How to Add a Song, Fingerplay, or Activity Poem

 

 

Step 1: Prepare the Stepping-Stone Page

 

 

A.  Getting started.

 

To add a page to the ACLD Storytime Wiki, login using your username and password.

 

Figure out what sort of page you want to add.  Let’s say it’s a fingerplay for preschoolers.

 

First you’ll want to go to an existing page in the wiki where you want viewers to see a link to the new page you’re about to create.  Let’s call this existing page your stepping-stone page.

 

 

B.  Go to your stepping-stone page.

 

For the purposes of our example, you’ll want to go to the Fingerplays page, where all the fingerplays are listed.

 

The path is ACLDstorytime Introduction (FrontPage) > Emergency Storytime Introduction > The Template > Preschool or Kindergarten click here > Fingerplay

 

(A shorter way to get there would be ACLDstorytime Introduction (FrontPage) > Emergency Storytime Introduction > Fingerplays [found in the sidebar])

 

 

C.  Decide on your title.

 

Once you reach the Fingerplays page, scroll down to Suggested Fingerplays and look at the list for Preschool / Kindergarten Fingerplays.  The fingerplay titles are listed alphabetically.

 

What is the title of the fingerplay you want to create a page for?  You’ll need to insert it into the list.  After you get your new page created, you’ll come back to your stepping-stone page (Fingerplays) and turn this added title into a link to the new page.

 

Let’s say the name of your fingerplay is “Ten Little Horses Eating Oats and Hay.”  That’s a bit long.  Let’s shorten it to “Ten Little Horses.”

 

 

D.  Access Edit mode.

 

Right now you’re simply viewing the Fingerplays page.  In order to insert your text, you’ll need to edit it.

 

Look at the top of the main panel.  See the View and Edit tabs?  View should be the active tab.  To make Edit the active tab, click on it.  (If nothing happens, you’ll be prompted to log in.)

 

 

E.  Position your insertion point.

 

A scroll bar will appear on the righthand side of the main panel.  Scroll down to the list called Preschool / Kindergarten Fingerplays.  Click just in front of the item on the list that would come after “Ten Little Horses.”

 

Your insertion point will appear.  Hit the Return (or Enter) key to create a blank line on which to enter the new fingerplay’s title.

 

Click on the Indent icon in the toolbar above (or the Tab key twice) to make the title you just moved align properly with the rest, which are all indented from the left side of main panel.

 

 

F.  Insert your title.

 

Reposition your insertion point upward onto the blank line and type:

 

“Ten Little Horses” click here

 

Highlight the last two words (click here).  Italicize the words by clicking on the Italics icon in the toolbar above. 

 

 

G.  Save changes to stepping-stone page.

  

Later, we’ll come back and attach a link to this text so that it will take us to our new page—but first we have to create that page!

 

Since we have done all we can to the Fingerplays page for now, let’s save the changes we’ve made so far.  See the Save  button in the lower lefthand corner of the window?  Click it.

 

 

 

Step 2:  Create the New Page

 

 

A.  Create a Page.

 

The main panel returns to Viewing mode.  We should now be able to see a link called Create a Page in the upper righthand quadrant of the screen.  (This link does not appear unless you’re logged in.)

 

A window opens asking you to name your page, choose a folder for it, and choose a template.

 

Because we want links to all the pages of a certain type (in this case, fingerplays) to appear grouped together in our wiki’s sidebar, name the new page Fingerplay: Ten Little Horses.

 

Put it in the Emergency Programming folder.  Choose Blank template.  Click on Create page.

 

A new, blank page appears, entitled "Fingerplay: Ten Little Horses."

 

 

B.  Title and text.

 

Type in the fingerplay’s full title: “Ten Little Horses Eating Oats and Barley” formatted as a Heading 2.  Black text is boring, so let’s select dark red from the Text palette in the toolbar above.

 

Press the Return (or Enter) key twice to drop down a couple of lines.  Type a brief explanation about the fingerplay in italicized Normal format.

 

Mention the age group this fingerplay works best for (Preschool and Kindergarten, bolded and bright blue so that it will stand out against the dark red text.)

 

Press the Return (or Enter) key three times to drop down three more lines and insert a table so that the words of the fingerplay and the instructions on how to execute it will be in separate columns.

 

 

C.  Insert a table.

 

To do this, click on the Table icon in the toolbar just under the page’s title.  Specify 1 Row and 2 Columns in the popup window.  Uncheck the Has Border box.  (We don’t want borders).

 

Width should be 100 percent.  (Be sure to change the default setting, pixels, to percent—or you’ll wind up with a very narrow table!)

 

Cell spacing and padding can remain at 1.  Alignment should be set to Left.  Click OK.

 

Enter your fingerplay’s words into the lefthand column in boldface Normal dark blue text and your instructions in the righthand column in italicized Normal green text in the righthand column, making sure the instructions line up with the words.)

 

It’s often easier to enter all the text, then select it and bold, italicize, or color it.

 

 

D.  Clipart.

 

Once your text is entered, it’s a good idea to add a couple of images to spiff up your wiki pages.  Clipart works well.

 

Just download it to your computer; then upload it to the wiki.  (Be sure you have permission to use any images you upload!)

 

Let’s walk through the process.  First, make sure you have your images available on your computer.  (I like to temporarily place mine on my desktop to make them easy to find.)

 

 

E.  Upload image.

 

In the sidebar to the right, you’ll see the words Insert links, and below that, two tabs.  Pages is the default.  Click on the other tab, Images and files, to choose it.

 

You’ll now see a link called Upload files just above a list of all the images that have been uploaded to the ACLD Storytime Wiki so far.  Click on Upload files.

 

A window will appear displaying the files on your computer’s desktop.  Navigate to the image file you want to upload and select it.  Upload.

 

In a moment, the image file you uploaded will appear at the top of the list in the sidebar.  Click on it to make the image appear in the main panel of your new wiki page at the spot indicated by your insertion point.

 

 

F.  Resize.

 

If you need to shrink the image, do so by clicking on it.  A rectangle with little square knobs on each side and at each corner will appear around the image.

 

Grab one of the corner knobs and move it to change the size of the image.

 

Smaller is better than larger.  Your image doesn’t need to be huge.  Lots of whitespace around an image looks good.

 

Why?  Because the pages with ample whitespace appear uncluttered.

 

 

G.  Aesthetic balance.

 

Let’s insert one more image below the table, just to balance the page.

 

Reposition your insertion point.  Be sure it’s centered.  Upload another image.

 

Resize if necessary to make it slightly smaller than the first image you inserted.

 

 

H.  Save the new page.

 

Wasn’t that simple?  You’re almost done.  Click the Save button in the bottom left corner of the main panel to save the page you just created.

 

If you don’t save it, everything you just did would be lost if you logged out now or traveled to another page.  Be sure to save!

 

You will now be returned to View mode, as opposed to Edit mode.  (See how it is now the View tab that has become the active one?)

 

Look in the sidebar to the right.  You should see your newly created page listed there.

 

At this moment in time, however, your new page is an “orphan” because it can only be reached from the sidebar.  There is as yet no way to travel to it from the main panel (in other words, no link from another page within the wiki).

 

 

 

Step 3:  Create the Link from Stepping-Stone to New Page

 

 

A.  Return to the stepping-stone page.

  

So let’s return to your stepping-stone page (Fingerplays).  This is the wiki page you chose earlier to display that all-important link to your newly created page.

 

The quickest way to return to Fingerplays, from here is to click on its link in the sidebar.

 

When Fingerplays opens in the main panel, click on the Edit tab so that you can make one final change to this page: the adding of your link.

 

Scroll down to the text you created earlier:

 

“Ten Little Horses” click here

 

 

B.  Create a link to the new page.

 

Highlight the italicized type (the phrase click here).

 

Instruct the wiki to turn this text into a link by either clicking on the Link icon in the toolbar or by clicking on Insert a link  to a new page which is visible in the sidebar when the Pages tab (the default tab) is active.

 

A window will appear asking you to specify Link Type.  Use the default, which is PBwiki Page.  Choose your page from the list.  (When you do, the third field—Name Page—disappears.)  Click OK.

 

 

C.  Save the link.

 

Now click on the Save button in the lower lefthand corner of the main panel to save the link you just created.

 

When you return to View mode, click on the link to make sure it takes you to the page you desire.  (If not, you messed up somehow.  Just carefully repeat the "Create a link to the new page" process above, paying careful attention to each step.)

 

If your link works, voila!  Good job.  You’re done.