Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Wee Read - Shake Shake Shake

Early Literacy Tip: Be a good reading role model. Read in front of your kids. Explain how reading and writing help you get things done every day.

Books

Songs/Rhymes
Head and Shoulders
Head and shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes
Head and shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose
Head and shoulders, knees and toes
Knees and toes!
-- Traditional

An Egg is On My Nose (with egg shakers)
Sung to: “The Farmer in the Dell”
An egg is on my nose,
an egg is on my nose,
Heigh-ho, the derry-o,
an egg is on my nose.
(Repeat using other body parts)

Shake Your Eggs (with egg shakers)

use shaker eggs
Shake your eggs and shake them high.
Shake your eggs and shake them low.
Shake your eggs and shake them high.
Shake your eggs around you go.

Put Your Egg on Your Head (with egg shakers)

Sung to: “There’s a Spider on the Floor”
Put your egg on your head, on your head.
Put your egg on your head, on your head.
Put your egg on your head
Put your egg on your head.
Put your egg on your head, on your head.
continue with toes, tummy, etc.

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

Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream!
--Traditional

Eyes and Nose
--Storytime Crafts: Crazy Days by Kathryn Totten. Ft. Atkinson, WI: Upstart Books, 2004.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Storytime - Breakfast

Toddler
Books: Max’s Breakfast by Rosemary Wells, Ellie’s Breakfast by Sarah Garland, and “The Pancake Man” on the felt board.

Songs / Rhymes: “Good Morning”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “Open, Shut Them”, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, “Head and Shoulders”, “I Wiggle My Fingers”, and “The More We Get Together”.

Craft: Pancakes. Materials: Die cut tan construction paper circles, paper plates, red stickers, brown yarn, crayons, glue, and tape. The toddlers glued their circles (pancakes) to the plates, placed the stickers (cherries) on top, and drizzled the yarn (syrup) on top. The idea came from Estherstorytimes.

Preschool
Books: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss and “Flip Flap Jack” on the felt board.

Songs / Rhymes: “Welcome to the Library”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, “Open, Shut Them”, “I Wiggle My Fingers”, and “The More We Get Together”.

Craft: Pancakes. Materials: Die cut tan construction paper circles, paper plates, red, blue, and yellow stickers, brown yarn, crayons, glue, and tape. The preschoolers glued their circles (pancakes) to the plates, placed the stickers (cherries, blueberries, and bananas) on top, and drizzled the yarn (syrup) on top.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Flannel Friday - The Little Red Hen

Happy Friday everyone! Hopefully my American readers had a great (and filling!) Thanksgiving.

"The Little Red Hen" is one of my favorite stories to tell aloud. I recently decided to use it again in storytime, but thought the toddlers would like to see, too.


The templates came from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book: Second Edition by Judy Sierra.

Library Quine is hosting the Flannel Friday round up this week. For more information about FF, or to see past round ups, visit the Flannel Friday blog. We're also on Facebook and Pinterest, too!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Wee Read - Thanksgiving

Early Literacy Tip of the Week: Don't be afraid to improvise. The words don't need to be read as they appear in the book. You can just talk about the pictures.

Good Morning

Hello, How are You?

If You’re a Turkey and You Know It
If you’re a turkey and you know it,
Flap your wings.
If you’re a turkey and you know it,
Flap your wings.
If you’re a turkey and you know it,
And you really want to show it.
If you’re a turkey and you know it,
Flap your wings.
Continue with wibble, wobble; gobble gobble; do all three.
--Miss Mollie

Open Shut Them

Book One

Did You Ever See A Turkey?
Sung to: "Did you ever see a Lassie"
Did you ever see a turkey a turkey a turkey
Did you ever see a turkey go this way and that
Go this way and that way and this way and that way
Did you ever see a turkey go this way and that?

The Turkey
The turkey is a funny bird,
His head goes wobble, wobble, wobble.
All he says is just one word,
“Gobble, gobble, gobble.”

Turkey Feathers
Sung to: “Are You Sleeping?”
Turkey feathers, turkey feathers,
Red, orange, yellow,
Green and brown.
Which color is this?
Which color is this?
Do you know? Do you know?
--from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz and Dick Wilmes. Elgin, IL: Building Blocks, 1997.


Book Two

The Leaves are Falling Down
Sung to: "The Farmer in the Dell"
The leaves are falling down
The leaves are falling down
Red, yellow, green, and brown
The leaves are falling down.

Hello Mr. Turkey 
Sung to: "If You're Happy and You Know It"
Hello, Mr. Turkey how are you?
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?
With a gobble, gobble, gobble,
And a wobble, wobble, wobble.
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you?

Read Together

The More We Get Together

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Storytime - Thanksgiving

Toddler
Songs / Rhymes: “Good Morning”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “Open, Shut Them”, “Did You Ever See a Turkey”, “Turkey Feathers” on the felt board, and “The More We Get Together”.

Turkey Feathers
Sung to: “Are You Sleeping?”
--from Felt Board Fingerplays by Liz and Dick Wilmes. Elgin, IL: Building Blocks, 1997.
*I handed each toddler a turkey feather. We sang the song, and at the end of each verse, I said a color of feather. Those toddlers with that color in their hand brought it to the front and placed it on the felt board.



Did You Ever See A Turkey?
Sung to: “Did You Ever See a Lassie?"
Did you ever see a turkey, a turkey, a turkey?
Did you ever see a turkey go this way and that?
Go this way and that way, and this way and that way,
Did you ever see a turkey go this way and that?

Craft: Build Your Own Turkey. Materials: Die cut brown construction paper circles, die cut feathers, full sheet of green construction paper, yellow construction paper beaks, googly eyes, crayons, glue, and tape. The toddlers glued their turkey pieces to the green paper and colored them in.

Preschool
Books: The Thankful Book by Todd Parr and I Know an Old
Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson on the felt board (the felt board template came from Lil Country Kindergarten).

Songs / Rhymes: “Welcome to the Library”, “Hello, How Are You?”, “Hi There, So Glad You Came”, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, “Open, Shut Them”, “Did You Ever See a Turkey”, and “The More We Get Together”. 

Craft: Thankful Chains. Materials: Construction paper strips in five colors, crayons, glue, and tape. The preschoolers wrote one thing they were thankful for on each strip of paper. They used the strips to form a chain. When they were done, I went around the room and asked the children what they had written. One child wrote that she was thankful for the library!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Storytime - Colors of the Rainbow


This is by far my favorite storytime theme to do!

Books
  • Duckie’s Rainbow by Frances Barry
    • Toddler
  • A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
    • Toddler
  • Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
    • Preschool
  • Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
    • Preschool

Songs/Rhymes
Color Ducks (flannel board)
Sung to: “Mary Wore a Red Dress”
If you have a red duck, red duck,
Red duck,
If you have a red duck, bring it to me now.
*I gave each child a duck, then sang the song. When I held up a color, each child with the same color brought it to me and placed it in my basket.
**Abby's version was about cows at the farm. 

Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue
Sung to: Head and Shoulders
Red, yellow, green, and blue,
Green and blue.
Red, yellow, green, and blue,
Green and blue.
Orange, purple, brown, and black.
Red, yellow, green, and blue,
Green and blue.
--Unknown.
*We sang the song once through, then took out the color red and replaced it with a red rectangle. At the rectangles, we clapped instead of singing the color.
**I don't have a source for this song, so if you know where it comes from, share the information!

Activities
Build a Rainbow
I asked the children to help me build a rainbow by finding what piece came next in order of size. The pattern is from Storytime Magic by Kathy MacMillan and Christine Kirker.




Mixing Colors Experiment
After reading Mouse Paint, I demonstrated how to mix colors by pouring water into clear cups and dropping in food coloring. The preschoolers guessed what color the water would turn when the two cups were mixed. One mom even called afterwards to say that her son had so much fun watching the experiment that he wanted to recreate it at home!


Crafts
Toddler - Build a Rainbow
Materials: Construction paper semi-circles in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, crayons, glue, and tape. I used the Storytime Magic template (see above). The toddlers glued their rainbows together in color order. 



Preschool - Mixing Colors
Mixing Colors. Materials: dyed macaroni noodles, color mixing print out, glue, tape, crayons, and scissors. The preschoolers matched the correct color of macaroni to the corresponding box on the paper. You can find the sheet I made for this here.





Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Wee Read - Fall is Here

Early Literacy Tip: Speak face-to-face when talking to your baby: they watch adults’ mouths to match shapes to sounds.


Songs / Rhymes
Criss Cross Applesauce
--from Lapsit Services for the Very Young by Linda L. Ernst. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc, 2001.

Three Little Apples (felt board not pictured)
Three little apples at the grocery store.
Three little apples, all lonely to the core.
When along comes a child with a quarter to pay,
She buys one and takes it away.
--Miss Mollie

The Leaves are Falling Down
Sung to: "The Farmer in the Dell"
The leaves are falling down
The leaves are falling down
Red, yellow, green, and brown
The leaves are falling down
Way Up High in the Apple Tree
Way up high in the apple tree
arms above head
Two little apples did I see.
make two fists
So I shook that tree as hard as I could,
wiggle body all over
Down, came the apples.
bring arms down, wiggling fingers
Mmmmmm, they were good!
rub tummy


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

Tall as a Tree

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

Blue Bird, Blue Bird
Blue bird, blue bird,
On my window.
Blue bird, blue bird,
On my window.
Blue bird, blue bird,
On my window.
Oh, Mommy, I'm tired.


Monday, November 5, 2012

Storytime - Apples

Books
Five Little Apples
Five little apples at the grocery store.
Five little apples, all lonely to the core.
When along comes a child with a quarter to pay,
She buys one and takes it away.
--Miss Mollie

Way Up High in the Apple Tree
Way up high in the apple tree
arms above head
Two little apples did I see.
make two fists
So I shook that tree as hard as I could,
wiggle body all over
Down, came the apples.
bring arms down, wiggling fingers
Mmmmmm, they were good!
rub tummy

A-P-P-L-E
Sung to: “B-I-N-G-O”
There is a fruit I really like,
And Apple is its name-o.
A-P-P-L-E, A-P-P-L-E, A-P-P-L-E
And Apple is its name-o.
--Miss Mollie


Craft
Toddlers - Apple Tree
Materials: Die cut red construction paper mini apples, die cut brown construction paper trees, die cut green construction paper clouds (leaves), crayons, glue, and tape. The toddlers glued and taped the leaves and apples to their trees.






Preschool - Small a
I taught the preschoolers about the difference between capital A and lower case a before handing them this color-by-number sheet.