Something magical happened to me. I stumbled my way into a ticket to the VERY LAST Eras tour show here in Vancouver. I’m still pinching myself. And making friendship bracelets. And wondering if I’ll freeze to death in my snake tights. And fretting about getting sick at the last minute and not being able to attend. And listening to so much Taylor Swift that I’m in the top 0.2% of listeners this year (WHat?!).
Needless to say, I haven’t been able to pull together a coherent blog post to end the year. I do have great plans for January though! My 2024 Favourite Storytime Books list and a very special felt story collab are coming your way.
Until then, enjoy this random assortment of things I’ve been reading and thinking about.
Comments vs. Questions
The Hanen Centre shared this handout in their latest newsletter and I’ve been thinking about how I can model this in storytime without making caregivers feel bad for asking their kid questions. Ultimately I believe all interaction and engagement is good! I really like the categories on the second page.
Scholastic’s Take on Early Literacy
The Literacious Flavor of the Month newsletter shared this deep dive into early literacy and it’s the perfect thing to read as programming winds down for the winter break.
TPL’s A Social Story for Everyone
My library is starting to think about creating a version of social stories for our branches and I feel like Toronto Public Library is the gold star model for how to do this right. 8 different formats!
Book Titles I Can’t Stop Singing
Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more.
You’re gonna want me for your girl.
I never miss a beat (OBVIOUSLY).
Have a great December, everyone. See you on the flip side.
WOW, congratulations Lindsey! However you happened to come by that ticket, you deserve it! Have a blast!
I’m looking forward to your Storytime picks from 2024. 🙂
Thank you, Emily, that is a very kind thing to say!
Lol! I remember when “What Is Love?” and this one were new at the same time.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57616283-every-bunny-dance-now
More recently:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59959916-say-my-name
Tell me you a child of the 90s without telling me you are a child of the 90s! Love these, I will sing them this way forever.
I love that jazzed up OWL (Observe Wait Listen) handout with examples of different ways we can comment. I also think that child-centered commenting is important as well as asking open-ended questions. I think probably the younger children benefit from more of the commenting. When we ask a question, we may find we also need to answer it. That’s ok, they are understanding how questions work. Also, when a child has enough language to respond, it is good to ask questions so that we don’t make assumptions. A common example is when they have drawn something and we comment based on what we think it looks like, when the child had something different in mind. I think the hardest aspect to learn is waiting! Repeated turn-taking makes a difference in language development.
Thank you for sharing this handout. Hanen has many language strategies we can use ourselves and share with caregivers, and they include children with special needs as well.
Saroj, I always find that you help me think about things deeper, and I think the example you provided with asking questions is a great one. The Power of the Pause is something I’ve been working on modeling in storytimes and I’m always delighted when a baby or toddler will reply in the language they have access to (babbling, words only their caregiver can understand). The ‘tennis match’ of language learning is my favourite early literacy tip to share.
Enjoy!!! Taylor and her fans energy is making the world great!
Thank you, Lita! I agree!
How many minutes of Taylor Swift do you have to listen to in order to make it to the top .2%? I’m legit asking because this was just a conversation I had with a friend last night when comparing our own numbers for TS and wondering how many it takes to break above 4%.
But also, your best picture books list is like my version of the Eras Tour. I’m impatiently waiting for it and can’t wait to submit the request to order all of them and read through them and share them in storytime.
Hundreds of hours! But this meant I listened to almost zero podcasts this year, so there was a trade off. And I feel that a huge chunk of this listening time was dedicated to memorizing TTPD when it first came out. I think being compared to the Eras Tour is probably the best compliment I’ve received all year, so thank you!!!
I’ve got “I’ve got a golden ticket” from the old Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie playing in my head now! 😉 Hope you enjoyed the show!!
haha, now I have a new earworm! That is EXACTLY how I felt.
I agree with KT above…can’t wait for your 2024 Favorite Story Time booklist! It’s like Oprah’s book list for us. Enjoy TS!
You all are really feeding my ego with these comparisons, LOL. I can’t wait to share it!
So glad you got to go! Saw her in Miami. Went to Toronto hoping to get last minute tickets so I could see it with my daughter but they never went under 1,000 a ticket. Still had fun though! Hope you had a blast! So sad it’s over.
Omg, you got to see Florida with Florence?! I am so jealous. The TTPD set was my favourite of the night. We’ll have to hold on to the memories 🙂