I prepared two different story times to practice. Hearing the story out loud helps when deciding what age group would respond best to the story, what works and what doesn't, and to develop the flow of story time.
Supervisor: Renee Krichner
Friday: 9am-2pm
Today was a day to practice storytime with Renee. I had chosen a few books suitable for toddler, preschool, and family but really needed to hear them out loud and determine run times before I could decide which to assign to each group. Renee was very helpful with her tips and tricks from her many storytimes over the years. She also shared several songs and rhymes suitable for movement or calming. However, the biggest tip is “Never stop!” No matter what happens just keep plowing through, adjusting on the fly as needed. That seems to be the exact same philosophy used when teaching preschool children so I should be good with whatever crazy happens during storytime (I hope).
Renee had a few tips for preparation as well. She pointed out that if the person planning to do storytime happens to be sick, the story must still go on. Having detailed notes and a backup storytime to present is a very handy tool. She encouraged me to create a file of completed story times appropriate for different age groups in case I had to randomly pull a storytime out of a hat! Also creating a playlist for songs for different ages is very helpful. Understanding that toddlers like to move and have the attention span of 2 books max while preschoolers can listen to 3 books and love to be silly, and all children love to dance sets general guidelines for planning a storytime.
Add comment
Comments