By: Kate Fitzpatrick
I’ve been on the CLEL Bells or Spanish CLEL Bells committees for the past 3 years. One of my favorite parts of being on the committee is hearing about and sharing great children’s books with other library folks.
I do a weekly bilingual storytime at Longmont Public Library along with frequent visits to do bilingual storytimes at local preschools. The Spanish CLEL Bells nominations and shortlist have been so helpful in helping me plan storytimes that are entertaining and also relevant for our users. This past week I used a few titles from the SING/CANTAR shortlist in bilingual storytime, and it was such a fun time! I wanted to share the details with others, in hope of inspiring other storytimes using our CLEL Bells!
I start every story time with a hello song. I use Buenos días (Good Morning) by Jose Luis Orozco every time, and sing it in English and Spanish. This song is easy to learn and involves repetition. I use it in my other storytimes, too.
The first book I read was ¡Boogie en el Bronx! by Jackie Azúa Kramer. I love this story because it is interactive, includes counting, and features dances from Latin America. On each page readers are asked to snap their fingers and move their feet (chasquea los dedos y mueve los pies). When I read, we count on each page and talk about what we see. I also ask participants to do the movements when I say them. Many kids don’t know how to snap their fingers, but it’s a fun opportunity to learn and try something new. This helps build fine motor skills and promotes caregiver interaction. At my Monday storytime I saw many grown-ups showing the kids how to position their fingers and make a snapping sound.
This book also has a singalong video, which I love to incorporate. If we don’t know the words, we can just have a dance party. It’s also fun to form a conga line with the kids, like they do in the book, and dance around the room.
My second story was Los mariachis de Adela by Denise Vega. This story is great because it includes a familiar cultural component (mariachi music) along with many different instruments and opportunities to participate. While I read, we stop to act out the different instruments and sounds along with los gritos that Adela and her aunt do. Kids have a lot of fun pretending to play instruments, and los gritos bring us all a lot of joy.
To bring in more singing and movement between stories I chose the song Mi cuerpo hace música. I start by introducing the body parts and sounds that go with them, then we sing it twice. Once participant got so excited this week because she couldn’t snap but she could do the clapping in the song! It’s nice to see those aha! moments with children.
I finished this storytime by reading and singing Little Chickies / Los pollitos by Susie Jaramillo. This is a familiar song for many of our participants, and we enjoy singing it together in storytime.
Several years ago, I found this template for los pollitos puppets from spanishmama.com. I made a couple dozen to use in storytimes and pass them out whenever we sing “Los pollitos dicen.” Using these clothespin puppets is a fun interactive activity for the kids, and they get to practice their fine motor skills! They are easy to make and inexpensive to replace as needed. They’re one of my favorite hands-on storytime manipulatives!
Once we return our little chickies, I finish up with our goodbye song, Adiós amigos, by José Luis Orozco.
I hope this gives you some ideas for your own CLEL Bells inspired storytimes!
