Category: Outreach Storytime

Up and Down!

This was my first week of opposite pairs with my daycare kids. I have four weeks of opposites planned, and then summer reading programming begins. Since I’ve got so much going on, I’ll be repeating storytimes for the first time ever. It’s looking like I will be doing two-three storytimes a week (Thursday mornings, Friday mornings, and maybe Friday afternoons).

Our first book for the day was “Up, Down, and Around” by Katherine Ayres.

We have this book in big book form, so the kids are always very involved because the book is so large. While I was reading this one, they caught on to the up, down, and around refrain, chiming in with me after I named the vegetable on the page.

Next, a book that is kind of pushing the theme limit, but that I love nonetheless: “Fish, Swish! Splash, Dash!” by Suse MacDonald.

Whenever I read this book, all the kids join in the counting with me and it’s such a great experience to read with the kids. I choose this book because at the end you flip the book upside down and begin again. We wound up flipping the book a total of four times before I called it quits!

Then it was on to a very successful fingerplay:

Fingerplay: “Up the Hill”
Here goes a turtle up a hill, creepy, creepy, creepy, creepy (crawl up arm)
Here goes a rabbit up the hill, boing, boing, boing, boing (bounce up arm)
Here goes an elephant up the hill, thud, thud, thud, thud (clap up arm)
Here goes a snake up the hill, slither, slither, slither, slither (slither up arm)
Here comes a rock down the hill, boom, boom, boom, boom, CRASH! (bounce down, clap hands for crash)
Credit: Bright Spot — Brighton Memorial Library

And then it was time for our flannelboard: “Wheels on the Bus.” This is a set that we had from before I was even at the library! It’s a build-able flannelboard that you build as you go along in the song. By the end, you have a completed bus on the board. Obviously, I choose this flannel for the “people on the bus go up and down” part.

Our next book was “Up Above & Down Below” by Sue Redding.

I fell in love with this book after Inter-Library loaning it for this week’s storytime. What really captured me was that it showed a ton of different kinds of up and down. My favorite spread was the theater page. I am a Broadway geek after all.

Next up, was a traditional action rhyme:

Action Rhyme: “Noble Duke of York”
The noble Duke of York, he had ten thousand men
He marched them up to the top of the hill & marched them down again
And when you’re up, you’re up, and when you’re down, you’re down
And when you’re only halfway up, you’re neither up nor down
Credit: Library School

I always forget how exhausting it is for me to do “Noble Duke” but that’s because I do it normal, slow, fast, and super fast to exhaust the kids. Afterwards, I sang “London Bridge” with the kids and was surprised that they knew the song. Thankfully, they sang with me and I was able to catch my breath.

Next, an “up” book with “I Love Planes” by Philemon Sturges.

This is a super easy book, but my kids are always really happy to have books that showcase items that they love — and living so close to O’Hare, we have a ton of plane lovers!

After that, we did another action rhyme:

Action Rhyme: “Merry Go Round Ride”
Ride with me on the merry-go-round
Around, around, around, around
Up go the horses, up
Down go the horses, down
You ride a horse that’s white
I’ll ride a horse that’s brown
Up and down, up and down
Around, around, around, around
Credit: Perry Public Library

I just added in actions, up, down, twirling, and pointing to me/them. They really liked spinning! Then it was on to the last book of the day, “Subway” by Anastasia Suen.

Since we do live in a suburb of the city, I did have to explain that subways were trains that ran under the ground. Only one of the kids had been on the El in the city before. But as much as the kids love familiar books and objects, they also love unfamiliar transportation!

We played our traditional flannelboard game, “Can We Find?,” at the end of storytime and then sorted what we found into up (kite, balloon, bird) and down (car, cat, mouse).

And then it was on to the craft:

My teens cut out the butterflies, I folded and taped them to popsicle sticks to make the puppets. The kids got to make some beautiful colored butterflies and really loved making the wings go up and down! I got the craft from: Preschool Corner.

June 1, 2011 6 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Purple!

Let me just say for the record that purple is the HARDEST color to find books about! There’s tons of food that’s purple (plums, jelly, jam) but no books for preschoolers about that food. Someone please write a book about jelly and grapes, please!

With that being said, I did manage to find some books for this storytime, and I have to say that the books were received with great joy and happiness on behalf of my preschoolers. Previous color storytimes can be found here: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

First up, this is a book I found in my library’s collection, “Lunchtime for a Purple Snake” by Harriet Ziefert.

This book is very similar to Tomie dePaola’s “The Art Lesson,” which is one of my favorite books from being a child. A young girl paints with her grandfather. Her purple streak across the page turns into a snake, and they decorate the page with objects for their snake. The kids were really involved in this story!

Next up, I read “Gladys Goes Out to Lunch” by Derek Anderson.

At library school, someone used this during our storytime week and for whatever reason the book stuck with me. When I was trying to think of purple books, I remembered that Gladys was a purple gorilla, and grabbed the book off of the shelves. The kids were pretty horrified that a gorilla had escaped from the zoo. They kept saying, “She shouldn’t be out, Miss Katie!” during the reading. But when it was revealed that she was looking for bananas, lots of giggles ensued. And then everyone got a chance to be a monkey!

Action Rhyme: “Little Monkeys Swinging In the Tree”
Little monkeys swinging in the tree
All hold hands and swing with me
Swing up high and swing down low
Swing in the tree, now don’t let go!
Swing, swing like I do
Swing like the monkeys in the zoo
Credit: Step By Step — Rainforest Theme

Next up, a super short book, “Too Purpley” by Jean Reidy.

This book is about a little girl who doesn’t want to wear most of what’s in her closet. Every outfit she tries on has something wrong with it. This got a lot of laughs, especially during the polka-dot page. Afterwards, the kids and I did this song:

Action Song: “I’m Going to Take a Sweater” (Tune: Jolly Good Fellow)
I’m going to take a sweater, a sweater, a sweater
I’m going to take a sweater, when I go out today
When I go out today, when I go out today
I’m going to take a sweater, a sweater, a sweater
I’m going to take a sweater, when I go out today
(Additional Refrains: Umbrella, hat, raincoat, etc.)
Credit: Best Kids Book Site

I changed the words a bit from what’s originally on the BKBS, but I went with what felt natural singing to me. (Sometimes I find that there are too many syllables in the songs, and I get tripped up as a singer.) I acted out putting on the clothes we were singing about, and so did the kids.

And then I brought out my flannelboard of “Harold and the Purple Crayon.”

I was really shocked when one of the little boys said that he knew this story! Hooray!

The next book was “Chicken, Pig, Cow and the Purple Problem” by Ruth Ohi.

This book didn’t work out nearly as well as I had hoped. My kids were confused about the fact that chicken, pig, and cow are all clay animals that the girl made — so the whole book they kept reminding me that cows were not purple. I think this book is definitely a kindergarten and up book, and will save it for them.

However, singing “Old McDonald Had a Farm” with my Manhattan Toy puppets made everything better because my cow puppet is black and white, so that fixed their world.

And then it was on to the last book of the day, “Purple” by Sarah L. Schuette.

This is technically a non-fiction book, but it works for storytime because it’s told in rhymes and has bright pictures. I just skipped over the little information boxed and everything was fine. I choose it because I needed a book about grapes and jelly, and I’m glad it worked so well!

Then, a favorite song of mine from childhood:

Song: “Peanut Butter and Jelly”
First you take the peanuts and you crunch ‘em, you crunch ‘em
First you take the peanuts and you crunch ‘em, you crunch ‘em
For your peanut, peanut butter and jelly
Peanut, peanut butter and jelly
(Grapes/Squish ‘em; Bread/Spread it; Sandwich/Eat it)
Credit: Childhood

And then our craft!

I made up this craft, basically. I have a circle scrapbook punch, punched out some purple circles and we made grape bunches. Super simple, and the kids were so much more creative than me, as always!

May 23, 2011 10 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Blue!

Week five in my daycare storytime color themes — blue! (Previous themes: Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green.)

I opened up storytime with one of my absolute favorites: “Grumpy Bird” by Jeremy Tankard.

The kids were very quick to point out that Grumpy Bird is a crank! I love doing voices for this book. I use a light voice for all of the animals except for Grumpy Bird. For Grumpy, I put a hand on my hip and huff a sigh before saying his lines in a deep, cranky voice. My kids were very happy when Grumpy Bird mellowed out and “got happy” at the end of the book.

An easily modified fingerplay for our theme:

Fingerplay: “Two Little Bluebirds”
Two little bluebirds sat on a hill,
One named Jack and one named Jill.
Fly away, Jack; fly away, Jill,
Come back, Jack; come back, Jill.
Credit: Childhood

And then it was on to “Hooray for Fish” by Lucy Cousin.

Of course, we talked about the ocean being blue, but my kids let me know when other blue fish popped up in the book. This is such a successful storytime book.

Then, I got to use my “I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean” flannelboard for the first time since making it! Some of the kids were familiar with this book, and I’m always really happen when they get to experience a familiar story in a new way.

Then, I led the kids in an action rhyme to introduce our next blue object — a bunny!

Action Rhyme: “Little Bunny”
I saw a little bunny go hop, hop, hop
I told that little bunny to stop, stop, stop
He wiggled his ears and crinkled his nose
And wiggled, wiggled, wiggled right down to his toes.
Credit: Modified from Preschool Education Music & Songs

And then, I read “What’s the Matter, Bunny Blue?” by Nicola Smee.

The rhymes in this book make it a great read-aloud. I especially liked using this book for blue storytime because the rhymes are all based off the word “blue.” A great emphasis for the theme! Then, we did a fingerplay:

Fingerplay: “Here is a Bunny”
Here is a bunny with ears so funny (hold up two fingers for ears)
And here is his hole in the ground (make a circle with the other hand)
At the first sound he hears, he pricks up his ears (extend two fingers)
And hops in the hole in the ground (fingers jump into the hole)
Credit: Early Literature

And then it was on to “Little Blue Truck” by Alice Schertle.

When my library had started its in-house storytime collection, we purchased this title and I am sad to say that it sat on the shelf for a full year before I grabbed it for blue storytime. This is a wonderful book with trucks, animals, and a good lesson for preschoolers. I’m so glad that I re-discovered it on our shelf.

Then, I used some prop sticks to sing this song:

Fingerplay: “Where Are Trucks?” (Thumbkin)
Where is pick-up truck? Where is pick-up truck?
Here I am. Here I am.
How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you.
Drive away. Drive away.
(Tow truck, dump truck, moving truck, firetruck)

This kids really loved this activity! Never underestimate the allure of a familiar tune with new words!

Our last book for this week was “It Looked Like Spilt Milk” by Charles G. Shaw.

The refrain of this book was easily picked up by my kids, and as I turned the pages on our big book they eagerly guessed what shape the cloud was. And when we finished the book with the reveal that it had been a cloud the whole time, the kids and I talked about different cloud shapes.

We played our flannelboard, “Can We Find?” with blue objects hidden under the houses, and then I sang one last song to tie into our craft project for the day:

“One, Two, Three, Four, Five”
One, two, three, four, five, (hold up fingers one by one)
Once I caught a fish alive. (put hands together and wiggle like a fish)
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, (hold up fingers one by one)
Then I threw it back again. (make throwing motion)
Why did you let it go? (hold hands out asking why)
Because it bit my finger so. (shake hand, as if hurt)
Which finger did it bite? (hold hands out asking why)
This little finger on my right. (wiggle pinky finger)
Credit: Childhood

For craft this week, each child received a blue fish and was able to paste on different colored scales to their fish. A great hit!

May 18, 2011 2 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Green!

And another catch-up for storytime posts — this time it’s my daycare series on colors. (Previously, we’ve already done Red, Orange, and Yellow.)

I opened up storytime with a crowd-pleaser, “Where is the Green Sheep?” by Mem Fox.

This book was seriously made for storytime. With great rhymes, a driving task (find the green sheep), and a wonderful refrain for the children to say with you — it’s always a perfect fit!

[Side story: my three-year-old twin cousins came to my sheep storytime this winter and one of the girls, when I saw them next, looked at me and said, “We read stories about sheep. Where is the green sheep?” AWESOME. Storytime retention!]

After the kids found the green sheep, I went ahead with a modified version of “Baa Baa Black Sheep” that Abby suggested a long time ago, using different sheep colors. And somehow…I wound up finding Mel’s pop stick puppets and made my own to go with the song.

Next up, I asked the kids to name a bunch of green things, and one of the first things named was grass — direct segue into “In the Tall, Tall Grass” by Denise Fleming.

I love the bright green grass, and the many different kinds of bugs in this book! The kids enjoyed naming the different bugs, and I flipped back a few times through the book to rename some bugs. Then, we talked about things growing and that they’re green which led us to vegetables…and some peas:

Fingerplay: “Five Green Peas”
Five green peas in a peapod, pressed (make fist)
One grew, two grew, and so did all the rest (raise fingers one at a time)
They grew and grew and they did not stop (stretch fingers wide)
Till one day that peapod just had to go…POP! (clap)
Credit: Harris County Library

Followed by the adorable, “Little Pea” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

This book is always a big hit, and it remained so at this reading. It’s always a surprise for the kids to find out that Little Pea hates candy and loves his vegetables. This leads to a lot of laughs. My only sadness with this book is that it’s such a small book — someone please adapt it to a big book size so that it’s better equipped for storytime, please!

Now it was time for some green monsters to show up. I did my version of “Go Away Big Green Monster” by Ed Emberley on the flannelboard. This is a great participation story and I love doing it on the flannelboard so that the kids can shout away that scary old big green monster. Then, a little activity to get them settled back down:

Action Rhyme: “Monster, Monster”
Monster, monster, turn around
Monster, monster, touch the ground
Monster, monster, reach up high
Monster, monster, touch the sky
Monster, monster, touch your nose
Monster, monster, grab your toes
Monster, monster, touch your knees
Monster, monster, sit down please
(Which as we all know is just “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear.”)

And then it was on to “Lizette’s Green Sock” by Catharina Valckx.

This was a very sweet story about a little duck who finds a green sock while walking one day and sets off to find its match. My kids are always very concerned where there is something missing in a story, and they pay close attention until the end to make sure that everything turns out all right.

Then it was time to shift gears to our last green animal of the day — frogs!

Started off with a flannel version of “Five Green and Speckled Frogs.” And then a brief little puppet show:

Poem & Puppets: “The Frog on the Log”
There once was a green little frog, frog, frog
Who played in the wood on a log, log, log
A screech owl sitting in a tree, tree, tree
Came after the frog with a scree, scree, scree
When the frog heard the owl in a flash, flash, flash
He leaped in a pond with a splash, splash, splash!
Credit: Preschool Education

And then our last book for the day, “One Frog Sang” by Shirley Parentau.

The kids joined me in making all the different frog sounds in this book, and it was definitely a big hit. And then it was time for our flannel game, “Can We Find?” followed by our goodbye song, and then our craft!

Craft was from Busy Bee Kids Crafts. Everything was pre-cut; kids assembled using Glue Dots.

May 9, 2011 5 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Yellow!

This was the third color in my daycare storytime cycle: yellow! (Orange is here. Red is here.)

Since my group tends to be a little rowdy at they settle in, I sang two songs to get them calmed down this week — our welcome song and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

After a brief recap of what colors we had already done, I showed all the books to the kids and asked what color they thought was next. Unanimously, they proclaimed it to be yellow and I opened up “Banana” by Ed Vere to start.

I think this is a great book to start off storytime with because it warms kids up by creating a lot of discussion moments. With only two words in the book (banana and please), it also gives the reader opportunities to play with tone of voice and I really appreciated that! The kids had a good time telling the book to me as well. This led us into a very silly song…

Song: “Apples and Bananas”
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas
I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays
I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays
I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees
I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees
I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and bi-ni-nis
I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and bi-ni-nis
I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos
I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos
Credit: Childhood

Followed by another book about a yellow fruit, “Lemons Are Not Red” by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.

This worked much better in daycare storytime than in regular storytime this week, and I think it was just because my daycare kids were much more talkative than my regular storytime kids. After the book, I went straight into our flannelboard game:

Flannelboard Game: “Can We Find?” (Tune: Muffin Man)
Can we find a yellow cat, yellow cat, yellow cat?
Can we find a yellow cat? We want to say hello.

Last week, the daycare teacher told me that the daycare was learning about the color pink and the letter “P” this week, so I did put a pink heart behind one of the houses. The kids were SO surprised when we uncovered a pink heart! I might try hiding a different color item every week.

Next up, “Little Quack” by Lauren Thompson.

I knew that this would be a hit, because it is one of those books that seems to capture their attention every single time I read it. Anyways the book has great repetition, lots of great counting, and a sweet story. The kids in this session were very eager to cheer Little Quack on as he prepared to jump. That led us to our duck action rhyme:

Action Rhyme: “Little Duck”
I saw a little duck go hop, hop, hop (hop three times)
I told the little duck to stop, stop, stop (hold up hand for stop)
I went to the window to say, ‘How do you do?’ (handshake)
He wagged his little tail and away he flew! (shake tail and fly away)
Credit: Childhood

And then, I introduced our next yellow object — school bus — by doing my “Seals on the Bus” flannelboard. Whenever I do this flannel, the kids and I always wind up singing the book which is part of the fun. After our first bus, the kids were ready for a book about buses, “School Bus” by Donald Crews.

As with all Donald Crews books — this is a great way to introduce transportation to kids! Short words on each page; bright illustrations; engaging storylines. I love that these books have stood up over the years!

Next, I introduced our last yellow item with a puppet — bumblebee! I buzzed him around the room for a few and the kids were very excited to meet him. I promised that they could all come up and pet the bee after we finished storytime if there was good behavior!

First up, another flannelboard: “Six Little Bumblebees!” (I couldn’t resist using two in this storytime — they were both so perfect for the theme.)

Six little bumblebees sitting on a hive
One flew away and then there were five
Bumblebee, bumblebee fly away!
Bumblebee, bumblebee happy all day!
Five little bumblebees sitting on the floor
One flew away and then there were four
Bumblebee, bumblebee fly away!
Bumblebee, bumblebee happy all day!
Four little bumblebees sitting in the tree
One flew away and then there were three
Bumblebee, bumblebee fly away!
Bumblebee, bumblebee happy all day!
Three little bumblebees looking at you
One flew away and then there were two
Bumblebee, bumblebee fly away!
Bumblebee, bumblebee happy all day!
Two little bumblebees sitting in the sun
One flew away and then there was one
Bumblebee, bumblebee fly away!
Bumblebee, bumblebee happy all day!
One little bumblebee left all alone
He flew away, safe to his home
Credit: Modified from Monkey Business Creative

And then the last book for storytime, “Little Bea” by Daniel Roone.

This book JUST came out last week, but when I read the review ahead of time I pre-ordered it for our storytime collection. This is an adorable story about a bee who visits all her friends in one day. There’s great rhyming text, sounds, and even knock-knock jokes! I’ll be using this one again in “Bugs” storytime later on this spring.

One last song…

Song: “I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee”
I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?
I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee
Ouch, it stung me!
(Squishing, what a mess; Washing up, now I’m all clean!)
Credit: Childhood

(And yes, I did cut out the licking and barfing parts. Not for storytime!)

Our craft was a bee finger puppet that the kids colored, printing off from KidsSoup. My teens once again cut and glued everything — the kids just colored!

April 5, 2011 5 Comments Short URL, , Outreach Storytime

Orange!

The second color in my colors storytime cycle: orange! (Red can be found here.) I have to admit I was a little frazzled because I did not know my group was coming. (They missed a week and didn’t call to let me know they were still interested in coming.) But a librarian is ALWAYS prepared to go.

Started off storytime with “Where Is Tippy-Toes?” by Betsy Lewin.

I first saw this book in one of Sarah’s Storytime Contenders posts and immediately put it on a list that I keep of books that I want to incorporate into a storytime one day. Tippy-Toes’s bright orange fur gave me the perfect opportunity for this week. This was an instant attention grabber and the kids eagerly stayed with the book until the sleepy ending.

I tried to match activities with books, instead of doing a bunch of color extensions. So, after reading about Tippy-Toes, I led the group in a little kitten fingerplay:

Fingerplay: “Kitten”
A kitten is fast asleep under the chair [Hide thumb under one hand.]
And I can’t find her anywhere. I’ve looked everywhere! [Circle eyes.]
Under the table and under the bed. [Peek under each hand.]
I looked in the corner and then I said: [Motion to come.]
“Come Kitty, come Kitty, this milk is for you. [Cup hands for dish.]
And out cam the kitty calling, “Meow, meow.” [Thumb walks across lap.]
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

Next, a last minute find in the orange category, “Waiting for Wings” by Lois Ehlert.

I was SO happy to find this book because it features Monarch butterflies, which are orange. A lot of other butterfly books are wonderful, but they don’t feature Monarchs as much as I wanted them to. The kids really enjoyed this one, I think because of the vibrant colors (they were quick to point out any orange on the page) but also because of the size of the book and the size of the pages.

Then, I used our Folkmanis butterfly finger puppets to do this song:

Song & Puppet: “Flutter, Flutter” (Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle)
Flutter, flutter butterfly,
Floating in the spring sky
Floating by for all to see,
Floating by so merrily
Flutter, flutter butterfly,
Floating in the spring sky
Credit: Best Kids Book Site

Then, we played a slightly different version of “Can We Find?” that I used two weeks ago in Hello, Goodbye storytime.

Flannelboard Game: “Can We Find?” (Tune: Muffin Man)
Can we find an orange cat,
An orange cat, an orange cat?
Can we find an orange cat?
We want to say hello!

I just used all orange items hidden behind the houses. This was once again a BIG hit, and I was so pleased that by the last verse I had almost every kid singing along with me.

Then, continuing in our participation elements, I had the kids read me “Orange Pear Apple Bear” by Emily Gravett.

I always introduce this book as only having four words, and most of the time I have the kids read it along with me, if they want to. This time, I asked them to read me a book and after teaching the four words to them, they did it! We only had one major misstep — when bear was pear bear, because the pear shape wasn’t as obvious — and the kids were very proud of themselves for reading me a book.

I let our action rhyme introduce our next orange item.

Action Rhyme: “Pumpkin, Pumpkin”
Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground (touch the ground)
How’d you get so big and round? (make a big circle)
Once you were a seed so small (pinch fingers together)
Now you are a great big ball (make a big circle overhead)
Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground (touch the ground)
How’d you get so big and round? (make a big circle)
Credit: Step by Step — Pumpkin Theme

And then, I read “Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch” by Mary Peterson and Jennifer Rofe.

This is such a good book for storytime. It’s got a great build to action and a nice, soft ending. When I introduced the book and told them the title, I asked the kids why a piggy was at a pumpkin patch. The unanimous answer was that piggies live in pumpkin patches, silly Miss Katie!

I did a quick modified “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear” just substituting Dinosaur instead of Teddy Bear like I did in dinosaur storytime.

After thoroughly wearing them out, we sat back down to read “Brontorina” by James Howe.

I know I say this all the time, but I LOVE this story. And so did the kids. I was very proud of their behavior during this one — it was the longest book and I did save it for last — and the kids completely rose to the occasion. (Also, I think the story is JUST THAT GOOD to capture their attention.)

After the last book, I did a quick flannelboard: “Ten Little Dinosaurs” (tune of “Ten Little Indians”), of which three of the dinosaurs in my homemade set are orange!

And that brought us to our craft: dinosaur finger puppets!

This was a great craft, and the kids were tickled by my dinosaur wearing her ballet shoes.

(I believe that Sarah’s friend drew this for her dinosaur storytime — the file was in her storytime folder on our library’s network, but Sarah has it uploaded for download on her site!)

Also, I did make a handout. I can email it to anyone who wants it, but my PDF Complete put its label right over the word “orange.”

March 25, 2011 1 Comment Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Red!

Last week at regular registration storytime, I had a daycare drop-in with eighteen kids. As much as it was horrible to have to turn kids away, I simply don’t have the space (our room is capped at 35 people for fire code), and I definitely didn’t have enough craft supplies prepped for that large of a number. Instead of completely turning them away though, I offered to do a separate storytime for their group each week.

(And because I’m crazy, I can’t possibly repeat themes, partially because a lot of our crafts this session are from Oriental Trading but mostly because I get bored if I have to do the same theme twice a week. I know, feel free to tell me I’m crazy repeatedly — but it probably won’t change a thing.)

So, you now get the bonus of an extra storytime theme per week. For this session, I decided to do colors and we started at the top of the rainbow with red.

First up, “The Red Hen” by Rebecca & Ed Emberley.

I love this folk tale and have since I was a kid, but I especially enjoy the illustrations in this particular retelling. (Actually, I really love every little bit about this retelling. But my favorite part is the bright colors and creative pictures.) This story was a great introduction to the theme of “red” because I got to say “the red hen” all the time in this story and in my questions to the group.

Next, I read “Pizza at Sally’s” by Monica Wellington.

This one is a classic as far as I’m concerned. I love the borders on the text, love the little cat that helps Sally make the pizza, love the accessibility of the text (it’s not too complicated for preschool), it’s awesome. This was a great segue into the flannel that I freehanded:

Flannelboard: “This Is the Pizza That Sally Made”
This is the crust that Sally made.

This is the sauce, so red and so sweet.
That goes on the crust that Sally made.

These are the olives, so black and salty.
That goes on the sauce, so red and so sweet.
That goes on the crust that Sally made.

(Additional Verses)
These are the peppers, so green and crunchy.
This is the pineapple, fresh from Hawaii.
This is the pepperoni, so hot and spicy.
This is the cheese so gooey and chewy.
This is the tummy, so hungry and lively.
And that was the pizza that Sally made.
Credit: SurLaLune Storytime

The flannelboard worked really well, except that I had one little girl who kept insisting that she only liked cheese pizza and even though I explained that this was Sally’s pizza — she was still super upset that the pizza had toppings on it. Oh, well.

Next, a book that I discovered while shelf-reading the other day, and immediately pulled for storytime, “Cars” by Patricia Hubbell.

There are thousand of car books out there, but I had a super hard time finding a fire engine book that was appropriate for 2-6. (There are a lot of longer ones, and not any really short text books.) But I love that “Cars” had a great fire engine spread, and that the book begins with a little red car. Fit perfectly into my theme. And I followed it up with a crowd pleaser:

Action Rhyme: “Hurry, Hurry”
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck (pretend to turn wheel back and forth)
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck (pretend to turn wheel back and forth)
Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck (pretend to turn wheel back and forth)
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! ring bell
(Turn the corner (lean over to one side, then the other), climb the ladder (pretend to climb), spray the water (pretend to spray a hose).)
Credit: Childhood

And that brought me and the kids to the apple portion of the red theme, beginning with “Apple Farmer Annie” by Monica Wellington.

I try not to use two books by the same author in storytime (my bug theme will not have more than one Eric Carle, I promise!), but I love Wellington’s books, and they were so perfect for the theme and the recognizable items I had chosen. Next up, a quick fingerplay:

Fingerplay: “Way Up High in the Apple Tree”
Way up high in the apple tree (stretch arms up high)
Two red apples smiled at me (hold up two fingers)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (make a shaking motion)
Down came the apples… (make a downward motion)
And mmm, they were good! (smile and rub stomach)
Credit: Childhood

And our last book, “The Apple Pie Tree” by Zoe Hall.

I really enjoyed ending storytime with this book. Especially since we’re in a seasonal shift in Chicago right now, the kids really recognized the wait for the trees to change and that the green buds were next to appear.

Finished up with this apple craft from KidsSoup.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a daycare storytime, and this craft was far too ambitious for everyone to complete without a parent helping them. I spent a lot of time running around, going from kid to kid, until everyone was done. Next week’s craft will be much simpler.

March 14, 2011 11 Comments Short URL, Outreach Storytime

Halloween Storytime!

My co-worker and I visited one of the local preschools [ages 3-5] on the 28th and 29th and each did three Halloween storytimes! Together, we found books, a flannel, a puppet, and some action rhymes/songs and went out to do our thing!

For each of my three storytimes, I started off with “Where’s My Mummy?” by Carolyn Crimi.

This was universally a great way to start off storytime. A longer story, but with its repetitive nature, the kids were easily engaged in what I was reading. And I apparently have a pretty good Drac voice, which the kids LOVED.

Next up, “Pumpkin Eye” by Denise Fleming.

My first group didn’t dig this one, but my next two groups did! They had a great time guessing why all these spooky creatures were on the street, and I was very pleased that it took us until the end of the book to hear the first few choruses of “It’s Halloween, Miss Katie!”

An easy segue from pumpkin book to pumpkin flannelboard.

“Five Little Pumpkins”
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said, “My, it’s getting late.”
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.”
The third one said, “I don’t care!”
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run.”
The fifth one said, “It’s all Halloween fun!”
Then oooooh went the wind, and out went the lights!
And the five little pumpkins rolled clear out of sight.

And then, into an action rhyme!

“Pumpkin, Pumpkin”
Pumpkin, pumpkin, big and round, (Make big circle with hands)
Sitting on the cold, hard ground. (Touch the ground)
Soon I’ll pick you off the vine, (Pretend to pick a pumpkin)
Give you a name, and make you mine (Hug pumpkin tightly)
Carve a face for all to see, (Point to face)
Add a candle for Halloween glee! (Clap your hands)

And I absolutely mixed this “Pumpkin, Pumpkin” up with the one that I did for Fall Storytime in my second group. Luckily, no one cared. (And then never notice, so yay!)

Our planned book of “Mouse’s First Halloween” by Lauren Thompson was a no-go because the kids apparently knew the book by heart, as my co-worker found out. So, I grabbed “Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin” by Mary Serfozo off the reshelf cart on my way to storytime.

This was a great choice — I really enjoyed this one, and the kids really enjoyed guessing why Peter was getting a pumpkin! I followed this winner up with a song:

Song & Puppet: “Flutter, Flutter Little Bat”
Flutter, flutter little bat
How I wonder where you’re at
Up above the midnight sky
Peeking down with yellow eyes
Flutter, flutter little bat
How I wonder where you’re at

I’m not sure where my co-worker got this one, but it was obviously written by someone in the Midwest, given the preposition at the end! Recently, we just purchased tons of puppets using our Target Early Literacy Reading grant, and we got the Folkmanis bat finger puppet. It’s such a great puppet — I am in LOVE with it!

Finally, the book to end all storytimes forever more: “If You’re a Monster and You Know It” by Ed & Rebecca Emberley.

Yep, I again sang, action rhymed, and told this book. The kids could not get enough of it! Truly, this is probably my favorite new book of the year. A quick action rhyme before saying goodbye, to hopefully settle them down for their teachers!

Action Rhyme: “Monster, Monster”
Monster, monster, turn around
Monster, monster, touch the ground
Monster, monster, reach up high
Monster, monster, touch the sky
Monster, monster, touch your nose
Monster, monster, grab your toes
Monster, monster, touch your knees
Monster, monster, sit down please

Followed by the return of Batty, to let everyone give a kiss or a pat before I left.

Well, these storytimes were energetic and fun and scary for me! My first outreach storytimes! Well, they didn’t scar me too bad, I’ve already emailed the preschool asking when we can be back.

November 10, 2010 25 Comments Short URLOutreach Storytime

Farm Storytime!

I had a daycare class of three-year-olds and four-year-olds request a special storytime all about the farm. Their daycare is taking them on a field trip to a farm next week and the kids were PUMPED to hear farm stories today!

(I was also pumped because I think farm storytimes are my favorite storytimes. Also, because I was reading four brand-new-to-me books that I ordered from different libraries in our library system. And I definitely have some new favorites to be purchased for our storytime collection.)

(And! I really made a conscientious effort today to work on transitions between books and to really introduce each title by pointing to the words.)

I started off with “Cock-a-Doodle Quack! Quack!” by Ivor Baddiel & Sophie Jubb.

This was a case where I really feel like I found an absolute perfect book for me to read. While the text is naturally funny (the story is about a baby rooster trying to figure out what to say to wake the other animals up in the morning), I also found myself raising my eyebrows and shrugging — and the kids fell into giggles after every page. But not the kind of off-topic giggles that can occur; actual responding to the story giggles!

Then I asked the group about their favorite farm animals which led into “Well, Miss Katie’s favorite farm animal is a pig…and look, she’s got a story about piggies RIGHT HERE.”

I read “Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch” by Mary Peterson & Jennifer Rofe.

Short and sweet, this book went by quick! The kids loved it though and asked for the book to be read again. As much as I wanted to oblige, their teacher stepped in for me and told the kids that they could read it at school again. So, then I asked the kids if they wanted to grow some pumpkins and they jumped up to do our action rhyme:

“Pumpkin, Pumpkin”
Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground, (touch the ground)
How’d you get so big and round? (make a big circle)
Once you were a seed so small, (pinch fingers together)
Now you are a great big ball! (make a big circle)
Pumpkin, pumpkin on the ground, (touch the ground)
How’d you get so big and round? (make a big circle)

Next up, I dropped the ball a little on my transition, but we did our “Old MacDonald” flannelboard. I asked the kids about the different animals in the song and said that we should be on the lookout for them in our next book (leaving the animals up on the board). And then, we read “Hurry Hurry” by Eve Bunting.

As we went through the story (each page only has four words on it at the most), we matched up animals on the flannelboard and in the story, putting the animals away as we went. I think the kids really enjoyed this interactivity, and the story in “Hurry Hurry” is simple enough that the kids could follow it even as we broke away from the book to work with the felt animals. The end of “Hurry Hurry” involves the arrival of a new chick at the farm which was a natural segue to sing “Over in the Barnyard” with finger puppets. We started with the yellow chickies.

“Over in the Barnyard”
Over in the barnyard
Early in the morning
See the yellow chickies
Standing in a row
See the busy farmer
Giving them their breakfast
Cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep
Off they go (remove finger puppet)
[Also, pink piggies and spotted cows]
Credit: Teach-nology Farm Songs

Our next book was “How Kind” by Mary Murphy.

I made sure to define “kind” for the kids in my introduction of this book to make sure that they all understood what was going on. I also told them that this book would be a lot like another one we had read earlier — it was their job to help me figure out which one it was like. In “How Kind,” animals on the farm do favors for one another resulting in another baby chick hatching. At the end of the story, the kids were able to point to “Hurry Hurry” as the book that this one was similar to. One enthusiastic boy shouted, “Because they both have baby chicks!”

Next I asked the kids what else happens on a farm besides animals. No one was able to get the word “crops” out, but we did get a lot of food called out. So, I told the kids we were going to grow some food ourselves next in our action rhyme:

“Farm Chores”
This is the way we plant our seeds, plant our seeds, plant our seeds
This is the way we plant our seeds so early in the morning
[Water our seeds, weed our seeds, our seeds grow up, pick our plants, eat our plants]

Then, I told the kids that my favorite thing grown on farms was apples! And that led us to our fingerplay: “Way Up High in the Apple Tree.” I was so excited that the kids knew this one from school, so they all did the rhyme along with me.

And with that, we had arrived at our last story of the day, “Clip-Clop” by Nicola Smee.

I love this book — it’s a great storytime book, with a fabulous rhythm to it. I always speed up my reading as Mr. Horse speeds up his ride, so that when the other animals go flying the kids are laughing and gasping. And my favorite part of reading it to a group is the one child who is very concerned that someone got hurt, and is very relieved once we discover the animals want to fall off again.

A super simple craft today — a paper pig mask that my teen volunteers had attached to popsicle sticks.

I found our pig mask template here at Animal Jr.

October 18, 2010 9 Comments Short URLOutreach Storytime

Library Storytime!

Bonus storytime this week — I had a preschool request a storytime & tour at the library this week. They wanted the theme to be about the library and educating the kids on library resources and were bringing 3 to 6-year-olds.

I kicked off storytime with “Lola at the Library” by Anna McQuinn.

This is such a sweet story about a girl visiting the library with her mom every week. Colorful pages, soft drawings — this makes a great first introduction to the library. (When I do my Kindergarten tours, I use “Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book” by Alexander Stadler because it talks about late fees!)

Next, I read “Book! Book! Book!” by Deborah Bruss.

If you don’t know already, this is a great book because it not only involves a library, but it also involves animal noises! Which is always a winner for storytime. Any time the kids get to moo — it is always met with enthusiasm. Also, this was the first time that I didn’t have to explain the ending to the group!

Our farm/library story let us segue into our “Old MacDonald” flannelboard.

Since we had already moved away from listening quietly, we did “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” and then sat down for more books.

Next up, “The Best Time to Read” by Debbie Bertram & Susan Bloom.

One of my co-workers has long championed this book series, but I was slow to get with it. Until today that is! The kids LOVED this book. It has such a wonderful pace as you read it out loud, and the illustrations are bright and colorful. My voice naturally gave tone to match what was happening in the story; the book was a pleasure to read.

And then instead of the game that I play with my older kids after the care of library books, I read “Read It, Don’t Eat It” by Ian Schoenherr. (We have a bag filled with items — like a stuffed dog, crayons, band-aids, etc. and we talk about what the items have to do with a library book to teach how to care for books.)

Even though I interrupted the rhythm of this book by talking about some of the library’s rules, this book worked well. It really served my purpose as a teaching tool; it kept the kids engaged while I also got to mention to not draw in books!

Afterwards, we went ahead and sang “If You’re Happy and You Know It” with a little library twist at the end.

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands
Stomp your feet // Shout hooray // Read a book (last)

And for our craft, we did a simple coloring bookmark.

The image is from Elizabeth Dulemba’s free coloring pages which our staff loves and uses frequently as our weekly coloring page selection. Our preschoolers concluded the storytime with a tour of our library and checking out some books on their preschool’s library card. Hooray!

September 24, 2010 3 Comments Short URLOutreach Storytime

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