What's A Librarian To Do?

Our high school began a Literacy Night last year to promote the clubs, programs and projects that the high school students are involved in.  I was asked to be a speaker last year because of my blog, (I should have known the kids know much more about social media that I do!), but overall it went very well and it was a great experience.
This year, the high school received a grant for the event and are inviting some paid speakers, authors, and more to be a part of the program.  The grant specifies that the event must be multicultural in nature which made me adapt my program a little, but I think I’ve made it work.  As the planning progressed, the teachers began leaning towards offering a program for younger siblings who come with their families to the event.  We have a strong relationship with our high school, so I volunteered my services to provide such a program.
Without having any idea what age group of kids I’ll see or how many, I decided to create a program similar to my Fun Friday programs that can be made more simple or difficult depending on the age of the child.  I love the book Windblown by Édouard Manceau and the publishers have made a great activity page to go with the book.  Depending on the age of the child, I’ll have some copies of the activity page already cut out, while others will need to be cut out by the child.  Throughout the book, the children will be able to make the animals as I read the story and then there will be plenty of time afterward to create their own animal using a black piece of paper and a glue stick.
The next part of the program includes a multicultural folktale called Mediopollito/Half-Chicken by Alma Flor Ada about how roosters became weathervanes (which works perfectly with my “wind” theme).  We’re going to read the story and afterward create balloons in the sky from an activity a co-worker found in The Mailbox magazine.  We’re going to use white cardstock that the kids can shade with a blue crayon to create the sky.  Then the kids will use bingo stampers to create balloons in the sky and finally if they want to add clouds, they children can use cotton balls to create clouds in the sky.  I think this type of project, although much more focused on product vs. process, will be fun for a group of older kids who can choose how many balloons, where to place the clouds, etc.
Finally, we’re going to create a rainstorm using our body… I know, it’s not very focused on wind, but it’s a pretty cool thing!  Check out this YouTube video to find out how to do it!
I’m hoping that the books I’ve chosen as well as the projects I’ve chosen will work for whatever age group of kids I get!  And maybe I’ll bring a book for myself to read just in case no one shows up!