Early Literacy Programming in the Digital Age: Apps and eBooks in Storytime

Cen Campbell, LittleeLit.com

more slides- maybe littleelit screen shot?

Why are librarians asking about apps in Storytime?

•  Pedagogical Implications •  App recommendation requests from

community •  LACK of App recommendation requests from

the community •  Who else is giving the recommendations if

we aren't?

Today's Menu

Apps in Storytime •  Every Child Ready to Read 2 •  Mobile Media

Why ECRR2.0?

•  Research Based •  Parent Education Initiative •  Toolkit/Framework

Engagement

•  Parent/Child Engagement •  Child/Device Engagement •  Librarian/Digital Media Engagement

The unlikely librarian: Carisa Kluver "If you're not

going to supervise this playground, then I am"

-Carisa Kluver, digital-storytime.com

Image from Hanna Rosin's Atlantic Article, The Touch Screen Generation

Southington Library Museum eTots program from SLJ

Poll

Are any of you using ECRR2 format (or inspiration) in your storytimes?

Are any of you using apps or other technology in your storytimes? (Powerpoint counts! Overhead projectors count!)

Storyshelf

From Read Sing Play: Adventures in Early Literacy

What we're NOT doing with digital media

•  Replacing paper books •  Replacing other storytelling tools with digital

ones

Yes, but what does it look like?

•  Hope to have video demonstrations available soon

•  I only have a sketchy video from hubby's phone, but it does give you an idea of what an app in storytime can look like

image of llama llama at CDM

Options

•  Mirrored: projector or screen o  Big groups o  Better visibility o  Hands free for actions o  You need iPad, AppleTV, cables (HDMI or VGA w/

adaptor) and WiFi for both iPad and AppleTV

•  Hand-held o  Small groups o  Kids can touch screen o  Walk around the room; Pop-up book o  Flip the screen around

Grow a Reader App

•  Lullabies, Bounces, Tickles, Finger Rhymes, Face & Body Rhymes

•  Sing, Talk, Play, Read, Write •  Book recommendations (Links directly to

catalog)

Five Early Learning Practices

•  Singing •  Talking •  Reading •  Writing •  Playing

Singing

•  Toca Band •  Twinkle Twinkle •  Wee Sing ABC

Fais Do Do

Fais do do, Lisa Loeb & Elizabeth Mitchell

Singable Books

Talking

•  Dialogic reading •  Asking open ended questions •  Ignoring the words and reading the pictures

Oh Mo....

And I think that’s what most enhanced digital books are at this point. With all their bells and whistles and word jumbles and assorted narrative killers, after we turn them on, they don’t need us. Turn it on and leave the room, and the book will read itself. -Mo Willems, from Why Books? — The Zena Sutherland Lecture

Apps to Talk about

•  Byron Barton •  Morris Lessmore •  Press Here

Reading

•  Dr Seuss •  Sandra Boynton •  Richard Scarry's Busytown •  Beatrix Potter

image of how rocket learned to read

Moo Baa La La La

Writing

•  Children can write sooner with a tablet; they are not limited by their dexterity with a crayon, pencil, mouse or keyboard

•  Bob Books •  Don't Let the Pigeon Run this App

writing app screen shot

Playing

•  Animal sounds •  Interactive elements •  Print Motivation

Playing: Animal games and Sounds

•  Animal SnApp: Farm •  Animal Sounds: Fun Toddler Game

Playing: Interactive Elements

•  Monster at the End of this Book •  Very Cranky Bear •  Blue Hat Green Hat

Playing: Print Motivation

•  The Wrong Book •  The Going to Bed Book

Non-Fiction

•  Smithsonian •  National Geographic •  iBooks

Numeracy

Bedtime Math •  Toca Store •  Goodnight Moon 123

Felt Boards and Storytelling

•  Felt Board •  Sock Puppets •  Keynote

•  Not intended to REPLACE physical felt boards, puppets or any other traditional storytelling tool; they are just another tool in your toolkit!

Review Sources for Apps

•  Appitic

•  Common Sense Media

•  Cybils

•  Digital Storytime

•  Horn Book: Out of the Box

•  Kindertown

•  Kirkus: iPad Reviews

•  SLJ: Touch & Go

•  Smart apps for kids

Questions?

Thank you! @LittleeLit LittleeLit.com

Further Reading/Resources Mentioned

•  Idaho Commission on Libraries Report •  Screen Time (Lisa Guernsey) •  Giving our Children a Fighting Chance (Susan B Neuman) •  The New Co-Viewing (Joan Ganz Cooney Center) •  Pioneering Literacy in the Digital Wild West (Joan Ganz Cooney

Center) •  Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood

Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8 (NAEYC/Fred Rogers)

•  American Academy of Pediatrics •  Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (Screen Free Week) •  Mind in the Making (Ellen Galinksy) •  Parenting the Touchscreen Generation: Do We Need Credible

Fresh Thinking? (Eitan Schwartz) •  Technology and Critical Literacy in Early Childhood (Vasquez and

Felderman) •  From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom (Prensky)

Screen Time

From New York Times: Parents Urged Again to Limit TV for Youngest

Do we even know what "screen time" is anymore?

•  Content •  Context •  Child

Not all screens are created equal

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/not-all-screens-are-created-equal

Modern science confirms what the early childhood community has known for years—that infants, toddlers, and young children learn through exploring with their whole bodies, including all of their senses. For optimal development, in addition to food and safety, they need love. They need to be held, and they need plenty of face-to-face positive interactions with caring adults. Developing children thrive when they are talked to, read to, and played with. In the interests of children’s wellbeing, we believe the early childhood community needs to study the issues surrounding screen technologies, make informed decisions about their use in classrooms and child care settings, and work with parents to manage screen time and content in ways that best serve young children. Facing the Screen Time Dilemma: Young Children, Technology and Early Education

Mainstream Media

•  The Touch Screen Generation (Hanna Rosin)

•  Zora Ball •  The Child, the Tablet and the Developing

Mind

Engagement

Joint Media Engagement Parent Engagement

Why use apps/eBooks in Storytime?

Joint Media Engagement

•  Children and caregivers interacting with each other

•  Conversation around book

Appvisory •  Reader's Advisory

for Apps •  Review Sources •  How to recognize a

good app

Spanning the Tech Spectrum

Haves •  Already have their

own devices •  Want Appvisory •  Want guidance •  Often can "handle"

the 6 Early Literacy Skills and want to know more

Have Nots •  Do not have their

own devices •  May not know how

to support their child's literacy development

•  5 Early Learning Practices tips in small doses

Information Capital Begins with Learning to Read

"We're not here for the computers, we're here for the books!" (Neuman and Celano, pg 67) This distinction is already disappearing.

Early Reading Skills, particularly the first part of the reading equation- phonological awareness (rhyming, alliteration, segmenting, and blending) and letter name knowledge- are especially well-suited to the mastery learning capabilities of the computer. With adult supervision, computer programs, specially orchestrated to drill and practice these skills, can make the work like play, in a manner that builds both speed and fluency. Consequently, what would ordinarily be a centrepiece in kindergarten is now in the hands of a miraculous machine and an authoritative parent who is guiding his or her child at age 3. (Neuman and Celano 74) (remember; they're not talking about tablet technology; these kids were using a mouse, keyboard etc)

AAP is re-thinking its policies

“We now have to reconcile that policy with the fact that little kids under two are able to use these devices and learn from them,” says Gwenn O'Keeffe, M.D., a pediatrician, fellow of the AAP, and author of CyberSafe: Protecting and Empowering Kids in the Digital World of Texting, Gaming, and Social Media. “What we have to do is continue to reassess. We used to talk about online and offline worlds; it's all kind of one space now. So the more important concern surrounding the screen-time debate isn't the time; it's the quality of the content"

Further analysis of the AAP's recommendations Decades of research had shown that what babies need most is attentive, loving care from their parents, and no research had ever pointed to any advantage in exposing children under the age of 2 to a television set. With little else to go on, the AAP decided to take a "caveat emptor" position, sounding a warning about electronic media that it hoped would cause parents to think harder about what, and when and why they were watching with their young kids. (Screen Time, Guernsey)

No, what the AAP really says is:

In 1999... the AAP issued a policy statement addressing media use in children. The purpose of that statement was to educate parents about the effects that media—both the amount and the content—may have on children. In one part of that statement, the AAP recommended that “pediatricians should urge parents to avoid television viewing for children under the age of two years.” The wording of the policy specifically discouraged media use in this age group, although it is frequently misquoted by media outlets as no media exposure in this age group.