Montjoy_Emily_ReadingReflection

Reflections on Readings

Digital Storytelling & Poetry in Storytelling

Poetry is one of my favorite genres to share with students because it is often overlooked and misunderstood.  Many people think of poetry as a short rhyming piece of writing with one column of six to eight stanzas and written in a way meant to have the reader thinking deeply and critically to infer the meaning of the poem.  Poetry is so much more than that though!  I always share novels written in verse with my students like The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, Love That Dog by Sharon Creech, Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry , or Missing Mike by Shari Green just to name a couple.  Poetry can be written to tell a story, and novels in verse provide an example of this variation of the poetry genre.  

Narrative Poems are another great example of using poetry in storytelling.  Narrative Poems are often used in picture books to tell a shorter story.  When searching for several poems to read this week, I found this blog with a great explanation of narrative poetry and how to write your own!  Narrative Poetry  Narrative poetry would be a great addition to a storytelling session in the library as well as writing and creating a digital storytelling piece.  There are many benefits to reading and reciting poetry.  As stated on Argo Prep, "Poetry is an exciting and easy way to help kids become stronger readers. Research shows that poetry helps build literacy skills, including phonemic awareness, memory, and fluency, especially if you read poems aloud! Poetry also helps develop spelling and vocabulary. Reading and writing poetry can spark creativity while building up critical thinking skills."

Another article I found when looking for poetry to read was one written by poet Kwame Alexander.  He described list poetry and the benefits to sharing this format with students.  You can read this helpful information here List Poetry and Storytelling in the Classroom  Students are often intimidated reading poetry and especially writing poetry.  Using list format is a great introductory tool to writing poetry.  List poems can tell a story.  There are no rules to follow when writing list poems, they can rhyme or not, they can contain figurative language or not, they can follow a pattern or not.  I really enjoyed reading this article and plan on trying this style with my own students.  I also found reading these poems enjoyable.  I think the simple style really packs a punch when the poet is telling a story, espcecially if it is about something personal.  This is a powerful way to share those thoughts and feelings.

Ten Poems to Share 

This week I read the following ten poems:

"The Storyteller" by Mike Jones  This poem was also set to music.  

"My Autumn Senses" by Staci Eirich (storyberries.com-- great narrative poem to teach descriptive writing)

"A Penny's Travels" by Ranbir B. (an example of a list poem)

"Ten Reasons Why Fathers Cry at Night"- Kwame Alexander (another list poem)

"Going Nowhere Slowly" by Kenn Nesbitt  https://poetry4kids.com/poems/

"Underneath the Apple Tree" by Kenn Nesbitt 

"The Strongest Girl I Ever Knew" by Ronald Doe

"The Rat Race" by Lorna Welch

"Noone Saved Us" by Patricia Fleming

"The Door of Dreams" by Jessie Rittenhouse 

https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poems/

Digital Storytelling

Until this class, I was unfamiliar with digital storytelling.  Digital storytelling is using digital tools, technology, and multimedia to tell a story.  The storyteller may write a story, and then create a video of sort to share the sound, like a read aloud of the story or voice over, music, and images and pictures to complement the story and bring it to life.  Digital storytelling focuses on one topic or idea to tell the story.  These could be personal stories, historical recounts of events, memories, responses, etc.  Digital storytelling can be used in the classroom to bring writing to life, but also in content areas like social studies.    This link has more educational information about digital storytelling. http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/page.cfm?id=27&cid=27

 This one image digital storytelling idea is another idea to use in the classroom and library setting. Single image Digital Storytelling  This link also gives the "how-to" steps to creating your own digital storytelling piece which is very beneficial.  These steps will really be helpful to a beginner in digital storytelling, like myself, or students who wish to create their own digital storytelling pieces.  This educational tool will also be one that content teachers could use in social studies and science classrooms as well.

One example of digital storytelling that I watched was this one entitled, "Daddy's Girl" by Deidre Johnson.  Daddy's Girl The author shared in a very short 3-4 minute narration the special bond she had with her father growing up and the heartbreaking struggle they live as he ages and faces dementia.  The story was gripping and powerful.  Story Center for Digital Storytelling had such a wide variety of examples of digital storytelling.  I would love to find something similar for young audiences in a school library setting!  I found several links when doing a quick search, so I am going to share those here.  Please share any resources you have for digital storytelling for kids!  Technology can often be overwhelming or intimidating for me, but our students are so tech-savvy, I think this would be a project that they would love and would also be very beneficial.  This also could be a great way to partner a reluctant writer with a confident writer and a tech-savvy student with another student who lacks tech skills.  I look forward to creating my own digital story as well as guiding students in the school library with their digital stories!

https://www.middleweb.com/45799/digital-storytelling-an-exciting-teaching-tool/

https://cooltoolsforschool.net/digital-storytelling/

https://brandietrent.weebly.com/uploads/8/8/2/1/8821291/digital_storytelling_descprition_and_resources1.pdf

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/ccia-digital-storytelling-tools-ela-monica-burns

https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/how-to-use-scratch-for-digital-storytelling

https://creativeeducator.tech4learning.com/digital-storytelling

I found so much to read and dive into with digital storytelling.  I am looking forward to learning more from my fellow classmates and futher reading and researching.  One of the articles that perked my interest the most was the comic-based digital storytelling.  I could see many of our students and graphic novel fans take interest and ownership of a comic-based digital storytelling project.  What digital storytelling ideas did you find most appealing to add to your professional toolbox?

Citation:

Ten Poems to Read on National Poetry Day for Young Readers. Argo Prep. 

    https://argoprep.com/blog/k8/10-poems-to-read-on-national-poetry-day-for-young-readers/

Montjoy_Emily_BlogShare

 Blogs to Better Your Budding Readers

This week our assignment was to find a library related blog to share.  This was a fun assignment because there are so many informative blogs right at our fingertips sharing useful information.  One way to become a better librarian is to take part in collaboration and continuous learning.  Educators are always learning new ways to do things better and more effectively to reach our students.  I found so many great blogs that it really is hard to share just one, so I am going to share two that I found very beneficial to me as a librarian.

The Library Voice

The first blog I am going to share is The Library Voice Blog.  This blog is created by a librarian, Shannon McClintock Miller.  She is a district librarian and shares many useful tips for librarians to use in their libraries.  She shares a variety of resources from technology and apps to use with your students in the library to monthly calendars for choice boards centered around thematic books, writing, research, virtual bookshelves, BreakoutEDU, to practical ideas like setting up Destiny self checkout in your library and using Canva to create signs for your library.  Her blog is a plethora of helpful hints, tool, and resources.

One particular post that caught my attention as a new librarian is Picture Books For Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy Conversations and Learning.  I am coming from the classroom, so my experience is teaching reading--from how to become a better reader (skills and strategies) to how to help students find books they love and generate a desire to read more!  We used our chromebooks and technology a good bit in the classroom, but we always depended on our school librarian's expertise to teach digital citizenship.  This is a topic that I do not know a great deal about, not necessarily what it is, but how to teach the importance to our students in grades K-5th.  This week begins Digital Citizenship Week, so I want to use this chance to talk to my students about the importance of being a good digital citizen while using technology.  Our students are involved in technology related activities more now than ever before, so it is crucial to bring awareness to this important topic.  Ms. Miller shares four picture books to use when teaching digital citizenship and media literacy.  She also shares a link to a padlet page with additional books where anyone can share ideas centered around this topic.  Two books she shared that I want to add to my collection are Selfie by Sandy Horsley and Me, Myselfie and I...A Cautionary Tale by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell.

If you'd like more information about Digital Citizenship, here are a few more resources:

https://mydigitallife.discoveryeducation.com/

https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship-week

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/how-to-celebrate-digital-citizenship-week

https://nearpod.com/blog/digital-citizenship-week-free-lessons/

https://www.twinkl.com/event/digital-citizenship-week-usa-2023

https://brittanywashburn.com/2021/08/digital-citizenship-week-activities-for/

https://blog.tcea.org/digital-citizenship-week-2022/

Seven Additional Picture Books to Teach Digital Citizenship

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Blog

This blog is a collection of posts from over 4,000 librarians, literacy experts, publishers, educators, and others with one common focus-- to create and provide an exemplary library service.  This blog has so. much. information.  Luckily, there is a search bar so you can search for specific topics and information.  There is also a "categories" drop down menu including topics like: audio books, author spotlight, book clubs, children and technology, collaboration, collection development, digital world, diversity, grants, information literacy, intellectual freedom, podcasts, programming ideas, research, school library media specialists, stem, storytime, summer reading, technology, tweens, and an interesting category "what I wasn't taught in library school".  This blog literally has a little bit of everything!  

I focused on the category "storytime" for the purpose of this blog share.  The blog posts under this specific category include posts explaining and highlighting topics like using felt boards and early literacy, puppets, book selection, storytime: handling the adults, singing, using board books, storytime crafts, movement and mindfulness storytimes.  There are so many useful ideas for librarians to use when planning storytimes in the library!

I also was curious how the "searchbar" feature would work.  Since my first blog above centered around digital citizenship, I decided to search their blog to see what was available on this topic.  There were many blog posts dedicated to digital citizenship so it would be a great place to go-to for more information.  This blog post caught my attention because it mentioned how important it is to teach students to navigate information online geared towards children in grades 3-6.  The blog mentions that, "Google furnishes presentations to use on categories like “Share with Care,” “Don’t Fall for Fake,” and “It’s Cool to be Kind-” providing the opportunity to learn how to keep personal information safe, how to treat others in a digital world, and how to discern true from false information."  (ALSC Children and Technology Committee, 2020)  The blog also mentions that Google has a game called Interland that has different levels addressing topics like password choice, interacting online with kindness, and securing information. 

I really enjoyed searching for blogs this week that would be beneficial to myself as a school librarian as well as my classmates to add to their professional toolbox.  I hope you are able to take something away this week and use it in your libraries to come!

6 Tall Tales

Johnny Appleseed Graphic Novel version

The Spider and the Waterberry Tree

The Tall Tale of the Giants Causeway

How Dachshunds Came to Be

Hunter's Tall Tales

The Legend of Lightning Larry: A Cowboy Tall Tale

Citations:

ALSC Children and Technology Committee. https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2020/04/be-internet-awesome-a-path-to-digital-citizenship. April 11, 2020.

Montjoy_Emily_FreeChoiceBlog

 Storytelling Resources to Create Snazzy Sessions 

Novel Effect

During my last storytelling experience, I used music and sound effects.  Adding music to your storytime session is especially pleasing to young children and hooks and maintains their attention from the very beginning and throughout the story.  Several classmates were curious about the resource I used to add this effect to enhance my storytelling session.  You can listen to my recording here Storytelling with Sound Effects. Here is another example: a recording of author Josh Funk reading aloud his book, Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast using the Novel Effect Soundscape to enhance his story. Author, Josh Funk, reads aloud his book with Novel Effect

I wanted to share this amazing tool that I used when reading aloud.  It is great for teachers or librarians who want to spice up their read alouds and storytelling sessions.  Novel Effect is an app that listens to you read aloud a book, responds to your read aloud, and provides on-cue music and sound effects for the story.  The app is programmed to respond when it hears you read certain words from the book.  When it hears you read signal words, the app knows to activate the music and sound effects.  Novel Effect brings stories to life as your audience is entranced and captivated with the unexpected sound effects that correspond to the text you are reading.  Novel Effect has a book list of available titles that have Soundscapes available (music and sound effects). Book List for Soundscapes available on Novel Effect and link to book activities if available

Additionally, some book titles have book activities that have already been created that you can use to follow up in your library sessions.  These planned activities and lessons are especially benefical to school librarians and teachers who may use Novel Effect in their lessons.  I have used the Novel Effect app with my students, and they are amazed and engaged in the story.  They are always focused and wondering where the sounds are coming from, and they ask me each week if our story will have sound.  They look forward to me reading aloud using the Novel Effect app to enhance my storytelling and read aloud sessions.  Creating an engaging session creates an atomosphere that encourages the students' attention and builds comprehension of the stories.

Novel Effect also provides a monthly calendar with various read alouds and storytelling sessions grouped around themes based on the current month.  Here is a look at this month's October calendar with all of the books they have available for read alouds with sound effects, or Soundscapes.  Many of these books are books you already own or are very popular and would probably already plan on reading aloud to your students or patrons.  Adding Novel Effect just takes your read alouds and storytelling up a notch and makes the session a little more snazzy!  Students and patrons are engaged with the storyteller, and this provides a more successful and meaningful storytime session.

Also, it is imperative that storytellers include a variety of stories and use diverse titles to encompass different cultures, races, backgrounds, abilities etc.  Novel Effect offers a variety of Soundscapes to accompany a variety of diverse titles.  You can also check out their blog for more ideas with highlighted themes such as Hispanic Heritage Month, Black History, Native American Heritage, etc.  Novel Effect blog

"The storyteller who tells to children with special needs must have all the qualities of a good storyteller--only more so. ...Storytellers who have the opportunity to work with special needs children consider it a joy and a challenge. ... Effective storytelling has the capacity to reach children with visual and hearing impairments, children who struggle with reading and writing, children who have behavioral issues, children who have processing and communication difficulties, and children with attention deficit." (Greene & Del Negro, 2010, p. 111)

Live Storytellers

Every year, the Stone Soup Storytellers come visit my school and share their storytelling experiences with our students.  The storytellers come from all around, but they are all very lively and engaging.  Most of our students are not exposed to storytellers who have had training and practice like these professional storytellers. These storytellers are animated, rehearsed, and performing stories from memory.  Some use props and music, but all use their bodies, gestures, and voice to create an entertaining storytelling session. You can find more information about the annual Stone Soup Storytelling Festival here.  

Last year we had a storyteller visit our school that was one of the best I have ever heard, Gwendolyn J. Napier.  She had every student sitting on the edge of their seat, soaking in her every word.  She was a true entertainer and the students were enthralled with her storytelling abilities.  She involved the audience at various times throughout her session which kept everyone engaged and attentive.  Her interactive, lively style was phenomenal, and I am not sure I have heard a storyteller as entertaining as her in quite awhile.  After the program I went over to her and introduced myself.  I told her I was a teacher and future librarian and would love to connect and have her in my library some day.  She shared her information, so I am passing it along if you are ever looking for a live professional storyteller to host in your library.  She is sure to bring the spice and snazzy session to you!

What is a storyteller?  Listen to an interview and a few stories with Ms. Napier here.

Gwendolyn J. Napier

Master Storytelling Artist

(404) 310-4833

(404) 755-4860

missluvdrop@yahoo.com

Ms. Napier's website

"The story qualities that appeal to young adults are the qualities of traditional literature, and that influence can clearly be seen in popular media.  Young adults form a hard-core fan base for contemporary fantasy and science fiction, whether novels, films, or television shows.  Traditional literature is the well from which much contemporary fantasy springs, which makes the more complex traditional tales, such as romances, hero tales, ghost stories, and epics a rich source for storytelling to young adults." (Greene & Del Negro, 2010, p. 176)

Seven Legends

Bruce and the Legend of Soggy Hollow

Inukpack and His Son (based on a traditional Inuit legend)

Nian, the Chinese New Year Dragon (retelling of the Nian legend)

A Wave of Stars (legend of the moon rainbow)

The Happiest Herder in the Land (legend of the origin of coffee)

Maya by Mahak Jain (This story is beautiful!  The main character is struggling with fear, loss, grief and her mother tells her the legend of the banyan tree to distract her.  The story takes her mind off of her fears as the story takes over her imagination.  This book is a must have as it teaches the power of story.)

Paul Bunyan: The Invention of an American Legend (A TOON graphic novel)

The Very True Legend of the Mongolian Death Worms

Seven Myths

Sugar in Milk

Cyclops of Central Park

Cyclops Tells All (The Other Side of the Myth)

Uni the Unicorn and the Haunted Pumpkin Patch

Unicorns by Gary Jeffrey (graphic novel)

Dragons Love Tacos

The Lonely Beast by Chris Judge

**Preorder upcoming release Nov. 7, 2023: In my search I found this book that looks amazing, so I am just sharing it to put it on your radar!

"Young adults enjoy the grand adventure story.  They are fascinated by tales with multidimensional characters who are journeying, seeking, facing challenges, and defining who they are, just as the young adult listener is doing." (Greene & Del Negro, 2010 p. 181)

Citations:

Greene, Ellin & Janice M. Del Negro. (2010). Storytelling : art and technique. Libraries Unlimited.