Story Time & More
We partner with educators and other professionals to develop and host interactive events that engage the whole family and community in reading activities!
Activities & Resources
Malden Reads Story Time presents well known tales as well as original stories with a rich educational curriculum including social emotional learning and sensory experiences to enhance development of visual, auditory and kinesthetic intelligences which support academic learning.
Read and download!Malden Artist Kari Percival shares with us how to make puppet theatre!
BILINGUAL RESOURCES
La Niña Invisible | The Invisible Girl
Spanish
Mini Writers Den
In the seventh year of our “One City, One Book” program, Malden Reads hosted our first in-person author visit for students in middle school. At the author talk, several students asked the author if she would consider writing a sequel to the book they read, since they loved the characters and didn’t want the book to end. The author asked the students if they would consider writing their own “fan fiction,” in which they would write their own alternate endings to the book, continue the story, or develop their own creative writing (or graphic novels) about the characters. We promised the children that we would help to develop an opportunity so they could share their thoughts and have their ideas heard – and thus, the Mini Writers’ Den was developed.
Malden Reads partners with Malden Public Schools and Tufts University on this special after-school writing program for middle school students. The program aims to connect students with literacy-based activities, support their transition to Malden High School, develop writing skills—especially in reluctant writers—and foster social-emotional growth. Students from Malden middle schools come to the high school to participate in themed writing sessions, with each theme covering four sessions. A Tufts education student supervises the program with professional support, and Malden High student mentors serve as writing coaches. Participants share their work at a celebratory reception at MHS at the end of the year and receive a certificate, and a compilation of student writing is published in a printed booklet and presented to their families and shared with their schools.
This program is funded in part by a grant from the Malden Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
family events
Story Time • Movement • Crafts
Malden Reads provides opportunities for “Story Time * Movement * Crafts” programs on a regular basis. We incorporate movement and crafts to reinforce the story theme, engage social emotional learning and sensory experiences. Updates are provided as available.
Elena Martinez, will lead kids through yoga movements connected to the stories, using a rainbow of colorful scarves to create an interactive adventure. Yoga builds strength, prepares the body for comfortable sitting and introduces mindfulness using the “Here & Now”. Every week we will also feature a story in a different language: Spanish, Arabic, Creole, and more!
Following the lead of our season 2021 book, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, we share the gift of languages with the kids through bilingual stories, Spanish, Arabic, Creole, and more!
“I soon learned that the quickest way to bridge the race gap was through language. Soweto was a melting pot: families from different cultural groups, and thus different homelands. Most kids in the township spoke only their home language, but I learned several languages because I grew up in a house where there was no option but to learn them.” –Trevor Noah
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Malden Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.