Fairfax Summer Reading

 

LeAnn Ohlensehlen excitedly reads Music and Sound to her Thursday morning Summer Reading students in Fairfax. The readers enjoyed their last week of the program, which is a great asset for Atchison County.

 

 

This last week of Fairfax Summer Reading saw Sarah Osburn’s group wiggling and dancing to Wiggle by Doreen Cronin. The children practiced rhythm with different instruments and monkey puppets to read 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow, and listened to The Three Bears by Paul Galdone. They put the finishing touches on their guitars to take home, and practiced rhyme and rhythm with all the different instruments.

 

LeAnn Ohlensehlen’s group talked about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart this week, and how sound moves. They read Mozart Tonight by Julie Downing and excerpts from Science Today – Music and Sound by Mark Pettigrew. They demonstrated sound waves with a ruler on the edge of the table, and used sound waves to move objects. For example, if you place an aluminum pie pan on top of a speaker, the sound makes it vibrate and slide off. There were eight children in attendance on Tuesday and five on Thursday.

 

Thursday morning Tarkio Summer Reading participants, led by Katherine Cox, learn the hand clapping game “Down by the banks of the hanky panky where the bulldogs jump from bank to banky…” This was the last week of fun and reading for Atchison County youth participating in the program.

Bo Peregrine tries out his musical instrument made from straws during Thursday’s 10:30 a.m. class at the Tarkio Library. Led by Rachel Stanton, the kids made a number of musical instruments from everyday products.

 

 

Tarkio Summer Reading

Tarkio Summer Reading came to an end last week with Tuesday and Thursday activities. Participants were given a take-home bag with a certificate of completion, coupon from Torrey Pines for an ice cream or fountain pop, a coupon from Pizza Hut for a personal pan pizza, three books, and other fun items.

 

Tuesday’s fun was led by Alysia Schoonover. The day began with the 3 and 4 year olds reading Pete the Cat Play Ball! and Everyone Can Learn To Ride A Bicycle. The kids sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Let it Go and enjoyed playing with bubbles outside. The 5 and 6 year olds read Pete the Cat Rocking In My School Shoes and Mother Bruce. They sang Shake It Off, I Love Rock and Roll, and Try Everything. They enjoyed coloring a guitar and then “rockin’ out” with them.

 

On Thursday, the 1st and 2nd graders, led by Katherine Cox, read rhyming books – Around My Room by William Jay Smith and For Laughing Out Loud selected by Jack Prelutsky. The kids listened to rhymes that led them into the clapping game of “Down By The Banks of the Hanky Panky.” They played another clapping game called “Pass the Cup.” The theme for the day was “Rock Around The World” and the kids checked out books. Rachel Stanton led the 3rd and 4th graders as they made tambourines using paper plates, yarn, and beans. They also made wind pipes using different lengths of straws. The last instrument they made was maracas using pop cans and rice/beans. They discussed how sounds and music really play a dramatic part in movies to help determine the mood. Music gives so much more emphasis and really pulls us into what we are watching. The kids decided to add music using all of their handmade instruments to a picture book The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid Of Anything by Linda Williams. After adding the music, the book was so much more engaging! The students took home all of their instruments and tons of goodies from the library!

 

The Tarkio program would not have been a success without the teachers, Jayne Martin, Rachel Stanton, Jennifer Peregrine, Brooke Walton, Christina Hall, Alysia Schoonover, and Katherine Cox. A special appreciation goes out to Nick White and Erica Gladman for the coupons.

The Tuesday group of readers decorated a paper guitar. On the last day of Summer Reading, the Atchison County Library gifted each child new books and a goodie bag filled with toy instruments, stickers, pencils and much more.

 

 

Tiffanie Gaines reads to the pre-school and kindergarten group at the Rock Port library during summer reading.

 

 

Rock Port Summer Reading

Dance, dance, dance! That is just what the little ones had great fun doing Tuesday morning with Tiffanie and Katey. They danced the “monster stomp,” the Hokey Pokey, and the Cha Cha Slide along with a few steps that were indescribable. There were guitarists, drummers, trumpeters, and flutists when the group formed their own “air band.” This “reading” session included lots of good stories: Where the Wild Things Are by M. Sendak, Hilda Must Be Dancing by K. Wilson, and Rabbits Can’t Dance by D. Binford. Of course, they heard a “Pete” story, called Pete at the Beach by J. Dean. This rambunctious bunch, ages three and four, was pleased to go home with three books of their very own, a gift from the library. They also received a pair of maracas to induce continued dancing! Pizza Hut and McDonald’s provided coupons for tasty treats to be enjoyed later.
The Tuesday program hosted by Mackenzie Dougherty had multiple points of focus in the stories the children heard. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by B. Martin was about listening. The Cow Who Clucked was about the “voices” or sounds of the farm animals, and Crocodile Beat by Gail Jorgenson told how a group of jungle animals, partying at the river, thwarted a crocodile who wanted to eat them! After the stories, the children played “Stalking Prey,” a game about being quiet and listening for signals that told of danger. The kids enjoyed playing their parts of stalker and prey. At craft time, everyone decorated a paper guitar. The library gifted these 12 children three books to take home, a pair of maracas, and mustache lip whistles. Pizza and ice cream coupons were given as an additional treat.

 

Both Thursday Summer Reading groups pursued the same goal: To learn how to create sound, and how you make that sound vary in loudness and/or tones. Jennifer Roup led both groups, with Katey Kroeger assisting with the grades one and two group, and Tisha Jackson assisting with the grades three and four bunch. The kids learned that sound is made by vibration, which creates “waves” for our ears to hear. The speed of vibration is called frequency. Soundwaves that vibrate slowly create a lower sound and waves that vibrate quickly make a higher sound. They tested this idea by feeling their vocal chords when singing different notes. Each group did two experiments to illustrate some of the properties of sound. Experiment One: Grains of rice were placed on top of a bowl wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. The bowl was tapped with a metal object and the rice on top of the bowl moved, which was evidence of the vibration. Experiment Two: The “xylophone” experiment. Water of varying amounts was placed in several glass containers. When struck with a mallet, containers with more water created lower “notes” while containers with less water yielded higher “notes.” Containers holding various amounts of water created different notes, which made the “xylophone” effect. The kids had fun tapping out their own tunes! The younger group worked on a seek and find page about musical instruments. Reading time in these groups included Pete the Cat and the Surprise Teacher by J. Dean in group one, and excerpts from Sound and Hearing by J. Murray in group two. Each group ended their hour enjoying cookies, courtesy of McDonald’s, and they were given coupons for more treats from McDonald’s and Pizza Hut. The most valued prize of the day was new books from the library for each child who had attended at least one program!