Thing #2: Mobile Device Tips

I have two mobile devices that I'm going to learn some tips and tricks for. First up, my iPhone iOS 7!

Some cool things I learned

• seeing time stamps for texts (this was actually something that was really bothering me about the iphone, that I couldn't see what time I was getting text messages in)
• teaching Siri how to pronounce something correctly - how cool is that!
• turning off the moving text - it doesn't bother me, but I know some people were almost getting seasick by the text moving on the phone.

Onto the Google Nexus 7!

I've had my Nexus 7 for several years, so there wasn't actually anything super awesome that he taught me except for...

• the face recognition screen lock. How freaky is that! 

The first day I had my Nexus 7 I figured out about combining icons to make folders, but maybe that is the organizer in me...

23 Mobile Things: Thing 1

What I hope to get out of this program....I'm hoping to learn something new, something interesting. I like having something different to do, that takes me out of my normal work routine. I did enjoy doing the things on a stick, even though the name was kind of awful.

Here's to the Mobile Things! (even though I just posted this from my computer....)

2013 SLM Shelf Challenge

I just signed up to participate in the School Library Month Shelf Challenge.

Check out the details for the 2013 Challenge

Essentially, what I'll be doing is going through one letter of the jFiction collection and reading the dust jacket/back cover of each book in the collection. Sounds like a lot of work! But, also sounds like I'm going to learn alot about my collection and I might find some new books to recommend. Now, I just have to pick a letter....

Storytime Swap

I participated in a storytime swap a few weeks back - because, what better time of year than right between two holidays and lots of time off work, right? 

It was great though - I got to use my crafty skillz and send one of my favorite flannel stories to someone across the country and I had the anticipation of receiving something of my own!

Ann sent me a participatory flannel called "Five Little Cookies in the Bakery Shop"

The great thing is, she included way more than 5 pieces, so when I use it in storytime, every kid in there will be able to particpate!

The flannel board has all the cookies on it and all the kids get a flannel nickel piece.

Five Little Cookies
Five little cookies, in the bakery shop
The ones with the sugar and the icing on the top
Along comes (insert childs name) with a nickel to pay
She buys a cookie and she takes it away

I sent Ann a Father's Day flannel story called "Daddy's Ties".  It's pretty simple. You put a head on the board and every kid gets a different tie - they're all decorated differently, colors, stripes, stars, bow ties, etc.

DADDY’S TIES
(sung to the tune of "Mary Wore Her Red Dress")
Put the face of the daddy on the flannel board.  Add each tie as you go through the song.

Daddy wore his purple tie,
purple tie, purple tie.
Daddy wore his purple tie
All day long.
(cont. with all the different colors, shapes, etc until all kids add their ties)

I don't have a picture of what I made, HERE is where I got the template from (also the following picture is from Storytime Secrets

Spider Crawling Up Your Back... Storytime for 2s and 3s; 4s, 5s, and 6s

Today's storytime was brought to us by the letter B for Bugs! For some reason kids love bugs...I guess its a learned behavior to fear and be grossed out by them, so a bugs storytime tends to be pretty fun. And, it's pretty easy to pick out fun books to share.

I read:

I Love Bugs by Philemon Sturges

This was a nice, simple book, for the toddlers. The giggled when the baby sister ladybug crawled into the last page.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

 Always a crowd favorite. When I read this to the toddlers, and POPPED the egg open, one toddler shrieked with delight.

Creepy Crawly Calypso by Tony Langham

I wish I knew how the Creepy Crawly Calypso was sung...I mean, I'm sure I can find it on the internets, but I never think about it until I'm IN STORYTIME.

Bugs Galore by Peter Stein

I read this with the 4s, 5s, and 6s.  It was a fun rhyming story, and the kids were very interested in all the different bugs that were shown on the pages. It really was bugs galore.

Probably the highlight of storytime this week was the DANCING.  

Here is the handout for my BUGS STORYTIME

Off the handout we did:

• Hello Song
• Fuzzy Wuzzy Caterpillar
• Bug Song
• Five Little Ladybugs (with Flannel Board)
• It's Time to Say Good-Bye

Song and Dance Numbers:

• Itsy Bitsy Spider from Songs for Wiggleworms - the version I used included a great big hairy spider and a very quiet spider
• Butterfly from It's Toddler Time - we did a bit of an interpretive dance using our scarfs to twirl and float and fly like butterflies.
•  The Ticklebug from Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta-Wiggle - I didn't warn the kids that a ticklebug was involved in this song...I just started crawling my fingers up my legs and arms.  When the tickling got started, they were in a frenzy!   One little boy in my 4s, 5s, and 6s group laughed so hard he peed in his pants!

Stats:
Storytime for 2s and 3s: 22 children, 20 adults
Storytime for 4s, 5s, and 6s: 15 children, 13 adults

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons

I ran out on my lunch break today to pick up a copy of Bitterblue (!!!) and while I was there I remembered that today was also the release date of the new Pete the Cat book! 

Now...not to brag or anything, but Eric Litwin IS COMING TO MY RHYTHM AND WORDS music and book festival in June!!!!!!!!  So now I'll have two books and my Pete the Cat plushie for him to sign.  Plus a tea towel.  I guess I'm a Pete fangirl.

Anyways, I really like the new book. I wish I had it last week for my numbers and counting storytime!  It's a good story for counting down and I can also see it being used really easily as a flannel while I'm reading it.  Now, to get someone to make me a Pete flannel....

Storytime for Babies, May 1st

Today at storytime we read two of my least favorite books in our storytime colletion:

Jamberry

and

Hands Hands Fingers Thumb

It's not that these are bad books - they're good books with fun beats to find a rhythm and pat along to.  I just find its hard to share them with babies, especially when I have a group as large as I did today.

Again, I had very high attendance with 37 babies and 31 adults.

We used this handout and did almost all the songs on the sheet.  For our songs today we did:
1, 2, 3, Whee
Wiggle Your Fingers
Ladies Ride
Shake My Sillies Out