School-Age: Feathers

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

And, for the final week of the fall session, we will teach the kids about feathers.


1. Reading
I love the book "Plume" by Isabelle Simler. As an added bonus, we can have the kids attempt to find Plume, the cat, on every page.

2. Brain Break: Rock, Paper, Scissors


3. Reading
The juvenile nonfiction book "Feathers: Not Just for Flying" by Melissa Stewart is a perfect read-aloud to teach the kids a bit more about the topic. The plan is to read up until the last page that has more detailed information about types of feathers, which I felt would be better shared with PowerPoint slides during the discussion.

4. Discussion
We will talk about the different types of feathers and what they are for. These were all mentioned in the back of "Feathers: Not Just for Flying", so I used the information and found more pictures online to share that week on the PowerPoint.


5. Craft
On the Life of Earth website, I found a neat craft for decorating feathers. I found a black-and-white feather template online and printed them out on cardstock. We will plan on setting out a variety of craft supplies that we have on-hand such as buttons, puff balls, sticks, glitter glue, and more for the kids to use to decorate.

Here's my example:

School-Age: Thanksgiving

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

We will only have one day instead of two days where we will present a school-age program the week of Thanksgiving because the library will be closed for the holiday. I do not like to focus on the history of the holiday but it is nice to talk about gratitude no matter the time of year. Since it will probably end up being a program that is not well attended being the week of a holiday, it's a good topic to allow for the kids to have a bit more discussion and craft time.


1. Reading
We will read "Bear Says Thanks" by Karma Wilson. Since most people that celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday nowadays spend it gathering with friends and family, this is perfect to share.

2. Brain Break: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes


3. Reading
The next book we will read is "Thanks for Thanksgiving" by Julie Markes. It is great because it focuses on a variety of reasons to be grateful.

4. Discussion
We will give the kids time to share what they are grateful for as a group.


5. Craft
I found a neat turkey wreath craft on The Resourceful Mama blog. I prepped cardboard in rings and cut out turkey templates. I also cut strips of red, orange, and yellow paper. My idea for the craft was to have kids write things that they are grateful for on each of the strips of paper.

Here's my example:

School-Age: Chameleons

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

There was an awesome new children's nonfiction book, "How Do Chameleons Change Color" by Alonso Garcia that came out last year. It inspired me to want to do this topic at a program.


1. Reading
We will start by reading "The Mixed-Up Chameleon" by Eric Carle.

2. Brain Break: Jumping Jacks (for 1 minute)


3. Discussion
We will have a true/false discussion about chameleons. I will also share some of the facts about chameleons changing colors from the book "How Do Chameleons Change Color?" by Alonso Garcia.

It has the perfect amount of facts and information for kids. I decided not to use it as a second read-aloud during the program but used it for the discussion.


4. Craft
I had seen a craft that used a clothespin and paper to make a chameleon puppet on Pinterest, but I could not find the original web location of it or any template. 

So I found a simple chameleon black-and-white print out from the 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 blog.

I printed them out on cardstock and cut them out. During the program the kids will be able to color their chameleons, cut them in half, and use glue dots to attach them to a clothespin.

Here's my example:

School-Age: Veterans Day

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

By this week in the program session, it will be the week leading up to Veterans Day which is a perfect time to share a book and information about the holiday.

1. Reading
For the topic we will read "Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines" by Jeanne Walker Harvey.

2. Brain Break: Simon Says


3. Discussion
We will talk about what Veterans Day (and Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom) are, who Maya Lin is, and where the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is. 

I also shared that, if they would like to visit a Veteran Memorial on Veterans Day, we have memorials locally. I shared pictures and locations of various memorials located around the area.


4. Craft
I saw tons of ways to use scrap paper to make Remembrance Day poppies so I decided that would be a fun and easy craft to do with the kids. 

Here's my example:

School-Age: Detectives

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

By this time in the fall session it will be Halloween. I decided not to plan something that was overly Halloween themed but I did incorporate an owl into this week for a subtle nod to Halloween/Fall topics.


1. Reading
We will read "Whobert Whoever, Owl Detective" by Jason Gallaher.

2. Brain Break: I-Spy


3. Discussion
We will play a game of true/false about owls and owl behavior.


4. Activity
I found some short one-minute mysteries from "Mind-Boggling One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers" by Sandy Silverthorne and John Warner that are intended for kids. I chose several to share with the kids. We will read the short mystery, share some clues to help them solve the mystery, and then give them the solution.

5. Craft
We will make an owl detective. I found a template for an owl on Slair's Lair blog. I printed the templates on cardstock and added my own detective embellishments.

Here's my example:

School-Age: Superheroes

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

With superheroes being all the rage constantly, I can't believe I haven't done a program about superheroes yet!

1. Reading
For this topic we will read "Super Manny Stands Up!" by Kelly DiPucchio.

2. Brain Break: Pop See Ko


3. Trivia
We will play a short game of superhero trivia to see if the kids can name the superhero by their symbol.


4. BINGO
Then, after that, we will play a few rounds of Superhero Bingo. Since there was already a Superhero Bingo made on the Fireflies and Mudpies blog, I decided to download their free printables to use.


5. Craft
I found a super cute Superhero craft using Popsicle sticks on the Glued to My Crafts blog. 

Here's my version:

School-Age: Magic of Words

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

This particular week's topic will be a little interweaving of a few things so that I could share a beautiful book but hopefully manage to keep things light considering the audience's age.

1. Reading
We will read "Malala's Magic Pencil" by Malala Yousafzai. It has gorgeous pictures and focuses on Malala using her words to make her world a better place.

2. Brain Break: Rock, Paper, Scissors


3. Discussion
We will discuss a little bit about who Malala is and then about what they would do if they had a magic pencil. Then, to turn the tables more towards the writing aspect, we will discuss different parts of a book and writing (nonfiction versus fiction and defining setting/mood/etc.).


4. Craft
I have seen lots of examples of using crayon to make a color resistant piece of artwork. So, for this week's craft, we will plan on setting out water colors and crayons and let the kids decide what they want to make. 

Here's my example:

School-Age: Bird Communication

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning. 

Since we had a new Nerdy Birdy book come out, I thought it would be a great way to incorporate into a program about bird communication...because birds totally use twitter, right?


1. Reading
We will start off by reading "Nerdy Birdy Tweets" by Aaron Reynolds. I enjoyed the first Nerdy Birdy book better but this one is still fun to share.

2. Brain Break: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes


3. Reading
We will read another book that will tie in perfectly to bird communication: "Froodle" by Antoinette Portis.

4. Discussion
We will discuss how birds communication. When creating the PowerPoint for the program, I made sure to focus on a variety of ways they communicate BESIDES vocally. There are plenty of other ways that animals communicate using their bodies and it is neat to learn about them.


5. Craft
The discussion on the PowerPoint ends with telling kids about bird watching as a great way to learn more about bird behavior even from their own backyard. What better way to bird watch than with binoculars? Since we can't create actual binoculars, we'll make a fun craft version of them that I found on 10 Minutes of Quality Time.

Here's my version:

I used my handprints on scrapbooking paper knowing that the kids versions will look a little less wonky since their hands are smaller.

School-Age: Chocolate Chip Cookies

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

Did you know there is a history to chocolate chip cookies? I learned about it through a new juvenile nonfiction book. Fair warning - it'll make you want to go bake some chocolate chip cookies ASAP!


1. Reading
We will read "How the Cookie Crumbled: The True (and Not-So-True) Stories of the Invention of the Chocolate Chip Cookie" by Gilbert Ford.

2. Brain Break: Jumping Jacks (for 1 minute)


3. Discussion
We will talk about the Toll House Inn, who Ruth Wakefield is, and about how Nestle created morsels for her cookie recipe. Then we will share fun facts about cookies.


4. Craft
I found a super cute and easy craft on the Mums Take 5 blog for cookies. We had left over pieces of cardboard that I cut into small circles. We will set out a variety of craft materials we have on hand (flannel, gems, puff balls, glitter glue, buttons, etc.) and let the kids go crazy.

Here's my example:

School-Age: Wordplay

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

I've planned a program teaching the kids about wordplay. This topic was definitely inspired by the book that I was super excited to share.


1. Definition
Before we jump into the topic, I will have a brief definition of what wordplay is and types of wordplay.


2. Reading
We will read "Have You Seen My Trumpet?" by Michael Escoffier. In the book there are words within words that happen to solve the question on each page. I decided to scan pictures of the pages and present them page-by-page on the powerpoint to highlight the answer within the words.

3. Brian Break: Simon Says


4. Discussion
We will talk about how the book played with words. After that we will discuss different types of wordplay (tongue twisters, puns, and anagrams) and have examples of each.


5. Craft
I found a craft on on Tea Time Monkeys to make a cardboard tube trumpet. I used their templates for the craft and printed them out on different colored pieces of paper. We will use stickers and markers to let the kids decorate them on the day of.

Here's my example:

School-Age: Sharks

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

Even though it is not during shark week, I still wanted a chance to share some fun facts about sharks with kids at the library!


1. Reading 
For this week we will read "If Sharks Disappeared" by Lily Williams.

2. Brain Break: I-Spy


3. Discussion
We will play a game of shark trivia where the kids will learn fun facts about sharks.


4. Craft
I found a neat shark craft on the I Heart Crafty Things blog. I made a template for all of the shark parts on the computer and printed them out on grey, white, or red paper depending on what the shark part was.

Here's my example:

School-Age: Humpty Dumpty

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

The second week of the fall session we will be learning a little history about the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty.

1. Reading

The book we will read is "After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back up Again" by Dan Santat.

I felt like this was a rather clever fractured fairytale and the ending was perfect.

2. Brain Break: Pop See Ko

3. Discussion

We will talk about the history and origins of the nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty.

4. Craft

I found the perfect craft to make a paper finger puppet Humpty Dumpty from the Austin Public Library. It was easy to print the templates out from their website and cut them in preparation for the program.

Here's an example of mine:

School-Age: Mermaids

As I mentioned in my update post, I will be posting all of the fall weeks prior to the session beginning.

Our first week of the fall session we will be learning about mermaids! When we did the program about dragons last spring it was super successful and fun, so now it is time to learn about a different mystical creature!

1. Reading
For the topic of mermaids we are reading "There Was an Old Mermaid Who Swallowed a Shark!" by Lucille Colandro.

2. Brain Break: Rock Paper Scissors!


3. Discussion
We will be talking about mermaid lore: mermaid sightings, famous mermaid stories, and more!


4. Craft
Similar to the craft I used for the week about dragon lore, the same blog I found inspiration for the craft (Adventure in a Box) made eggs for a variety of other creatures including mermaids. 

Here's my example:

Updates

Big news!

I will be on maternity leave starting sometime in September. Since I do not know when the little guy will show up, I am going to share my weekly plans ahead of time. They'll be the same format as any week but without notes as to how the program went since I will not be here for most of them.

Fortunately, I have a new full-time library assistant that will start at the beginning of September to replace (if that is even possible) Ms. Carol. So the library will have someone to present my programs in my stead! Phew!

School-Age: Pulp Paper

The last program of our summer was about pulp paper!


1. Reading
I read the book "5 Little Ducks" by Denise Fleming. Since the book was a play off the popular children's song, I felt the topic and the book fit perfectly in with this year's CSLP theme of "Libraries Rock".

I did not sing the song but I did have the kids quack every time Papa duck called out in the book.

2. Discussion
Since pulp paper is a bit more of a time-intensive craft, I wanted to keep the discussion short. I defined pulp paper for the kids and asked them what was special about the art-work in the book. This was new information to me until I began researching for this program, but Denise Fleming made her artwork out of pulp paper! How neat!

I went over several ways they could make pulp paper. One of which uses any recycled paper materials. You wet them down, put them in a blender or food processor, squeeze excess liquid out of the paper, and then create with them.

Since my husband was less than enthused with me taking our blender into the library for a paper craft, I went with the second way to make pulp paper using tissue paper. I had to make sure that the tissue paper did not bleed (even if it is not labeled 'bleeding art', some tissue paper will still bleed colors). You rip the tissue paper into small pieces, wet it down, tear it up even more, and then create with the small pieces of tissue paper.


3. Craft
For the craft we had tables laid out with newspaper. I gave each child their own plastic cup with a small amount of water in it. They also were given a cookie cutter as their mold as well as a paper plate to put their mold on to take home. Since their paper will take awhile to dry, I wanted the craft to be portable for the ride home.

The tables had tissue paper that had already been cut up into small squares. The kids were to tear up the paper and go to town.

Here's some examples of mine:

My first attempt (discovering some left-over tissue paper we had in our supplies all bled!):

The heart after drying and out of its mold:

A second example with a new batch of tissue paper:

Notes:

This program went very well! We only had the program on one day this week since the month ended on a Tuesday and we had tons of kids at the program! Normally, the earlier in the week program is lucky to have 10-15 attendees (including parents) but we had over 40! It was a good thing I had prepared extra stuff and had extra tables! We needed it and we needed everything to run somewhat smoothly! SRP ended on a great note and boy am I glad for a break after a SUPER busy summer!!!

School-Age: Rhythmic Folklore

I wanted to bring a little rhythm for our last full week of Summer Reading, so we learned about rhythmic folklore.


1. Reading
Our book this week was "Bring the Rain to Kapiti Plain" by Verna Aardema. It has a great rhythm to it and is a cumulative folktale, so we learned about both aspects of the story during our discussion.

2. Discussion
We defined folklore, especially the oral storytelling aspect, since "Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain" was initially an oral folktale that had been passed down. 

We then discussed that the book was a cumulative folktale - or a story that builds on top of itself. I brought up examples like the song "The Green Grass Grows All Around" as well as popular book series like "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."

The next part I discussed with them was about how the book had rhythm to it. We talked about how that means that the book has a beat to it and they shared different ideas of books they have read that have a rhythm.

To add some excitement, I shared a video of Ludacris rapping "Llama Llama Red Pajama" by Anna Dewdney.

I challenged the parents to bring some rhythm to bedtime storytime after that!


3. Craft
Since we read "Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain", I decided that we should make rain sticks. Plus, they make a great rhythm if the kids wanted to use them for that instead. I found many similar crafts online but I used the rainstick craft I found on Gift of Curiosity as inspiration.

I had my teens help with different stations since we had a ton of kids at our programs this week. It definitely helped to have extra hands to help with the craft! I handed out paper towel tubes that had already been sealed with paper on one end. I gave the kids aluminum foil and showed them how to roll it up to stick it in their tubes.

At one station a teen put a tablespoon of rice in the tubes. At the second station we had teens seal up the other end with tape and paper. At the last station, the teens helped wrap the paper towel rolls with a colorful piece of paper. The kids walked to each station and then were able to decorate their rain sticks at the very end.

Here's my very un-decorated example:

Notes: I had a great time at this program as well! The video of Ludacris rapping "Llama Llama Red Pajama" was a big hit! It was a great last full week of Summer Reading programs! Only a few more days left!

School-Age: Whales

This week we learned about whales (specifically their songs) to tie into the CSLP theme of "Libraries Rock"! 

1. Reading

We read "Following Papa's Song" by Gianna Marino, which fit perfectly with the week's theme!

2. Discussion

I actually started the discussion off with a video about whale songs. It was a TED-Ed video by Stephanie Sardelis and was a perfect way to discuss why whales sing!

After showing the video, we talked about some of the reasons whales sing that were mentioned in the video. I also asked a few trivia questions about whales. I focused on humpback whales since they were featured in the book I read aloud, but also baleen whales that were discussed in the video.

3. Craft

Our craft was a humpback whale. I found some ideas of using paper plates to make a humpback whale on Pinterest. Most of the crafts did not have a template, but I found one on Danielle's Place for fins and a tail.

I painted the paper plates blue prior to the program and gave the kids glue dots to attach their whale parts and eyes.

Notes:

This has been one of my favorite topics this summer! I love learning new information and anything related to animal behavior is super interesting to me. The video was a big bonus and the kids were over-the-top excited to learn about whales this week!

School-Age: Duke Ellington and the Piano

This week we learned a bit about Duke Ellington as well as some trivia about pianos!


Reading:
We read the book "88 Instruments" by Chris Barton. A child is trying to decide on what instrument he wants to learn how to play and there are SO many to choose from! In the end he settles on the piano!

Discussion:
I gave the kids a brief overview of Duke Ellington's life and showed some pictures of him playing in Harlem's Cotton Club.

Then I played a game of piano trivia with the kids. We learned about the most expensive piano in the world, the largest piano, when the piano was invented, and more!


Craft:
I found a picture on Pinterest of a thumb piano but no information about how to make it. SO, I used the picture as inspiration and came up with the materials on my own.

I used wooden 4"X4" wooden banners that I found on Oriental Trading. I couldn't find anything smaller than that (at least that was inexpensive enough to justify buying enough for my program).

I also used bobby pins as the 'keys' of the piano and purchased electrical tape to hold the 'keys' to the wooden banner.

I painted one side of the wooden banners prior to the program. 

During the craft the kids got to decorate their thumb pianos however they liked!

Notes:
At the earlier program of the week we had the kids/parents help us attach their 'keys' to their own thumb piano. Since we only had a handful of kids, that worked just fine. However, I had a TON of kids signed up for my Friday program. I had my teen helpers help me tape bobby pins down on as many banners as we could before the Friday program so we had that step already completed. 

School-Age: Homophones

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings - another perfect tie-in to SRP 2018.


1. Reading
We read "Bob, not Bob: *to be read as though you have the worst cold ever" by Audrey Vernick. This was a hysterical read-aloud and the kids loved it, especially when Bob the dog came running (and slobbering). 

2. Discussion
We defined what a homophone is = words that are spelled differently and have different meanings BUT they sound exactly the same. We also played a homophone game. I showed two homophones and asked them to define them. For example = "see and "sea". They had to tell me what each of the words meant and then I showed a picture to demonstrate the meaning. 

The lesson we learned, for certain, was that the English language can be confusing!

To throw them a curve ball we also learned about homonyms. I broke down both words to the kids = "Homo" means same, "Phone" means sound, and "Nym" means name. So homophones have the same sound but are spelled differently but homonyms have the same name (aka are spelled the same). Then I showed them a few homonyms to see if they could find all the possible meanings for a word such as "bat" or "cold". 


3. Craft
I gave the kids canvas bags that they could decorate. I had made a few templates of some punny homophones they could trace onto their bags. They had the option of using the patterns I had created OR making their own creations. 

One template was of two bees. I gave the kids the punny phrase of "We love to bee together." But, they were able to have their own creative liberties with it!

The other template I made was of two pears (a pair of pears). My punny phrase was "We make a nice pair."

Notes:

This program was great fun this week and the kids loved learning about homophones! They thought a lot of them were funny and they LOVED the book "Bob, not Bob"!

School-Age: Sound

Keeping with the SRP theme, we learned about sound last week!


1. Reading
We read "Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!: A Sonic Adventure" by Wynton Marsalis. It is about a young boy who focuses on all the different sounds he hears as he goes about his day.

2. Discussion
We discussed what sound is (vibrations) as well as the reasons different musical instruments make different sounds. After discussing a little about how sound is made and what makes sound louder or softer, we did an experiment. Before the program I tested a few ways to show the kids sound via an experiment and several of them flopped before I landed on one that worked. 

I tried to do this one to show vibrations as well as a similar one that had me put my cell phone in the glass bowl and call it to show the rice moving on top of plastic wrap. Neither one did anything sooo, I found a simpler sound wave experiment on KCEdventures.

I put together several utensils on string to allow for large numbers of kids to do the experiment at the same time. Instead of a ruler to tap the utensils with I used larger serving spoons. I had my teen helpers walk around helping the kids get the yarn wrapped around their fingers and then tap on the utensils to feel the vibrations.

After all the kids (and some parents!) had an opportunity to experiment with the utensils, we talked about what they felt when the hanging utensils were hit with the serving spoons - sound vibrations and reverberations. 


3. Craft
The craft the kids did this week was DIY harmonicas. There are many instructables online to show you how to make them. I walked the group through how to do them together. It was a simple craft but putting it together initially was a little tricky. Once they were finished, they could decorate the outside of their harmonicas. We had a chorus of noisy elephants at the end of the program!

Notes:
I loved the craft this week and it was a perfect way to show sound vibrating since that is how the DIY harmonica was making noise!

School-Age: Wind Chimes

Thinking slightly outside of the box for the CSLP theme of "Libraries Rock", I thought wind chimes would be perfect to make as a craft that makes music!


1. Reading
This week I read "Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World" by Allan Drummond. Wind chimes are a great craft but there are not many books to read aloud to kids about them. So, we talked about wind! "Energy Island" was a great introduction into renewable energy and trying to make your home more environmentally friendly!

2. Discussion
Since the book was rather long, and I wanted the kids to have PLENTY of time to work on their craft, we had a brief discussion of renewable versus nonrenewable energy sources. I also showed them pictures of a variety of renewable energy sources that exist around the world.


3. Craft
We made wind chimes! I found a wind chime craft that we used as a model from the how to do this and that blog. I hot-glued jumbo craft sticks in the star shape but, as for the rest of the craft, I laid out a bunch of supplies and let the kids direct how they wanted to make their final product. One of my library assistants had left-over silverware from college that she was getting rid of, so that was PERFECT to upcycle for the craft.

We used: silverware, beads (metal and pony beads), jingle bells, yarn, string, fishing line, pipe cleaners, markers, and more.

Here are a few examples:

Notes:
The wind chimes were a lot more time intensive than I had initially anticipated. However, it still worked out fine! For the first program of the week, when we were running out of time, I ran to my supply room to grab plastic baggies for the kids to take extra supplies home to finish the craft. For my Friday crowd, I gave them a warning that the craft would take extra time so they knew they would be expected to finish some of it at home if they were taking their time on the crafting. 

Summer Reading has officially begun -- We had HUGE crowds at the Friday program, so I set up a supply table as a buffet and gave the kids plates to go through the line and select some supplies. Then, I told everyone to find space on the carpet to work on their craft. It worked perfectly and, all-in-all, it was a hugely successful program!