Archive for the ‘Literacy’ Category
WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY?
IT’S FAMILY STORYTIME!
Family storytime introduces children to books, reading, and the library. Each storytime explores a different theme through books, songs, and fingerplays. Your child will meet a new friend this summer and get to know all about Max, the friendly shaggy dog. Miss Sarah will provide your child with stories as well as help them create a special project that enhances the theme of the week. She will model ways to make stories come alive.
Since this is a summertime activity for families, all ages are invited to attend. Miss Sarah will be sure to find something of interest for all children. Plus you will have an opportunity to meet other parents and children and interact with them in a kid-friendly environment.
There is no registration required, so feel free to come to as many sessions as you are able. There will be 16 weeks of fun in the large auditorium on the 3rd floor of the library. It’s free, it’s fun, it’s beneficial, and it doesn’t require a lot of preparation time. Just come and enjoy!
Family storytime will continue throughout the months of May, June, and July. They are held on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10:30. You may choose whichever day works best for your schedule.
Get ready, get set, and join in the fun!
Create Your Own Story
Posted on: April 20, 2011
Last week was National Library Week, and we had so much fun celebrating in the library on Saturday! The theme for National Library Week was: Create Your Own Story. It was the perfect opportunity to have a family of authors come talk to us about how to make stories! We loved seeing the pictures of West Palm Beach (and our library) in Where do My Shoes Go? as Julia, Emily and Ainsley Miller shared their picture books with us! Thank you Julia, Emily, and Ainsley! We love your stories! You inspired us to think about the stories we can tell!
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We also created our own very own stories too! Check out the stories we made!
Taylor is 4 and she showed us how she plays the flute when she visits the library.
After Julia took her picture she drew what her story was about. Her dad helped her write down what she wanted the story to say. Her story says “Taylor was playing the flute and Strawberry Strawberry was helping her.” Hooray for Taylor!
Brianna is 6, and she thought of a story about a monkey in the jungle.
Here she is writing and illustrating her story!
Lila is 4, and she told a story about a tiger that was falling down! Watch out below!
Lennon, 5, said the name of his story is “Where is my telephone?” Lennon likes stories superheroes. He is a super guy!
Diana is 10 and called her story “Apple”
Sadie, 5, shows us her tiger. He was looking at us from inside his fort. This is the very same tiger from one of Julia, Emily and Ainsley’s stories! He came to visit the library in his favorite shirt.
Sebastian, 9, said his story was about penguins watching him on the computer. Sebastian writes in journals at home! Go for it Sebastian! Keep those stories coming!
Quintin, 6, wanted this picture called “Double Trouble”. Sounds suspenseful!
Joey, 5, told us that his story is about a boy who visits the library and likes to read about robots.
Joey’s brother, age 9, wanted his story to be about Percy Jackson. Those two loved hanging out together!
Here’s a story about traveling to space! Sounds like quite an adventure!
A big thank you to the Friends of the West Palm Beach Public Library for sponsoring the event! We raffled 4 copies of the Where Do My Shoes Go? books and a digital camera! The kids and families had a great time!
Long live stories! Don’t be shy; it’s never too late to create your own story!
-Ms. Kathy
- In: authors | books | early literacy | elementary | language skills | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | read alouds | reading | school | Uncategorized | west palm beach | west palm beach public library
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Got the FCAT Blues?
Here is a school poem to lift your spirits during this FCAT week!
The Very Best Feeling
~by Betsy Franko
There’s excited,
delighted,
scared,
and mad.
There’s happy,
embarrased,
surprised,
and sad.
But the very best feeling
that we’ve ever had,
the one that we have every day,
is the feeling we get
when the final bell rings,
and there’s nothing to do but just PLAY!
From the book:
Start the Week With Words!
Posted on: April 4, 2011
- In: authors | books | early literacy | elementary | emergent literacy | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | preschool | read alouds | toddler | Uncategorized | west palm beach public library
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Here is a Spring-y poem for young and old!
The alliteration and repetition build important early literacy skills such as phonetic awareness and vocabulary. Read this to your babies, or help your older children recite this playful poem!
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Nibble Nibble Nibble
~By Margaret Wise Brown
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Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
And the mouse in my heart is
You.
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Lippity Lippity Clip
Goes the rabbit in my heart
Lippity Lippity Clip
Goes the rabbit in my heart
Lippity Lippity Clip
Goes the rabbit in my heart
And the rabbit in my heart is
You.
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Flippity Flippity Flop
Goes the fish in my heart
Flippity Flippity Flop
Goes the fish in my heart
Flippity Flippity Flop
Goes the fish in my heart
And the fish in my heart is
You.
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Biff Bang Bang
Goes the hammer in my heart
Biff Bang Bang
Goes the hammer in my heart
Biff Bang Bang
Goes the hammer in my heart
And the hammer in my heart is
You.
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Drum Drum Drum
Goes the drum in my heart
Drum Drum Drum
Goes the drum in my heart
Drum Drum Drum
Goes the drum in my heart
And the drum in my heart is
You.
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Softly now beats the beat of my heart
Softly now beats the beat of my heart
Softly now beats the beat of my heart
All for the love of you.
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From the book Nibble Nibble by Margaret Wise Brown. Paintings by Wendell Minor. HarperCollins. 1987.
Check this out to view the beautiful illustrations!
You Can Be an Author Too!
Posted on: March 30, 2011
Have you ever wanted to write your own story?
Are you a kid between 5 and 14 years of age?
Well, we have just the contest for you!
The people who created Children’s Book Week (this year it’s celebrated May 2-8th) want you to submit a book for a chance to win super cool prizes like $350 to print your book or a poster signed by a bunch of famous and amazing authors!
Here’s the info, so get creating, ok!? You need to email them your book no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 22, 2011.
Happy Writing,
Ms Kathy
Whether you are heading to the stadium, watching on TV, or signing up to play, baseball season is here! The game of baseball has evolved over time, catching on and becoming uniquely American in the 1850s! Now a national pastime, the game is part of our culture in the form of family traditions, movies, heroes, and even poems! One of the most famous baseball poems is Casey at the Bat. It was written in 1888 by Ernest L. Thayer. This poem tells a gripping tale about a fictional baseball team, the ‘Mudville nine’ and star player, Casey.
Please enjoy this excerpt of Casey at the Bat. Visit the library to check out the complete poem!
Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888.
The out look wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day’
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
[...]
Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
[...]
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.
- In: authors | books | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | read alouds | reading | Uncategorized | west palm beach public library
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A few weeks ago, a NASA spacecraft took some pictures of a passing comet!
Click here to see the pictures!
Read this poem about comets and space!
Comet
Ice, rock, dirt,
Metal and gas -
Around the sun
A comet may pass.
A dirty snowball
Of space debris.
The biggest snowball
That you’ll ever see.
BABIES…BABIES…BABIES
Posted on: February 22, 2011
- In: authors | baby | books | child development | early literacy | emergent literacy | kids events | Literacy | newborn | parenting | read alouds | reading | storytime | Uncategorized | west palm beach public library
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Reading books to babies just sounds like a crazy idea, doesn’t it?
Think again!
Some mothers-to-be even read to their baby before it’s even born! If that sounds silly to you, think again. There are many reasons to read to a baby. For one thing, hearing words helps to build a big network of words in a baby’s brain. By reading to a baby, we can increase their language as they grow and develop.
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When we hold a baby close to us and read, it creates a special bond between the baby and the adult. Not only does he learn the sound of words and see new pictures of the world, he becomes a good listener in the process. It’s especially nice if you read some stories to your baby before bedtime. It’s a very calming experience once they get used to the idea. It also helps create a routine, which is so important when it’s time to get the baby to bed and to sleep for the night.
Babies watch everything we do. When you read to a baby, he watches you turn the pages. It’s a basic concept that he is learning about a book. Then he’s old enough, he can begin to turn the pages as you read. You will also catch him playing with a book and turning the pages as he pretends to read.
Babies learn by touching, too. Babies like to teethe on books to find out what they’re all about. Cloth and vinyl books are great for babies. Vinyl ones can even go in the bathtub. Who says you have to sit in a chair to read a book?
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There are wonderful board books at our library for you to enjoy with your baby. We even have Bumbo seats to hold up the babies that can’t sit up by themselves yet.
Babies are not born loving books. It’s something we teach them. Bring your baby to the library for a new experience. Sit in a Bumbo seat and read a board book together.
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Visit a baby storytime on Fridays at 10:30 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. You’ll experience singing, dancing, books, and lots of movement. It’s fun for babies and you! Call 868-7703 to reserve a spot for you and your baby today.
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Judy
Have you heard about Flat Stanley?
He’s the boy who was flattened by a bulletin board! You’d think that being flattened by a bulletin board would have put an end to all his adventures, but Stanley went on even more amazing adventures after becoming flat. He’s traveled by mail to and from all sorts of exotic locations, like Africa, Egypt, Japan, Mexico and Mount Rushmore. Once he even went into space!
Last week we, the Saturday Kids’ Club, celebrated Flat Stanley and his journeys to far off places! After reading The Mount Rushmore Calamity we got together, talked about out the story and then each of us made a Flat Stanley of our own.
Next we had to decide where to mail Flat Stanley. We wrote letters to our friends and family asking them to take a picture with Flat Stanley and then mail him back to us (with a picture of his adventure too)!
Click HERE for more Flat Stanley books!
Also, if you have a child in second or third grade, check out the Saturday Kids’ Club! We’re reading Dinosaurs BeforeDark before we come together again on March 12th @ 2!
Stay tuned! We’ll write more about Flat Stanley’s future fun!
Ms. Kathy
- In: authors | books | holidays | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | read alouds | reading | Uncategorized | west palm beach public library
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My ValentineBy Myra Cohn Livingston
My Valentine
Has eyes of green
With twenty eyebrows in between.
Her skin is blue.
Her head is square.
She hasn’t got a brain in there.
Her four ears twitch.
Her noses shine
But still,
(I think,)
I’ll make her mine!
Find this and other themed poetry in Celebrations! By Myra Cohn Livingston.
