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Storytimes for Everyone!: Developing Young Children's Language and Literacy
Recognizing that informed, caring adults are critical to supporting early literacy development, Storytimes for Everyone! builds on the concepts introduced in the second edition of the initiative to offer practical suggestions for incorporating early literacy information and strategies into the storytime setting. Early literacy experts Ghoting and Martin-Díaz, coauthors of the best-selling Early Literacy Storytimes @ your library® demonstrate how parents and caregivers, children with their eyes and minds wide open, and the storytime presenter can come together to create a storytime that is informative and, most of all, fun. Presenting a variety of songs, projects, and activities, their book This book can be used at the library, at home, or anywhere else storytimes take place.
208 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2012
5 people are currently reading
109 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 10, 2019
How to review this book. For one thing, I have hundreds of sticky flags and tons more underlined portions. I use what I learned from this book, and the class that went with it, every week at Storytime. This book taught me so much about how to Supercharge my storytime and make it more beneficial for the children and the parents/caregivers that attend. My storytimes are so much more fun now too. I could never pick one thing to quote from this book. There are too many gems.
The beginning of the book has instruction on early literacy and the components of Early Literacy (Phonological Awareness [hearing the sounds], Print Awareness, Letter Knowledge, Vocabulary, and Background Knowledge and then the 5 Practices that children use to acquire a strong foundation in early literacy - Talking, Singing, Reading, Writing and Playing). The bulk of the book and the best part is the middle with its 3 chapters of Sample Storytimes that you can use as is or pick parts of; chapters for Infants and Toddlers, 2-3 yr olds, and Preschoolers (4-5 yrs.). The end part of the book shares help for building your own unique Literacy Enhanced Storytimes, a chapter of Extra's - Nursery Rhymes, Songs, Games and Movement Activities; and suggested Craft Activities in case the things in the Sample Storytimes were not enough. :-) There is then a chapter on sharing literacy tips with the parents/caregivers and then a chapter on how to evaluate your (or someone else's) storytime to see how things are going.
I highly recommend this book to all Children's Librarians and to all Preschool Teachers. It would help homeschoolers as well if they were interested in making their time with their young ones Supercharged when reading to and interacting with and planning for things to do with their Babies-Preschoolers.
The beginning of the book has instruction on early literacy and the components of Early Literacy (Phonological Awareness [hearing the sounds], Print Awareness, Letter Knowledge, Vocabulary, and Background Knowledge and then the 5 Practices that children use to acquire a strong foundation in early literacy - Talking, Singing, Reading, Writing and Playing). The bulk of the book and the best part is the middle with its 3 chapters of Sample Storytimes that you can use as is or pick parts of; chapters for Infants and Toddlers, 2-3 yr olds, and Preschoolers (4-5 yrs.). The end part of the book shares help for building your own unique Literacy Enhanced Storytimes, a chapter of Extra's - Nursery Rhymes, Songs, Games and Movement Activities; and suggested Craft Activities in case the things in the Sample Storytimes were not enough. :-) There is then a chapter on sharing literacy tips with the parents/caregivers and then a chapter on how to evaluate your (or someone else's) storytime to see how things are going.
I highly recommend this book to all Children's Librarians and to all Preschool Teachers. It would help homeschoolers as well if they were interested in making their time with their young ones Supercharged when reading to and interacting with and planning for things to do with their Babies-Preschoolers.
July 2, 2017
This is an invaluable guide for planning and leading meaningful storytimes. From the expert, you'll learn the five early literacy competencies and how to incorporate them into your story time with tons of examples of asides for adults in storytime and more. Ghoting breaks it down for the earliest of beginners and provides template after template for your success. I can't speak highly enough of this text.
March 23, 2023
A guide for youth librarians to develop storytimes that include early literacy components (phonological awareness, print conventions/awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, background knowledge) and early literacy practices (talking, singing, reading, writing, playing). Includes an introduction to early literacy research, information on including different groups of people and different media, practical tips for storytimes, and examples.
Great for youth librarians who plan storytimes!
Great for youth librarians who plan storytimes!
January 17, 2025
This book contains so many great ideas on ways to supercharge your storytimes. This was a textbook used in a course that I took and I have flagged many of the ideas and thoughts throughout it. This is a great book for anyone involved in planning, preparing, and presenting storytimes. I love how there are ideas to get the adults in the room involved in participating and making the storytime more meaningful for their child(ren).
June 28, 2024
Not the first time I've read this one, but wanted to get it onto my Goodreads so I may reference it later. Love this for brushing up on my Early Literacy "asides" and refreshing the vocabulary that I'm using with parents of young children.
August 14, 2018
Extremely accessible and informative. This book is changing how I do storytime for the better.
March 11, 2019
I reference this book frequently in my work as a children's librarian.
August 31, 2016
Ghoting and Diaz incorporate the latest research in this resource for what they call “early literacy enhanced storytimes” – storytime programs that introduce early literacy concepts in dynamic, practical ways that engage children and parents alike, providing families with tools they can use to develop children’s language every day. The authors focus on the five components of early literacy:
Phonological awareness
Print conventions and awareness
Letter knowledge
Vocabulary
Background knowledge
The book is divided into three sections:
“Learning It”: a summary of the latest early literacy research, explaining the components above and linking them to the “five practices” that enhance early literacy: talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. This section illuminates the specific ways that these features play out in storytimes, and also provides chapters focusing on several much-needed topics: English-language learners in storytimes, the use of technology in storytimes, and the use of informational books in storytimes.
“Doing It”: This section provides guidance and samples for incorporating literacy-enhancing practices in storytimes, and especially in effective use of “asides” – comments geared to caregivers that link storytime materials and practices to the early literacy components they support.
“Making It Your Own”: Storytime tools, early literacy asides, and evaluation and assessment tools for incorporating the materials from the book into existing programs.
A valuable resource that elegantly interlaces theory and practice.
Phonological awareness
Print conventions and awareness
Letter knowledge
Vocabulary
Background knowledge
The book is divided into three sections:
“Learning It”: a summary of the latest early literacy research, explaining the components above and linking them to the “five practices” that enhance early literacy: talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. This section illuminates the specific ways that these features play out in storytimes, and also provides chapters focusing on several much-needed topics: English-language learners in storytimes, the use of technology in storytimes, and the use of informational books in storytimes.
“Doing It”: This section provides guidance and samples for incorporating literacy-enhancing practices in storytimes, and especially in effective use of “asides” – comments geared to caregivers that link storytime materials and practices to the early literacy components they support.
“Making It Your Own”: Storytime tools, early literacy asides, and evaluation and assessment tools for incorporating the materials from the book into existing programs.
A valuable resource that elegantly interlaces theory and practice.
October 24, 2015
Really helpful reference for reinforcing the five components of early literacy (phonological awareness, print conventions/awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary and background knowledge [including ECRR1 narrative skills and print motivation]) and the five practices of ECRR2 (talk, sing, play, read, write) and integrating them more purposefully and effectively into storytimes for parents/caregivers.
Again, much of this feels reassuringly familiar, my favorite standout passage reads,
"Letter knowledge refers to knowing that the same letter can look different and that letters have names and represent sounds. Especially in English, where one letter can represent multiple sounds, it is a small but important distinction for children to know that letters represent sounds but do not 'make' them. English has what is known as deep orthography: there are 44phonemes, or individual sounds, in English, but 1,100 ways to spell those sounds." (P11)
Again, much of this feels reassuringly familiar, my favorite standout passage reads,
"Letter knowledge refers to knowing that the same letter can look different and that letters have names and represent sounds. Especially in English, where one letter can represent multiple sounds, it is a small but important distinction for children to know that letters represent sounds but do not 'make' them. English has what is known as deep orthography: there are 44phonemes, or individual sounds, in English, but 1,100 ways to spell those sounds." (P11)
December 31, 2014
This is the best book on library science I've read since my days as a graduate student in the field. I feel like I have a grasp on some theories for early literacy enhanced story times. Be sure to follow the links provided in the book! http://www.earlylit.net is unbelievably valuable. In addition to the handouts there, I'll likely copy down many of the early literacy asides in Chapter 12 to use in my upcoming baby programs or even my generic story time.
I highly recommend this for not only children's librarians, but also teachers and preschool workers.
I highly recommend this for not only children's librarians, but also teachers and preschool workers.
October 26, 2013
This book is fantastic for new ideas or enhancing your storytime. I am definitely going to try their science storytimes---and I like the pre-reading surveys they would give parents, charts, calendars, so parents have more involvement in understanding how beneficial early literacy is for their children.
February 22, 2014
Storytimes for Everyone! builds on the concepts introduced in the second edition of the Every Child Ready to Read® initiative to offer practical suggestions for incorporating early literacy information and strategies into the storytime setting.
August 10, 2016
Has premade storytimes, will be helpful in a library setting.
August 3, 2014
Great resource for incorporating literacy concepts into storytime. Wish it had existed when I first became a children's librarian.
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October 19, 2016BEEN ASSIGNED BY LAUREN(L-2 AT SS).
READ ONLY Chapter 1 (Early Literacy Research)
READ ONLY Chapter 1 (Early Literacy Research)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2015
Excellent resource for story time research and activities. Highly recommend.
April 13, 2017
Great information from the expert
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews