week 9: you're gonna need a bigger boat

Brief aside: I saw this place on my way to storytime, and thought it was some sort of (weird) charming East Oakland boutique that sold Mudhoney t-shirts, flannels, and beat-up Chuck Taylors:

Turns out no, it's just sort of sells... clothes. Well, that's what the internet says anyway. I was in a bit of a hurry and didn't actually stop in. But we're here to talk storytime, right? Right!

Class 1 and 2

First things first: Ginger was a rousing success! I mean, it went over way better than I hoped. I take that as a nice indication of our progress. A month ago, I think, that particular book would not have worked so well. This week, though, the kids really loved it! They were chiming in with their thoughts on the story! So great! I even had a request to read it a second time, but I think that was Jayden and between you and me he loves to hear stories twice. I just tell him we will read it again soon and then plow ahead, Ramones-style, into the next activity.

Don't Squish the Sasquatch! worked pretty well, but I think some of the strengths I perceived in my review may not have materialized. It offers a lot of fantastic details with a pretty simple story, so we'll see. Everyone was happiest when the Sasquatch got kissed (spoiler alert!) because that was gross. Agreed.

Baby Shark was a big hit, which was gratifying for me. I think we will use it for a few more weeks just to get it down, so we can come back to it later. It's more fun the more everyone participates, natch.  Chicken Butt! was its usual zany self, and a nice introduction to shakers. Chicken Butt is a bit one-note (obviously) but that note is great and resonates with Head Start preschool audiences, and got Class 1 and 2 in a silly mood. I was happy to have shakers to hand out afterward so we could channel that energy. There was a little less of a mind-blowing thrill of the new with the shakers, but a little more anticipatory excitement considering they recognized them and knew what was coming. We were ready to have fun!

And we did have fun. There were some issues with waiting in place to receive and return their eggs, but that's to be expected. Practice will make getting better and better. I'm going to get into this more when discussing Class 3 and 4, but I don't see dropping the shakers for the foreseeable future. Everybody said goodbye to Gareth, and I swear one kid (whose name is escaping me right now, though I received a compliment on my mastery of names from a teachers on Thursday) hugged him for over two minutes. Other kids would get their hug in and leave, but this one just kept hanging on for dear life. Also: Gareth gets an embarrassing amount of goodbye kisses.

Class 3 and 4

Great news! Class 3 and 4 dug Ginger, which I had been a little worried about. A couple of kids squirmed for sure, but only a few. Most everyone seemed really into it, and told me about their kitties, chimed in about the plot, and so on. Everything according to plan! Double-plus good that Class 3 and 4 are getting more locked in on gentler stories; this seems like real progress.

Same deal with Don't Squish the Sasquatch! as Class 1 and 2, really. It was cool when he got kissed because that was gross. We all laughed at that. Baby Shark also went really well. Relieved they enjoyed it and that I didn't totally blow it. Chicken Butt! inspired a bunch of kids to say "chicken butt!" - a lot! Yay! I think they were relating to the story, even it's silly one-note nature in a really good way.

The main take-away from Class 3 and 4's storytime is that the shakers are not going anywhere. They for sure cause a minor degree of storytime higgledy-piggledy, which I support 100%. Everyone loves the shakers, and more importantly everyone participates when we use them. Gladly and unabashedly. This includes kids who simply do not, for whatever reason, otherwise participate in storytime. If using shakers offers those kids an opportunity to be a part of storytime, then I am not taking that away: far from it. I don't want it to get humdrum, but I think we can find new and inventive ways to incorporate musical instruments into our storytimes.

I also had a really good storytime with a student who has had some rough afternoons in the past. He is one of the aforementioned non-participants. I try to speak to him by name every storytime and offer him a chance to take part in whatever way he feels comfortable. Often he is uninterested and requires the attention of a teacher, but after talking to him before storytime he came up when we started and sat right next to me for most of storytime. Just sitting, but this was huge progress!