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A Storytime Sneak Peek

Before registering for storytimes, parents and caregivers often ask me what a typical storytime is like, so I thought that we would share with you a Preschool storytime that we had this past week to give you a special sneak peek at our weekly storytimes.

Every week has a theme that we choose our books and craft on.  For this week, the theme was "Ready for Fall!".  Books are chosen based on age-appropriateness, length and quality of the story, illustrations, and how well we think the kids will respond and interact with the story.  Our books this week were:

Let it Fall!  By Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Apple Farmer Annie.  By Monica Wellington








A New House for Mouse.  By Petr Horacek

Mouse's First Halloween.  By Lauren Thompson











Before stortyime starts we have a playtime with puzzles, books, and toys.  Coming to a storytime is not only a great oppurtunity for kids to socialize with each other, but for parents/caregivers as well!  A few minutes before storytime starts, we clean up our toys together and select what color floor cushion we each want to sit on. We start every storytime with the same song, so children get into the routine of knowing of what to expect and settling into a storytime setting. 

Welcome Song:
Wiggle your fingers, wiggle them so
Wiggle them high
Wiggle them low
Wiggle them left
Wiggle them right
Now wiggle them, wiggle them out of sight.

We then look at the covers of my books and see if we can guess what our theme for the week is about from talking about the titles and pictures from the covers.

Our first book was "Let it Fall", by Maryann Cocca-Leffler.  This is a great book with colorful illustrations that talks about the different things there are to do in the fall, and the children made a lot of personal connections to it since they had also gone apple picking or to a harvest fair as well.

After reading a book we then transistion into a song, fingerplay, movement activity, or flannelboard activity.  For this week, we did a flannelboard activity called "Little Mouse" where a little gray flannel mouse is hidden behind a different colored house every week.  Using a flannelboard is a creative way to visually engage the children, hold their attention, and have them participate with you.  They love it!

My Little Mouse flannelboard

Little Mouse Flannelboard
Little Mouse, little mouse, are you in the blue house?
(repeat the rhyme with the children for each color house until you find the mouse) 


 After our flannelboard, we read "A New House for Mouse" by Petr Horacek.  This story is about a little mouse, a big apple, and finding just the right home for the both of them.  We used a flannel apple for this story as well.  Every time mouse took a nibble from his apple in the story, we took away a piece of our flannel apple too!

Flannelboard for "A New House for Mouse"

Then it was time for a movement activity so we did "Slow and Fast".  This is a great activity for getting the wiggles and giggles out in between a story, and the kids have a blast seeing how fast and slow they can do the movements




Slow and Fast
Clap, clap, clap your hands as sloooowly as you can
Now clap, clap, clap your hands as quickly as you can!

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle your fingers as sloooowly as you can
Now wiggle, wiggle your fingers as quickly as you can!
(repeat with different motions until you feel like the group is all wiggled out and ready for the next story!)

We then read Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington, followed by a movement song about colors called "If You're Wearing Red Today", sung to the tune of "Do You Know the Muffin Man?".  Before starting the song we all look at the different colors we're wearing so that we are ready to stand up when a color that we are wearing is named.

If You're Wearing Red Today!
If  you're wearing red today, red today, red today
If you're wearing red today, please STAND UP!
(we then talk about where the color is on their clothing before having a seat for the next color)

If you're wearing blue today, blue today, blue today
If you're wearing blue today, please STAND UP!
(repeat for all the different colors that children might be wearing that day)

A piece of art ready for the fridge!

Finally, we read "Mouse's First Halloween" before then moving on to our craft for the day, which was making our own Jack-O-Lanterns with different colored foam shapes and googly eyes!

Halloween Crafts 'n Treats Party

Children and parents are invited to drop-in for a crafting good time, complete with Halloween goodies and treats!  Crafts and refreshments will be provided, and children are encouraged to come in costume.  

To be held in the Middletown Public Library’s Meeting Room from 2:00 – 4:00pm on Saturday, October 29th.  For all ages.   

The Reading Mermaid

The newest reading (and art!) inspiration for children at the library comes from the sea.  Created by local children and paper artist Lisa May at Harborfest's community arts tent for children at the Newport Yachting Center on October 1st and 2nd, the Reading Mermaid is a beautiful papier-mâché sculpture adorned and festooned with seashells.  It was thoughtfully donated to the library by Lisa May and Festival Fete, which sponsors locally grown art, food, and merriment.

Each Festival Fete arts festival features a community art project, such as the Mermaid, which is then donated to a local organization to be displayed and enjoyed by everyone.  It's art by the people, for the people!       

Once Upon a Halloween

Once Upon a Halloween
with Diane Edgecomb

 

Who: Appropriate for ages 4 and up.
When: Wednesday, October 26th at 3:30pm
Where:  Middletown Public Library Meeting Room. 

 

Free tickets can be picked up in the Children's Department 

or reserved by calling 846-1573.

 

What would Halloween be without some chillin' tales for the spookiest time of the year? Once Upon A Halloween is a fun-filled, Halloween event - complete with a huge cauldron bubbling over with fog for the last dramatic story! This family program contains some old chestnuts as well as great new Halloween stories full of surprises. 

 

All tales are appropriate for family audiences and contain a well-rounded blend of suspense and humor.  

 

 

Storytime's Are Back On!

A new session of storytimes is revving up for October and November.

Playful Preschooler's Storytime

Register your 4-5 year olds for age-appropriate stories, songs, rhymes, and snacks or a simple craft. Storytimes are followed by a playtime!  Take this opportunity to connect with other parents and caregivers while your child plays with new friends.

 
4-5 year olds on Tuesdays at 11am

This 4 week session begins on October 18th and runs until November 8th. 

Toddler Time

Toddler Time is a special storytime for 2 and 3 year olds

with a parent or caregiver. 

Storytimes consist of age-appropriate stories, songs, fingerplays, and rhymes, with a simple craft or snack.  Toddlers can enjoy a playtime following storytime, while parents and caregivers socialize.

2-3 year olds on Thursdays at 11am

This 4 week session begins on October 20^th and runs until November 10^th.  

Please call or visit the Children’s Department at 846-1573 to register for either of these free programs!

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!

Today we are having a special pajama storytime to go hand-in-hand with our participation in Jumpstart's Read for the Record day this year.  This year's book was Lllama Llama Red Pajama, by Anna Dewdney.  All across the country, children, parents, teachers, and librarians joined together to all read the same book today to bring attention to early literacy, and to also hopefully break a reading record of having as many people as possible all reading the same book on the same day.

If you missed out, here is a great video of the author herself reading Llama Llama Red Pajama:



Another classic bedtime book we're reading today is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak:



We also read Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow, How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight by Jane Yolen, and Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready For Bed? by Barney Saltzberg.

Another great book to share at bedtime is Bill Martin's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

2nd Annual Great Pumpkin Seed Contest

How many seeds do you think there are in our pumpkin?

It's Baaaaack!  The Great Pumpkin Seed Contest has returned with a 25 pound pumpkin from Sweet Berry Farm, nicknamed "Big Jack".  It's a whopper of a pumpkin and it beats our 16 pound pumpkin from last year, Jackie O'Lantern, also from Sweet Berry Farm here in Middletown, RI.

The child who guesses the number of seeds

closest to the exact number in the library’s pumpkin will receive a fantastic prize of a gift certificate to

Island Books! 

Who: Children ages 4 - 12
When: Oct 1st—Oct 31st
How: Fill out the ticket provided.  One entry per child is  allowed.

Tips for guessing...

1. For each line on the outside of the pumpkin, there is a row of seeds on the inside.

2. The longer a pumpkin grows, the more lines it gets.  Its skin gets darker, too!

We based our contest on the book “How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?” by Margaret McNamara.  Check it out!

Passing On the Gift

During the Summer Reading Program, and as part of our Read to Feed program through Heifer International, children could vote for what animals they wanted the Friends of the Middletown Public Library to donate to.  For every book a child read, they voted for either a flock of chicks, a water buffalo, a hive of honeybees, or a goat.  Children were passionate about what animals they wanted to win and read more books so that they could have more votes.  It was a truly inspiring thing to see. 


Once the votes were counted (1,455 books were read!) the goat came out as the winner with 485 votes.  But SURPRISE!  The Friends of the Middletown Public Library have decided that they will donate money to all four animals for four struggling families in a developing nation to raise.  These animals will help families by producing milk, cheese, fertilizer, eggs, and much more.  

If you enjoy the programs here at the Middletown Public Library and would like to see more programs like the Summer Reading Program, please consider becoming a Friend.  The money they raise through dues, donations, and the Friends Book Store is then passed on to the Library for everyone to enjoy.

Pajama Storytime - Read for the Record!

PAJAMA

STORYTIME

Join us for a special

pajama storytime! 

Help us break a reading record with Jumpstart's Read for the Record Day!

Come in your pajama’s

for a special reading of

Llama Llama Red Pajama,

along with songs, bedtime stories, and a bedtime snack.

Who:  Children ages 4 and up

When: Thursday, October 6th at 11:00am

Where: Middletown Public Library

              Meeting Room

No Registration Required 

 

E-Books for Children

There are over a thousand children's e-books available (and more every day!) for download through our catalog, which can be browsed and borrowed through at the Ocean State Library E-Zone.  Numerous audiobooks, music, and video's are also readily available to be used on a variety of digital devices (PC, Mac, smartphones, and MP3 players).  You can click here for a full listing of supported devices.  And yes, Kindle will soon be supporting library e-books as well (hurrah!)

Thousands of adult and teen titles are also just a click away for your reading, viewing, and listening pleasure. 

Fall into Storytime at the Library

Playful Preschooler's Storytime

Register your 4-5 year olds for age-appropriate stories, songs, rhymes, and snacks or a simple craft. Storytimes are followed by a playtime!  Take this opportunity to connect with other parents and caregivers while your child plays with new friends.

4-5 year olds on Tuesdays at 11am

This 4 week session begins on September 6th and runs until September 27th. 

Toddler Time

Toddler Time is a special storytime for 2 & 3 year olds

with a parent or caregiver. 

Storytimes consist of age-appropriate stories, songs, fingerplays, and rhymes, with a simple craft or snack. 

Toddlers can enjoy a playtime following storytime, while parents and caregivers socialize.

2-3 year olds on Thursdays at 11am

This 4 week session begins on September 8^th and runs until September 29^th.  

Please call or visit the Children’s Department at 846-1573 to register for either of these free programs!    

Summer Reading Program Wrap-Up

It was a successful year for our Summer Reading Program, "One World, Many Stories".  Over 215 children in grades PreS-Grade 6 registered for the summer reading program and together read over 1,455 books as of August 17th!

If you have not finished your reading log, it's not too late!  Our Summer Reading Program Finale Party was on Wednesday, August 17th, but children have until September 1st to complete their reading logs and pick-up their reading certificate, prize bag, and free book.

Homework Help at the Library

One of the greatest resources that the library can offer is homework and research help.  How?  Through the incredible online databases, books, and other resources that we can provide for you at the library and through our website.

With our help, we'll show you how to navigate the web to find credible websites to use for your school report, as well as show you how to use multiple databases to find scholarly articles, journals, primary documents, and encyclopedias that you can use for that paper you need to write.  Below is a listing of resources that are better than anything you will ever find on Wikipedia:



Homework Help RI
Connects you to free, live tutors online.  Five different centers, the Student Center, College Center, Adult Education Centers, Career Center, and ProofPoint Writing Center offer a wide range of services.  For example, the Student Center can help with studying for exams and homework help, while the College Center is ideal for students needing exam prep, finding a job, and reviewing course work.    

World Book
Provides encyclopedic articles, videos, pictures, and maps that your teacher will appreciate more than that entry you found on Wikipedia.  Includes World Book Kids, World Book Student, World Book Advanced, and many other options.

Student Research Center 
Searches through magazines, books and encyclopedias, biographies, radio and TV news transcripts, country reports, state/ province reports, primary source documents, photos, flags, maps, film and videos.  A great database with many ways to search for what you are looking for!

Kids Search and Searchasaurus

Colorful, easy to use websites that are great for younger students who are looking for information on topics such as animals, arts and music, geography and history, health, news, language arts, math, science, social studies, and sports. 

Mango Languages

Parlez-vous francais?  If you'd like to learn French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, or any of the other 34 languages offered on Mango, then this site can help you with lessons, reviews, and quizzes so that you'll be on your way to being fluent in the language that you've always wanted to learn.

These resources are available through  AskRI and EBSCOhost.  They can be accessed through our library homepage by clicking on the logo's featured below. 

Certain databases may ask for you library card to sign in.  For a FREE library card, please visit your local library with a photo ID and proof of Rhode Island residency.    

Summer Reading Finale Party

The Great Baldini and his beautiful skeleton assistant, Skinny, will be taking us on a magical tour of our planet. You'll laugh, learn, and be amazed by different tricks from every continent. The Great Baldini has been entertaining folks for years through his unique style of humor and magic. Along with Skinny, he'll be sharing stories from many of the different countries of the world.

When: Wednesday, August 17th at 11am

Ages: 4 and up

Price: FREE

Tickets are required; please pick up your free tickets in the Children's Room at the library

We will also be awarding the Summer Reading Program reading awards and prize bags during this program!  If you cannot attend this program, you can visit us later until September 1st and we will give you your prize bag at that time!  

The Great Baldini

Ronald McDonald's Reading Adventure Show

Have a world of fun throughout “Ronald McDonald’s Reading Adventure Show!” This exciting adventure will inspire readers to discover “Book Time” each day.

This 30 minute show is filled with adventure, magic, discovery, audience participation and reading fun.

When: Tuesday, August 9th

Time: 11:00am

Where: Library Program Room

For FREE tickets, please call or visit the Children's Room at 846-1573

Signed up for Summer Reading? Fill in your reading log!

We are almost into Week 5 of our Summer Reading Program, "One World, Many Stories", and that means we have only 2 more weeks till our Summer Reading Finale Party on Wednesday, August 17th at 11am with magician "The Great Baldini".

To receive a reading certificate, prize bag, and free book on that day, make sure to visit the library before the August 17th deadline to fill in your reading log of the books that you have read.  

If you aren't able to make it that day, you will have until September 1st to pick up your prize bag and complete your reading log.  While visiting the library you can also pick up coupons for free child admittance to local area attractions, free tickets to upcoming programs, and of course, all the books, magazines, audiobooks, and DVDs that we have to offer!

Animal Experiences

Animal Experiences with Dave Marchetti is the most hands on animal program you're likely to ever see. With over 20 animals- including turtles, snakes, lizards, amphibians, and even an alligator-there is something everyone will like. Dave's program runs about an hour with plenty of time for his audience to handle the animals on their own. From Wally the gator to Buddy the chinchilla his animals love attention.

When: Tuesday, August 2nd

Time: 2:00 pm

Where: Library Program Room 

For FREE tickets, please call or visit the Children's Room at 846-1573

Read to Feed

For this summer's reading program, as part of our "One World, Many Stories" reading theme, we wanted to partner with Heifer International in their "Read to Feed" campaign.  With the support of our Middletown Friends of the Library organization who are sponsoring this campaign, we chose four animals from the Heifer "gift catalog"  that children can vote towards donating money to.

The animals that were chosen were a flock of chicks, a water buffalo, a hive of honeybees, and a goat.  For every book that a child reads, they get a marble to vote with.  The more books they read, the more votes they get!

The animal with the most votes wins, and the Friends will then donate money to Heifer International for the purchase of that animal.  These animals are then sent to poverty stricken villages around the world to help struggling families earn an income and provide sustenance.

Since we have just reached the half-way mark in our summer reading program, lets see how the votes are tallying up so far:

Flock of Chicks - 210 votes

Water Buffalo - 136 votes





Goat - 117 votes

Honeybees - 107 votes






Total votes and books read so far...570 books!  Keep reading, and we can reach 1,000 books read!

Narragansett Stories

Join us for "Narragansett Stories of My Grandmother" with Loren Spears.  This program will feature Native storytelling, oral history, music & dance focusing on the Narragansett People. There will be a variety of Native cultural items to share, opportunity for questions and answers, as well as participation in the program.

When: Monday, July 25th

Time: 2:00 pm

Where: Library Program Room

For FREE tickets, please call or visit the Children's Department at 846-1573

Storytimes

Preschool and Toddler storytimes will resume in September, 2011.  Days, times, and registration for the storytime schedule will be posted in late August. 

For now, please visit the library to enjoy all that we have to offer in our summer reading program, "One World, Many Stories", which runs until August 17th!  Our summer reading program is open to children in PreK to those entering 6th grade.

All-Star Reading Team

Would you like to win 4 tickets to a Pawtucket Red Sox game?  How about 4 tickets to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida?!  Then visit the library with your child to become a member of the All-Star Reading Team for a chance to win these prizes.

What is the All-star Reading Team?

It's a cool way to stay in the reading game even when you're out of school!  By playing the game, you can win cool prizes for you and your family!

How do you become an All-Star Reader?

1.  If you are a Rhode Island resident between the ages of 6 and 12, and you have completed your local Rhode Island public library's "One World, Many Stories" Summer Reading Program, you may enter to win a great prize.

2.  Pick up the entry form from the library.  On the back of the entry form, write a paragraph, poem, or draw a picture that answers the question: What was your favorite book this summer and why?"  Be creative!

3.  Return the completed  entry form in person to your local library no later than 2:00 pm on August 10, 2011.  There will be one "designated hitter" randomly selected from each library across the state to win 4 tickets to the Pawtucket Red Sox game on Monday, August 22nd, 2011 at 7:05 pm at McCoy Stadium. 

At the game, one lucky All-Star Reader will be randomly selected to win the grand prize of a trip for four to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.  The trip includes airfare vouchers for four people, four nights hotel accommodations and four five-day passes to Walt disney World in Orlando, Florida.

So visit the library today to pick up your entry form!

Brought to you in cooperation with the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services.  Complete sweepstakes rules are available at McCoy Stadium and at all participating Rhode Island Public libraries.

Summer Reading Raffle!

Here at the library, we like to give kids something to get excited about during the Summer Reading Program.  Besides the Reading Certificate and prize bag that children receive at the end of the program for completing their reading goals, we also have a weekly raffle that children can enter to win if they have registered for the reading program.  

These gift cards help support local businesses and are a sweet reward for our readers!  If you haven't yet registered for the summer reading program, there is still plenty of time!  So stop by the library and start your reading adventure with "One World, Many Stories".

We would also like to specially thank the Friends of the Library for sponsoring all of our programs and prizes!

Weekly Raffle Prizes:

Week 1:  $10 gift card to Frosty Freez

Week 2: $10 gift card to Island Books

Week 3:  $10 gift card to Sweet Berry Farm

Week 4: $10 gift card to Newport Creamery

Week 5: $10 gift card to Frosty Freez

Week 6: $10 gift card to Carmella's Pizzeria

Week 7: $10 gift card to Island Books