Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Here is the next of the series for Solway book on the Albertine forces, this being a mounted Canadian Yeomanry. I have based the chap a lot on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police taking elements from them to create this chap. I think that it has worked out well and I am again happy with the stance and pose of the individual. So here he is.

Canadian Yeomanry, 1938

Flannel Friday: Dream Big ~ READ! SRP

Good morning! I missed Flannel Friday so I guess I'll do a Sharing Saturday this week.

I do apologize to all my Flannel Friday friends for not being as prepared as many of the veterans seem to be each week. I'm still learning all the neat little tricks and trying to find a place in my schedule to blog. I usually don't find time to write my Flannel Friday post until Friday morning ~ scheduling ahead has not been an option yet ~ plus my boss and another co-worker were off yesterday so we were short-handed. I am trying! Please stick with me! I promise I will get there.

In the meantime, I hope this post is helpful.

Our mission for this week ~ if we chose to accept it and I did! ~ was to share an idea or two for our Summer Reading Program (SRP). At my library, we are following the Collaborative Summer Reading Program (CSLP). You can check the program out here.

The chosen theme for CSLP this year is:

I like the theme this year and I am excited to share books and learning activities that will encourage our K through 5 patrons to read, read, read this summer!

First, let me mention that at my library we do not do any flannel board activities during our SRP. The main reason is that our groups are much, much too large for a flannel board to keep everyone's attention. Second, our families have come to expect a little more "entertainment" from our staff! 

Years ago, I had access to B&N's large costume characters and we had fun, exciting programs with them. When I left my job as Children's Program Co-ordinator (it was my second job for over 5 years), I no longer had access to the elaborate costumes so my program focus had to be tweaked. That is how our "Live Action Booksharing" came about. We began to present the books ~ dressing as the characters; interacting with each other, the audience, and sometimes with puppets; and using scenery and props. Just like a high school drama club but each of our presentations was founded on a specific children's book that reflected our theme. And they had to be pretty simple since we didn't have much time for planning and practice.

One thing I'll mention is I am extremely lucky to have a wonderful volunteer who loves working with me on these booksharings. He is wild and crazy! Plus he loves to get the kids excited about books. And he loves having fun.  Together we take a book and turn it into a "book presentation" ~ not really sure what to call what we do because each book takes on a life of its own.

Oh, another thing to mention, I am only responsible for preparing 2 or 3 books for sharing each summer. The rest of the children's staff are also responsible for 2 or 3 books each. We help each other but it is really nice to know that I only have to be totally responsible for my 2 or 3 books!

Hmmm, I think now would be the time to share a little of what I am planning for this summer.

For one of my weeks, I have chosen to do a play on the Night theme by featuring a book about a Knight. 

Once I started searching for my books for this summer, it didn't take me long to come across the PERFECT one!

It is a sweet, funny book about a Knight who keeps watch every night from his "crumbly tumbly tower". 

One night  he hears " a very large, very loud roar" so, because he is a very conscientious Knight, he goes out into the night to investigate:

"He left the crumbly tumbly tower.

He climbed down the very tall wall.

He jumped on his horse.

"Away!" he cried.

He galloped through the king's forest.

Clippety-clop. Clippety-clop.

He came to the deep dark cave."

This section of the book is repetitive which is one of the things I look for in any book that I want to share with a large group. 

It also lends itself to audience participation ~ another characteristic that I look for. 

I am considering the idea of having the children make climbing motions, yelling "Away!" with our Knight, helping to make the "clippety-clop" sounds, and also saying "Oooooooh, no!" each time the Knight arrives at the dark cave. (This is still a work in progress! I usually read the book several times, discuss it with my volunteer, and write down every idea that we brainstorm. Then we will go back and tweak the ideas. Choose the ideas that best suit the book and audience.)

The book continues with the Knight making 4 trips to the dark cave. The first three times, he meets a new dragon who is having trouble going to bed. The requests made by each dragon will have a very familiar ring for the children in the audience. And the parents, too! ;-)

The final request has the Knight saying, "This is going too far."

Will the three little dragons ever go to sleep? 

Will our Good Knight ever get to stay in his "crumbly tumbly tower"? 

Will the horse survive all of the "clippety-clop"-ping through the forest? 

Our SRP participants will enjoy lots of action-packed silliness as we find out the answers to these and other burning questions when we share the book, Good Night, Good Knight, with them this summer!

I am excited to have found this book! It fits extremely well into our theme and also into our style of booksharing. It is repetitive, in a fun way, and invites many levels of audience participation. 

I want to mention a few other things that go into my decision about a book for my SRP events:

***Costumes ~ Are they easily accessible? Do we already have them from another program or are they easily created from items we already have or can get donated?

***Scenery and Props ~ Again, do we have what we need already? Or can we re-purpose, borrow, or get the needed items donated?

***Audience Appeal ~ Is it age appropriate? Is there enough action to keep the audience's attention? Audience participation ideas play a big part in this consideration.

***Learning Activities ~ Is it a book that lends itself to additional activities (crafts, songs, games, library searches, etc.) that will help the kids connect with the book and make them want to read more books on the same topic? 

I feel that this particular book has met all of these criteria for me!

We only need 4 costumes. Three of which are pretty much the same.

We already have a Knight costume from our annual Royal Valentine Party.

And we have a Dinosaur costume that I made several years ago. It could be re-purposed as a dragon by adding wings. Or... 

I was thinking that we could just use 3 sets of pajamas (with kid's themes) like:

Monkey pajamas!

 Or Princess pajamas!

Or trains or kitty pj's ~ LOL!). 

We could add the dragons' wings and tails to the pajamas and create a dragon head hat. 

I know just the hat, too! Easy and inexpensive to make out of paper or craft foam.

Or maybe I can ask one of my creative storytime moms to make dragon hats like this one:

She has made me other hats so that is a possibility. (I think my favorite hat that she made us was a Frankenstein one. So cool!)

Quick note: Never underestimate how much your patrons want to help you have a successful SRP! You never know what someone is willing to donate or who is willing to volunteer to help you with props, scenery, or even crafts and snacks.

Speaking of scenery (LOL):

For the "crumbly tumbly" tower, I have a huge appliance box that I have been saving for ages. We can cover it with the "rock wall" corrugated cardboard that a local Halloween store donated a few years ago. Viola! We have our tower. 

The Knight can go behind the box and enter through the back. Then standing on a chair inside the box, it will appear as though he is high above in his tower. So fun!

We have a cute horse costume that we bought for a couple of dollars after Halloween one year. We have yet to use it but ~ now is the time! I think it might be a child-sized horse so we will have to do a little work to make it fit our Knight but it shouldn't be too hard...

Our puppet theater could be turned into the deep, dark cave with just a little work. I'm thinking that the front could be a black sheet that the Knight will pull aside each time he arrives. As he pulls it aside, the interior of the cave would be revealed with the appropriate dragons inside First, one dragon, then two, then three. ;-)

I am loving this book more and more! So many was to embellish and be creative with its presentation!

Before I end this post, let me discuss a little about the actual booksharing. If you don't have much time to memorize a script and have practices with your fellow presenters, there are a few ways to still have a very successful booksharing ~ and I have done all of them at one time or another.

One way is to find a recording of the book. This makes things easier and less time consuming.

However, many times a professionally recorded book will move too fast for all the actions but it does work well if your time does not allow for making your own recording.

That being said, another way is to do-it-yourself. Making your own recording can take a little time but it is fun and allows for you to build in the necessary time to do certain actions such as a few extra "clippety-clops" ~ so that your Knight can make it from the tower to the cave. It allows for you to give your own personalities to the characters by using different voices ~ like a whiny three-year-old voice for one of the dragons. It also allows you to add sound affects and music, if you want.

A third option would be to have a narrator. The narrator could read the whole story with the characters just acting out the words. 

Or, a fourth option, the narrator could read certain parts of the story with the characters chiming in when necessary. 

This last option does take more time due to the need for memorization and practice but it is my preferred option! 

When you do the booksharing as a "live-action presentation", there is more opportunity for you to have interaction with your audience. You can allow them a few extra seconds to laugh a little longer or to make the "clippety-clop" sound a few more times. You have more opportunities to get them involved and fully engaged with the book. 

Also, you will have an opportunity to share with them the idea that what you are doing is actually something they can do at home with their friends. At the end of the program, I like to tell the audience a little about how we prepared the program and give them suggestions for how they can "bookshare", too. I have had children come back the next week and tell me how they shared a book with their family and friends. Very rewarding! 

I hope to some day be able to showcase a few of these "presentations" at one of our SRP events. It would be unique to have the participants actually presenting the books, don't you think?

WOW! This post has taken on a life of its own! It is quite a bit longer than I expected but I hope it gives you some new ideas or maybe just the encouragement to look at your featured book in a different way. 

One thing to remember: 

There are as many ways to share a book as there are people to share them!

But the most important thing to remember, in my opinion, is ~ 

JUST HAVE FUN!

A couple more thoughts and then I'll end this post.

I plan to make a banner for this program that I will hang in the children's area to get families excited about my week to bookshare. I am thinking that the banner will say "Dream Royal ~ READ!" and will have a few characters from the book (maybe) or at least a castle and forest or something like that. 

In the weeks leading up to my booksharing,  I plan to announce that the children are more than welcome to come dressed in "royal attire" for this particular program. We give out gold coins each summer for reading and attending our SRP events each week. At the end of summer, the kids use the coins to purchase prizes out a Bazaar. We also give coins for other things like drawing a picture of a book they read or for checking out books. For this particular program, I will be giving an extra coin for dressing in "royal attire", for reading a royal-themed book the week before, and for bringing a picture of it or sharing a few details with me after the program. Anything to encourage them to be more involved with my presentation!

Another important part of my presentations each summer include a search in the library. We present our programs in our library meeting rooms that are at the front of our library. I noticed several years ago that many families came in for the SRP and then left without ever going into the Children's area. I felt that this was defeating the purpose of having our two weekly SRP events so I thought about ways to change this. How could we get the families to actually go INTO the library while they were there to participate in SRP?

I decided that it needed to be something that the children would want to do and it needed to get them to explore the library and interact with the other librarians. So... 

Our Library Searches began! 

Depending on the theme, the children are asked to search for something in the library. We have had a "Treasure Hunt" for our Pirate theme, a "Stars and Stripes Hunt" for a Patriotic theme, a "My Wacky World Search" for a Dr. Seuss theme, a "Unusual Animal Search" for a 

Rain Forest theme, and even a "Who Am I? Search" for a Nursery Rhyme theme. 

Different searches have different criteria. Some are simple "Look-and-Find" type searches and some are more involved "Hidden Message" searches. Over the years I have gotten pretty creative with tweaking a Library Search to actually include quotes from a book series or educational facts about a certain topic or even library skills like finding a non-fiction book on a certain topic. It all depends on the book being featured and the group of children who will be attending the event. 

I'll have to add a post about the Library Searches in the near future. They are fun and educational and easy to do! Gotta love that!

In the meantime, if you have any questions about this type of activity, you can post them in the comments below or email me at storytimeabcs@gmail.com

Time to end this post before I think of something else to write!

Oh, wait! One more thing! Okay ~ weeeeeelllll ~ maybe two more things...

As always, 

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

Last thing, I promise!

Flannel Friday information for this week:

Our host is at Sharon at her Rain Makes Applesauce blog. And she even made some "blog bling" for this week's theme: Dream Big ~ READ! Whoo Hoo! Thanks, Sharon! I'll have to grab the button for my blog.

Round up archives and host schedule is at So Tomorrow.

Visually scan all the Flannel Friday posts at Pinterest.

Talk about storytime and flannelboards at the Flannel Friday Facebook Page.

Follow Flannel Friday on Twitter with the #flannelfriday hashtag. (You don’t have to be on Twitter to check this out.)

And, last but not least, if you’re a contributor, there is an awesome blog button from Melissa and you can grab it from the right hand menu at Mel’s Desk!

Knuffle Bunnies…Chicken Little…and Jelly Beans…Oh My!

It was so nice to be back with my sweet little loves today and finally out of the house! It may have been that much sweeter knowing that it was my last day before…wait for it…SPRING BREAK!

All I have to say is praise the Lord for my amazing student teacher. When I walked into my classroom today, everything was finished…work was displayed…room was cleaned! I am going to need for my principal to hire her ASAP! I could tell my little darlings were working up a storm in our Knuffle Bunny Unit. Here is some of the cuteness that they cooked up this week.

To begin the unit, it was all about some Trixie lovin’!  After reading the first two books, the students had to use context clues to identify “The Trixie Traits.”  The students also had to complete a chart where they identified the exact text clue that they used to infer a new trait.

            

Next, the students were busy working on some Mo Willems inspired art while learning about dialogue between characters. I wish I had a picture of every one of my students illustrations, because they were too stinkin’ cute!

  

After all three books were read, they created their Knuffle Bunny glyphs! Presh! The kids completed all of their data collection today and were anxious to share the results!

     

So since they have been into all things “bunny” this final week before spring break, today was about all things jelly beans, chicks and eggs!

We began the day reviewing fractions with jelly beans!

(Found these cuties at the dollar store! Love…love…love the dollar store!)

The students had to write a fraction to represent each color jelly bean and then they had a little practice with comparing fractions. If you would like a copy of this activity, click on the picture below.

After they completed their fraction activity, we did a little graphing activity that I have had for years!

After math, we read Chicken Little. I was amazed at how many students have NEVER heard this fable. After reading, we discussed the moral of the story and the students wrote a letter to Chicken Little explaining how he could have changed his fate. They had some excellent ideas! We then created our own Chicken Littles inspired by a cute card that I saw on Pinterest.

 

     

Next on the list…a little jelly bean science. During this experiment, the scientists were experimenting with the different effects that several liquids have on jelly beans. We busted out the goggles and everything. I am telling you…they were big time! Ha!

    

My little scientists ready to experiment!

The set-up!

Action! They were amazed! And to be honest…so was I! I may never eat a jelly bean again after seeing that the Starburst label actually peels off the jelly bean as if it were plastic. Yikes! If you look close…you will see the complete label!

You can snag a copy of our experiment by clicking on the picture below.

And finally…we dyed eggs! But wait…even dying eggs can be 100% academic! We will begin our big animal study after SB, so today, we introduced oviparous animals. After a little introduction of some pretty interesting oviparous animals, the students created their own animal egg. To show what they learned, they wrote riddles to describe which animal would be hatching out of their egg.  

  

If you want the stationary that we used, you can click on the picture below.

Alright…Done and Done! Literally! The beach is calling my name! Have a blessed weekend, sweet friends!

Don’t forget…you can find Knuffle Bunny and lots of other resources at my TPT store which is on SALE until tomorrow!

The latest for the Partizan Game on 27 May

The Day We Went to Queniborough

Just to the north of the city of Leicester, very close to the A6 road lays a small but historical village of Queniborough. Just why this village was chosen for the visit for the VIP or who the VIP is, but it was and a meeting in the village hall has been arranged. When we say village hall what they actually meant was Queniborough Hall, a large Manor House where during the English Civil War Prince Rupert once used as his headquarters. Maybe it was this reason that they decided that the VIP would come here, raising the flag so to speak for the faction, raising funds and having a walkabout. I guess being so close to Leicester word would hopefully spread and be favourable for this faction. So the VIP rested in the village, with very little in the way of a guard but for the Local Defence group.

But as with all good this and maybe one of those letters to local chosen local leaders might have been intercepted or maybe the spies of the various factions got wind of something happening but either way the major factions started there mobilising there forces trying to from out where this meeting was and who the VIP is.

So the Duke of Rutland sent out his forces looking for this meeting, trying to find out why this had been called and why HE was not invited.

The City Council Committee sent there forces out too looking for this meeting, wondering who this VIP was and why all the cloak and dagger stuff.

More to follow…………………

The Canadian Yeomanry

Here is the next one of the series this one being  Yeomanry or cavalryman from the Albertine cadre force. He is dressed in the greenish khaki jacket of the Canadians and has the blue trousers of the RCMP. I have based he a lot on a RCMP and I think that it works.

Canadian Yeomanry

The Pit and the Peak

One of my favorite celebrity families to watch {guilty pleasure if you will} is none other than the Kardashian Klan {with a K no less}. Don’t judge!  I can’t even tell you how many times my husband will roll his eyes as I laugh hysterically at all of their craziness…but I just can’t help it! I LOVE THEM! But not in one of those creepy/crazy fan/stalker{ish} kind of ways! I just think they are way TOO MUCH!

 Another little confession: Scott is my favorite! Oh my word…he ALWAYS has something to say and it just never ceases to crack me up! 

So..I know you are asking…what on earth do the Kardashians have to do with school/teaching/activities for the week?!? Well…absolutely nothing! But follow me here and I may be able to make some sort of connection.

Although their show is purely for desperate entertainment seekers entertainment purposes, they do a little something that I kinda like!  When they were younger, every night, the family would share the pit and the peak of their day. The high point and the low point. I think it is always nice to do a little reflection and I have definitely had some time to reflect this week {you’ll see why in a minute}…so here is my pit and peak of the week!

My pit of the week is the fact that I have been sitting at home for four days and NO…it is not spring break yet…and no…it was not my choice! {This is why I NEVER go to the doctor! Ha!} I have missed more days in just this one week than in my entire teaching career. {I am one of those…sub plan making haters…I would rather just go than to write sub plans!} Well, to make a LONG, LONG story short…this girl has always thought that living on 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night was pa-lenty! Of course! Right? I mean, who needs sleep? My thought behind this brilliant lifestyle: “I just don’t require much sleep…I am totally fine! I have been this way since college…trust me…I’m fine!” Well…FYI…my husband and mother definitely got to say “I told you so!” Let’s just say that it hasn’t been pretty…and…3 or 4 hours of sleep is definitely not enough…and…well, although it has been tough…I have now realized that I am no longer in college! {Dang!} If my student teacher had not been full time this week, I would have had to explain to the doc that it would have been more of a stress for me to stay home than to be at school. You know what I mean? But thankfully…she has it all under control! Praise the Lord! So…the moral of the pit…if you are one of those crazy night owls like me….BEWARE! GET YOUR SLEEP!  BUT don’t worry…I am on the mend and will return to school tomorrow for one whole day before spring break! :) Just in time for some fun Easter{ish} activities! So, if you have been wondering where my poetry and measurement units are…it may be a few more days, but I promise to get them up soon! 

Now, for the peak! I seriously could go on and on with peaks, but this week’s peak is definitely the fact that it is time for SPRING BREAK! Yes…next week…I will be out of school for the entire week…BY CHOICE! And yes…I will be sitting poolside or beachside with my magazines and books! Hallelujer is all I have to say about that! :)

I hope you have all had a fabulous week and just incase you have some pits…here is a little peak for you…my TPT store is still on sale until March 31st! You can visit my store by clicking on the link below!

What is your pit and peak of the week?

The Completed Essex & Kent Scottish, 1938

Yes I have finished the blighter, yahoo. No more tartan for a while :). Yes here is the finished Canadian Highland, the Essex & Kent Scottish, fighting for the Albertine forces as part of a cadre. Like I said I painted him in the uniform of this regiment, in kilt, the MacGregor tartan, with the greenish khaki colour of the Canadians as opposed to the brownish khaki of the British uniforms. He is in marching order, with backpack, and has 08 Pattern Webbing. He has a purple armband on of the Albertine forces. I have to say I am rather please with him, the pose, the face and the tartan. It now is starting to make me think that I might be good enough to illustrate for the likes of Osprey Publishing or alike. Well here he is and you can decided.

Essex Kent Scottish Regiment, 1938

The Canadians are Slowly Coming

Here is the latest stage the Canadian Highlander is at. I have got the webbing and rifles sorted. Just got a couple of things to do so I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. So hopefully I should have him finished the the end of the evening.

Canadian Highlander, 1938

The Essex and Kent Scottish, Well Maybe

Here is the latest stage that the Canadian Highlander is at. I have as you can see managed to get the jacket is the greenish khaki colour of the Canadians and yes I have painted more tartan, lol. This time I have painted the MacGregor tartan of the Essex Kent Scottish Regiment. So far I am pleased with the result and very pleased with the kilt. He here is.

Canadian Highlander, 1938

March Madness SALE!

Just to say thank you for all of your support, kind words and comments, and inspiration, I am throwing my own little party over at TPT. My entire store will be on sale now through March 31st! Go get your shop on! Hopefully you can find some things to help you survive until the end of the year.  :) Click on the picture below to view my entire shop!

Happy Sunday! 1 week until my SB! Praise the LAWD!

Plans and Great Things Coming to Waste, etc

Well it seems that the sketch I did earlier was not good enough or rather is looked too 18th century so i have done a new and improved version of it.  I have to say that this version of the Canadian Highlander is better that the one I have done before, I like the pose and face better but the other chap might still get reused in the Scottish book which comes out later this year.

Canadian Highlander 1938

Plate B

New Sketch for the Albertines

Here is the latest sketch for the Albertine book. This fellow is based upon the Canadian Highlander Regiments, so I have given him the full dress look with kilt and sash. He is going to be from the Essex and Kent Scottish with there MacGregor tartan colours. Yes more blooming tartan, lol. Now I do need to get my finger out and start painting these chaps. I hope it goings well.

Canadian Highland Infantry

Second Plate Idea

Taming the Infamous To-Be-Read Pile

If you are like most Librarians, you have a To-Be-Read pile of books. Or maybe you have two or three TBR piles, like me! 

I am hoping to tame mine a little with the help of some "in the know" guys and gals from a wonderful group called Flannel Friday. If you have read one or two of my other posts, you know that I try to contribute storytime ideas to this group each Friday. I truly admire the participants of Flannel Friday. They are very good at what they do! 

So... 

I have asked them to make recommendations ~ of their all-time FAVORITE storytime titles. I can't wait to see which books are recommended!

As the recommendations are shared, I will add them to this post. I will list the titles in alphabetical order by the author ~ I'm thinking that will be the easiest way to list them. I will also highlight a new title by posting it in bold, red letters for the first week that it is added.

Okay, I can hear all the voices in my head (ummmm... maybe I shouldn't admit to that! LOL) saying, "How is this taming the pile?" and "Won't this just mean MORE books for the TBR pile?"

Well, I guess you could say that but...

At least I will feel like I am tackling my TBR pile with a purpose in mind. I would much rather be reading books recommended by the BEST storytime presenters than combing through my library's shelves and reading 10 or more not-so-hot books before finally stumbling across a possible storytime title. If it is highly recommended by someone who has used it for their storytimes before then it is more likely a good choice. 

I guess you could say that I am taming my STORYTIME TBR pile more than anything. By doing that, I will have more time to tame my other TBR piles. ;-) And who doesn't want more time to read for pleasure?

Please be sure to bookmark this post and check back often. You won't want to miss any new titles!

Btw, if you came to this blog through other means than the Flannel Friday group and you want to recommend a good title for storytimes, please leave a comment below or contact me at storytimeabcs(at)gmail(dot)com. I would love to read your recommendations, too!

Here goes:

Recommended Storytime Books

(Listed alphabetical by author then alphabetically by the title.)

Boynton, Sandra

Blue Hat, Green Hat

recommended by Sharon H

Sharon says, "We scanned the book to make it
larger and made it into storycards."

Carle, Eric

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse

recommended by Lisa Mulvenna

Dream Snow

recommended by Miss Courtney

Miss Courtney likes many of Eric Carle's books
because of the "wonderfully, large illustrations
that are great for storytimes."
Her favorite to just read is Dream Snow.

Crebbin, June

Cows in the Kitchen

recommended by Tracy Login

Tracy says "It's always so much fun!"
She suggests that you sing it and give the kids shakers to shake along.

Feiffer, Jules

Bark, George

recommended by KathyS

Fox, Mem

Where is the Green Sheep?

recommended by Sharon H

Henkes, Kevin

Kitten's First Full Moon

recommended by KathyS

Himmelman, John 

Katie Loves the Kittens

recommended by Leah

Leah says, "Katie's excitement just jumps off the pages."

Katz, Karen

Where is Baby's Belly Button?

recommended by Miss Courtney

Miss Courtney enjoys these "great lift-the-flap books with adorable babies."

Mullens, Kate and Jim

I Stink!

recommended by KathyS

Most, Bernard

Cock-A Doodle Moo

recommended by KathyS

Shaw, Charles

It Looked Like Spilt Milk

recommended by Miss Courtney

Miss Courtney says that this is her "favorite open-ended, interactive book to read."

Shea, Bob

New Socks

recommended by Sharon H

Waring, Richard

The Hungry Hen

recommended by Monica Stranton

Monica says, "I absolutely adore that book."