National Poetry Month Website Fun!!

In addition to poetry games and activities, there are plenty of poetry things to do online as well. Two of them already have a blog post of their own (Wordle and Tagxedo), so I'm going to focus on two other sites that I found. 

Online Magnetic Poetry

Have you ever tried magnetic poetry? You have a bunch of words on tiny magnets and you string them together to make an artistic masterpiece? Well, this website lets you try that same concept without having to buy anything (except they mention a physical poetry could be yours if the price is right). You have the option of dragging countless words onto a digital magnet board and then emailing the creation to yourself or friends. Its cool!!

Poetry Mad Libs

Ever tried Mad Libs before? You have a story that is mostly written, just devoid of a few words. All you have to do is plug in some random words and read the story. The only catch is that you haven't read the story before you plug in the words, so it makes for some fantastically hilarious sentences. This website has a poetry mad lib section, along with some popular songs that can be sssooo funny!

National Poetry Month Games and Activities

It turns out that every April is National Poetry Month. Who knew right? (Except all of those librarians, educators, and poets who probably initiated the idea hehe). Well, we just did a Teen Poetry Fun Night on Saturday, and I wanted to share some of the ideas =D

Book Spine Poems
While this idea is super easy, it is also super cool! Find some interesting book titles, and line up the book spines on top of each other to make poems. The possibilities are endless ;)

Similes
Does anyone remember the Similes game that was played in Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol? Basically, the gamemaster begins a simile (As tough as...) and a participant has to finish the simile with the tried and true (...nails), or something completely original (...the Borg). I found a huge list of common similes on this website.

Redacted Poems

Instead of creating something brand new by writing a poem, how about recycling something by creating a redacted poem? Find an old book, magazine article, or print something off of the internet, and then erase all the words you don't want in your poem.

We were also thinking of playing a rhyme game where one person says a word and you go around the circle trying to rhyme with it. Another thing to try is giving everyone two minutes to write the funniest poem, or the most serious poem, or the most random poem. Have fun with it!

Meanwhile: A Novel That Lets You Decide

Meanwhile by Jason Shiga

Why did I read it?

It was suggested to me at a reader's advisory workshop last year, and I happened to see it on the shelf yesterday. 

What happened?

Jimmy walks into an ice cream shop and has the choice of vanilla or chocolate ice cream. Sounds like the beginning of a normal book, right? Wrong! Have you ever read a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel? Well, this one is just like that...just on steroids and in graphic novel form.

Shiga pretty much gives you complete control of what happens in this novel. If you choose chocolate, then you follow the pipes to another page, where you will be faced with another choice. Each choice you make will decide whether or not Jimmy will wind up at home, with a stomach ache, attacked by a crazy ice cream shop owner,  traveling ten minutes into the past, or destroying the entire human race!

What did I like or not like?

Needless to say, this book is super cool. The design of the novel itself is ingenuitive as the pictures run vertical, horizontal, backwards, forwards, and up and down, and you jump from a page in the back to a page in the front to a page in the middle and back again as you continue to make choices.

Apparently, there are 3, 856 story possibilities, and as I've only figured out two of them so far, I'm going to hang onto the book for a little while (that is, if I can pry it out of the hands of my little brother hehe).

Code.org: Why Don't We Learn To Code?

Code.org is an initiative to get more people aware of the importance of computer programming. The basic idea is that the ability to make a computer do what you want it to do, instead of just using what other people have got it to do, is very powerful.

In fact, there are more computer science jobs than there are students training for them. Because of that, computer science is a huge opportunity for our future. But, there aren't that many students, teachers, or schools that are aware of that fact. So, throw the creators of Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Dropbox, Valve, Zappos, and a couple celebrities in front of a camera, and you have the makings of a cool video and a cool initiative.

In addition to stats about computer jobs and the lack of people heading toward them, Code.org links to other sites that will start to teach you how to code. These links include Scratch, Codeacademy, Khan Academy, and CodeHS. Code.org also assembles some teacher resources for us.

If you'd like a better idea of what it is all about, you can check out the video =D

Promotion and Programming: What they Didn't Teach in Library School

On a listserv I'm a part of, a young adult librarian named Rebecca Denham asked other librarians to guest blog posts for her, and she posted mine =D


Now, I was kind of under the gun to finish it (as I was already at the library a half hour longer than I was supposed to be, and because I had spaced that I was supposed to write a blog post because of how many program I had that week), so she thankfully edited what I said into a nice post.

So, this is what I sent over to her, and you can click Lunanshee's Lunacy, to see how she adapted it to her blog :)

Promotion & Programming: How do we keep this crazy ball rolling?

For those that have been paying attention to these guest posts, you might have noticed that mine came out a little bit late. Ironically, I got caught in the tidal wave of programs this week, and completely spaced that I was the guest blogger. My bad!

Now before I start giving my ideas, please know that I have absolutely no answers for you. I click on pretty much anything that has promotion and programming ideas in the title or tags. But, even though I get some ideas from these posts, it still doesn’t solve the quintessential problem; how do I ensure that my programs are vibrant, engaging, and growing? 

Short answer: I believe that each library, each program librarian, and each individual program will have a very different answer to that quintessential problem, so just keep working on that perfect combination, and then keep mixing so it stays awesome. 

Program Ideas

Narrow it down

Sometimes I’m overwhelmed with the sheer amount of programs that I have to plan. How am I going to fill a weekly hour-long program?!?! Try a rotating schedule of program types.

For older elementary and middle schoolers my rotation has looked like video/board games, science experiments, cooking, and crafts. 

For high school, it’s bounced from Next-Gen Advisory Team (our Teen Advisory Board) to TeenBookWorms (our book group) to movie nights to literacy special events like a Zombie Prom and Hunger Games Party. 

Try something new or steal it from someone else

What did you like as a kid? See if it would work for your group. Notice that Angry Birds is huge right now? Do Life-Size Angry Birds. Notice that you have absolutely no ideas? Go steal some from a Pinterest board or a Google search and adapt them for your students.

Ask your peeps

It’s completely true that most people don’t know what they want until they see it. But, asking for input and letting your participants choose from a couple different options has worked for me. If they’re excited about it, they’re more than likely to come, right?

Program Promotion 

Don’t be discouraged 

Why is it that when you have enough time to do really good promotion (if you have the time) sometimes they show up and sometimes they don’t. What’s the trick here? I think its doing your job to the utmost and not being so concerned with the outcomes. There are bosses and boards that want amazing programs, high program attendance, and consistency. But, ultimately it’s up to your participants to come to a program.

Blast it all over

Everyone tells us that about 10% of the people you tell about a program will actually show up. If that’s the case, get your promotion onto social media, school newsletters, school newspapers, school video announcements, homeschool newsletters, email lists, text alerts, Foursquare, local business windows and bulletin boards, and obviously all over your library. 

Connect through outreach

But, while you’re doing all of that, don’t forget about connecting with people one on one. I can’t count the times that a program is saved from obscurity because one teacher got excited about it.

So, if you’re a school librarian talk to your public librarian, and if you’re a public librarian talk to your school librarian. Visit the PTAs at the schools. Say yes when a school asks you to read The Lorax at their next assembly. Visit that classroom with your science experiments, and keep following up with the After School group that likes you. Talk to that friend that has a son or daughter that could be coming to your fabulous program. See if a Youth Group will let you mention your programs during their game night.

You are the brand!

I’ve heard that libraries do absolutely nothing; librarians do. This blog post has been a little long-winded and babbly, but if it all boils down to something, your programs are awesome because you’re awesome. You are the brand that makes these programs work! So keep working, keep trying, and keep connecting.

About Nick Madsen

Nick Madsen is the Young Adult Librarian at the Community Library Network at Hayden. When he isn’t filling-in for a storytime, blowing things up, working on his MLIS (hopefully finishing this Fall) or chatting about everything or nothing after a program, you will most likely find him hanging out with family and friends, playing ultimate frisbee or basketball, ballroom dancing, or helping at his church. You can find him on Facebook as Nick Madsen or at Next-Gen Adults of the Community Library Network, on Twitter as @CLN4NextGen, or his library blog at cln4nextgen.blogspot.com.