week 5: hot in the shade

Jeez, Thursday was hot. Not crazy hot, but certainly spoiled-by-the-traditionally-great-Bay-Area-weather hot. Record-breaking for Oakland, actually. That's just setting the scene, I guess, because I was expecting things to be a little muggy in the Head Start where I do storytime. The whole place is basically a big windowless room with no A/C and (duh) not much ventilation, so warm afternoons with lots of action songs and stretches, etc., tend to take a little out of everyone. Not to mention the kids are already on a short(ish) fuse to start with, since it's later in the afternoon and whatnot.

Thankfully, for all my hand-wringing it was not super-duper hot. Or at least nothing that couldn't be worked through. Like I've done before, I'll go ahead and break storytime down by class groups.

Class 1 and 2

I will not play favorites. I cannot play favorites. I do not play favorites. That being said... I like Class 1 and 2 so, so much. They are a great group of kids, and they really seem to get storytime at this point. Even when I've had days that have felt challenging, they have been great. Thursday was no exception.

A couple of kids recognized Jane Yolen when I brought out How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? (a shout from somewhere in the back: "I know that book!"), but that didn't keep them from enjoying it immensely. They were really patient and gave their full attention. So great! We had fun being clocks for Hickory, Dickory Dock; as I mentioned before, I am going to try and include a nursery rhyme as a regular part of storytime from this point forward.

Ten Fat Peas went well, considering this group looooves to pop things via clapping. It took them once through to get their footing, but once they did whoo boy... off to the races! Which brings me to Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. Recommending by the super-great Miss Helen, I had been singing it throughout the week and even though I watched the author's live reading for some reason I locked in on the vocal melody to "I Know What Boys Like" (NSF anyone who is offended by hecka smoking or 80s puffy pants) and went with that:

Pretty much the same thing, right? Right. They loved loved loved Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, and asked for (and got) it a second time, which is really fun for everyone.

Hooray! They still love Hot Chocolate, and took to the Spanish verse like ducks to water. I felt kinda validated by that, just a little. It was an experiment that worked out (so far), and encouragement for me to include more bilingual fingerplays, songs, etc. They also did really well with "Right Hand, Left Hand," and one of their teachers encouraged me to do it again because (presumably) it is something they are working on right now. They felt really good.

But we gotta talk about BINGO. I mean, I don't think it's as big of deal as I did maybe I did at first blush, but I have some questions about these kids and BINGO. I don't expect them to have the whole spelling thing wired (and that's not what I'm there for anyway), but they are not really getting the whole letter awareness element of the song. Most just clap and sing all the letters throughout the whole song, which is missing a key element, right? But just having fun with a song is not the end of the world. I have some ideas about emphasizing letter awareness with BINGO going forward, ranging from flannel letters (which didn't stick on my Big Green Monster glove) to just talking about a little more beforehand. We'll see.

Class 3 and 4

OK: I want to make clear that I really love Class 3 and 4. They are great. They just seem to have a tougher time with certain aspects of storytime, but that's part and parcel I suppose. When I say they have a tougher time, I mean a few things. They seem to have shorter attention spans relative to Class 1 and 2. This could be a "later in the day" issue (their storytime is half an hour later, and often it's warmer in the building, etc.), it could be that they are younger overall, or whatever. I guess they also seem a little bored with stories Class 1 and 2 enjoy: a separate issue? Not sure. They also have more behavioral issues (on average) than Class 1 and 2; not that I am keeping a tally or w/e, but there is more disruptive behavior with Class 3 and 4 for sure.

My only plan is to keep working on making storytime as fun for them as possible. Also to keep my ego out of the way; I admit that sometimes I get thrown when what works really well for one group falls flat(ish) with another. But that is the learning curve, and (again) it's about having fun storytimes.

I am beginning to think I need to work with two separate storytime plans. Class 1 and 2 seem ready for a longer book or two, while to date Class 3 and 4 have worked best with (a) shorter books that are (b) also high-interest. Seriously, the could read Go Away, Big Green Monster! until the cows come home. My issues with GABGM! have been discussed elsewhere, but needless to say it's a tall order to just keep on bringing in GABGM!-type books. I think maybe we can go with two books and maybe a flannel board story, and extra songs and activities, for a little while. I may be a little unnecessarily hesitant to drag my portable flannel board around, but oh well. What has to be done has to be done.

Honestly I am sort of thinking out loud here, and maybe focusing too much on the negative. Class 3 and 4 did great with Hot Chocolate/Chocolate. They seemed to enjoy Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. They pretty much approached BINGO the same way Class 1 and 2 did, so the issue seems to be valid and I am going to work on it.

And they seemed to enjoy "Hi, Pizza Man!" more heartily than Class 1 and 2. That's great. There's a lot to work with, and I am excited. I think it will be good to introduce some flannelboard stories and other elements to add variety and find different ways for them to approach and enjoy storytime.