Learn & Grow with Rhythm & Flow 12-22-17: Special Guest and Hanukkah Presentation

In the last two weeks of December, my library system traditionally does not hold storytimes because of low attendance. A lot of people are out of town, or have family in town and don't want to leave them to come to the library. However, I accidentally scheduled Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow for today, where it would have been on a normal month. Instead of going through the very difficult cancellation process, I just left it on the calendar. It's lucky that I did, too, because this was the only time our special guest was available to do her Hanukkah presentation for our patrons!

We have a retired volunteer named Natalie who is always an absolute joy when she helps out with programs. She loves being around kids, and is always full of great ideas for how we can expand our program participant base and partnerships with community businesses. Natalie was in the library a few weeks ago just browsing for something to read, and mentioned to me that she had a Hanukkah presentations she has been taking around to local retirement homes. My first question when I talk to anyone now is "Can you do the same thing, but at a preschool level?" She said yes, so we scheduled her and her presentation partner Nancy as special guests for December 22nd.

I spent the morning searching for preschool music having to do with Hanukkah, and found that the Kiboomers actually have a whole Hanukkah album! We used the songs "9 Little Candles," "Sweet Hannukah Gelt," and "Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel." Here is the whole album:

I also found this slightly more rock and roll version of the Dreidel Song by the Kiddie Katz, which I like more than the Kiboomers version. It's slightly easier to listen to seven times in a row. 

We started the storytime with my usual hello, because I like to provide something familiar especially when we have a guest presenter that deviates from the regular storytime formula. Then, Natalie read/paraphrased from the nonfiction book Hannukkah by Valerie Bodden. 

When she got about halfway through, I could sense the kids getting wiggly. She was at the part about menorahs, so I asked her if it was okay that we take a break and sing a song about the candles in the menorah. We sang the Kiboomers song "9 Little Candles," counting on our fingers and learning what the middle candle is called.

Then Natalie finished going through the book, alternating between historical facts and tidbits about how the holiday is celebrated in the modern world. After the book, she brought out tiny plastic dreidels and chocolate coins (gelt) for all of the kids. I allowed about ten minutes for the kids to play with the dreidels, eat their candy, and color pictures. During this time, I let the Hanukkah music play, bringing attention to "Sweet Hannukah Gelt" and "Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel." 

Source: TwistyNoodle.com

When it was about time for storytime to be over, I brought the attention back to the front of the room and we sang out goodbye song and had bubbles. I invited the families to stick around if they wanted, ask our presenters questions, and finish coloring their pictures. My biggest regret of the day was that I got no pictures of all the fun! So here is the model/librarian in a dress I want, to fill space where pictures of my program would go if I were a better multi-tasker.

Here is a list of books I had displayed today:

• Hanukkah by Valerie Bodden
• Honeyky Hanukah by Woody Guthrie (yeah, THAT Woody Guthrie. It comes with a CD)
• Chanukah Lights Everywhere by Michael L. Rosen
• I Have a Little Dreidel by Maxie Baum
• The Hanukkah Mice by Steven Kroll
• My Two Grandmothers by Effin Older
• The Hanukkah Trike by Michele Edwards
• Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov
• Maccabee! The Story of Hanukkah by Tilda Balsley
• Hoppy Hanukkah! by Linda Glaser
• Hanukkah: Eight Lights Around the World by Susan Sussman
• Hanukkah Moon by Deborah da Costa
• The Best Hanukkah Ever by Barbara Diamond Goldin

"I Am Jazz" Public Reading

I planned a last minute program this week, after finding out about the nationwide public readings of I Am Jazz by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel.

I found out about the event from Facebook, and went to this website for more info. Apparently it's a yearly thing. If I'd had more time to plan I would have advertised it more, but I think my event went pretty well.

 When people first entered the room, I had a copy of the book displayed along with a handout about gender identity appropriate for all ages, our December newsletter, flyers for my Young Adult Diversity Book Club, and library surveys so we could find out what people thought of a potentially controversial event.

It was an event for all ages, and since it is a picture book there were mostly kids there with their parents. So as an introduction to trans issues, I showed this catchy video:

After the video, I asked our small crowd what they liked or noticed about the video. One little girl's favorite part was the penguin with a magic wand, because she was like everyone's fairy god mother. Another child said she liked that all the birds in the video get to dress the way they want, and no one can tell them how to dress except themselves. I told her that was exactly the point of the video, and exactly what we would be talking about tonight; dressing and living as your true self, however you feel most comfortable.

Our second video was the one I originally saw on Facebook that clued me in to the whole movement.

And finally, I passed around the one library copy of I Am Jazz that I was able to get my hands on while we watched this video, of Jazz herself reading the book:

After the videos, I encouraged the participants to stick around while I cleaned up the room. I had a craft table set out where they could color, cut out, and mount a paper doll chain on a piece of construction paper.

I also had two tables of books displayed, all in the theme of diversity, gender identity, and LGBTQ+ issues for children and teens.

We had 17 participants total, which is not bad at all for an event completely conceived and advertised two days beforehand. The people who came seemed to have a good time, enjoy the videos, and even took a few books to check out! I'm really satisfied that I was able to share this important event with our patrons.

Here is a list of the books I displayed:

Children's Picture Books

• Introducing Teddy by Jessica Walton
• 10,000 Dresses by Marcus Ewert
• Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall
• And Tango Makes Three by Richardson & Parnell
• Sparkle Boy by Leslea Newman
• Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Christine Baldacchino
• Worm Loves Worm by JJ Austrian
• It's Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr
• The Okay Book by Todd Parr
• The Family Book by Todd Parr

Children's Chapter Books

• Better Nate than Ever by Tim Federle
• Five, Six, Seven, Nate by Tim Federle

Teen Nonfiction

• Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens by Belge & Bieschke
• The ABC's of LGBT by Ashley Mardell
• "You Can Tell Just By Looking" and 20 Other Myths About LGBT Life and People by Bronski, Pellegrini, & Amico
• The Full Spectrum: A New Generation of Writing About Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Other Identities
• This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
• Queer There and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager
• Queer America: A GLBT History fo the 20th Century by Vicki L. Eaklor
• Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin

Adult Nonfiction

• Coming Around: Parenting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Kids by Anne Dohrenwend

        

I could gush forever about all these books, but it's probably better if you discover them on your own.

Write Your Own Picture or Comic Book - Week Three

This is week three of a four-week writing program for tweens age 8-12.
Week One

Week Two
Week Four

We only had six participants today, which was a large drop from last week's twenty. Even though the drastic drop was surprising and disappointing, I found that the smaller group was easier to manage in an instructed program like this one. Today's session was also the most regimented so far, and it's much easier to get six kids to listen to you than it is to quiet and focus a group of twenty. 

For today's ice breaker/warm up activity, we did another Wacky Web Tale. Today's was called "Summer Fun," and I asked that their own names appeared in the tale. After the 15 minutes to fill out the Mad Lib-style tale, I had each child share theirs since the group was so small. 

As I said above, today's lesson was the most structured we've had so far. Since they will be creating their own books next week, I wanted to make sure all the kids have a strong grasp on the concepts of character, setting, plot, etc. The best way to do that, I think, is to have them relate these elements to stories they already know. So, I actually made and presented a short PowerPoint today. I made sure it had a lot of places for the kids to interject their comments and questions, as well as read aloud to me. 

As you probably noticed if you saw the week two entry, I used the same green chart again this week to teach them the plot diagram. 

Each time I clicked to a new slide, I picked a couple of readers to read the info from the slide aloud to the group. Then, I asked a different child to name that element in a book they had read lately. For example, "Who are the main characters in Alice in Wonderland?" "Alice, the White Rabbit, the queen, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare," etc. 

I left the final slide, "Now it's your turn," up after we were done discussing all the story elements. I wanted it to serve as a reminder as they broke up to work on their individual stories. At this point in the session, I let the kids choose if they would rather type on the computer or write with a pen/pencil and notepad. I asked them to make up the story they wanted to "publish" next week, using the story elements and plot diagram we just talked about. I made myself available for questions, and they had lots! Each child left today having worked on something, so I can't wait to see the final products next week!