Tommy Johns Presents

Curriculum Based School Assembly Programs

that Encourage Kids to Read!

Atlanta (770) 640-6509             Toll Free 1(866) 490-READ

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Our Programs

and the

 Curriculum Topics They Support

Include:

 

I Love to Read!

(Reading Motivation,

Library Skills)

 

Dig a Little Deeper!

(Reading, Genres, Finding

a just right book)

 

Go Wild!

(Reading, Scientific Process, Life Sciences, AL/GA Facts)

 

Work Smarter!

(Reading, Science,

Simple Machines, Inventions)

 

Wherever You Go,

There's a Story

(Reading Motivation,

Social Studies,

Geography,

Multi-culturalism)

 

Arctic Express

(Reading, Winter Festivals, Cultural Diversity)

 

Reading Round Up

(Reading, Writing Process, Using Details, Figurative Language, Folk Tales)

 

I Had This Crazy Dream!

(Reading, Biographies, Character Education, Overcoming Adversity,

Career Awareness,

Diversity and Tolerance)

 

PLUS

Middle and High School Programs and YA Public Library Programs!

Programs

TOP

The programs we offer are designed with state standards and educational goals in mind from the beginning.  That's just one of the reasons that our programs are completely different from shows offered by most school show performers.  To find out more about the process and what we mean by educational significance, click here.

 

Looking to have THE BEST SCIENCE NIGHT or LITERACY NIGHT PROGRAM EVER?  Ask about our Best Evening Meeting Ever discount when you call!

 

Tommy Johns Presents currently offers twelve educationally significant programs for elementary and middle schools and libraries, and we add at least one new program every year.  Every program is packed with audience participation, comedy, music, magic, puppets and more and really motivates and encourages kids to continue their learning after the assembly ends by GOING TO THE LIBRARY!

 

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I Love to Read!

 

I Love to Read! is our most popular show for elementary schools! This 45-minute assembly program is an interactive educational production that is part storytelling, part magic show, part game show and 100% FUN. I Love to Read shows kids just how much can happen when they LOVE to read! 

 

I Love to Read! features unusual puppets, crazy comedy, magic and audience participation to show how books can magically let readers meet all kinds of people, have all kinds of adventures and learn to do all kinds of things! New books as well as classics and award winners are featured in the show. A part of this program also teaches the importance of taking care of library books and returning them EARLY!

 

Over and over we reinforce the importance of picking up a book and reading EVERY DAY.  This unforgettable show will have your kids talking about the reading program for weeks to come!

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“Tommy Johns is a fabulous performer. The kids love him and he always holds their attention. The show is just as much fun for the adults as it is for the children.”

Monica Davis, Stevenson Library, Stevenson, AL

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Dig a Little Deeper!

 

"When you dig into a book, really dig into a book,

You'll find a lot of treasure buried there!"

 

Our newest show introduces readers to the ten genres of reading material they can find in the library. (Who would have thought that a genre study could be so much fun!)  It begins with a fun poem (above) and ends with a conversation with a pirate, straight out of the pages of Jean LaFitte's biography! The show encourages kids to explore the library and to find out about all different kinds of treasure that is waiting for them to discover. Students laugh and learn as they solve a mystery, travel back in time and discover that poetry can be hilarious! Roosevelt Rat even introduces the audience to formats like audiobooks, graphic novels and e-books!

 

This is a great kickoff or reward show as well as a great show to introduce your readers to the different types of books that they can enjoy if they just "Dig a Little Deeper" into the library!

 

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“Book him. You won't be sorry.”

Louise Brown, Lena Cagle Library, Bridgeport, AL

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I Had This Crazy Dream! is a program that encourages BIG DREAMS! This show introduces elementary and middle school students to seven people who had big dreams and worked to make those dreams come true! Using magic, puppets, storytelling and audience interaction, your readers will meet Hank Aaron, Martha Berry, Harry Houdini, Ellen Ochoa, George Crum, Philo Farnsworth and Chris VanAllsburg. Students (and teachers!) will laugh at Beauregard Buzzard telling the story that inspired Ellen Ochoa to become an astronaut and they will listen quietly to the story of home run king, Hank Aaron. They will be amazed at George Crum and the story of the potato chip and will be inspired by Martha Berry's peanut idea.

 

In addition to inspiring kids to dream big (and to READ, of course), I Had This Crazy Dream! is a great show for a career awareness emphasis. We talk about the importance of having a dream, working hard to make that dream come true and how their teachers (including the media specialist) can help them find books that will allow them to explore possibilities and make their dreams a reality!

 

Tell your counselors about this program and they may even be able to use some of their funding to bring this READING show to your school!

 

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Wherever You Go,

There's a Story!

 

It's a reading show!  It's a cultural arts program!  It's a lesson about tolerance and diversity and the power of a story!  Wherever You Go, There's a Story! is all of these and more.  Take an imaginary trip to all seven continents and discover stories (fiction AND non-fiction) from around the world that entertain, inspire, teach AND reinforce the state standards.  Hear the story of John Chapman like you've never heard it before!  The show ends with a powerful story of unity and inspiration. 

 

Like all of our programs, "Wherever You Go!" includes magic, puppets, audience participation and a STRONG message about reading and library resources. 

 

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“I especially liked the integration of books and reading with the magic and puppets.  The puppets and magic were especially well received by the audience.”

Amy Billings, Gwinnett County Public Libraries

 

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Go Wild!

A Humorous and Engaging Tour of The Scientific Process

 

Tommy and his friends will be taking your kids on a wild and imaginary tour of their backyards, neighborhoods, and community parks. Through puppetry, magic and storytelling, Tommy and his furry and feathered (puppet) friends will teach young readers about how to use the Scientific Process to answer questions about their own  environment.  It looks like a science show, but it is all about getting kids excited about READING!

 

Along the way everyone will learn interesting facts about the plants and animals that live among us everyday, from color changing lizards, and inventive birds, to animals that change forms.

 

Get ready for another fun, educational, and entertaining program that will have your kids racing for books and talking about the show months after it’s over.

 

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"We just had Tommy Johns perform for the entire school and he was great. 'Awesome' was the comment of one of our 1st grade teachers! Tommy is very professional and entertaining. Another teacher commented that she really appreciated the fact that the assembly was so academically oriented."

Karen Liebert, International Studies Elementary Charter School, Albany, GA

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Simple Machines Made Simple!

 

This hands-on workshop, developed in conjunction with staff from the National Science Center in Augusta, GA, allows learners to handle wheels, pulleys, levers, wedges, incline planes and screws in a way that makes abstract concepts "concrete" (yes, the pun was intended!).  


Tommy comes in dressed as a construction worker, but the children from the audience are the ones who do the work.

Your tactile learners will come to life as they help figure out how to lift a 50 pound bucket of rocks with a 5 pound weight, and why a wedge is such a handy tool. Using levers, your youngest students will be able to easily accomplish feats that
NO human being can accomplish bare handed. This is a presentation that will be remembered and talked about for a VERY long time.

Teachers will have no problem tying lessons into the subjects taught. And because the program also promotes reading and media center resources, it is a program that everyone appreciates!  We look at and discuss biographies of inventors, discover that men women and CHILDREN can invent cool stuff, and even look at fictional inventors.

Throughout the program, the kids learn how simple machines help us “Work Smarter, Not Harder.”

 

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Reading Round Up!

 Making the Writing Process FUN and FUNNY!

 

Tommy and his puppet friends have done it again!  He and a top notch team of performers, educators, and librarians have put together another amazing program for your readers!  Like all of his reading programs, Reading Round Up includes costuming, puppets, magic, music, audience participation and a STRONG message about using the resources in the library!

 

This time, Tommy, his sidekick Roosevelt Rat, and the kids at your library are trying to help Claudia (a very funny hippo with an attitude!) write a story for Cowboy Digest magazine (cowboys LOVE a good story!).  Claudia needs help with descriptive language, character development, plot twists and other writing tools, and we do our best to help her.  The kids at every show will help create a story that teaches them how to become better writers!  After each show, the story your students created will be posted on Claudia's blog for the whole world to read! Over 100 stories have already made it to her blog!

 

To help Claudia understand the elements of a good story, we will be looking at lots of books including award winners, books that have been made into movies, classic children's books and folk tales from across this great land of ours, and from other lands as well.  Filled with book talks, storytelling, and a neat moral at the end of the show, this program drives home the importance of good writing.

 

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Arctic Express!

 

This holiday season treat the kids to a program that’s trainloads of fun, filled with puppets, magic, storytelling, music, and audience participation. This imaginary train ride magically takes kids around the world to learn about winter holidays like: Diwali, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Ramadan, Chinese New Year, Hanukkah and of course, Christmas.

 

Yes, the program is educationally significant (we can't help ourselves, we are obsessed with creating the most educational programs available without compromising entertainment value), and yes, the program strongly encourages children to read.  But don’t think for a minute that the show is anything less than sheer delight for everyone, including teachers and staff. When you hear the sleigh bell ring at the end of the show, you won’t be the only one to wipe a tear from your eye.

 

This is a show children will remember for the rest of their lives.

 

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© COPYRIGHT 2000-2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Tommy Johns Presents

1650 Bainbridge Way Roswell, GA 30076-1621
(770) 640-6509