I studied copyright in ISCI 701, so this was a welcome refresher on the copyright policies. I am relieved to understand through the module readings and lectures that I will not be the "copyright police" for the school where I will work. However, I appreciate having an understanding of copyright and fair use which I can provide professional development lessons to school educators and administrators. Teachers and administrators should have a basic understanding of what is protected by copyright and also the different items that are not protected and how this applies to education. Russell's (2019) article addresses copyright by recording and publishing storybook readings on the Internet. Through analyzing the four factors of fair use, Russell discusses how these stories published on the Internet have a low risk of copyright infringement. The article applied the four factors test of fair use in an easy-to-understand scenario and I feel that this is the type of scenario that can be addressed for professional development within the school.
Open Educational Resources
As an educator, I appreciate and value the use of open educational resources (OERs) for student learning and advancement. OERs can create equality among varying educational systems through the flexibility and convenience of valuable resources being available to all students. Not all schools can afford textbooks and OERs can provide schools with a cost-benefit by offering students access to high-quality resources. The only caveat is that the student must also have access to technological supporting devices to access the OERs. In addition, I value the learning experience of students through the engagement of OERs, students are not passively learning (IFLA, n.d.).
Social Media
Librarians are transforming the outreach to patrons, students, parents, and community members through the utilization of various social media outlets. I was energized and motivated by the various articles that addressed how librarians are using social media to reach their communities. For example, Jones's (2020) article inspired me to set goals for myself when posting about library initiatives. Parents and caregivers of students need to see what their students are learning in the library. I already follow many librarians on Instagram and TikTok. I love the ideas that librarians post for read-alouds and activities in the classroom. As a future librarian, I will be posting weekly about library initiatives, book reviews and student involvement.
References
IFLA. (n.d.) Open educational resources and libraries: a briefing. [PDF]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.sc.edu.
Jones, A. Get your self(ie) out there: My year as an AASL social media superstar. [PDF]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.sc.edu.
Russell, C. (2019). Tackling copyright concerns when taking storytime online. [PDF]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.sc.edu.
Hello! My name is Jessica and welcome to my blog! I go by Jessica or Jess and my preferred pronouns are she/her/hers. I reside in Fort Mill, SC, and am a kindergarten assistant in the Fort Mill School District. My undergraduate degree is in Business Administration and I worked for several years in the marketing and finance industry. I made a career change and became the State Scholarship Coordinator for the University of Florida. While at UF, I earned my Master's degree in Educational Leadership with a focus on higher education administration. I took a break from my career to be a stay-at-home mom for my children. I began subbing at our local school district and discovered a passion for working with elementary school students. I have been a kindergarten assistant for 3 years.
I am in my second year of the MLIS program with the school track and EDI certificate. I will start my first internship next semester. My primary goal for this semester is to understand and utilize technology effectively in the elementary school library setting. I have really enjoyed using and playing around with Canva for many of my course projects. As an undergraduate student, I predominantly used Microsoft products. I now understand and appreciate the ease and user-friendly platform of Google.
Fun fact - I sang with a choir in college and we performed at the White House.
Here is a picture of myself and my family
I am excited for this course and getting to know you!
I have attended story times at different public libraries for over 10 years with my children. I felt that I had a good concept of what makes story time work and how they can quickly derail. Greene and Del Negro's (2010) chapter on program planning clearly addresses how storytellers should plan for their sessions. There is a section of the chapter that offers suggestions of ideal books for different age groups, which is very helpful. My biggest takeaway from this chapter is the need to be flexible. Plan and be flexible should issues arise to take a different route with your story time session (Greene & Del Negro, 2010). With this planning and being flexible is developing a connection with other librarians. Engagement has increased among librarians, especially with social media outlets, like Facebook (Barchas-Lichtenstein et al., 2020). Collaboration with other librarians and sharing ideas will help me, also, develop successful story times.
I appreciate the idea of incorporating family storytelling events for a public school library. From my personal perspective, caregivers rarely attend events in the library at their child's school. Inviting families into the school library, helps promote a sense of community and gives librarians an opportunity to listen to the needs in their community. Plus, story time connects the caregivers with their child's literacy development by providing an additional outlet for caregivers to engage with the child. A librarian can create family story times based on themes, like seasons and holidays. The family story time needs to be effectively marketed to ensure attendance (Haver, 2014). I would utilize the school with this communication. Our principal does a very good job with communication to our community. In addition, we have weekly communication folders that go home with all students that describe the events going on at the school.
The following is an example of an online family story time provided by the Wake County Public Libraries
Inviting a local author to story time provides students with the author's perspective on their book and writing. I have attended a story time at our public school in Massachusetts, where an evening was designated to a local author presenting their book to the community. The author discussed how they developed the idea for the book and was able to read the book in the voices, that they created for the characters. An author presentation at the local library is beneficial for students because they can envision themselves as the authors. Furthermore, incorporating this visit with family story time, brings the community into the library setting.
The following is a clip from a local author in Springfield, MA, which is near where we lived. I selected this clip because you can see the excitement on the students' faces from Ty Allan Jackson's visit.
The readings also discussed student and author collaboration on stories. Pigeons is an organization in Australia that partners a student with a published author to tell a story. The authors guide the students through the art of storytelling to help the student effectively tell their own story. The project helped students with their literacy and writing development and also their creativity. Ultimately the Pigeons project gives the students a voice for their ideas to be heard and express themselves (Watkins et al., 2012).
I have addressed this idea in previous blogs, but I truly believe that it is extremely beneficial for students to learn and craft their own stories in a public school library program. Storytelling helps students collaborate with their peers through humor and entertainment. Students telling their own stories encourages intellectual freedom and the ability to discuss topics that they would not feel comfortable discussing in the general classroom. In addition, students are sharing stories that are important to them, either about their family, culture, or life experiences (Piipponen and Karlsson, 2019). I live in a diverse community with a significant population of students from Indian families. As a school librarian, I really think that the storytelling would provide students from other cultures with the mode to express their cultural background and beliefs.
I have many ideas to formulate into plans with my future position as an elementary school librarian. First and foremost, I want to craft a story telling program that builds a foundation for story telling in kindergarten and builds upon this framework in subsequent grade levels. Also, in order to gain collaboration and support from the community, I want to open the doors to the library and create a family story time event, either with a local author or centered around a theme. I believe that forming alliances with other librarians is critical to my success in garnering other ideas.
References
Barchas-Lichtenstein, J., Norlander, R. J., Fraser, J., Fournier, M. D., Voiklis, J., Nock, K., & Danter, E. (2020). Categorizing library public programs. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 90(4), 563–579. https://doi.org/10.1086/710259
Greene, E. and Del Negro, J.M. (2010). Storytelling: Art and technique. (4th ed). Libraries Unlimited.
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
Piipponen, O., and Karlsson, L. (2019). Children encountering each other through storytelling: Promoting intercultural learning in schools. The Journal of Educational Research, 112(5), 590–603. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2019.1614514
Watkins, M., Macintyre, P., and Grant, G. (2012). ‘Aliens with Einstein heads’: Creative storytelling partnerships between child, author and artist. The International Journal of the Book, 9(3), 53–66. https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9516/cgp/v09i03/36947
This week's selection of readings:
I really enjoyed the selection of non fiction readings for the week. I love this genre and can not wait to explore it with an elementary school audience. Non fiction stories show students how ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things in everyday life. For example, a young boy curious about the world, struggling with homework, too small to excel at basketball, attends Cornell University and becomes one of the most famous doctors in America - Dr. Fauci. Non fiction stories are relatable for students and inspire them to dream of their futures.
For my blog share this week, I will be highlighting the resources of The Trapped Librarian. I found this blog to be especially helpful for media specialists in elementary schools.
Laura Trapp the author of this blog, has been an elementary school librarian for 18 years and an elementary school teacher for 9 years. She provides a wealth of knowledge on all things related to library programming, managing library collections, and supporting the needs of students. I found her blog to be very user friendly and easily accessible for the information that I was seeking.
I selected the story time category listed on the word wall of the page and was presented with several articles about different story time themes. I found the article about the benefits of musical story time very interesting because we have also been studying this concept in our storytelling class. Beginning the class with a brain break, such as a musical song, helps students get out their "wiggles." After the brain break, younger students are better prepared to settle down and listen to a story. I have a musical background, so I really enjoy seeing examples of incorporating music into the library story time. Trapp (2022) highlights that a consistent song to open the library session increases engagement of the students because they know what to expect when they come to story time.
The blog highlights different themes, book selections and activities around the months or holidays. I found this especially beneficial for planning purposes. I have many ideas that I would like to incorporate into my future role as a school librarian. Trapp's blog showed me a better way to organize those ideas and provided me with newer ideas to use in the library. For example, Trapp's (2022) May post was centered around wrapping up the end of the school year and keeping the students engaged. She gives ideas for promoting summer reading, especially with 3rd - 5th grade students.
I am currently taking the MLIS course, Information and Organization Access. We are learning about the various cataloging methods, information retrieval and encoding. With all my coursework, I envision how I will utilize that information in my future role. Trapp (2021) shares a blog regarding teaching elementary students how to use the cataloging systems and the importance of teaching those systems to students. Trapp (2021) builds the framework with kindergarten students and builds upon this knowledge each year. She provides (for a fee) a bundle of resources to use with students that are 11 themed units regarding the card catalog system. A program like this maybe worth pursuing because it not only teaches the students how to locate the resources they desire but also gives them the independence to use the library effectively.
As future librarians, the need for advocacy for the library has been impressed upon us. We must be ready to advocate for funding to provide the services and resources that meet the needs of our communities. Trapp's blog creates an entire section related to advocacy for libraries. One part of that advocacy is collaboration within the schools with the administration and classroom teachers. Trapp's (2022) article provides librarians with ideas for more collaboration with administrators and teachers.
I thoroughly enjoyed the knowledge that I garnered through researching the blog, The Trapped Librarian. This blog provided me with many opportunities to envision ideas that I want to use in my future school library. I am excited about incorporating music into the library program. Not all students learn the same way, by incorporating music, I maybe able to reach another sector of students. Also, the application of tools to teach cataloging helped me immensely with programs I can utilize to teach these concepts. I highly suggest checking out The Trapped Librarian!
References
Trapp, L. (n.d.). The trapped librarian. The Trapped Librarian. https://trappedlibrarian.org/
Trapp, L. (2020, August 3). The benefits of musical storytime in the library. The Trapped Librarian. https://trappedlibrarian.org/tag/storytime/
Trapp, L. (2022, May 18). May library lessons. The Trapped Librarian. https://trappedlibrarian.org/2022/05/may-library-lessons/
Trapp, L. (2022, November 14). Why your students need library catalog practice. The Trapped Librarian. https://trappedlibrarian.org/2021/01/why-your-students-need-library-catalog-practice/
Trapp, L. (2020, June 22). More ideas for collaboration in the school library. The Trapped Librarian. https://trappedlibrarian.org/2020/06/more-ideas-for-collaboration-in-the-school-library/
After the completion of the Masters in Library and Information Sciences (MLIS) degree program, I hope to obtain a media specialist position with an elementary school. I love storytelling with my own children and the kindergarteners that I work with in my full-time position. I enjoyed reading how storytelling can be implemented into the curriculum at a school with helping the students tell their own stories. For my free choice blog this week, I would like to highlight how media specialists can implement storytelling curriculums and the benefits of storytelling on the development of the students.
Greene and Del Negro (2010) highlight the uses of storytelling in the curriculum through related arts in a school. Anne Shimojima, a director of an Instructional Media Center, has introduced the art of storytelling to elementary students and in turn, involved the students with the storytelling process. (Greene and Del Negro, 2010). Students are active participants with the stories in kindergarten and then transition to learning story elements in first grade (Greene and Del Negro, 2010). Next, students concentrate on folklore in second grade, third graders film DVDs of their own stories, and by fourth grade, the students themselves are the storytellers (Greene and Del Negro, 2010). I found this curriculum fascinating how Anne Shimojima incorporated all aspects of storytelling. She adapted the curriculum to each grade level of students and made the act of storytelling compelling to that grade level. In addition, the curriculum that Anne Shimojima adapted in the media center encourages collaboration with the classroom teachers. While students are developing their stories in fourth grade, classroom teachers help the students with character development (Greene and Del Negro, 2010). Anne Shimojima’s project of storytelling provided collaboration between the students, classroom teachers and media center and helped develop the children’s passion for storytelling.
I was inspired to learn about the storytelling curriculum and found another example that based the storytelling lessons in the school around a festival at the end of the storytelling program. Higgins (2008) found that the students from a school in inner city Philadelphia actually craved the roles that storytelling provided to them. Students proved to enjoy acting out stories and creating different voices for characters (Higgins, 2008). Once again, collaboration between the classroom teachers and media specialist assisted with the ultimate development of the stories. Higgins (2008) provides an additional model for media specialists to incorporate storytelling into the media center curriculum and give students the confidence to be their own storytellers. Higgins developed an eight-week program for third graders that ended with a festival to perform the stories that the students had been working so hard on (2008). Reading about the incorporation of storytelling into the curriculum of media centers makes me even more excited to become a library specialist. Furthermore, students benefit from storytelling with educational and personal goals.
Storytelling provides students with many educational benefits. Haven (2010) found that storytelling in libraries increased the literacy of students. Storytelling assisted with the enhancement of students learning story structures: a beginning, middle, end, characters, problems and solutions (Haven, 2010). Once students understand story structure, reading comprehension increases (Haven, 2010). Librarians can help with this understanding by pausing and asking pertinent questions about the story. Havens (2010) also found that effective storytelling by librarians helped with improvement in students’ writing. Stories help students cognitively process the elements of a story, which in turn helps with comprehension and writing.
When media specialists provide students with the resources to perform their own stories, they are also helping students develop on a personal level. Greene and Del Negro (2010) found that students’ self-esteem and confidence increased through storytelling experiences. Students choosing their own stories helps build self-expression. “We learned that the stories that make a difference are often ones that come from our own lives” (Higgins, 2008, p.31). Students referenced the confidence built through overcoming fears and feeling prepared to tell their stories (Higgins, 2008).
In conclusion, as we have been learning in our weekly modules, everyone has a story to tell and that includes children. Why not give students the education to express themselves through storytelling? I am excited about the prospect of introducing storytelling lessons into a future media specialist role. In addition, I feel that it is an ideal opportunity to collaborate with classroom teachers on story development. Storytelling for students helps increase not only educational goals but also personal development.
References
Greene, E., & Del Negro, J. M. (2010). Storytelling: Art and technique(4th ed.). Libraries Unlimited.
Haven, K. (2010). The story of the story: Research support for the school librarian’s role in teaching writing. School Library Monthly, 26(6), 39–41.
Higgins, C. (2008). Gather ‘round the campfire Engaging students and creating storytellers. Knowledge Quest, 36(5), 28 – 34.
For my first storytelling experience, I contemplated a book that I was familiar with and enjoyed. Greene and Del Negro (2010) stress the importance of selecting a book that the storyteller will enjoy telling and not only teaching (p. 60 – 61). I am most familiar with the kindergarten ages, so I wanted my book to be appropriate for four – to - six year olds. In addition, I am most comfortable reading picture books because I have been doing it for fourteen years with my own children.
Selection
I finally chose the book The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. This is a story that I have read many times to my own children and also kindergarten students. I have a comfort with this book and am passionate about the story. I enjoy how Elizabeth, the princess, solves the problem and rescues the prince. Then at the end, the prince feels that she is not a picturesque princess and she replies “Ronald, you are a bum.” I find the storyline inspiring for young children, especially young girls, to realize that you don’t have to always fall for the prince, like traditional fairy tales. Elizabeth is an inspiring and smart heroine.
Setting
After I settled on the book and practiced, I had to find a place in my home that was appropriate for the reading. This was not an easy feat with three children and a dog, plus an extra dog because I was dog sitting! I first started reading on my back porch, which was delightful. Then a neighbor started yard work, and proved to be very distracting. I settled down in my kitchen which provided good lighting, but had to instruct my family members NOT to enter the kitchen. I enjoyed how some classmates were able to utilize actual children’s library settings or studies. I am going to work on a more soothing atmosphere for my next storytelling experience.
Recording
I found it very helpful and informative to record the storytelling experience. I really dislike listening to myself, don’t we all? The recording assisted me with holding my book at a better angle and displaying the pictures for a longer time so that the audience could see them. Also, the recording helped me with slowing down my speech. For my next storytelling experience, I am going to work on a more pleasant, soothing voice (Greene and Del Negro, 2010, p. 96). Watching myself in the recording allowed me to add movements to the story telling. I did not realize that I needed to switch the FlipGrid settings to mirror view for the viewers.
Conclusion
I am proud of my finished product; this was the very first time that I have recorded myself with reading a story. I have a few areas that I would like to tweak. Choosing a more comfortable setting is the first area. I would like to work on my voice and make it more low-pitched for listeners. In addition, I want to tweak some of the features on FlipGrid to make my presentation appear more user friendly.
Upon further research of The Paper Bag Princess, I found an article discussing that the rights have been sold to make a movie of the book. The film will be produced and directed by Elizabeth Banks. It appears that Princess Elizabeth will be empowering young girls all over the world with her spunky and smart attitude.
I first began reading to my children when they were in the womb. Our days were consumed with reading at nap and bed time, or whenever they wanted to read. We would go to library story hours and bring home huge shopping bags of books, weekly. I had picked up the importance of reading to my children from family relatives that were also educators. The readings this week substantiated my strong convictions that children must be told stories and read to at a young age.
Pictures of my children during an outside reading session in 2020
I related to the articles regarding story hours held at local libraries because I witnessed my own children’s development, socially, verbally, and cognitively at these events. Bamkin et al. (2013) found that children experience a peak in their imagination, learning and participation when listening to stories (pp. 63 - 64). Through story telling at libraries, children are encouraged to ask questions about the story, often the storyteller will pause to ask children about their predictions of what will happen next (Bamkin et. al, 2013, p. 72). Furthermore, through story-telling, children learn vocabulary and the inference words (Lwin, 2016, p. 80). The library story hours model positive reading behaviors for caregivers, like dialogic reading, and encourages more reading to children in the home (Albright et al., 2009, p. 15). Librarians can demonstrate through story hours the skills that children receive through read alouds, like phonological and print awareness (Albright et al., 2009, p. 15).
This is a picture of my son, Anthony and I, participating in a storyhour at our library in Southampton, MA. It was featured in the local paper.
The readings for the week also guided me on how to be a successful story teller. Underdown – Dubois (2011) encourages the story teller to be expressive and use your body. The storyteller should feel like they are comfortable with the ages of the group and the group size (Underdown – Dubois, 2011). Greene and Del Negro (2010, p. 59) stress the need for the storyteller to be comfortable with the story and most of all to enjoy the story that you are telling (p. 59). “The storyteller must take the story from the printed page and blow the breath of life into it,” (Greene & Del Negro, 2010, p. 59). I found these tips to be informational with my own storytelling. In addition, much of the research focused on the selection of stories, especially in regards to the ages of the listeners.
Greene and Del Negro (2010, pp. 62 – 63) point out the different stories that children of varying ages enjoy listening to. I would argue that students ages five to six, in kindergarten, enjoy learning facts about non-fiction topics. In my kindergarten classroom, I assisted with a unit about researching polar animals. I conducted a read aloud with pictures about polar bears and almost all of the students in class, approximately 20, sat attentive and eager to learn. The non-fiction unit sparked questions from the students and more in-depth engagement. Greene and Del Negro (2010, p. 62), highlighted that these readers, aged five, six, and seven, enjoy traditional fairy tales and folktales. However, I have found through my own personal experiences that the non-fiction genre should be included with this age group. In addition, Greene and Del Negro (2010, p.63) discuss nine – eleven year old children preferring more sophisticated folktales. I would also argue that this age group enjoys historical fiction that allows them to fantasize about historical events. I have found that both of my boys, ages eleven and fourteen, have an affinity for historical fiction and learning about historical events.
As I read the assigned readings about fables, I contemplated when and where I was as a child when I first heard fables. I read The Brothers Grimm’s fable, Tom Thumb, which is a common name and term that one may hear, but I could not remember if I had ever heard the original fable. The fable was relatively new to me and I did not remember the intricacies. I reflected on a reference that I made to a kindergarten student this school year about tattling. I told the student that I could not take them seriously when they always told me all the minor inconveniences that another child infringed upon them. And I used the term “the boy who cried wolf.” The student stared at me perplexed and did not get my reference. So, I attempted to tell them the story, which still the student could not relate to. Storytelling helps perpetuate the morals and culture of our society (Greene & Del Negro, 2010, p. 47). Linning (2022), expands upon this further with the extension of our fables and folklores from around the world, which helps lay a strong framework for appreciating literature (p. 13).
I have not engaged in much formal storytelling; my experience is mostly with read alouds. Through the research this week, I have garnered a deeper appreciation for storytelling and I am beginning to think of ways to incorporate the theories presented in my kindergarten assistant role. I enjoyed reading how the children listening to stories entered into a “trance like state,” as described by Bamkin et al. (2013). I presume that the children can merely focus on the words of the story teller and draw their own imaginations and conclusions of the story without pictorial accompaniments. In addition, I know from experience, that I may fumble with pages or trip over words when reading from a book. Learning and memorizing a story would prevent some of these discrepancies that take away from the fluency of a story. I am going to leave this video here for your pleasure; it is a Ted Talk by Josh Campbell. Campbell discusses how you can apply storytelling in your everyday life.
References
Albright, M., Delecki, K., & Hinkle, S. (2009). The evolution of early literacy. A history of best practices in story times. Children and Libraries, 13–18. https://doi.org/10.5860/cal
Bamkin, M., Goulding, A., & Maynard, S. (2013). The children sat and listened: Storytelling on children’s mobile libraries. New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, 19(1), 47–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/13614541.2013.755023
Greene, E., & Del Negro, J. M. (2010). Storytelling: Art and technique (4th ed.). Libraries Unlimited.
Linning, L. (2002). Telling traditional tales: Some thoughts and experiences. Orana, 13 – 19.
Lwin, S. M. (2016). It’s story time!: Exploring the potential of multimodality in oral storytelling to support children’s vocabulary learning. Literacy, 50(2), 72–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/lit.12075
Underdown - DuBois, C. (2011). Bringing storytime alive with acting and storytelling techniques: An interactive article. Tennessee Libraries. https://www.tnla.org/page/426
Reading List
Picture Books
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Musch
Imogene's Antlers by David Small
Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester
One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo
Piggie Pie by Margie Palitini
Fables
Tom Thumb by The Brothers Grimm
The Shepherd Who Cried Wolf by Aesop
The Frog and the Ox by Aesop
The Magic Boots by Hans Christian Anderson
The Cat and the Mouse by Aesop
Hans in Luck by The Brothers Grimm
Fairy Tales
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
The Three Little Pigs by Joseph Jacobs
Rumpelstiltskin by The Brothers Grimm
The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Anderson
The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Anderson
