#ala2013 Guerrilla Storytime

A little over a month ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. With the insanity that is Summer Reading, I just haven't had the time to post about it.

The entire conference was a whirlwind of amazing-ness. However, one particular part stuck out for me and that was a lovely little gathering in the Uncommons called "Guerrilla Storytime". A casual group of librarian gathered together to share their best storytime tips and tricks. It was the brain-child of librarian Cory Eckert and put on by Amy of The Show Me Librarian and Melissa of Mel's Desk. From that one-hour gathering on a Saturday, I learned some great new songs to use in my storytimes back home, such as the "Go Banana" song:

"Go Bananas"

Form the orange, form form the orange (form one half of an orange above your head with your right hand)
Form the orange, form form the orange (form one half of an orange above your head with your left hand)
Peel the orange, peel peel the orange (lower down right hand to your side)
Peel the orange, peel peel the orange (lower down left hand to your side)
Squeeze the orange, squeeze squeeze the orange! (give yourself a good squeeze!)

Continue with:

Mash the potato (use fists to pretend to mash potatoes)
Pop the corn (jump up and down)
Go bananas (go nuts!)

Here's a fun version of the song by "Ultimate Camp Resource" to get a visual

There was also the fabulous idea from an audience member when reading the book Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont. She gave me the idea to pass out unused paint brushes and let the kids "paint" their corresponding body parts with the story. What a genius way to make it more interactive!

The thing that inspired me the most, however, was when Amy from The Show Me Librarian brought out her ukulele. I discovered that by learning a mere 4 chords, I would be able to play a plethora of popular storytime songs! After doing some research, I found a good starter ukulele, ordered some books on learning the uke from the library, and researched some good websites for chords and songs.

For more information on Guerrilla Storytime, visit the newly-formed Storytime Underground blog. Hopefully, it will inspire you to be a storytime ninja just like it has inspired me!