is for apple). Also, they use rememberable pictures that most children will recognize. -Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library

ERCC Concept of the Week (06/20/07)

2007-06-20T11:47:00.000-04:00

Does your child have a favorite book that they like you to read to them over and over again? At our house it was “Counting Kittens” and “Needabeck’s Number Book.” I know, I know you dream in “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See”, but be assured that you are helping your preschooler develop early literacy skills that will make them ready to become readers. This is a good opportunity for your little one to develop their narrative skills, helping them to be able to describe things and events and to tell stories. Ask them to “read” or tell the story to you. Play a sequencing game, ask them what came first in the story. What happened at the end and in the middle of the story. Let them make up a different ending. Let them “draw” or illustrate the story. Pick out key words and write them out. An example in “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?” might be the color words or the animal words in the story. Find ways to play games with these words. Change familiar words to silly words; Blubooda Bear, Blubooda Bear what do you plip? Be creative, think out of the box and all of a sudden you see that book you read over and over again in a new and different way. Remember to have and make it fun!

ECRR Concept of the Week (6-14-07):

2007-06-14T13:47:00.001-04:00

A great way to show children a connection between what you are reading and what they are hearing is by following the text with your finger. This shows them that it is the words that are being read and not the pictures. Also, don't hesitate to point out words that are repeated often. These words can be called "popcorn" words and consist of small but important repetitive words: the, and, as, I, me, my... These will be some of the first words your children learn to recognize when they begin to read. -Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

2007-06-08T09:34:00.001-04:00

This is in response to the question about Box Day and what we did for box day. This was a special day that the kids had a great time. I collected large appliance boxes, shoe boxes, jewelry boxes and any other kind of box that I could get my hands on. For the storytime, I explained the importance to parents of not constantly stimulating children with the latest and greatest thing, but allowing them the time to explore and use their own imaginations. I then shared several books:

Thank You, Bear by Greg Foley
The Birthday Box by Leslie Patricelli
A Box Can be Many Things by Dana Meachen Rau
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

There are so many good children's box books that sky is the limit. After sharing books, I asked the children to come explore the boxes. They had a blast. Some they could sit in, others they crawled through. There were small ones to put things in and open and close. I then reassemble the group and asked what they imagined their box was. One boy said a house and another said an elevator. I ended with another box story and then gave each child a small box that had a treat in it such as a sucker. It was a fun day and an easy storytime idea.

2007-06-08T09:25:00.000-04:00

ECRR Concept of the Week (1-8-07):

Young children love to mimic everything they see. For example, some little girls like to put on make-up like their mothers or little boys will want power tools like their fathers. It is no secret that they learn from what they observe. That is why it is so important for parents and caregivers to let children see them read. Children who see their parents or caregivers reading are more likely to be readers themselves. So grab a good book and relax. It won't be long until you see your little ones do the same thing. -Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library System

ECRR Concept of the Week

2007-05-31T11:02:00.000-04:00

An important thing a caregiver can do for a child is spend quality time reading stories that stimulate children’s interest. Let them pick the book. It is okay if they want to “read” to you and tell you what they think is happening on the pages. This allows them an opportunity to build narrative skills which is an important early literacy concept. -Amy Dawson, Youth Services Librarian, Catawba County Library

May 24 Storytime @ SW

2007-05-25T09:39:00.000-04:00

This week I selected various animal books and talked a little about narative skills and more about letter recognition.
(Before Storytime)
I had a new group of 5 (1 caregiver 3 3yr olds and an 18 month old. They arrived early so I was able to introduce myself and sort of break the ice with the children. This is when I introduced letter recognition. We told each other our names and what letters our names started with, and then what other letters were in our names. It did not take long for them to start looking at the books selected for storytime. We then discovered that Christopher and Chicken not only starts with the same 1st letter but that it started with the same first 2 letters. One of the books I used was Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman. I also used letter recognition by letting the children pick out a puppet, identifying what the puppet was and what letter it started with. When we figured that out I changed the words to the Along Comes Mr. Alligator action rhyme and Mr Alligator snapped that rabbit, groundhog, lamb, etc.... right out of that tree.

Once storytime started I introduced narative skills. We used our narative skills a lot during this storytime. While reading Chickens to the Rescue and The Big Sneeze I encouraged the children to tell me what they thought would happen next. After showing them them pictures it was very entertaining to hear their interpretations. One of my favorite ways to get a response is to ask what would you do.....(i.e. if chickens were in your kitchen cooking a mea)l? What would your mom and dad do....( if chickens were in the kitchen)? Some of the respnses are priceless.

Using the concepts of ECRR seems to be really working. Although I have used some of the concepts all along, the knowledge of ECRR with those and new concepts gives us the potential to really make a difference. I have a whole new way of thinking when selecting materials for storytime and I have a focus. Immediately after picking up a book I go into ECRR mode.
So far so good!

April @
SW Library

Where The Wild Things Are

2007-05-18T15:14:00.000-04:00

Thursdays story time was based on one of my favorite children's books Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak which I am sure we are all familiar. I love this book because when doing it with small children you can really have a great time when the wild rumpus begins. That being said, let me tell you that I was not overly inspired yesterday when I went to do the music but could not figure out how to use the CD player. Anyway, I think the kids had a good time. As far as ECRR, this book is important because there is very little text and children have to use their imaginations to guess what is going on in the story based on the pictures. That is why every time I use this book with kids, I have use the scene in the middle to dance, swing from tree to tree and have a parade. This will give them a connection to what is going on during the "silent" pages. Also, I always try to talk to them at the end of the story to get their interpretations about what they thought was going on. Was it a dream? Did Max really do to the land of the wild things? Preschoolers might be young, but they are not too young that you can't discuss plot with them.

For the rest of the program, we read books about other "wild things" such as wild animals. I had the children to act like monkeys, tigers, alligators, birds, and snakes. One of the things that I have been doing with the story times is allowing someone different to pick out a book that they might want to read. Most of the children are too young to read, but they see the pretty covers and will let me read it to the group. This has been good because each week I have the kids asking me to pick out a book. This week, a little girl who is normally very shy selected something that she found of interest. I was glad to see her come out of her little shell. It tells me that story times are not lost on her.

I ended the program by giving each child a bookmark with a zoo animal on it that was left over from some other program. I told the kids that it is no use having a bookmark without a book and invited everyone to come upstairs. Several of the little girls sat down on the floor in front of me and asked me to read another story after others had left. We talked about crazy pets and I was able to hear about fingernail polish, a fish, some crazy dogs and how a snake would make a good pet (the mom didn't agree).

StSt Cinco de Mayo

2007-05-05T07:23:00.000-04:00

Hi everybody,
This week @ Saint we did Cinco de Mayo as our theme for ToddlerTime and Preschool storytimes. I explained at the start that we were working with the ECRR literacy skill of vocabulary this week and explained what it was and why it was important. I had note cards that had key words from the books I used. One side was English, "Grandma" and the other was in Espanol, "Abuelito". After the story we looked at the cards and the children responded back with the word both in Spanish and English, pictures were also on the card. We also had # and color cards and I incorporated those into our songs and finger plays. I created these cards using Word and Clip Art. At the end I asked what Fiesta was and most of the children responded with Party. I would say they were able to recall 1/2 of the words used without the cards during our review. After our coloring time the children had access to the cards to look at and play with. Three of the 17 children did this. I am still having a problem with two of my daycare providers using this time as a chat fest during storytime. One is working on her teaching degree, she should know better. She will be moving to the Vale area by August, April be prepared they'll be coming your way. At times it is frustrating to try to convince our audiences that what we are doing in our story times is a bit more valuable than "babysitting", as we implement ECRR, I hope that this will become more apparent.
Donna

2007-05-03T17:28:00.000-04:00

Today for storytime, we had box day. I think using props as part of the storytime is extremely important to reinforce what we are talking about. All of the books that I used were about boxes and the many wonderful things you can do with a box. This week, I collected (with the help of some wonderful staff members - Lidia, Mason) many boxes of all different sizes. You could tell during storytime that the kids were itching to get in the boxes. Halfway through the storytime, I let the kids play in the boxes. They loved it. I have no doubt that they will never look at a box in the same way again.

Southwest Storytime

2007-05-03T11:05:00.000-04:00

I just observed April's storytime and Oh-My-God it was great! She told parents about Amy's upcoming ECRR workshop and set out the brochures for them to pick up. She also briefly explained the benefits of shifting the storytimes to reflect a more ECRR bases. The storytime itself was awesome, using print awareness, narrative skills, lots of vocabulary and phonological awareness.

Kudos to you April

from Lidia

2007-05-01T14:34:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday during storytime I was able to talk with a couple of parents about ECRR. The basics of what I told them was that we are going to start integrating some educational/learning skills for their children based on ECRR. I told them a little about brain development and the improtance of early literacy and learning. One of the moms seemed very excited and eager to learn anything we could "teach" her. She is a new homeschool mom and she is very unsure of herself. I told her I would be incorporating some of the techniques during regular storytime. I also told her that we are hoping to have some workshops geared towards parents and caregivers that will provide more knowledge about the concepts of ECRR .

I would like to get some of the brochures. It is a great reinforcement to any information we give.

April

Outreach

2007-04-30T11:35:00.000-04:00

Just finished outreach and told the teachers about ECRR. They all seemed interested especially when I would explain what a particular part of the storytime would help brain development. I also mentioned that workshops for teachers and parents were in the near future.

Great use of ECRR concepts!

2007-04-30T10:43:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed reading about Amy and Donna's use of ECRR concepts at their storytimes last week. I was especially glad to see Amy's use of the nonfiction books. We are trying to use the nonfiction books more here at Newton and to encourage parents to check them out along with their easy picture book selections.

Donna - I like the use of the bilingual words next week for Cinco de Mayo. We have a number of very easy bilingual books that might be fun to use for the vocabulary concept.

Also - the duck prop box was really neat. I enjoyed seeing it at the meeting last week. It reminded me of when I attended community college in Denver, CO. The early childhood courses that I was taking focused on different learning areas for children, such as math, shapes, colors, letter recognition, etc. And we would make games to use in the classroom with our children. It was so much fun to make these things and then to use them with the children.

Keep up the good work and I will look forward to the postings next week to see what else you have done!

Donna - you and April may want to give out some of the brochures that Amy found. They are attractive and very informative.

Lynne

ECRR @ STST branch

2007-04-29T10:42:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,
This past Thursday @ the St. Stephens Branch library I implemented the ECRR program by introducing the "Duck" literary prop box I had created during the early literacy class I took @ CVCC. Our theme this week for ToddlerTime and Preschool Storytime was "Ducks". The prop box was focused around Lauren Thompson's, "Little Quack". I explained at the 1st of each storytime how we were going to start using the ERRC information in each storytime based on the six principals of early childhood literacy. At the end of the storytime, while the children were coloring I showed the parents some of the different activities in the prop box. This is a good time for teaching through casual conversation with parents and caregivers. Several parents were going to look up the ECRR program on the internet. Next week is Cinco de Mayo, I haven't quite figured out what early literacy skill I want to reinforce, I'm thinking maybe vocabulary. I plan to use both english and spanish with this storytime.
Donna :)

2007-04-27T15:44:00.001-04:00

Yesterday during storytime, I pointed out to parents that I had placed ECRR brochures by the door for them to take with them. I also explained to them that we would talk about vocabulary because I was introducing a book that had words that might be unfamiliar to younger readers. This is where my props helped. I used a prop for the things that "Scaredy Squirrel" had in his first aid kit. I also brought non-fiction books with me because Squaredy Squirrel was afraid of tarantulas, poison ivy, sharks, germs, and green martians. I brought a book for all of those and explained to parents that even if nonfiction books had lengthy text, they were great for vocabulary building.

Also, last night I spoke at a parenting meeting at Sweetwater Elementary School. I promoted the library services, but I used it as an opportunity to talk about ECRR and the importance of early literacy skills to emergent readers. I took brochures and this seemed to go over well.

Amy

2007-04-27T15:44:00.000-04:00

Le'ts help each other out!

2007-04-27T08:34:00.000-04:00

To get the proverbial ball rolling, would each of you post something each time that you use an ECRR concept in your preschool story programs?

Nothing elaborate, just a short note telling everyone else what you did and why. This is a good way for Karen to know exactly how we are implementing these concepts.

Be sure and check this blog weekly so that you can keep up with the latest tips.

Many thanks,
Lynne

Donna's input

2007-04-25T15:35:00.000-04:00

Mission Statement for ECRR program for the Catawba County Library System:

The Catawba County Library System is dedicated to help parents and caregivers of children from birth to five years with informative resources emphasizing the importance of early childhood literacy. Youth Service staff will implement the early childhood literacy program, “Every Child Ready to Read” resulting in a path for reading readiness and lifelong love of reading in the young children we serve.
Goals:
1) Youth Service staff will implement the Every Child Ready to Read program into our weekly story times, emphasizing the six skills to early childhood literacy.
2) Build collaborations with community organizations to teach ECRR workshops to parents and care givers of young children. (Parenting Network, Children’s Resource Center, NC Cooperative Extension and 4-H, Community Schools program, Sweethearts, Smart Start, Chamber of Commerce, Catawba County and Newton/Conover Schools, Parents as Educators program, CVCC, etc….)
3) Publicize what we are doing with ECRR program- Brochures, posters/flyers, web-site, family fairs, school events, power point presentations, news articles, etc….
4) Develop materials (literacy prop boxes) that enhance our teaching of the ECRR program.
5) Seek funding to help support the growth of the ECRR program in the Catawba County Library System. (Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, Smart Start, Gates Foundation, etc…)We will need to have some record of accountability to support our asking for funding) Develop survey?

Some ideas that we can do to implement the ECRR program:
1. Observe each other’s story times to see how we are using the tools we learned in the workshop
2. Meet or communicate regularly base to see how the program is or isn’t working for us and to make sure we are all using the program in a consistant manner.
3. Develop 4 to 5 literacy prop boxes to use in story times and workshops based on classic books like “The Hungry Caterpillar”
4. Develop 3 to 4 story times with books, finger plays, songs, and activities that can be shared between branches as a fall back or in early use of the program
5. Present power point programs out in the community to let them know about the ECRR.
6. Research other libraries on the internet and see what they are doing with ECRR
7. Set goals to see where we want to go with the program after being used for 6 to 12 months.
8. Make sure we all have a clear understanding of the program (reading the book, reviewing the workshop materials, practice the readymade dialog and materials, and workshop already put together in the program. Robin may have order some of these materials and we can get them off the internet)
9. Teach workshops to care givers and parents
10. Give out brochures, handouts, and other information to parents at the end of each story time and outreach.
11. A Youth Service staff person serves on a board of one of our partnering agencies.

Congratulations to the Youth Services Staff

2007-04-25T14:05:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to all of you for your great ideas today! Don't forget to email Amy with your ideas for a mission and goals for the ECRR program in the Catawba County Library System. Focus on setting achievable goals to guide you in your work.

I am very excited that we are going to improve our story programs and our work with the parents and teachers of preschool children in Catawba County. The case for building early learning skills in preschool children grows stronger each year as emerging research supports the understanding of brain development in young children.

Here is a link to a web page sponsored by the Multnomah County Library that discusses early brain development and early literacy skills. It is a short article, but packed with excellent information.

http://www.multcolib.org/birthtosix/braindev.html

Good luck with this new project. Our library has a great team of staff working together and I am confident that you will achieve great things!

Lynne Bolick Reed
Library Services Coordinator

2007-04-25T13:35:00.000-04:00

Hi Gang! Just to let you know, we are up and running. I enjoyed the meeting and am glad we were able to meet about ECRR. This is going to be a great program and I will let you know when we have updates just as I hope you will all do the same.