Lunetta_Christina_Reading Reflection 2
Reading Reflection 2 (Week 5)
Program planning isn't limited to the library, as we have the opportunity to partner with other local organizations to bring storytelling events out into the community. One great example, as discussed in the article by Mary Katherine Haver, explains how the Family Resource Center Library at the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in Florida partners storytime with visits from therapy dogs for a children’s event they like to call “Paws to Read” (2014). This program takes place once a month and allows the children to read a story aloud with a canine companion. Through these activities, the participants get to practice literacy skills and take some focus away from their medical hardships to enjoy time being a kid while reading a good book with a furry friend. Similar to typical storytime events in the library, these types of programs still plan book selection and activities based on themes or seasonal events, including some health-related ones such as personal hygiene tips and promoting National Sleep Awareness Week (Haver, 2014). While storytelling is known for the joy it can bring to children in the library or a school setting, it is also exciting to see that its potential for engagement doesn’t stop there, and with proper planning and collaboration, stories can be brought just about anywhere, especially to those in need of a little extra something to brighten their day.
Another possible outreach opportunity that I learned about this week is by partnering up with a prisoner or young offenders unit. Storytelling: Art and Technique features a section about international storytelling, and a great example of a program in England that brought the uplifting powers of storytelling to a local prison (Greene et al., 2010). Through this program, male prisoners that are fathers or grandfathers had the opportunity to have some of their stories recorded to share with their children and grandchildren, allowing them to remain connected to their loved ones through stories while they are away. The young offenders unit was able to sign up for storytelling workshops that provided links to education in the sense of literacy, creative writing, poetry readings, writers visits, and book groups, yet, they were also attended purely for entertainment (Green et al., 2010). One particular session about ghost stories brought them so much joy that they continued to create and tell each other ghost stories long after the event was over and well into the night (Greene et al., 2010). While programming like this may look different in the U.S., librarians should be encouraged to think outside the library and consider ways that storytelling can be brought to a variety of audiences, as a simple story could mean so much more depending on where or how it is told. In this example, storytelling provides a connection with the rest of the world and allows these young offenders the chance to develop literacy, writing, and speaking skills in a fun and engaging way.
This week I sat down with a few great nonfiction picture books and identified many ways that they could also be used for a storytelling event. I think most people tend to rely on fairytales, fables, and other fiction stories when telling stories to young kids, but nonfiction stories can be utilized just as much and offer an interesting take on learning new facts about some of these topics kids are interested in. For example, this week, for my storytelling experience, I told the fiction story Petunia by Roger Duvoisin, which is about some farm animals getting into trouble around the barn and had a fun moral about how reading can help you become wise and allow you to help others. I used puppets and other props for an added interactive and visual effect. This could be done during a storytelling program based on the theme of farms or barn animals and then coupled with a nonfiction story such as Farming by Gail Gibbons which then gives you facts and information about some of the animals the audience members just saw in a silly fiction story. If you are unfamiliar with Gail Gibbon's work, she does a great job of explaining topics to young children using very detailed and labeled illustrations without the books being too heavy with information to a point where it is not easily understandable by a young audience, which is why her books would be great to use during a storytelling program for a mixed-aged group of kids. I also read some nonfiction stories about dinosaurs, seed distribution methods, different cultures, and historical accounts of Olympic contestants. All these titles could be incorporated into similar themed events as the example I just gave, where you can couple fiction and nonfiction stories together as well as some sort of movement activity or craft to develop an engaging program.
All the reading that I did this week brought me new insight into storytelling program planning for a variety of audience members. It was interesting to see how programs can incorporate many different elements aside from just telling a story to truly bring this experience to life and make it interesting for children and their family members. I also enjoyed reading about possible outreach opportunities that could be planned through the library with the support of community partners to bring stories to children and young adults that do not have the ability to travel to the library, such as the patients at a children’s hospital or the individuals in a young offender program. It is also great to see how many types of books, stories, and genres could be utilized during a storytelling event. I am now especially interested in developing experiences that couple fiction and nonfiction texts together so that the young audience members can leave learning some new information related to the stories and activities that they had the opportunity to participate in during the program. As I continue through this course, I learn more and more every week about the great potential that storytelling has and the endless number of possibilities for librarians and educators to develop engaging and memorable literary programs.
- We Are Still Here! by Traci Sorell
- Little Dandelion Seeds the World by Julia Richardson
- Skamoto's Swim Club: How a Teacher Led an Unlikely Team to Victory by Julie Abery
- Dinosaur Feathers by Dennis Nolan
- Farming by Gail Gibbons
Haver, M. K. (2014). Books, children, dogs, artists: library programs for the entire family. Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 33(2), 211–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763869.2014.897523
Christina, thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights from our readings this week in your blog. You hit on some really good points. I also enjoyed reading the article about the hospital's "Paws to Read" program and loved the way they involved the families and community with that. There are so many great ways libraries can reach outside their walls to bring people together. This one was a very sweet example. I know all of my kids (who have never been in the hospital) would love to have a dog companion to read with. That was a very encouraging program that really challenges us to think outside the box and do what is best for kids. The more people we have reading to kids and with kids and the more we can encourage the love of reading within our community, the brighter our future becomes!
ReplyDeleteYou also made a great point with your non-fiction books about using them with a theme for a storytime. Yes, you are right. We want to stick with our fun pictures books, our fantasies, or our fairytales. Those are traditional and great. However when we can pair them with a great non-fiction book or even a poem or a song, we create more well rounded event for our audiences and it will give a richer depth of knowledge. The storytelling you did this week with your cute farm puppets would go great with the Gail Gibbons books. She has so many good non-fiction books over a wide range of topics. I actually used her Halloween non-fiction book this past year for the first time as it gave some great background history on the holiday.
I do have to ask if you made your puppets for your storytelling or if you were able to purchase them somewhere. If you made them, wow! That's impressive dedication!