Math Club

So it looks like I'm filling in for Bedtime Math for the foreseeable future. My teen who usually does the group is doing tennis this season. I found out at 4 on Monday (math starts at 4) so I quickly threw things together. One thing which doesn't take any supplies and gets the kids energy out is Math Freeze Tag. It's just freeze tag but to unfreeze you have to answer a math problem. Super simple yet the children love it.

No book club this week so my next post will be about family game night, a new twist on a lagging program. All for now. Regards, Nicole. 

Thirty Seconds book blurbs and the memory game

So today was fifth grade book club and no one came. I picked The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate for next month. Anyways, I'm really disappointed because I didn't get to play the new game I made up. It's a memory game to go with thirty second book blurbs. I learned book blurbs at the NELA conference I went to. It's actually the children's part of NELA that I can't remember the name of right now. To keep attention you only spend thirty seconds talking about each book. To go with this the speaker suggested to show pictures so they can make a connection. Instead of pictures I used objects. And to make things more fun, I made it into a memory game. Meaning, I showed them the objects then covered them up and had the kids write down what they remember seeing on the table. Then when we went over the objects I talked about what books went with each object. It was a great way to introduce the books and make a game of it. The game was popular with my early in the month book clubs, 4th grade and 6-7th grade, but these late ones aren't as popular, 3rd grade and 5th grade. So I didn't have a chance to play this game. Hopefully the book clubs will at least gain popularity. All for now. Regards, Nicole

Math Olympics

Today I filled in for my teen volunteer for the Bedtime Math group. Normally I supervise this, but the teen was out sick. So on 5 minutes notice I came up with the Math Olympics. There were four events, cup stacking, a short race with five laps around a table, "long" distance jumping and hopscotch. 

I used what I could find in the math cupboard. A box of glow sticks were used to make hopscotch. I timed the events with a stopwatch and I measured the jumps with cups and a measuring tape. 

After the events everyone got a prize from the prize bin I keep in the Children's room. 

After the Olympics we played math freeze tag where they had to answer a math problem to unfreeze. And finally I ran out of math related ideas and pulled out an old favorite, telephone, to quiet the children down before the end of the hour. Every child went home happy and I gained another experience. Creative Math. 

Third Grade book club

Unfortunately, and I'm sure many of you have been through this before, only one person came to the third grade book club. We did pick a book, Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate, but the games just aren't the same with only two people. I have this really fun ball game I call the genre game. I came up with the game because what happens when you ask a third or fourth grade what genre they like? "I don't know." Awesome. So anyways I took a regular medium sized bouncy ball. It fits in two hands pretty well. I took this ball and I wrote questions on it. Do you like sports? Do you like Dragons? Do you like exploring new places? On top of this I also have Have you...? where I ask them if they read and liked Harry Potter, or the Magic Tree House series, whatever is appropriate for the age group. I thought it was a pretty good way of getting the kids to talk while still letting them be somewhat active. My sixth and seventh graders thought it was great. Didn't try with my fourth graders yet. But rolling a ball back and forth between two people, not really worthwhile. But I tried to make it as fun as possible.

I also came up with thirty second blurbs for the books and came up with a game for that, but that is a story for another time. Regards.

The Youth Services Room

Hello Everyone!

Hello Everyone! This is the first post of The Youth Services Room, a blog for Smyth Public Library's Children's Room, Juvenile fiction area and Teen area.

Here you will find information on my 3,4,5,6-7 and teen book clubs, or discussions and some read-alikes to go with the books we are reading. So far I have met for the first time (I'm the new Children's/Youth Services librarian) with the fourth graders who picked the book Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein, and I have also met with the 6-7 grade group who chose Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger. Next I will meet with the 3rd graders who will hear their book choices and pick a book, and finally the fifth and teen groups who will do the same thing. I try to bring fun into my book clubs, so while we do have discussion we also have games which have to do with the book, you'll have to read more to find out.

This blog will also talk about our storytimes, children and teen programs, and displays. I hope you will both gain something from my posts as well as stay as entertained as I was creating these moments to write about. Hope to post soon. Regards.

The Youth Services Room