I'm back!
You might have noticed I haven't posted much the last few months. There's a long, complicated story, but the short version is that I left my previous position due to a toxic workplace and severe burnout. I took a few months off to recover and prioritize my physical and mental health. I took a few trips, hung out with my fur babies, visited my kids, worked in my flower beds, read, started eating better and exericising again, and spent a lot of time re-evaluating my career and re-prioritizing my life. I considered leaving libraries altogether, but decided I wasn't ready to give up yet, and when I was ready I found a new position as a children's librarian at a different library where I felt I could maintain a heathier work-life balance.
I was excited that my first time doing storytime at my new library fell during Shark Week, as that is always such a fun theme to do! I was a little nervous, even though I've done over 2000 storytimes in my career, it's always different in a new place with a new community, new challenges, and requires a new routine.
I followed my standard preschool storytime structure, with a minor change. First, I switched from paper programs to putting the song & rhyme lyrics up on the tv screen, as well as announcements and expectations. While I like the idea of parents having a paper copy to take home and extend the storytime, the reality is that most of them not only don't take them home, but don't even really look at them during the storytime, and it's just a lot of wasted paper. Now that I have a large wall-mounted screen out of the reach of little ones, it made sense to make the switch now.
I was excited that my first time doing storytime at my new library fell during Shark Week, as that is always such a fun theme to do! I was a little nervous, even though I've done over 2000 storytimes in my career, it's always different in a new place with a new community, new challenges, and requires a new routine.
I followed my standard preschool storytime structure, with a minor change. First, I switched from paper programs to putting the song & rhyme lyrics up on the tv screen, as well as announcements and expectations. While I like the idea of parents having a paper copy to take home and extend the storytime, the reality is that most of them not only don't take them home, but don't even really look at them during the storytime, and it's just a lot of wasted paper. Now that I have a large wall-mounted screen out of the reach of little ones, it made sense to make the switch now.
I started with a short "Hello" song and welcomed everyone, introduced myself and asked all the kids' names, and went over expectations. Then we warmed up with a movement song, then settled for our first story with a lead-in song:
The Creatures In the Sea
The fishes in the sea go swim, swim, swim;
swim, swim, swim; swim, swim, swim.
The fishes in the sea go swim, swim, swim;
all day long,
crabs go pinch....clams go open and shut...octopus goes wiggle....
jellyfish go sting....sharks go chomp....
jellyfish go sting....sharks go chomp....
(let kids suggest other animals and motions/sounds)
If You're Ready for a Story
If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet.
If you're ready for a story stomp your feet.
If you're ready for a story, if you're ready for a story,
If you're ready for a story, stomp your feet.
turn around, clap hands, pat knees, sit down, say "shh", etc.
This is a great narrative non-fiction picturebook that introduces children to a wide variety of sharks and is perfect for storytime. It has short, simple text that still reads as a story, with illustrations that are realistic enough to show the diversity among sharks without being too scary for more sensitive children. The kids and grown-ups really seemed to enjoy learning about all the different kinds of sharks.
I followed that with one of my favorite activities: "Five Little Fishies" using a shark hand-puppet and little felt fish finger-puppets that I made specifically for this rhyme:
Five Little Fishies
Five little fishies swimming in the sea,
teasing Mr. Shark, "Well, you can't catch me!".
Along swims Mr. Shark, as quiet as can be,
Along swims Mr. Shark, as quiet as can be,
and CHOMPED! one fishy right out of the sea!
Four little fishies....three....two....one....
Four little fishies....three....two....one....
No little fishies, swimming in the sea,
teasing Mr. Shark, "Well, you can't catch me!"
Because along came Mr. Shark, as quiet as can be,
and ate all those naughty fish, swimming in the sea!
and ate all those naughty fish, swimming in the sea!
Before I do this rhyme, I show them the puppets that I'm going to use, and instruct them to hold up five fingers on one hand to be their little fishies, and use the other hand to be the shark. I try to be really dramatic with the first little fish, and often get squeals of surprise and delight from the kids, who often ask to repeat the rhyme.
This re-telling of The Three Little Pigs is perfect for storytime. It is super fun as a read-aloud, has bright illustrations, and all the repeated lines that the audience can say along with the presenter. On a personal note, I like that it was sister Kim, rather than brothers Tim or Jim, that had the best house. I also use it as a lesson to illustrate how bad it is for your teeth to bite things that are not food.
I followed that with another song about ocean creatures and the food chain:
Slippery Fish
Slippery fish, slippery fish; swimming in the water.
Slippery fish, slippery fish; gulp, Gulp, GULP!
"Oh, no! He's been eaten by an octopus!"
Octopus, octopus; swimming in the water.
Octopus, octopus; gulp, Gulp, GULP!
"Oh, no! He's been eaten by a tuna fish!"
Tuna fish, tuna fish; swimming in the water.
Tuna fish, tuna fish; gulp, Gulp, GULP!
"Oh, no! He's been eaten by a great white shark!"
Great white shark, great white shark, swimming in the water.
Great white shark, great white shark; gulp, Gulp, GULP!
"Oh, no! He's been eaten by an orca whale!"
Orca whale, orca whale, swimming in the water.
Orca whale, orca whale; gulp, Gulp, GULP!
"BUURRP! Whoops, excuse me!"
I had a third book planned, the classic Shark in the Dark by Nick Sharratt, but since the other two books were on the longer side and we were short-staffed that day, meaning I needed to cover the desk for breaks, I decided to stop there. I gave the literacy tip for the day, upcoming storytimes and programs, and then we sang a "Good-bye" song and I got them started on the after-storytime activities.
Activities
- Walk the Plank - I printed out some shark fins on cardstock and taped them to the floor around a wooden board, and drew water with sidewalk chalk. This is a fun way to work on balance, gross motor skills, and proprioception.
- Ocean Painting w/Cotton Balls - I put out paper plates with different shades of blue, green, and white tempera paint and had the kids use cotton balls to daub circles of paint all over their paper, then they could add a shark silhouette to their ocean. This activity allows color and sensory exploration as well as using the pincer grasp and eye-hand coordination.
- Puppets - I had three shark puppets that the kids could play with, using imagination, expressive language, and socio-emotional skills.
How It Went
This was my first storytime in six months, and it was a bit bittersweet. It really felt good to be back at it. I'm normally a fairly shy person, but I do enjoy the performative aspect of storytime and I really enjoy the feedback from the kids and their caregivers, and having more meaningful interactions than just handing out computer guest passes. But it also made me miss all my regulars that I had built relationships with at my last job.
The storytime went really well, everyone was engaged and seemed to enjoy it, and I got a lot of 'thank you's and compliments from caregivers, which was nice confidence boost and confirmation that this is what I should be doing. I had a smaller crowd than I'm used to, but this is a small library in a primarily working-class neighborhood with a growing immigrant/refugee population. I'm really hoping over time with more outreach, community partnerships, and word-of-mouth I can eventually build up library use and program attendance by kids and families.
The storytime went really well, everyone was engaged and seemed to enjoy it, and I got a lot of 'thank you's and compliments from caregivers, which was nice confidence boost and confirmation that this is what I should be doing. I had a smaller crowd than I'm used to, but this is a small library in a primarily working-class neighborhood with a growing immigrant/refugee population. I'm really hoping over time with more outreach, community partnerships, and word-of-mouth I can eventually build up library use and program attendance by kids and families.
