Libr 260a: Master Storyteller and Storytime review



Katrina Deliramich
Libr. 260A
#4
November 20, 2010
           
                                                Master Storyteller

On Tuesday November 16th I attended a Master Storyteller event at the Danville Public Library in Danville, CA. The event was being held courtesy of the Danville Library Foundation and the Friends of the Danville Library. I read about the event in the Danville Patch, a local newspaper that gives weekly updates on library news.
            I arrived at the library about fifteen minutes early and I was able to find a seat at the back of the room. According to Youth Services Librarian Kathleen Baritell, special library events can have up to one hundred and forty kids in attendance. I was disappointed to see only about fifteen kids waiting when I arrived. The room that the storytelling was being held in was very large and had bookshelves surrounding the room.  Parents took advantage of the books and read quietly to their children while they waited. At the front of the room a grandmother was reading a book to her three grandsons. She was very animated and soon had a crowd of about ten kids surrounding her. When she finished the first book they begged her to read a second! The kids ranged in ages from two through six. In the library event details online it said the event was appropriate for children over five. I noticed a few families brought the younger children with the older children. But one mother only had her three-year-old son, I think she might not have known the age group; she might just have seen the sign and came on in.
            Soon kids and parents were trickling in and I would estimate around forty to fifty kids were in attendance. A library assistant introduced Kirk Waller as the special guest. When he came out he explained what he did for a living. The kids enjoyed his animated way of talking and I found myself interested in his career of telling stories for fun. Waller directed a lot of his comments in the beginning directly to the parents in the room. I at first thought this was strange but I noticed the kids were laughing along with the parents, even though I am sure they did not understand what he was saying.
            Waller mentioned that he had a new CD coming out that focused on the favorite question of Why?. I found on his website that he has two previous CD’s out already. He has also won many awards including the 2010 Emerging Artist Award. While explaining the reason for focusing on why? He jumped into a story about his six-year-old son asking why the shell of a turtle is all cracked looking. He immediately started singing some of the words in the story. He used very simple sentences so the children could follow along and sing out loud with him. In a matter of minutes he had the whole audience yelling out “Umm Hmmm!” “Swoosh!” and “Gulp!”
            The story focused on a turtle and possum getting the best of a greedy wolf. The turtle gets captured by the wolf and uses his head to get out of the situation. Throughout the story the children were gasping and laughing whenever the turtle looked to be in grave danger and then managed to escape. At the end of the story Waller told the children to howl like a wolf, they kept howling and howling. The story told that the turtle had broken his shell when he escaped the wolf. Waller joked with the parents that his child had actually believed his story and that it made him feel like he knew everything.
            Next Waller described the type of story he had just performed. He called it “pour quoi” which is a how and why story. He explained the stories were a fun way of teaching how and why something is as it is. He went into a story about a father and daughter who lived out by the woods. The daughter does not listen to her father’s warning to not leave the gate and she wanders off picking flowers. A wolf comes and the daughter has to outsmart the wolf to return home safe. Although he sang what sounded like a French song throughout the story I was not able to locate the words online. However, I did find that the story was based off of a story called “The Gunny Wolf,” which is an African American folktale. The children liked the story because Waller had the audience repeating “pitter pat.” Over and over again, louder and louder. I found the story to be very entertaining, although I thought it was going to be “Little Red Riding Hood.”
            Waller proceeded to question the children about the story they had just heard. He asked who had the most power in the beginning of the story and who had the most power at the end. He then explained that it did not matter how strong you were but it was more important how you used your head to get out of a bad situation. He then asked the audience what pour quoi meant. Amazingly the children yelled out Why?!
            The next story focused on a man named Bigger Better Badder. The children loved yelling out his name each time Waller prompted them too. The story got extremely complicated as Bigger Better Badder met Man Among Men and then Giant Among All. Originally the three men are fighting for who is the strongest of all. Soon Bigger Better Badder realizes that he has been too cocky and he returns to the village humbler and wants to be called Just a Man. The other two men continue fighting and are still fighting today up in the sky as thunder and lightening.  Waller mentions to the children how important it is to show respect for everyone.
            The story time came to an end with the singing of a song called “Bear Went a Courting.” The song was very familiar to me and Waller explained that there are many variations of the song. The children were able to answer back “ah ha, ah ha.” I was able to find a version online from Kid’s Corner about a frog. The word frog is substituted for bear, the mouse was substituted for bunny and instead of Uncle Rat, Waller used Momma.
FROG WENT A-COURTIN'

Frog went a-courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a-courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a-courtin' and he did ride
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh

He road right up to Miss Mousie's door, uh-huh
He road right up to Miss Mousie's door, uh-huh
He road right up to Miss Mousie's door
Gave three loud raps, and a very big roar, uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh

Said Miss Mouse, are you within, uh-huh
Said Miss Mouse, are you within, uh-huh
Said Miss Mouse, are you within
Miss Mousie said, I sit and spin, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

Took Miss Mousie on his knee, uh-huh
Took Miss Mousie on his knee, uh-huh
Took Miss Mousie on his knee,
Said Miss Mousie, will you marry me, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

Without my Uncle Rat's consent, uh-huh
Without my Uncle Rat's consent, uh-huh
Without my Uncle Rat's consent,
I wouldn't marry the President, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

Uncle Rat laughed, and he shook his fat sides, uh-huh
Uncle Rat laughed, and he shook his fat sides, uh-huh
Uncle Rat laughed, and he shook his fat sides
To think his niece would be a bride, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

Uncle Rat went running downtown, uh-huh
Uncle Rat went running downtown, uh-huh
Uncle Rat went running downtown
To buy his niece a wedding gown, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

Where shall the wedding supper be, uh-huh
Where shall the wedding supper be, uh-huh
Where shall the wedding supper be
Way down yonder in the hollow tree, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

What shall the wedding supper be, uh-huh
What shall the wedding supper be, uh-huh
What shall the wedding supper be
Fried mosquito and a black-eyed pea, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh

            Waller ended his performance by asking if anyone had any questions about his stories or about him. No one asked any questions so he thanked everyone and left. I enjoyed the program, although I think the children liked the program much more than I did. The children were entertained throughout the performance and only a couple children were escorted out by their parents.
Waller was great at keeping the parents involved throughout and I felt like part of the performance was geared towards me and not all about the children. If I had any children I would bring them to see Waller. However, I did feel some of the stories dragged on a bit too long and I was getting anxious and I could tell other parents were getting concerned that their children would act out. I noticed a few moms crawl up and whisper something to their child; I assume it was to stay put and pay attention. I liked the songs that he sang and he was good at acting out different voices. Overall the performance was one of the best story time events that I have seen.










Contra Costa County Library website (2010). Retrieved November 14, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://ccclib.org/http://ccclib.org/

Danville Library Foundation website (2010). Retrieved November 18, 2010 from HYPERLINK ”http://www.danville.lib.il.us/foundation.htmhttp://www.danville.lib.il.us/foundation.htm

Danville Patch website (2010). Retrieved November 16, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://danville.patch.com/http://danville.patch.com/ 

Danville Public Library website (2009). Retrieved November 14, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://www.danville.lib.il.us/childrens.htmhttp://www.danville.lib.il.us/childrens.htm

Friends of the Danville Library website (2010). Retrieved November 18, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://booksfromfriends.org/http://booksfromfriends.org/

Kid’s Corner (2010). Retrieved November 18, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://rosemck1.tripod.com/frog-went-a-courtin.htmlhttp://rosemck1.tripod.com/frog-went-a-courtin.html

Kirk Waller website (2009). Retrieved November 17, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://www.kirkwaller.com/http://www.kirkwaller.com/

Peck, P. (2006). Crash course in children’s services. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Schiller, P. & Silberg, J. (2003). The Complete Book of Activities, Games, Stories, Props, Recipes and Dances. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, Inc.

Town of Danville website (2010). Retrieved November 17, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://www.ci.danville.ca.us/http://www.ci.danville.ca.us/






Katrina Deliramich
Libr. 260A
Assignment Number (#2)
10/17/2010


                                                Story Time Observation

The story time I attended was given at the San Ramon Library in San Ramon, Ca. “Toddler Time” was the name of the program, which is also offered various days at other libraries within the Contra Costa Library System. The library offers a story time for two and a half year-olds to three and a half year olds every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:15-10:45 am. No registration is required and there is no cut off number provided. The only specification the library gives is to make sure to bring only children of the appropriate age to story time. Although younger children can attend if they sit with their parents. Toddler time runs all yearlong although they have additional and creative programs for special times of the year. The story time is advertised on the library website and there are links to the website from the county and city websites.
            The library is located in a small town in Northern California. According to the City of San Ramon website, San Ramon has a population of 44,772 (2010, City of San Ramon). San Ramon is located within Contra Costa County, which has a total population of approximately one million people (2010, Contra Costa County). According to the demographic information provided on the City of San Ramon’s website the majority of residents are white, totaling 34,354 people. The next highest races are Asians at 14.9% and Latinos at 7.2%. According to the US Census data supplied on the city website a large number of residents are college graduates approximately 51% (2010, City of San Ramon).
            I arrived a half an hour early and waited patiently outside for the library to open. I was pleasantly surprised to see many parents and children waiting anxiously outside as well. When I entered the library I saw an area with seats set up to my right and a coloring area for children set up to my left. Parents seemed to know the routine and immediately walked over to where the story time would be held and grabbed the program for today’s toddler time. On the back of the program was a coloring picture of a cat. A few parents led their kids to the coloring area and had them begin coloring. Other parents took seats in the story time area and placed their children towards the front of the room.
            The room was very slow to fill at first but by the last few minutes many people were trickling in hurrying to get a spot. I noticed a large amount of grandparents present and a couple dads as well.
            I noticed a large window behind where the speaker would stand and next to her seat was a large board, later I realized this was a felt board. Toddler Time was being held by Miss Amy, Amy Mockoski, the Youth Services Librarian. She holds all the Tuesday story times and a Miss Robin holds all the Thursday story times. When Miss Amy came out all the kids started saying Miss Amy! and getting very excited. The room got very crowded and Miss. Amy took the time to show off coloring pages from last weeks story time.
            When Miss Amy was ready she clapped her hands together twice and said, “Who can guess what we will learn about today?” Many kids yelled out cats, kittens and some random answers. They got a hint from a stuffed animal cat sitting on the table and their coloring picture. She responded positively to every reply and then said “Lets sing out beginning song” (A. Mockoski, personal communication, October 12, 2010).

OPENING SONG

“Come Along”

Come along, come along, come on everybody let’s sit on the floor.
(Beckoning with her hands, and patting the floor)
Not the ceiling, not the windows
(Hands raised high and then outstretched)
Come along everybody let’s sit on the floor.
(Beckoning with he hands, patting the floor)

Repeat Twice.

The song got parents to release their kids and let them move forward to see well. Shy kids moved forward and away from their parents a bit as well. As soon as the song ended Miss Amy picked up her first book and began reading.


BOOK


Bud and Gabby by Anne Davis


Miss Amy used silly voices for each of the characters. The story is about two cats, one gets sick and the other cat has to deal with the separation. At the beginning the kids seemed to be interested in the book and the funny voices. Miss Amy stopped a few times to explain a part of the story when the kids were asking what? Towards the end the kids were squirming and uninterested, she hurriedly finished the story.
Miss Amy grabbed a stack of felt hats from the table next to her. Slowly, one by one, she places a hat on the flannel board and calls out the color. The children caught on quickly and started yelling out the colors before Miss Amy did. Once the hats were all on the board she asked the kids to help her find a little cat hiding under on of the hats.

FLANNELBOARDS

Little Cat Under the Hat

Little cat, little cat are you under the purple hat?
(Remove the first hat and the children respond, No!)
Repeat for each color hat.
(When the cat is found the children yell Yes!)

This activity got the children very excited and moving around and yelling out loud. I was wondering how she would get them quieted down when she picked up her next book and just started reading.



BOOK

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff


The children immediately got quiet and sat mesmerized by the books. They kept laughing and asking what would happen next, Miss Amy would just ignore questions and keep on reading at a slow and steady pace. Overall they sat very attentive through the entire book.

ACTION SONG

“Popcorn”


Put the oil in the pot and let it get hot.
(The kids stood up, cup their right hand and wiggle their left hand under the right hand)
Put the popcorn in and start to grin.
(The kids pretend to sprinkle popcorn into their right hand and then use their fingers on their face to make a grin)
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, POP!
(The children wiggle and bed towards the ground and then jump up on pop!)

Repeat three times

After the popcorn song the children were very excited and laughing and jumping up and down. Miss Amy took advantage of this to start her next song.

ACTION SONG      

“If You’re a Kitty”

If you’re a kitty and you know it scratch the ground.
(The children bend over and scratch the ground)
If you’re a kitty and you know it scratch the ground.
(The children bend over and scratch the ground)
If you’re a kitty and you know it then you’re scratch will surely show it. If you’re a kitty and you know it scratch the ground.
(Children wiggly to the first sentence and then bend over and scratch the ground)

If you’re a kitty and you know it meow.
(The children meow)
If you’re a kitty and you know it meow.
(The children meow)
If you’re a kitty and you know it then your meow will surely show it. If you’re a kitty and you know it meow.
(Children wiggly to the first sentence and then meow)


If you’re a kitty and you know it lick your paws.
(The children hold up her hands and pretend to lick the backs)
If you’re a kitty and you know it lick your paws.
(The children hold up her hands and pretend to lick the backs)
If you’re a kitty and you know it then your lick will surely show it. If you’re a kitty and you know it lick your paws.
(Children wiggly to the first sentence and then lick their hands)

The song is repeated using all three actions together.

Parents help Miss Amy to get the children quieted down and sitting again. She brings out her next book and starts to read.

BOOK

Cat and Mouse by Ian Schoenher


            The children have a hard time settling down for the book. A few parents remove their kids from the area. Once the book gets into a familiar rhyme, hickory dickory dock, the kids start chanting the rhyme along with their parents. The book is very short and gets the children focused and happy. Miss Amy finishes the book and pulls out her flannel pieces for Hey Diddle Diddle.

FLANNELBOARD

Hey Diddle Diddle

Hey Diddle Diddle.
(She places the moon and background on the board)
The cat and the fiddle.
(She places the cat playing the fiddle on the board)
The cow jumped over the moon.
(She places a cow over the moon)
The little dog laughed to see such a sight.
(She places the dog on the board)
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
(She places the spoon and dish on the board and then has them running away)

Repeat twice.

The children ask Miss Amy a million questions during Hey Diddle Diddle. They are confused with the dishes and the flying cow. It is comical to watch and see what they are thinking and Miss Amy tries to answer some questions and ignores others.


BOOK

Cat the Cat, Who is That? By Mo Willems


Cat the Cat is a participation story and Miss Amy was great at getting the kids to participate. She repeated each page and then had the children yell it back ay her. The story was quick but the ending left kids confused asking many questions. I was confused as well by the ending. Immediately after the book Miss Amy went into an action song.

ACTION SONG

“Little Puppies and Kittens”


One little, two little, three little kittens.
(Miss Amy had the children hold up their fingers as they counted along to three)
Were napping in the sun.
(Miss Amy made a fist and pretended it was the three kittens)
One little, two little, three little puppies said,
(Miss Amy had the kids hold up their fingers as they counted along to three)
‘Come on let’s have some fun.’
(Miss Amy beckons with her hands)
Up to the kittens the puppies went creeping
(Miss Amy had the kids make a creeping motion with their fingers)
As quiet, as quiet could be.
(Miss Amy held a finger to her lips)
One little, two little, three little kittens.
(Miss Amy had the children hold up their fingers as they counted along to three)
Went scampering up a tree.
(Miss Amy had the kids make their fingers run away)

Repeat twice

This activity caused a lot of commotion with the kids. Miss Amy tired to quiet them down and asked them to sit down. She pulled out the cat stuffed puppet and the kids went crazy. They were jumping and climbing towards Miss Amy. She asked repeatedly for them to stay seated. Once Miss Amy told the kids that she would bring the puppet around for everyone to touch after she was done, they quieted down. She then started another action song.

ACTION SONG

“Soft Kitty”


Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur.
(Miss Amy slowly pets the top of the at puppet)
Lazy kitty, pretty kitty, purr, purr, purr.
(Miss Amy continues to pet the kitty)

Repeat Once

Miss Amy proceeded to go around the room with the cat puppet and let each child touch it. Some kids got aggressive and she gently scolded them to be nice and gentle. Once she was around the room she sat back down and asked if everyone had seen the cat. She took off the puppet and picked up another flannel board piece. There was a stack of felt cats that she placed on the board.

FLANNELBOARD

Scat the Cat


I’m Scat the cat, I’m sassy and fat. I change color just like that!
(Miss Amy removes the top felt cat from the stack and it goes from black to green)
I am the color of green grass
(Miss Amy has the children yell out the color as she goes along, along with a descriptive word for each color. The colors include, blue, yellow, orange, red, purple and white. When she gets to the white one…)
I’m Scat the cat. I’m sassy and fat. I change color just like that!
(Miss Amy puts the black cat back up and said, “Scat decides he wants to just be himself.”)


Miss Amy does not repeat the activity but instead asks the kids if they are all done with the books. They count out loud to four and she holds up each book again. She gives a moment for the parents and reads the activities and events coming up. She then stands up and says it is time for the goodbye song.

LAST SONG

“Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye”

Say goodbye, say goodbye, I’m glad that you could come.
(Waving from all the kids to the beat of the song.)

Repeat three times

LAST SONG (Miss Amy tricked the kids and sings another song)

“More We Get Together”


The more we get together, together, together. The more we get together the happier we’ll be.
(Swaying from side to side)
Cause your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends.
(Pointing to the kids and to herself, the kids join in)
The more we get together the happier we’ll be.

Miss Amy thanks everyone for coming and invites all of us back for story time on Thursday. She then says she will meet the kids in the back to pass out stickers and to go color. The kids run to the back and line up for stickers while the parents talk.
            There were many kindergarten readiness skills featured during the story time. Rhyming was present in a few books and activities, this allows children to learn that words are made up of smaller parts which helps them to develop phonological awareness (Story Time Share Website). The songs with the repeated phrases make it easier for toddlers to learn the song and remember it. By having the popcorn song describe the activity and allowing the child to follow along the child develops narrative skills. By making story time interactive and fun children learn to love songs and associate reading as a positive activity. Parents who join in at story time can bring the songs home and help keep children interested and reading throughout the week. The flannel board activity “Scat the Cat” was a great addition to the story time because it covered readiness skills as well as lending a focus on demographics. By having the children participate and see Scat change colors to try and fit in and then realize he only needed to be himself it brought attention to the differences in the kids at story time and how it does not matter what they look like as long as they are themselves.
I was very impressed with Miss Amy’s story telling abilities. She did some great voices and remained patient throughout the presentation. The songs were well known to the kids and must have been repeated frequently in sessions. She really knew what to do when the kids got out of hand and she did not come across as mean or scolding. Overall I enjoyed the story time and I was able to listen and participate and did not feel it was too crowded. I liked that there was no registration or cut off because many parents came in towards the end and they would have missed out on the fun.
           




Bay Views ACL Website (1999-2010). Retrieved October 13, 2010 from HYPERLINK "http://www.bayviews.org/” http://www.bayviews.org/

Contra Costa County Library Website (2010). Retrieved on October 11, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://ccclib.org/http://ccclib.org/

Contra Costa County Website (2010). Retrieved on October 11, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/

Davis, Anne. (2006). Bud and Gabby. New York: HarperCollins.

First-school Website (2001-2010). Retrieved on October 14, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/pets/cat.htmhttp://www.first-school.ws/theme/animals/pets/cat.htm

Numeroff, Laura. (2008). If You Give a Cat a Cupcake. New York: Laura Geringer Book.

Peck, Penny. (2006). Crash course in children’s services. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

San Ramon Library Website (2010). Retrieved on October 10, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://ccclib.org/locations/sanramon.htmlhttp://ccclib.org/locations/sanramon.html 

Schoenher, Ian. (2008). Cat and Mouse. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Story Place Preschool Library (2010). Retrieved October 12, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://www.storyplace.org/http://www.storyplace.org/

Story Time Share Website (2008-2010). Retrieved October 14, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://earlylit.net/http://earlylit.net/

SurLaLune Fairytales (2005-2008). Retrieved October 13, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/storytime/cats/index.htmlhttp://www.surlalunefairytales.com/storytime/cats/index.html

The Best Kids Booksite (1999-2010). Retrieved on October 14, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/

The City of San Ramon Website (2010). Retrieved on October 10, 2010 from HYPERLINK “http://www.ci.san-ramon.ca.us/http://www.ci.san-ramon.ca.us/

Willems, Mo. (2010). Cat the Cat, Who is That? New York: Balzer + Bray.















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