What Happens In Storytime...

Flannel Friday - I Went to the Pet Store

2012-02-24T15:59:00.000-06:00

It's finally Flannel Friday! This week's flannel board was inspired by the poem, "I Went to the Pet Store" from Storytime Magic by Kathy MaMillan and Christine Kirker (Chicago: American Library Association, 2009).

I used Microsoft Word and typed out the rhyming words in each stanza. I also included a picture of the animal and the suffix of the rhyme.

First we discussed what a rhyme was, then, as I said the rhymes, I invited the children to guess which animal I was talking about. When they guess correctly, I emphasized the rhyming words (cat/that, etc), and repeated the stanza.

They had a great time correcting me when I tried to tell them the wrong answer. The only rhyme they had trouble with was rabbit.

If anyone would like the file I used for this felt board, please email me at molliereadsya at gmail dot com.

Meghan from Busy Crafting Mommy is hosting the roundup today. Flannel Friday can also be found on Pinterest and Facebook.

See everyone next week!

Flannel Friday - Hats

2012-02-17T15:39:00.000-06:00

Happy Flannel Friday!

Both of my submissions were used in today's Hats storytime. The first was made from a Word document, then laminated. I used tacky glue to attach felt to the back, then cut out each word.

My Hat

My hat it has three corners,

Three corners has my hat.

And had it not three corners,

It would not be my hat.

--Traditional

Take out a word each verse and substitute, "Mmmh."

Milo's Hats

This story is courtesy of Storytime Magic: 400 Fingerplays, Flannelboards, and Other Activities by Kathy MacMillan and Christine Kirker (Chicago: American Library Association, 2009).

Milo doesn't know what to be when he grows up, so he's going to try on a few hats until he finds the right one.

If anyone would like the document I used for "My Hat", email me at molliereadsya at gmail dot com.

Check out the round-up later today hosted by Katie at her blog Story Time Secrets. For a picturesque archive of past ideas, visit our Pinterest page. And lastly, talk about Flannel Friday (and more!) all week on our Facebook page.

Storytime - Valentine's Day

2012-02-16T20:36:00.000-06:00

Books

Big Hugs, Little Hugs by Felicia Bond

Toddler

Sweet Hearts by Jan Carr

Toddler

Be Mine, Be Mine, Sweet Valentine by Sarah Weeks

Preschool

Before reading this book, I explained what a rhyme was asked the preschoolers to listen for the rhymes. The poems leave out the last word and hide the answer behind a flap. The preschoolers were able to guess what word came next based on the context and a few hints from me.

The Runaway Valentine by Tina Casey

Preschool

This is a looooong story. My preschoolers sat through it, though. I was very proud!

Songs

If You Love Me and You Know It

Sung to: "If You’re Happy and You Know It"

If you love me and you know it, Clap your hands.
If you love me and you know it, Clap your hands.
If you love me and you know it,
Then your face will surely show it.
If you love me and you know it, Clap your hands.

Other Verses:
Say "I Love you"
Blow me a kiss
Give me a hug

--PreschoolEducation

Will You Be My Valentine

Sung to: “London Bridge”

Will you be my valentine, Valentine, Valentine?
Will you be my Valentine, be a friend of mine?

--PreschoolEducation

Activities

Who Has a Red Heart? Game

Sung to: Mary Wore a Red Dress

Who has a red heart, red heart, red heart?

Who has a red heart?

Bring it to me now.

Use different color hearts.

--Miss Mollie

Crafts

We made our own valentine's out of die cut hearts. I found the die cut for a pop-up heart card at my school district's resource center.

Storytime - Here We Go!

2012-02-13T12:00:00.000-06:00

Books

Freight Train by Donald Crews

Toddler

I Love Planes by Philemon Sturges

Toddler

Clickety Clack by Robert and Amy Spence

Preschool

Late for School by Stephanie Calmenson

Preschool

Songs/Rhymes

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream.

--Traditional

*I like to sing this song multiple times with the preschoolers, speeding up each round until we're not really even singing anymore. They find this absolutely hilarious, and they're usually tired enough to sit still for a story afterwards.

Did You Ever See an Airplane?
Sung to: "Did You Ever See a Lassie?"
Did you ever see an airplane,
An airplane, and airplane?
Did you ever see an airplane
Way up in the sky?
There are big ones and small ones
And short ones and tall ones.
Did you ever see an airplane
Way up in the sky?

--PreschoolEducation

Activities

Going for a Ride In My Train - Toddlers

Sung to: Ten Little Indians

Going for a ride in my little ______ train

Going for a ride in my little ______ train
Chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga

Choo, choo!

Insert color of train

--Recipe for Reading

Where Does This Go? - Preschoolers

Mix up the place and ask the children where each vehicle goes. Get them wrong on purpose, and watch them be very eager to correct you!

Crafts

Toddler

Airplane Pictures. Materials: Light blue construction paper, die cut airplanes, die cut clouds, tape, glue, and crayons. The toddlers glued the airplane and clouds to their paper and colored them in.

Preschool

Stoplights. Materials: black construction paper, die cut circles in red, yellow, and green, tape, glue, and crayons. The preschoolers glued their circles to the black paper to make their own stoplights. One preschooler made a necklace out of her stoplight.

Wee Read - Hugs and Kisses

2012-02-11T12:00:00.001-06:00

Books

All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri

I Will Kiss You (Lots & Lots & Lots) by Stoo Hample

Hugs and Kisses by Christopher Loupy

Read Together book

Songs/Rhymes

I Have Ten Fingers

--from Babies in the Library by Jane Marino. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 2003.

Criss Cross Applesauce

-- from Lapsit Services for the Very Young by Linda L. Ernst. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc, 2001.

Will You Be My Valentine

Sung to: "Do You Know the Muffin Man?”

Will you be my valentine,

Valentine, Valentine?
Will you be my Valentine,

Be a friend of mine?

--PreschoolEducation

*I taught the caregivers the ASL sign for Valentine, which is drawing a heart on your chest, and the sign for friend, which is linking your two index fingers together.

Little Red Valentine Game

Little red Valentine, I love you.

Orange one says, "I do, too!"

Use different color hearts.

--Storytime ABC’s

*We used the ASL sign for Valentine again, along with the signs for "I Love You" and the colors.

If You Love Me and You Know It

Sung to: "If You’re Happy and You Know It"

Other Verses:
Say "I Love you"
Blow me a kiss
Give me a hug

--PreschoolEducation

Inspired by Flannel Friday - Full of Heart

2012-02-10T09:00:00.007-06:00

It's a Flannel Friday of Love!

This week's post was inspired by Kay Leigh at Storytime ABC’s.

I made eight hearts total: white, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Little Red Valentine Game

Little Red Valentine, I love you.

Orange one says, "I do, too!"

Use different color hearts.

In Wee Read class, we said this rhyme using the ASL signs for each color (we did red, orange, yellow, green, and blue) and Valentine (drawing a heart over your chest) to go with it.

For Toddler and Preschool storytimes, I printed out six smaller hearts per color, then laminated each sheet. After cutting out each heart, I taped a popsicle stick to the back and wrote the color name on the heart.

I passed out a heart to each child, then placed a big heart on the flannel board to show which color we were using while singing this song I came up with:

Who Has a Red Heart?
Sung to: Mary Wore a Red Dress
Who has a red heart, red heart, red heart?
Who has a red heart?
Bring it to me now.
Use different color hearts.

As I called each color's name, the children with that heart brought it to the front and placed it into my basket.

Want to see what everyone else has been up to this week? Check out the roundup at Loons and Quines. Have you joined us on Facebook yet? No? Then stop by and see what we're talking about! Are you a visual type of person? Then have no fear, because Pinterest is here!

Storytime - Squirrels

2012-02-08T13:02:00.000-06:00

Books

Nuts to You by Lois Ehlert

Toddler

*This book is long and the group was restless, so I had to skip a few pages. It's still a cute story, though.

The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri

Toddler and Preschool

Erroll by Hannah Shaw

Preschool

*This story had the children laughing on the floor!

Songs/Rhymes

Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel

--I’m a Little Teapot!: Presenting Preschool Storytime by Jane Cobb. Vancouver, BC: Black Sheep Press, 1996.

*I changed this to a red squirrel, to fit with my puppet.

Crafts

Toddlers

Acorns. Materials: outline of an acorn on cardstock (from Kiboomu), tan and brown construction paper squares, crayons, tape, and glue sticks. The toddlers glued the squares onto the acorn.

Preschool

Squirrel Puppets. Materials: printable squirrel body parts on gray paper (from DLTK's), cardboard tubes, crayons, tape, and glue sticks. I had the volunteers cut out the parts ahead of time, though I usually let the preschooler cut them out on their own. The children colored their squirrel body parts, glued or taped them onto the tube, and sang "Gray Squirrel, Gray Squirrel" with their puppets.

February Displays

2012-02-07T14:21:00.001-06:00

Happy (Almost) Valentine's Day! Here are the displays up in our library this month.

We Love to Read

Who Do You Love?

Each week features a competition between two groups or characters. The first week was Percy Jackson vs. Harry (Percy won with a landslide), this week is Pirates vs. Ninjas, the third week will be Clifford vs. Franklin, and the last week will be Werewolves vs. Vampires.

Inspired By Flannel Friday - Things That Go

2012-02-03T17:05:00.002-06:00

Here's a Flannel Friday Two-fer! Both were inspired by other Flannel Friday-ers.

The first is "Where Does This Go?". Andrea at rovingfiddlehead kidlit came up with this excellent game. Place the vehicles in the incorrect spot, and the kids will have loads of fun telling you that you're wrong.

The next is from Katie at Recipe for Reading. I've change the wording a little, but the premise is the same. I printed out the train outlines from Crayola's website onto colored paper, then laminated them and cut them out. I taped popsicle sticks to the back. I used these with all three groups, changing it a bit for the preschoolers to make it a bit more difficult. I taught them the ASL sign for each color before we sang the song.

Going for a Ride In My Train

Sung to: Ten Little Indians

Going for a ride in my little ______ train

Going for a ride in my little ______ train
Chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga

Choo, choo!

Insert color of train.

See what everyone else has been working on this week at Andrea's roundup and view the pictures on our Pinterest page. Do you want Flannel Friday to be every day? If yes, then join us at our Facebook group.

Wee Read - Transportation

2012-02-01T14:02:00.002-06:00

Books

My Car by Byron Barton

That's Not My Train by Fiona Watt

Bouncing Along: Colors by Sally Chambers

Read Together book

Songs

The Wheels on the Bus

The wheels on the bus go round and round,

Round and round, round and round.

The wheels on the bus go round and round,

All through the town.

Continue with:

Doors go open and shut

Horn goes beep, beep, beep

Wipers go swish, swish, swish

--Traditional

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

Life is but a dream!

--Traditional

Going for a Ride In My Train

Sung to: Ten Little Indians

Going for a ride in my little ______ train

Going for a ride in my little ______ train
Chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga

Choo, choo!

Insert color of train

--Recipe for Reading

*The train pattern came from Crayola's website. I printed out the coloring sheet on colored paper, then laminated each sheet. I taped popsicle stick to the back. Each sheet has two trains, so I have two sets of props.

Here We Go Up, Up, Up

-- from Lapsit Services for the Very Young II by Linda L. Ernst. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc, 2001.

Dump Truck Song

Sung to: “One little, Two Little, Three Little Indians”
Bumpity - bumpity comes the dump truck
Bumpity - bumpity comes the dump truck
Bumpity - bumpity comes the dump truck
Duuuuuuuuuuump out the load!

--PreKFun

Storytime - Chinese New Year

2012-01-28T18:00:00.001-06:00

Books

My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz

Toddler and Preschool

Yum Yum Dim Sum by Amy Wilson Sanger

Toddler

*Note: I grabbed this book in haste, something I rarely ever do. I only glanced at the text, and was quite embarrassed during storytime when I couldn't pronounce the food names. I probably wouldn't use this title again, but anyone familiar enough with the terms will find it fun.

Max Celebrates Chinese New Year by Adria F. Klein

Preschool

*Note: This is an easy reader, but perfect for storytime audiences.

Songs

If You’re a Dragon and You Know It

Sung to: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

If you’re a dragon and you know it,

Show your claws.

If you’re a dragon and you know it,

Show your claws.

If you’re a dragon and you know it,

And you really want to show it,

If you’re a dragon and you know it,

Show your claws.

--Miss Mollie

*This is a song I made up at the last minute. Feel free to change it for your needs.

Four Red Dragons

Four red dragons

Dancing 'round a tree
One danced away

And then there were three

Three red dragons

Dancing 'round you
One danced away

And then there were two

Two red dragons

Dancing in the sun
One danced away

And then there was one

One red dragon

Having lots of fun

She danced away
And then there were none

--PerpetualPreschool

Felt Board

Chinese New Year

Sung to: “Mary Had a Little Lamb"
See the dragon dance and prance

Dance and prance

See the dragon dance and prance

On Chinese New Year’s Day

Hear the firecrackers pop pop pop
Pop pop

Pop pop
Hear the firecrackers pop pop pop
On Chinese New Year's Day

--PerpetualPreschool

Crafts

Dragon Puppets. Materials: Print out of dragon head and tail from Mrs. Walley's First Grade Website, two popsicle sticks, glue or tape, and an accordion folded strip of red paper. *I had volunteers cut the heads and tails out ahead of time, but preschoolers could cut them out on their own.*

Tape or glue the popsicle sticks onto the backs of the head and tail. Attach the strip to each piece, and you have your dragon! When ours were all finished, we sang "See the Dragon Dance and Prance".

Definitely a Not Flannel Friday Post

2012-01-27T16:00:00.001-06:00

Happy Flannel Friday everyone!

I sat down to work on my squirrels for this week's storytimes and FF entry. I chose the felt, I cut out five squirrels, I warmed up the glue gun. I was doing everything the same way I always do.

And it just wasn't working.

I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong. It wasn't the rhyme (which is super cute), it wasn't the shape, it wasn't the googly eyes, and it certainly wasn't the fault of the glue gun. But something was off. It wasn't coming out the way I had planned in my head.

I realized at that point that "Five Furry Squirrels" was not meant to be. Sure, I could have slugged through it, awkward as it was, presented it to the children. Maybe they would have no idea, maybe they would have sensed the uneasiness, but that didn't sit right with me. Instead, I did what I rarely do, and brought out a squirrel puppet. Guess what! They loved it!

Flexibility is a trait that comes from working with children. We as children's librarians learn to adapt to the setting, changing our minds about storytime, sometimes without even realizing that we are. It's important to go with the flow, think on our feet, and change with the overall climate of the room. Thankfully, with my squirrels, I was given time to reflect on its effectiveness beforehand, an opportunity that does not come often, and I took full advantage of it.

Not every "Five Little..." song can be flannelized. Maybe in the hands of another librarian it would have been spectacular, but now that I'm confident enough in my flannel-making skills, I can proudly admit that my creativity has limits. I can move on to other activities which will be much more comfortable. Maybe one day I'll revisit those squirrels, but for now I'm happy to let go of what could have been.

Anne is hosting the round up of this week's Flannel Friday posts. Kay Leigh has issued a challenge to everyone involved in Flannel Friday, both bloggers and viewers alike: Post a comment on every FF entry. I've been doing my best to keep up, and it's been a fun challenge to accept. Help us keep the discussions going on our Facebook page and see the pictures on our Pinterest page.