storytime katie

The Plan

Books

Building Our House by Jonathan Bean
Dreaming Up by Christy Hale
Meeow and the Little Chairs by Sebastian Braun
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: Building Blocks

Flannelboard: Red Crane, Red Crane

Flannelboard: Toolbox

Song: London Bridge
London Bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London Bridge is falling down
My fair lady
Build it up with god and silver
Gold and silver, gold and silver
Build it up with gold and silver
My fair lady
Credit: Childhood

How It Went

Site Information
At this location, I do combined classrooms. For this second and third visit of the summer, I saw the toddler classrooms combined (two classes), preschool classrooms combined (two classes) and the pre-k classrooms combined (two classes).

Topic
This particular facility selects themes for me to do ahead of time to tie into their curriculum.

This was the hardest one to choose books for. I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for the Monarch Award reading that I had done in the previous year — the Monarch had two great choices for this storytime: Building Our House and Dreaming Up. For toddlers, I used Meeow and the Little Chairs, Tip Tip Dig Dig, and Dreaming Up with some pages clipped. For the preschool and pre-k classes, I used a variety, but included at least one older title for each group.

My favorite memory of this storytime day was watching all the teachers immediately request the titles of each of the books I had chosen. One of the teachers (who’s in charge of books & curriculum) was so thankful to learn about Dreaming Up since it was exactly the book she had wanted and couldn’t find. Librarian win!

The Plan

Books

The Cat, The Dog, Little Red, The Exploding Eggs, The Wolf, and Grandma by Diane and Christyan Fox
The Great Fairy Tale Disaster by David Conway
Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs by Davide Cali
The Three Bears by Byron Barton
Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Five Knights In Shining Armor”

Props: “The Three Little Pigs”

Puppets: “Two Little Dragons”
Two little dragons sitting on a hill
One named Jack, one named Jill
Fly away Jack, one named Jill
Come back Jack, come back Jill
(Cloud/quiet & loud; Pole/fast & slow)
Credit: Modified from childhood

How It Went

Site Information
At this location, I do two storytimes and each group has their own theme/storytime. Today’s group was the Pre-K and school age classrooms. I read to 45 people total.

Topic
This particular facility selects themes for me to do ahead of time to tie into their curriculum.

This theme is rich in books for older kids. I highlighted some new to me titles (Snow White and the 77 Dwarves which they LOVED) and revisited some old favorites (Waking Beauty). By far, the most successful part of the day was when I did a Three Bears trio with the Barton book, the The Great Fairy Tale Disaster and the storytelling prop from Melissa & Doug. They had a great time hearing the tale multiple ways and then retelling the story to me using the prop.

The Plan

Books

Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert
Little Green Peas by Keith Baker
Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin
My Heart Is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
Round Like a Ball by Lisa Campbell Ernest

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”

Flannelboard: “The Shape Game”

Flannelboard: “The Shape Story”

Prop: Song Cube

Song: “Driving Round In My Car”
Driving round in my little red car
Driving round in my little red car
Driving round in my little red car
Zoom zoom zoom zoom zoom
(Go through red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple)
Credit: Childhood

Song: “I Can See Shapes” (Tune: London Bridge)
I can see a circle shape, circle shape, circle shape
I can see a circle shape, how about you?
(Little square, triangle, rectangle, diamond)
Credit: The Story Place

How It Went

Site Information
At this location, I do two storytimes and each group has their own theme/storytime. Today’s group was the toddler, two-year-old, & three-year-old classrooms. I read to 46 people total over the two storytimes.

Topic
This particular facility selects themes for me to do ahead of time to tie into their curriculum.

Preschool 1 (Outside)
This was an interesting storytime. During storytime, the test siren alarm went off (as it’s scheduled to in Illinois — the first Tuesday of every month) and after that the kids were GONE. I did get through Color Zoo and Round Like a Ball before the sirens and they enjoyed those. The flannels and songs did hold their attention through the end of our time together though!

Preschool 2 & Toddlers (Inside)
My younger group really liked doing “Brown Bear” as a flannelboard. They had read the story in their classroom earlier in the week and were great at predicting where the story was going to go! Their favorite book was My Heart is Like a Zoo since they were great at animal identification!

The Plan

Books

Book Book Book by Deborah Bruss
Elephant’s Story by Tracey Campbell Pearson
Lola Loves Stories by Anna McQuinn
Maybe a Bear Ate It! by Robie H. Harris & Michael Emberley
My Book Box by Will Hillenbrand

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Five Little Books”

Flannelboard: “Letter Puzzles”

Puppets: “Five Little Monkeys”

Prop: Song Cube

Song: “If You Want to Read a Book” (Tune: If You’re Happy)
If you want to read a book, clap your hands
If you want to read a book, clap your hands
If you want to read a book, if you want to read a book,
If you want to read a book, clap your hands
(stomp your feet, shout hooray, do all three)
Credit: Modified from childhood

How It Went

Site Information
At this location, I do two storytimes and each group has their own theme/storytime. I actually had the classrooms split and I did one preschool outside and the other preschool with a toddler group inside their classroom. Previously, I had done all three groups at once.

Topic
This particular facility selects themes for me to do ahead of time to tie into their curriculum.

Preschool 1 (Outside)
This was a beautiful summer day, not too hot or windy, and the site has a canopy over their outdoor space so the kids and I were in the shade. With my first group (which is older than my second group), I read Elephant’s Story, Maybe a Bear Ate It, and Lola Loves Stories. Their favorite story was >em>Maybe a Bear Ate It. I had a great transition from Elephant’s Story to “Five Little Monkeys Swinging from a Tree” since there’s a alligator crocodile in the book.

Preschool 2 & Toddlers (Inside)
My second storytime was more basic: Book, Book, Book, My Book Box and Lola Loves Stories. This set of kiddos really enjoyed Book, Book, Book since we made animal noises throughout the book with the story. I didn’t do the Letter Puzzle with this group because they are so much younger and might not have all the vocabulary that makes that activity so much fun.

The Plan

Books

1, 2, 3 Thanksgiving by W. Nikola-Lisa
Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson
The Thankful Book by Todd Parr

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Thanks A Lot”
Thanks a lot, thanks for Sun in the sky.
Thanks a lot, thanks for clouds so high.
Thanks a lot, thanks for whispering wind.
Thanks a lot, thanks for the birds in the spring.
Thanks a lot, thanks for the moonlit night.
Thanks a lot, thanks for the stars so bright.
Thanks a lot, thanks for the wondering me.
Thanks a lot, thanks for the way I feel.
Thanks for the animals, thanks for the land, thanks for the people everywhere.
Thanks a lot, thanks for all I’ve got. Thanks for all I’ve got.

Flannelboard: “Turkey Color Match”

Fingerplay: “Two Little Turkeys”
Two little turkeys sitting on a hill
One named Jack, the other named Jill
Run away Jack, run away Jill
Come back Jack, come back Jill
(cloud/quiet & loud, pole/fast & slow, sky/low & high)

Song: “If You’re Thankful and You Know It”
If you’re thankful and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re thankful and you know it, clap your hands
If you’re thankful and you know it and you really want to show it
If you’re thankful and you know it, clap your hands
(stomp your feet, shout “hooray”, do all three)

How It Went

*Note: This is a way old storytime write-up from my last job that I kept meaning to schedule around November and never did before. I did this storytime in November 2013.

I read this at a district Family Reading Night. They specifically requested the theme “Thanksgiving”, but I tried to go more with food, family, and being thankful than the traditional holiday symbols/themes. The kids really enjoyed “I Know an Old Lady” and they had a great time with “Two Little Turkeys”! I think this went really well for an outreach event. I was on the stage and the kids were in the audience which was different, but wound up working all right.

The Plan

Books

The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak
Follow the Line by Laura Ljungkvist
Hello, Red Fox by Eric Carle
Press Here by Herve Tullet

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “I Spy”
I used several of the pieces and gave clues: “I spy with my little eye something with a tail” (kite, balloon, cat, fish could apply)…”I spy with my little eye something with a tail that flies” (kite, balloon could apply)…”I spy with my little eye something with a tail that flies that is round” (only balloon with our felt pieces). I gave as many clues as needed to guess and the kids were SUPER INTO beating each other.

Flannelboard: “Letter Puzzles”

Riddles
I just searched for easy riddles the morning of the storytime, but I should have checked out a riddle book!

How It Went

Site Information
At this location, I do two storytimes and each group has their own theme/storytime. Today’s group was the Pre-K and school age classrooms. I read to 38 people total.

Topic
This particular facility selects themes for me to do ahead of time to tie into their curriculum. This week’s topics was “Puzzling Puzzles”.

Wowsers! This was a difficult topic to choose books for and I grateful to the co-workers who helped suggested Hello, Red Fox. We have a big book version of the story and it made easier for the kids to see. I warned them that they wouldn’t always be able to have the puzzle work, but I’m happy to report that only one fidgety kid reported that it never worked. The largest success though was The Book With No Picture — they thought it was a puzzle indeed how a book could have no pictures, but their confusion rapidly turned to laughter.

The Plan

Items used in storytime are starred; items with multiple stars indicate use in multiple storytimes.

Books

Higher, Higher by Leslie Patricelli**
How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers*
I Want to Be a Astronaut by Byron Barton**
Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle***
Touch the Brightest Star by Christie Matheson**

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Four Little Stars”

Flannelboard: “Eight Planets”

Puppets: “Two Little Astronauts”

Action Rhyme: “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom”
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to the moon
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to the moon
If you want to take a trip,
Climb aboard my rocket ship,
Zoom, zoom, zoom, we’re going to the moon
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, blast off!
Credit: Jbrary

Action Song: “Mister Sun”
Oh, mister sun, sun, mister golden sun, please shine down on me
Oh, mister sun, sun, mister golden sun, hiding behind a tree
These little children are asking you to please come out so we can play with you
Oh, mister sun, sun, mister golden sun, please shine down on me
Credit: Childhood

Song: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”
Credit: Childhood

How It Went

Site Information
At this location, I do combined classrooms. For this second and third visit of the summer, I saw the toddler classrooms combined (two classes), preschool classrooms combined (two classes) and the pre-k classrooms combined (two classes).

Topic
This particular facility selects themes for me to do ahead of time to tie into their curriculum.

In the best and most wonderful timing possible, I did this storytime on July 14th — the day that New Horizons returned with images of Pluto! I printed off a picture of my favorite planet to bring with me to show the kids. (Yep, I always empathized with short little Pluto!) They were incredibly aghast to realize how long we have waited for pictures: NINE YEARS?!

I specifically chose “Higher, Higher” and “I Want to be an Astronaut” for the toddler crowd. They had a great time with these titles. They also really enjoyed jumping up for “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom”. I swear — “Zoom Zoom Zoom” is to toddlers like honey is to bees. The preschool crowd really enjoyed “Touch the Brightest Star” and the “Two Little Astronauts” rhyme. I always try to include a version of that rhyme for them. And pre-k classes LOVED talking about the planets in “Eight Planets”. (For the record, I do have a Pluto for that set and pulled it out for the kids to look at. But I put it on the edge of the flannelboard and made sure to be clear that it’s a dwarf planet.) I read “Papa Please Get the Moon for Me” for all classes and it was awesome. My reading of “Touch the Brightest Star” in the pre-k classes made the school’s video newsletter! A patron passed it on to me!

The Plan

Items used in storytime are starred; items with multiple stars indicate use in multiple storytimes.

Books

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell**
Nose to Toes, You Are Yummy by Tim Harrington**
Tanka Tanka Skunk by Steve Webb**
Who Is Driving? by Leo Timmers**

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: Brown Bear*

Flannelboard: Color Zoo**

Props: Where Is Animal?**

How It Went

Site Information
At this location, I do combined classrooms. For this first visit of the summer, I saw the preschool classrooms combined (two classes) and the pre-k classrooms combined (two classes).

Topic
This particular facility selects themes for me to do ahead of time to tie into their curriculum.

What a great theme to work with! I chose some of my very favorite animal books and included some new titles as well. For the first group, they had the best time guessing along with “Who Is Driving?” which I’ve mostly use in a transporation theme before. The second group loved clapping along with “Tanka Tanka Skunk” and I never get tired of using that book. Both groups were enamoured with “Color Zoo” and really enjoyed singing for the “Where Is Animal?” props. (The school uses “Thumbkin” often, so the kids chimed in perfectly!)

The Plan

Books

The Adventures of Max and Pinky Superheroes by Maxwell Eaton III
The Day I Lost My Superpowers by Michael Escoffier
Superhero ABC by Bob McLeod
Today I Will Fly by Mo Willems

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Five Superheroes”
Five superheroes ready to fly,
Here comes a villain. Stop that guy!
This superhero can save the day.
Off he/she flies — up, up, and away!
Credit: Jbrary

Folder Story: “My Many Colored Capes”

Action Rhyme: “Superman”
Put your hands way up high (raise arms up in air)
Like Superman flying across the sky (assume flying position)
Fly to the left, now fly to the right (lean to your right, then left)
Now show me your muscles with all your might,(make arm muscles)
Now Superman’s putting his suit away (bring arms down slowly)
So he can go flying another day (rest hands in lap)
Credit: Sunflower Storytime

Superhero Madlibs (I wrote this and yes, feel free to use.)

How It Went

Site Information
At this location, I do two storytimes and each group has their own theme/storytime. Today’s group was the Pre-K and school age classrooms. I read to 39 people total.

Topic
This particular facility selects themes for me to do ahead of time to tie into their curriculum.

I really enjoyed being able to read to school-age kids since it’s not my norm. Since it was a combined classroom visit, I did bring flannelboards and some action rhymes. The school-age kids totally bought into it though and participated with glee. They absolutely LOVED the Mad Libs and I was glad that I wrote it. Best books were “Today I Will Fly” and “Superhero ABC”. One of the teachers really enjoyed “The Day I Lost My Superpowers” though!