Category: School Library Media Specialist

Blogger Jonathan Dolce

Summer Reading Crunch Time Décor!

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Summer Reading Crunch Time! By now, you should have a pretty good idea of what your SRP program for 2023 looks like. You’ve got your performers lined up, got your giveaway items and prizes. However, let’s say you are like me and are biting off that proverbial chew of decorating the children’s section. I am in the lucky position of having two whole small branch libraries that I get to help decorate for summer reading; that was sarcasm. That aside, it occurred to me to write a bit about the creative process. My painting students are frequently treated to it, so I thought of you, the audience at home. It’s Always a Process and Frequently Involves Cardboard This process gives a few options and rely on just a few factors. Here’s a flowchart for you to guide you! If you dawdle and or procrastinate, here is what your creative process…

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Blogger Jonathan Dolce

Easy Puppetry From the Shadows

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So, coming up this Friday I’m going to be in Ocala for the 2023 TBLC KidsLit MiniCon. For the first time, I’m doing a workshop all about shadow puppetry. Of course, it’s made easy! Moreover, I’m bringing my own brand of shadow puppetry, one that combines many styles and forms of this ancient art. Taking your show on the electronic highway Shadow puppetry enjoys a history that stretches back to time immemorial. Today, we have theability to create, share and present wonderful shadow puppets and entire shows utilizing 3-D printingmethods in person and online. Shadow puppet creation used to take hours of painstaking work withscissors and exacto knives and result in workable but fragile products. The average professional handpuppet today costs upward of $30, while a 3-D printed shadow puppet costs pennies. Here are two (2) I’ve printed: Since most shadow puppet screens/theaters are big rectangles, just zoom in on…

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Blogger Heather Acerro

Highly Recommended: Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong

| Heather Acerro|2 Comments

I don’t need to tell you that it is a challenge to match a child with a book they will love on their reading “level”. I don’t need to tell you about the numerous conversations that I’ve had with adult caregivers reassuring them that their child can check out books above or below their reading “level”. Or that they can check out graphic novels or comic books or magazines and still get practice with reading. This practice is frustrating for librarian, child, and caregiver.   On the recommendation of an educator, my team recently listened to the Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong podcast by APM Reports. I was shocked to learn that the reading programs that have been just a nuisance to me, are actually harming children.   Essentially, a 60-year-old unscientific theory on how children learn to read has been turned into a multi-million dollar industry and it…

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Blogger Children and Technology Committee

Roblox and Kids: What you need to know

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During a recent tech lesson, a first-grade student exclaimed, “I play Roblox, and they can scam you!”. And as I listened, she and many of her six-year-old classmates shared their experiences in the game, describing pop-ups and chat boxes, currency and avatars. It was passionate, energetic, and enlightening. As class ended, I began to wonder more about Roblox’s creation and how it could integrate into a teaching and programming moment.

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Blogger Jonathan Dolce

Planning for SRP 2023 STEMming Summer Slide

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Summer slide. I know I am preaching to the choir here, but it is still a thing. Ideally, addressing summer slide should be a part of your annual goals or tasks, much like summer reading or Banned Books Week. Even more ideal, if there is such a thing, is partnering with schools and other local agencies. First, though, as my old college professor used to say, we can’t discuss a topic without defining it first. So, here we go. What is summer slide and why should I care? Summer slide, and I think Colorado Dept of Education puts it best is: (T)he tendency for students, especially those from low-income families, to lose some of theachievement gains they made during the previous school year. Why you should care Summer slide can affect almost any child. However, the children it impacts the most are the most socioeconomically disadvantaged. Here’s a thousand words…

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Blogger Jonathan Dolce

Turning a Picture Book Into a HUGE Program

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So, we’re making waves this summer and indeed the possibilities are endless. I mentioned last week that I raised an old favorite from the depths. This week, I want to show you how to stretch out just one picture book into an epic summer reading program: Buccaneer Bunnies, to be precise! Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies, by Carolyn Crimi tells the story of Henry, who is the “embarrassing” nerdy son of Blackear, the fiercest bunny to sail the seven seas. In a nutshell, Henry proves that books hold the answers to all manner of situations, outcomes and perils — all without being didactic! But how do you turn a quick read into a 60 minute program?! Well, me old sods, I’ll explain forthwith. It all starts with the book — no, really So, last week, I introduced you to Foghorn Follies, thus, we already have a puppet stage shaped like…

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Blogger Jonathan Dolce

Sailing Into Summer READing 2022

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Raising a Sunken Ship Years and years ago when I was a wee volunteer at a public library in Central Florida, I was lucky enough to be a part of a crew that put on a puppet show by the name of “Foghorn Follies“. They brought me on board as a hand in the show. Little did I know, but one day, when I raised anchor and sailed off to become a librarian, I’d once more sound the foghorn and gather unsuspecting audiences for the corniest puppet show this side of the St. John’s River. But first, Atlantis! Years ago, like, 40 of them, there was a Six Flags Great Adventure park in Florida called “Atlantis”. It was here that the Kiddie Kingdom featured a King’s Sandbox and where the Foghorn Follies show was moored. While the show only lasted two seasons, a librarian fell in love with the show,…

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