Drama Mama

I grew up in the theatre, literally performing in my first play at age five.  Therefore, I am biased.  I love the stage.  That said, I would like to tie that passion into early literacy.  For me, that is what storytime has been about for years.  However, I got one of my first tastes this past week of how, as a parent and audience member, I can collaborate with performing artists to bring out many more facets of a book than I would with a simple reading.

My daughter and I went to a play of Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly based on the books by Doreen Cronin/ Illustrated by Harry Bliss.  Many lines in the script came verbatim from the books, but the plots had a bit of expanding in the theatrical version of the tales.  It was pretty true to the text, though. 

The next day, my daughter was sitting in her carseat with her pencil and a notebook.  I kept hearing her say "Dear Diary" and then talk while she scribbled. After that, we went to our local library and checked out Diary of a Fly and Diary of a Spider.  She chose Diary of a Worm as her book to keep for our Reading Partners program where you can earn a free book after reading 20 books together.  Since checking them out/ acquiring them, we have read all three books multiple times. 

My daughter and I share books every night and many days, too.  Still, I think that she really clung to these tales not only because they are cute and funny but also because of the experience she had watching the stories unfold on stage.

*Warning for my librarian friends-- I think these stories in text form work better one-on-one than for storytime readings.  (This allows time for studying the illustrations and for children to absorb the humor).

Let's Play!

Playing is one of the literacy skills that Every Child Ready to Read, 2nd edition emphasizes.  Duh!  Kids love playing.  (So do grown-ups, for that matter).  I think, though, that I'll use this blog as an opportunity to recognize innovative books where reading them is a form of playing.

Last night, I read In My World by Lois Ehlert with my daughter.  Cutouts of various parts of nature layer over each other to yield an image that looks like Earth.  I think the moths were D's favorite part.  (Naming all of the different elements ties into the former version of Every Child Ready to Read's "vocabulary" focus).  It puts a message about environmentalism into a preschooler-friendly format.  Moreover, the clever shape overlays are just fun.

Another Lois Ehlert book was a huge hit when I took it with me on fall storytime outreach.  It is called Leaf Man.  The illustrations are all made from collages of different leaves and acorns, and the end-papers identify what types of foilage they are.  I used how many animals the tale mentions for the children to join me in making animal sounds (which ties into "phonological awareness" from ECRR version 1).  Again, the creative way of seeing ordinary objects in a unique was is fun.