Large Group Storytimes
Compilation from ALSC Listserve
April 5, 2009
General Comments on Large Groups
Large group storytimes are definitely a different dynamic from small groups. The key to making them successful lies in constantly harkening back, not so much to what you do in small storytimes, but to the goals of ANY storytime. These goals may include:
Get people to come to the library
Get people to come BACK to the library
Excite participants about books and help them relate to books/stories
Build relationships
Have fun! Especially around books
Help create, promote and expand imagination
Provide informal educational opportunities
Provide an introduction to movement and music
Model and articulate early literacy skills
Share the joy of books and reading
Provide an opportunity for children to develop socialization skills
To build relationships, for example, you may have to allow more time off-desk before and/or after storytime to interact with participants (adults and children). Not easy to do, but what are the priorities in your branch/library system/community?
Many large groups at storytimes are multi-age which adds another dimension. If you have large groups in specific age-levels and are able to split a group into smaller ones or to offer more repeated sessions, first priority is for smaller two-year-old groups.
Many large group storytimes are drop-in (no registration). The term drop-in makes people think they can drop in any time during the storytime (as in drop in between 10 and 10:30 am). If you are trying to distinguish between drop-in and non-registration, try the term “open”.
Technology
Wireless microphone
Also, if someone routinely has large crowds and can't be heard (there is no wireless system), there is a great device call the Voice Saver put out by Califone (it can be ordered from MaxiAids: $119 or perhaps even less expensive on the Web) which helps project the voice for larger crowds.
Depends a LOT on the set up of the room you are using, whether it is conducive to use of projection equipment.
The room does not need to be too dark if you keep the font large and easy to read on a plain contrasting background.
We typically get large groups for our Family storytimes. Last Monday I had 97 people.We use a visualizer that projects an image onto a screen. We project the books we are reading onto the screen, so everyone is able to see. We also use it to put up the words to songs and fingerplays to encourage more participation by adults.
Online books like those found at Lookybook
As far as using online books, I hook up a wireless laptop to the overhead projector. I would say that it falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. It's not quite as interactive as a physical book because I tend to put a lot of theatrics and body motions (hiding behind the book, crouching down, etc) into my reading, and that doesn't work as well if I have to operate the laptop at the same time (not to mention that it would look kind of strange. But it is more flexible than watching a Weston Woods film because I still get to use my voices and choose the pacing. Lookybook allows you to turn the page by clicking the mouse...and it really is similar to turning a page in a physical book. One thing that worked nicely was when I had an intern in the back of the room operating the laptop (flipping the pages). That freed me up to walk around near the screen with the wireless mic. But it can certainly be done without the extra help. Iuse Lookybook only occasionally...there just aren't enough books on it to make it a viable option for exclusive (or even frequent) use. But especially for large groups, it is a nice way to ensure that the whole room can get a good look at the pictures. And the kids think it is cool.
Use document camera.It kind of works like the old overhead projectors in that it enlarges documents and projects them on a screen or wall. You do not need transparencies, and you can project 3-D items also, although the depth of focus may sometimes be an issue. A document camera is basically a small camera on a stand that points down onto a tray or table top. You can place the document or other object you want to project onto the tray or table top, our you can hold it in your hand below the camera. Like most document cameras (all?), ours needs to connect to a data projector in order to project (like you would connect a computer if you were using PowerPoint. You can zoom in or out and adjust the focus and lighting.We use ours to show the illustrations from picture books when we have a large audience. You can zoom into small details on the illustrations. You can point to things on the page you are projecting, and everyone will see your finger, too, so keep your nails clean! It takes some getting used to, you have to futz a bit with lining things up, turning pages. It's kind of like working in a mirror, if you know what I mean. The movement makes me a little seasick, but I get vertigo easily! It will be great to use with teachers when we give our annual "show and tell" workshop on the Best of the Best Picture Books for the year. Last year we had 85 teachers attend, and it was very hard for them to see the illustrations, type face, etc., as we pointed things out by holding up the actual book.We have only used our a few times so far. Still experimenting and getting used to it.Ours is an Elmo brand document camera (not Sesame Street Elmo!). I think it was about $800 dollars.
So far (we've only used it for four big storytimes), what seems to work best is to have one person reading the story and one person handling the document camera and turning the pages, etc. The reader/storyteller reads from a typed up copy of the text (or reads from one copy of the book if you have two) but gestures/points to the larger projected image so that is what the group focuses on for the illustrations, rather than the book in hand or the person at the camera. This second person positions the illustrations under the camera and turns pages, etc. As I mentioned, it is kind of futzy and it will take practice to get proficient with positioning the illustrations under the camera, etc.We will only use this approach when it seems to be the best way and worth the effort. I think it will work better for presentations (like our Best of the Best book programs for teachers) where the "flow" of the story is less of an issue. And it will allow us to use books with illustrations that are otherwise too small for our big crowds. Also, small props. But maybe after we are more used to it, one person can do it with ease...
I turned to sheets/handouts and small half sheets with rhymes and songs when my higher tech set-up took too long. Lengthy extensions cords, projection and laptop set-up require more time. We also found that we needed to find ways to cover the long cords. A projector that is ceiling mounted with a remote and projection equipment inside a back room or locked station would help. Another issue that some librarians face is that we use an off-site area or one that is used by other public meeting groups. In these cases, set-up can bring the unexpected at times - requiring movement of tables, chairs and podiums.
I was thinking of trying afewusb powereddigital photo frames- maybe at several stations to support/ promote variousliteracy objectives.We just need to keep trying different things until we can get a set-up other issues ironed out. It is important not to give up
I have used Powerpoints successfully with all ages or 'tween programs where we could start with a small presentation embedded with youtube or other media clips. We are still exploring ways to incorporate more Web 2.0 with ECRR on a set-up/clean-up time that fits.
I use a power point presentation in my program for 12-24 months that I put together for this program. Projecting the words to the nursery rhymes and fingerplays on the wall/screen allows the parent/caregiver to participate with the child with their hands free. They can also pickup a handout with the words to the rhymes to take home. I have music to some rhymes taped and am able to cue it up.
For preschool storytimes:
I have used PowerPoint as a way to enlarge and display a book’s' pictures (instead of big book versions as they can still be hard to see and can be difficult to turn). I have had to turn off one "row" of overhead lights to allow the screen to be seen, but this momentary change also helped redirect attention to the storytime events.
One can also use the flying text feature of PowerPoint to capture a large group’s attention. I used this in telling The Jacket I Wear in the Snow by Shirley Neitzel. As each line was added, I had the text and picture fly in. For that story, children named the new item, and we also had actions to do each time we added an item.
At my former library, we regularly used power points to display the words for all songs, rhymes, and fingerplays. We did not darken the room, but used approximately half the ceiling florescent lights. I loved this system. Parental participation in the songs, rhymes and fingerplays was strong and the words were prominetly displayed for the children.It also seemed to be a greener solution than distributing hand outs which were often left throughout the Library. At the time, I did not post hand outs of the power points on our Library web site. If I was currently using this method, I would post the power points online toallow access to the parents who wanted to use this resource away from the Library. Due to space and technology limitations, mycurrentLibrarywill not support power point presentationsin our weekly storytime room. For large group presentations, our community roomssupport this method and I use it when applicable.
We do a Polar Express program for 3 - 6 year olds every December and the group keeps getting larger. We found the children became restless when they couldn't see the pictures of the story being read. One of our librarians came up with the idea of scanning the book into a power point presentation to be shown through a projector on a large screen. This worked very well for this type of book because it has very detailed, full page illustrations on almost every page. She was going to read the book while showing the pictures on the screen; at the last minute, she found a sound recording of the book, so she played that instead and advanced the slides as necessary. The recording was great because it also had the train and bell sound effects to enhance the story. I'm sure this would work well with other books, but they would have to have lots of full page illustrations.
We have been using PowerPoints for large group programs and small story times for many years. We have found them particularly helpful for teaching song lyrics and rhymes to parents—many do not know the words. We also illustrate and animate some of the slides to attract the children’s attention while the parents learn the words; for example, one of the first PowerPoint presentations we did was “Itsy, Bitsy Spider.” We have not darkened the room when we do these presentations and have not found this to be a problem. We integrate a variety of PowerPoints as part of the story time experience (books, fingerplays, flannel board, interactive songs, etc.).
Our large-group meeting room has a lighting setting for presentations. The lights over the main part of the room are dimmed, but the lights around the perimeter are all the way up. I have also found that having white or yellow text on a black background helps when there isn’t a way to dim the lights. You just choose a dark background color for your PowerPoint slides.
I haven't tried it yet, but one of my ideas is to hook up the computer to the movie projector and play a book from the TumbleBook website. Our library system has a subscription for it. I thought this would be a good way to promote the site and do a story for a large group. As far as the dark room issue, we have adjustable lights that will light up the back of the room but keep the light off of the screen.
Content
Take time to introduce yourself at each storytime
Lots of music and fingerplays such as
Wheels on the Bus (end with hush and they quiet down to listen to presenter)
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed—parents know it too and join in
Jim McGill’s cds
Raffi
Kinderman’s Color Song
Hap Palmer cds
Toddler Tunes cd
At least one participation book through rhyming, song repetition
Books with large clear pictures
Bark George
Where's Spot?
Dog's Colorful Day
Flappy Waggy Wiggly
How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and others in series
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? and others in series
Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear
Very Hungry Caterpillar and others by Eric Carle
Who Hops?
Kitten's First Full Moon
All the bear books by Karma Wilson
Spots, Feathers and Curly Tails and others by Nancy Tafuri
Just Like Daddy and others by Frank Asch
Lemons are not Red
No Jumping on the Bed and others by Tedd Arnold
Planting a Rainbow and others by Lois Ehlert
Owl Babies
In the Rain with Baby Duck
Daisy is a Mommy
Duckie's Rainbow
Freight Train
Llama, Llama Red Pajama
Busy Little Squirrel
Brown Bear, Brown Bear . . .
Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton (loud “It’s pajama time” and then whisper at the end)
Books by Karma Wilson, Nancy Tafuri, Jan Peck, Todd Parr, Lois ehlert, Mary Serfozo, Laura Numeroff,
Anna McQuinn, Lucy Cousins, David Shannon, Eric Carle, Sarah Weeks
Storytelling holds their attention
Use big books
King Bidgood in the Bathtub and others by Don and Audrey Wood
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Wheels on the Bus
Flipcharts of rhymes
Use large props, large flannel board pieces—more visible
Enlarge pictures/clipart and make into stick puppets which you can move and show around the whole room
Use flannel board piece patterns to make into stick puppets
Longest story first
Books large in size but not big books--hard to turn the pages
Use recorded music
Singing each song three times allowed children to sign along and they usually caught on by the second time.
I don't use books for the large group; I tried it and found it lost the attention of this age group (12-24 month olds). Big Books are usually too long and cumbersome for one person to manage. I have used some very short large board books and when I did try books I read them standing up and held them up and moved them side to side. We do have board books available for use during and after the program and I always bring in some books and encourage them to check out.
For Baby’s Lap Time: 55-75 people
*Keep the energy up and focused (so bouncy music, focusing on body parts, or familiar songs helps; though I do throw in new things and unexpected music -- see note on variety below)
*Follow a quieter song/activity or a louder/busier activity with a body rhyme to re-focus (The knees go up and down...)
*Read short, rhythmical books, that encourage participating (ie: what does a lion say?)
*Have a printed plan so that time is not spent hunting or thinking, because you will lose them. (Although, just like with smaller programs, being responsive to what the group is up for at the moment, is important --so be ready to skip or change your plan if necessary.)
*Have a variation in activity - babies like surprises. So follow fast with slow or loud with quiet.
*Usually 5-8 songs with music from a CD, interspersed with body rhymes, fingerplays, books, scarves, musical instruments, etc.
For preschool storytime: As with regular storytimes, I use books involving participation and action. However, with these large groups, I may include even more (over the top?) participation than I normally do. While it may be distracting from the story in a smaller group, I find it works with larger groups. For example, I have used Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins with a large group. On each page, participation included children guessing the next number, naming the animal, making the animal sound, and saying the repeating phrase. It also helps when the group is already familiar with a story.The familiarity (and previous enjoyment) aids their participation. I have also used nonfiction books with actual photographs of animals such as Actual Size by Steve Jenkins and Spiders by Nic Bishop to capture a group's attention. While I may not read the entire text of the book, we are able to develop vocabulary skills as I use some terms in the book to talk about the pictures ("These are the spiders spinnerets.").