A place to share books, music, techniques, and all things related to bilingual storytime!

Friday, March 20, 2015

Guest Post - Freddy Figuras

Hi everyone! I'm doing something a little different today! Paula Mason, a student in a past session of "Library Outreach and Bilingual Storytime" offered through the Library of Virginia created an absolutely adorable flannel called Freddy Figuras as part of her final project. I love it! So, I asked her to do a guest post to share her work with you all. Enjoy!


From Paula Mason, Milwaukee Public Library:

I created this flannel board as a simple exploration of how even our faces are composed of several shapes, and even by slightly moving those shapes, we can express different emotions. The felt pieces are very easy to make, and you can be as creative as you’d like with them. I included the following to match with some of the shapes we were discussing in storytime that day:

Un óvalo - la cara
Un triángulo - la nariz
Dos círculos - los ojos
Un semicírculo - la boca
Dos semicírculos más pequeños - las orejas
Dos rectángulos - las cejas
Un cuadro grande - el cuerpo
Los garabatos (varios pedazos de estambre) - el cabello
Tres rectángulos largos y delgados - las rayas del suéter
Dos círculos más pequeños - las pupilas de los ojos                                
An oval - the face
A triangle - the nose
Two circles - the eyes
A half-circle - the mouth
Two smaller half-circles - the ears
Two rectangles - the eyebrows
A large square - the body
Squiggles (several pieces of yarn) - the hair
Three long and thin rectangles - the stripes on the sweater
Two smaller circles -
the pupils of the eyes

Note: you could also decide to take out some of these pieces depending on the age level of the children, and whether you’d like to extend or shorten the activity.
During the storytime, I mentioned to the children that I wanted to introduce them to a friend, Freddy Figuras, but that we have to first put Freddy together with each shape. I asked the children to help me make the decisions about each shape. Once we have put him together, we also discussed how moving a shape a bit can change his mood, ie. half-circle for mouth turned up=happy, turned down=sad ,and eyebrows turned downward=mad,or upward=curious.

A few of Freddy’s faces—feliz, triste, y enojado (maybe because he lost most of his hair!)





Later, during the play literacy portion of storytime, you could place out all of Freddy’s pieces and let the children make different and unique interpretations of a person or face by using the shapes. You could also place out extra shapes so they have even more pieces to play with.
A very tall Freddy with a big, goofy hat:


As for the books that I paired with this activity, we first read Round is a Tortilla: A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Greenfield Thong, and illustrated by John Parra. We then explored Eric Carle’s bilingual board book: My Very First Book of Shapes/Mi primer libro de figuras. The kids loved both—the rich illustrations in Round is a Tortilla and questions that the author posed, and the fun split pages that make Eric Carle’s book feel like a game. I also did a fingerplay with this activity in which we drew shapes in the air with our fingers. Another idea could be to sing a bilingual version of “When You’re Happy and You know It” after discussing emotions with Freddy’s face. Finally, in discussing the activity with the parents, you could mention the following:

Children can build their narrative skills when being creative, whether they are playing with shapes, drawing, or playing with puppets. By moving the shapes on Freddy’s face, we can begin to craft a story around Freddy and his feelings. 

Los niños pueden desarrollar sus habilidades narrativas cuando están usando su creatividad, ya sea que estén jugando con formas, dibujando, o jugando con títeres. Cuando movemos las figuras de la cara de Freddy, podemos empezar a construir una historia acerca de Freddy y sus sentimientos.

¡Mil gracias, Paula, por compartir tus ideas maravillosos con nosotros! Thank you so much Paula for sharing your amazing ideas with us. Happy Storytime!

Monday, March 2, 2015

¡Day by Day VA en español!

I am excited to share with you all that a project I have been working on for the last year and a half is finally finished and ready to be used. Day by Day VA is an online family literacy calendar. It was originally created in South Carolina and Virginia took the content and adapted it for their needs. Each day features a song/rhyme, a book, an activity, a video and one or two websites for further information or activities. I was hired in 2013 to create a Spanish language companion site, and it is now complete! You will find in this Spanish language calendar many traditional Spanish-language children's songs and rhymes, as well as made up tunes that piggyback on well-known Spanish and English songs. Each day features a Spanish language or bilingual children's book, with an emphasis on highlighting excellent Latino children's literature, and a video that is either fun for kids or informative for parents. Resources for more activities or further information are linked, including many excellent resources from around the Spanish-speaking world. Though designed for families, the site could be useful for librarians and educators as well. Please take a look and share with customers and colleagues who may find the site useful. If you have a chance, let me know what you think!


Me encanta muchísimo compartir con ustedes un proyecto en el que había trabajado por más que un año. Day by Day VA es un calendario digital de la alfabetización familiar. Lo había creado originalmente en el estado de South Carolina, y el estado de Virgina lo adaptó para la comunidad allá. En cada día hay un libro recomendado, una actividad, un video y uno o dos sitios web recomendados para más información o actividades. La Biblioteca de Virginia me contrató en 2013 para crear un sitio en español para acompañar el sitio en inglés. En el calendario en español, encontrará muchas canciones tradicionales en español, además canciones traducidas que usan ritmos familiares. Cada día presenta un libro para niños en español o bilingüe e incluye muchos autores e ilustradores latinos. Además, muchos sitios web con más información para los padres o actividades divertidas para los niños son incluidos. Este sitio es diseñado para las familias, pero es útil para los bibliotecarios y educadores también. Por favor, explórenlo y compártanlo con clientes y compañeros que pueden usarlo. ¡Si quieren, díganme lo que piensan!