New Session of Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca!

Hi all!  Sorry for the self-promotion but many folks were interested in but unable to participate in the last session of Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca and asked to be notified when it was being offered again. Well, that time is now!  A new session is being offered by Library Juice Academy during November.  The class won't get into full swing until November 4, so there is still plenty of time to register.  All the relevant details are below.  Please send a message or leave a comment if you have any questions.  You can also check out what past students have had to say about the class on the feedback page.

Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca

Instructor: Katie Scherrer
Dates: November 1-28, 2013
Credits: 1.5 CEUs
Price: $175

Description: This 4-week, online course teaches participants how to present bilingual storytimes (English/Spanish) for various ages, regardless of their own language skills. Video demonstrations, articles, online resources and course discussions direct students as they learn how to successfully deliver the various elements of bilingual storytimes, either on their own or with a bilingual community partner. Participants will discover new books, rhymes, songs, plans and resources that they can immediately put to use in their bilingual storytime programs.

Learning Objectives:

• Students will learn how to select and use the following components in bilingual storytime: books, songs, rhymes, fingerplays, and stories for telling aloud.
• Students will experiment with incorporating bilingual materials into their existing storytime programs.
• Students will select books and other materials they can use to increase inclusion of Latino culture and the Spanish language in their English storytime programs.
• Students will develop strategies for working with bilingual community partners to present and market bilingual storytime.
• Students will gain an increased understanding of the early literacy and school readiness needs of Latino children.
• Students will articulate how bilingual storytime supports the early literacy and school readiness needs of Latino children, and identify online resources for sharing early literacy and school readiness information with Spanish-speaking parents.
• Students will each develop two bilingual storytime plans.

Katie Scherrer is a library consultant and training specialist whose work focuses on improving library services to Latino and Spanish-speaking children and families. She previously worked as the first Spanish Program Specialist for the Columbus Metropolitan Library and as a Children’s Librarian at the uniquely bilingual Village Branch of the Lexington Public Library. Katie has presented many workshops on bilingual storytime and library services to Latino families for librarians across the country, including at the 2010 Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth, and the 2013 ALA Annual Conference. For more information, check out this Interview with Katie.

Course structure:  This is an online class that is taught asynchronously, meaning that participants do the work on their own time as their schedules allow. The class does not meet together at any particular times, although the instructor may set up optional sychronous chat sessions. Instruction includes readings and assignments in one-week segments. Class participation is in an online forum environment.

Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca - Register Today!

Hello readers of ¡Es Divertido Hablar Dos Idiomas!  Have you ever wanted to learn more about how to present your own bilingual storytimes, or how to make your English storytimes more inclusive of Latino culture and the Spanish language?  If so, please consider enrolling in my new online course, Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca, being offered through the Library of Virginia!  I am beyond excited to be offering this course, which I have been working on creating for the last several months.  I share pre-made bilingual storytime plans, recommended books and music, great online resources, and even video demonstrations of flannelboard storytelling, bilingual songs, and fingerplays, created specifically for this course.  It is designed to help bilingual storytime presenters enhance their programs, and to provide non-Spanish speaking libraries with tools and tips for how they can make their English programs more inclusive and useful for Spanish-speaking families.  More information about the course is below - I hope to see many of you in the class!

Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca - Course Description:

This 4-week, online course teaches participants how to present bilingual storytimes (English/Spanish) for various ages. Numerous techniques for successfully delivering the various elements of bilingual storytimes (bilingual books, storytelling, rhymes, and songs) will be shared in print and demonstrated via video. Participants in this course will gain practical ideas and increased confidence that will aid them as they work to include Latino culture and the Spanish language in their storytime programs, regardless of their language skills. Modifications for storytime presenters who do not speak Spanish but want their programs to be more inclusive of Latinos and Spanish-speakers will be shared.  Each participant will develop two storytime plans as the final project for the course.

Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca - Registration:

Registration is now open for the next session of this course, which will be offered online through the Library of Virginia, January 14, 2013 - February 10, 2013.  The registration fee is $25 for library staff in Virginia and $50 for those outside of Virginia.  The fee includes your own copy of the book Read Me a Rhyme in English and Spanish / Léame una rima en español e inglés by Rose Treviño.  To register please contact Enid Costley at the Library of Virginia - enid.costley@lva.virginia.gov.  The prerequisite for this course is "Connecting with the Spanish-Speaking Community."  However, the instructor will consider accepting students who already have experience working with and providing outreach to Latinos and Spanish-speakers who have not taken this prerequesite.  If this is your situation, please email Katie Cunningham directly to discuss this further - katie@connectedcommunitiesconsulting.com.