The Library Robot welcomes the JK/K students to the library for the 2011-2012 school year.
Welcome to Your Library on Storybird
This summer I attended a storytelling institute with storyteller Rona Leventhal. I’ve always done a bit of storytelling with the little ones when they visit the library, however, it was more like spontaneous acting out of a story as I read it aloud. This past year the Cambridge Public Library focused on storytelling through its programming with StoryStream Cambridge. I supported this initiative by inviting parents to join their child’s library time and share a family story. (See past posts with “Parents” tag.)
When I heard about the institute, it seemed like a great opportunity to hone my storytelling techniques. That’s how I found myself in beautiful Western MA in early August with 12 other participants. Some people had done storytelling professionally and some of us were just beginning the journey. I worked on my telling of How Bear Lost His Tail from a collection of Native American tales collected and edited by Joseph Bruchac.
If you’d like to hear me telling the first part of the story, click on the link below.
The Newbery Award and the Caldecott Award are wonderful validation for children’s book authors and illustrators, but those awards are decided upon by adults. The Massachusetts Children’s Book Award and similar awards nationwide are voted on by the readers of the books, the children. What could be better than having students vote your book as #1 out of 25 other books? The MCBA is an opportunity for students in grades 3-6 to read books from a list generated by librarians and teachers across the state. Students have to have read at least five titles in order to vote. The titles are available as audio recordings, as well. Many teachers will read at least one of the books as a class read aloud to jumpstart students with the program.
In the Fall, I present a slideshow about the 25 books to all students in grades 3-6. They begin reading and writing quick reviews for their peers to view. There is also a school system wiki for readers to log into and discuss titles with their peers across the city of Cambridge. Voting is in February.
Other New England state lists:
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Vermont
Parent Bennet Steele shared stories of growing up in Ethiopia with Ms. Orr’s second graders and Ms. Healey’s K. The students loved seeing traditional clothing, smelling teas and spices and looking at photographs of Bennet as a little girl. They tried to imagine how it must of felt as a young girl when Bennet went to live in Maryland with relatives. She was very excited until she got to school and realized she had a lot of English to learn.
Author Rochelle O’Neal Thorpe visited with the King second graders. She read her book The Tales of Teacups, which describes a young girl discovering the origin of the teacups stored in her mother’s cupboards. The cups represent the mother’s travels and friendships in China, Japan and Eritrea. After enjoying the story, students painted their own teacups. Made By Me on Mass Ave. supplied the paints and fired the cups for us.
under: Author/Illustrator Visits
In response to the disasters in Japan, our students needed to feel that they had the power to respond in a beneficial way. In the library, we read books by Allen Say and Taro Yashima. We also read haikus by Basho and Issa.
Both schools worked on folding origami cranes in hopes of reaching 1000 to symbolically express our wishes for a timely recovery in the lives of the Japanese. Students Rebuild http://studentsrebuild.org/ has a matching fund for students to contribute $2 for every origami crane. We were able to fold over 200 cranes.
under: General
We all learned something new with today’s storyteller. 
Jookum (Theodora 2) told us the story of a Chinese princess sent to marry a Malayasian king. The princess’ father did not want her to be lonely in this new land, so he chose 100 Chinese families to accompany her. These families became the Chinese Peranakan of Penang, Melaka and Singapore. The story sparked a discussion of the many lands our families are from. I think that Jookum should write a book about the princess. We can always use another princess book!
Vivian (Theodora 2) came to speak with the second graders for storytelling month. She had the students brainstorm facts about China in cooperative groups. Next she told them about the different languages spoken in China, not just Mandarin. She showed them some Chinese characters explaining how to write Theodora’s name.
under: General
Today Jessica (Maya K) came to tell us the story of her grandmother’s goat. It was a wonderful story about her grandmother’s life on a farm and the antics of her beloved goat. Afterwards, she read us a book about a goat. I followed up with a story of my mother’s first doll which was left out in a field on her childhood farm.
Calling all Storytellers/Llamando a todos los cuentacuentos!
Posted by: Novogrodsky | November 30, 2010 | No Comment |December is a chilly, dark month; the month just right for storytelling. The King/Amigos library is looking for storytellers. In coordination with the Cambridge Public Libraries’ Story Stream initiative, we are working to tie story telling into class visits to the library.
We would like parents or family friends to come share a story (English or Spanish), however short or long.
Ideas, ideas, ideas:
A bedtime story someone told you as a child.
A funny family adventure.
A story about your family’s immigration to the United States.
A story about a family pet.
A retelling of a folktale or fairytale.
Today, we had our first storyteller. Rosalie told the story of their family move to the East Coast. The kids got to make the sounds of all the transportation involved in the move – planes, trucks, cars and bicycles! Thank you, Rosalie! It was a great story for making connections.
