Creating a Culturally Responsive Bilingual Storytime

Are you interested in creating a fun and interactive bilingual storytime? Have you tried to start a bilingual storytime before and didn’t get a good turn out? In this 2-week course, participants will learn the basics on how to promote, create and present an English/ Spanish bilingual story time or improve on the one their library already offers.

Whether you are fluent in Spanish or working with a bilingual partner, this course will give you the tools you need to create a storytime that is culturally responsive and supports parents raising their child bilingually. We will explore the differences between different bilingual storytime formats as well as how to include Spanish elements into some of your existing English storytimes.

Language is uniquely tied with culture and it is important to use songs, rhymes and stories that resonate with different cultures within your Spanish speaking communities. For participants that are not fully bilingual, the course will cover how to create a bilingual storytime with a partner that is bilingual.

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Find culturally appropriate resources for your bilingual storytime such as Spanish books, rhymes and fingerplays
• Present a bilingual storytime with a partner or by yourself if you are bilingual
• Understand why Bilingual Storytime is important and how best to support bilingual families
• Determine if a one person or two-person format is most appropriate for your storytime
• Create a bilingual Storytime Template
• Learn how to evaluate books for bilingual storytime
• Choose songs, rhyme and movement activities in Spanish or English

Course Description: Through assignments, online meetings, discussions and readings, participants will learn the importance of bilingual early literacy practices that supports a child’s home language and creates a welcoming environment for the families. For participants that are not fully bilingual, the course will cover how to create a bilingual storytime with a partner that is bilingual.

Online Meetings

• Meeting One: 8/27/2020 1pm Pacific Time/ 2pmMountain Time/ 4pmCentral Time/ 5pm Eastern Time
• Meeting Two: 9/3/2020 1pm Pacific Time/ 2pmMountain Time/ 4pmCentral Time/ 5pm Eastern Time

Note: Please make every effort to ensure that you are able to attend these two meetings before enrolling in the course. If this is not possible, archived recordings will be made available.

Course Outline: When you log in to the Infopeople online learning site, you will see weekly modules with these topics:

• Week 1: Why Bilingual? The importance of supporting bilingual families
  • Why Bilingual Storytime is important and how best to support bilingual families
  • Myths surrounding dual language learners
  • Determine your audience and adapting your storytime to fit their needs
  • Determine if a one person or two-person format is most appropriate for your story time
  • Different elements of a bilingual storytime
• Week 2: Creating your first bilingual storytime
  • Create a bilingual Storytime Template
  • Choose songs, rhyme and movement activities in Spanish or English
  • How to choose books appropriate for your audience
  • Recommended book list and where to find the newest books
  • How to work with a partner

Pre-course Assignment: None.

Time Required: This course includes two live online meetings but the rest of the course is self-paced. You can expect to spend 2 1/2 hours per week, for a total of five course hours. Each week's module contains an online meeting, readings and various options for assignments and discussions. You can choose the options most relevant to your work and interests. Although you can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night, it is recommended that you complete each week's work within that week to stay in sync with other learners.

Who Should Take This Course: Youth services and children’s library staff, bilingual library volunteers, bilingual library professionals

Online Learning Details and System Requirements may be found at: infopeople.org/training/online_learning_details.

After the official end date for the course, the instructor will be available for limited consultation and support for one more week, and the course material will stay up for an additional week after that. These extra weeks give those who have fallen behind time to work independently to complete the course.

Are you a member of ARSL? If so, you may be able to sign up for a free seat in this course. Limit is four free seats per course. Make your request here and if a free seat is available you will be notified.