Flannel Friday: Paintbrushes

Another family storytime flannelboard this week, inspired by Anne of Anne’s Library Life!

I used Anne’s picture as a template and decided to use her second rhyme:

I know the colors of the rainbow.
Do you know them too?
If one color were missing,
Would you know which hue?

Most of the preschoolers were excellent as guessing this and since I have a mostly 3/5 year old audience, it was a perfect flannelboard for them!

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Melissa is hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

October 9, 2015 4 Comments Short URLFlannels

Families: Art

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

families-art

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle*
Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman
I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont*
Monsters Loves Colors by Mike Austin

Early Literacy Tip
Children like to explore works of art that use a variety of materials and approaches to color, line, shape, texture, pattern, and space. Find different illustrations for a favorite song; talk about similarities or differences.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: “Rock and Roll Garden” Bari Koral Family Rock Band*

Featured Track: #6 Colors*

Flannelboard: Mouse Paint*

Flannelboard: Six Paintbrushes/What Hue Is Missing?*

Props: Magic Paintbrush Folder Story

Repeating Extension Activities

I had lots of back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I starred which ones I used in this storytime:

  • Dance Your Fingers Up
  • Hands Are Clapping
  • Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
  • Itsy Bitsy Spider
  • Mister Sun
  • Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear*
  • Thumbkin
  • Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star*
  • Wheels on the Bus

How It Went

My favorite part of today started before storytime even began. I always stand at the doorway and greet the families as they arrive. This week I had a kiddo stand at the doorway, put their hand on their hip and say, “Miss Katie, when are you coming in? It’s time for stories!” The dancing during Mouse Paint to mix up the colors was phenomenal. And this was our last week of spring session and I was still picking up new people!

October 8, 2015 0 Comments Short URLFamily Storytime

Space!

The Plan

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

Books

space

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!

October 7, 2015 3 Comments Short URLOutreach Storytime

Flannel Friday: Apples & Bananas

A classic flannelboard that I left at my last library (since another librarian has made it) and I recreated at my new library:

This, of course, goes with the song:

Song: “Apples and Bananas”
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas
(Repeat with different vowel sounds)

I made this by cutting out an Ellison die-cut of each letter. We also have mini appples die-cuts, so I added those and the free-handed bananas for fun!

I put each letter up as a reminder to the kids about which letter we’re using at the front. This typically works best with preschoolers or family storytime.

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Mollie is hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

October 2, 2015 1 Comment Short URLFlannels

Families: Garden

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

families-garden

A Closer Look by Nancy McCarthy*
Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn*
Maisy Grows a Garden by Lucy Cousins
My Garden by Kevin Henkes*

Early Literacy Tip
Watching a seed turn into a plant is a magical experience for most children. They are fascinated by the process.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: “More Please” by Caspar Babypants*

Featured Track: #5 Rocks and Flowers*

Flannelboard: Planting a Rainbow*

Flannelboard: Six Little Bumblebees*

Props: Ten Little Flowers*

Props: Sunflower Life Cycle*

Repeating Extension Activities

I had lots of back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I starred which ones I used in this storytime:

  • Dance Your Fingers Up
  • Hands Are Clapping
  • Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes*
  • Itsy Bitsy Spider
  • Mister Sun
  • Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
  • Thumbkin
  • Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
  • Wheels on the Bus

How It Went

The books were all fairly short (and we got through THREE), and I still had a ton of time for extension activities. One of my little boys did not think I could “plant” a rainbow because plants go in the ground and rainbows are in the sky! He was pleasantly surprised when I accomplished my task. One family stayed afterwards to continue dancing to Caspar Babypants. (I play music as families arrive and leave.) And the props/puppets were AWESOME.

October 1, 2015 2 Comments Short URLFamily Storytime

Happy 5th Birthday!

storytimekatie5thbirthday

Can you believe that I’ve been here for five years? I really, really cannot.

I missed the actual anniversary (which Facebook says is September 17th), but it’s still anniversary month so it counts, right?

This is my 609th post on Storytime Katie. SIX HUNDRED AND NINE POSTS. The number just boggles my brain.

I’d like to thank the wonderful people who come here daily to read, the amazing people who check in every now and again, and all of my fantastic friends that I’ve met through this fabulous adventure! Readers are why I’ve kept blogging so long and make me feel like a true rock star every day. I cannot say thank you enough. Pretend I just wrote thank you 609 times.

THANK YOU!

In unrelated news…

You’ll likely notice a decline in the amount of posts as we near the end of the year. I actually scheduled nearly all of the summer’s posts back during my May auntiecation (vacation with the dogs — my fabulous nephews) and only managed to write up a few in August’s auntiecation. But fear not, storytime resumes in October and I’ll have some more amazing ideas to post and discuss once I’m back to Toddler & Family Storytimes. I’ve got a new program to debut on the blog and a new series all about the kits that I’ve spent the last year creating with Target grant funds.

Here’s to another five years or 609 posts — whichever comes first!

September 30, 2015 10 Comments Short URLAnnouncements

“Weeding: The Human Side” Presentation

Last Monday, I had the pleasure of speaking to the CLASS (Chicago Librarians Across Southern Suburbs) professional group. I spent the majority of my time answering questions from the group about weeding after giving my background on weeding and collection management.

  • Weeded the entirety of my former library’s youth collection, much of which hadn’t been touched in quite a long time.
  • Re-cataloged all picture books at my former library into subject categorization.
  • Currently manage a picture book collection of 12,000-15,000 picture books & 6,000-8,000 beginning readers.
  • Co-taught a workshop with my department head training all Kids & Teens paraprofessional staff members on weeding in 2014.
  • Huge believer in constant weeding and daily collection management. Big advocate for weeding.

I prepared a presentation for the group, but didn’t have time to share it. The first slideshow is how the presentation would have looked that day:

And this second slideshow contains an outline of my notes and talking points integrated with the original slideshow.

I am putting this up to help and aide librarians in learning how to weed and to feel confident doing so. Please do not use my presentation as your own. Furthermore, all images in the presentation are either stock photos that I’ve purchased the rights to use, images I’ve taken myself, or screenshots from websites.

If you’d like to arrange for me to speak to your group either in-person or virtually, I’d be happy to discuss details via email [simplykatie[at]gmail[dot]com].

September 29, 2015 4 Comments Short URLHow To

Flannel Friday: Red Crane, Red Crane

Inspired by Emma Garcia’s fabulous book Tip Tip Dig Dig and Jane at Piper Loves the Library, I give you:

  

I typically use this as an extension activity after reading the book. I do a take on “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”:

Red crane, red crane, what do you see?
I see a yellow digger looking at me.
Yellow digger, yellow digger, what do you see?
I see a purple mixer looking at me.
(etc.)

It doesn’t have the perfect cadence at “Brown Bear”, but the kids really enjoy the mash-up. I did run into a small problem at storytime this past fall when my parents tried to chime in with me, but couldn’t stay with me on beat as I changed speed to make the rhyme fit. I warned the next group ahead of time to just let me do my thing, haha.

As for the template, I photocopied the pages from the book to make my pieces. I used the biggest spreads, but I would consider shrinking it down if I were making this flannel again!

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Bridget is hosting the round-up today! You can also check out our website, Pinterest, or Facebook!

September 25, 2015 10 Comments Short URLFlannels

Families: Rain, Clouds, & Rainbows

For more information on how I plan and prepare my family storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan. Some activities go unstarred because I only do this program once a week.

The Plan

Books

families-raincloudsrainbows

It Looked Like Spit Milk by Charles Shaw*
Little Cloud by Eric Carle
Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle
Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood*

Early Literacy Tip
Helping children to see the order in which things take place, like in the book “Wow! Said the Owl” helps them develop the mathematical concept of sequencing.

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Bandwagon by Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights*

Featured Track: #10 Little Cloud*

Flannelboard: Ten Little Umbrellas & Raindrops*

Prop: Rainbow Stew* (I used the pieces from “Lunch” and made a quick rainbow piece. Directions for the story are in the link!)

Song: “These Are the Colors”*
Red and yellow, green and blue
These are the colors over you
Red as a flower, green as a tree
Yellow as the sun and blue as the sea
Red and yellow, green and blue
These are the colors over you
Credit: Read Sing Play

Repeating Extension Activities

I had lots of back-up activities in case I needed them for time. I starred which ones I used in this storytime:

  • Dance Your Fingers Up
  • Hands Are Clapping
  • Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes
  • Itsy Bitsy Spider*
  • Mister Sun*
  • Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
  • Thumbkin
  • Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
  • Wheels on the Bus

How It Went

“It Looked Like Spilt Milk” was still a surprise to the kids even though I had said that we would be talking about sky stuff all throughout our storytime. I passed out scarves during “Little Cloud” and I have to say that the song would have been too long without the scarves. (I really try to aim for 2:30 mark for my storytimes.) “Rainbow Stew” blew their minds and they were so impressed that I could make a rainbow from fruits and veggies.

September 24, 2015 1 Comment Short URLFamily Storytime

Shake, Shimmy, & Dance: 7/6

During the summer, we’ve switched to a weekly format again! I’m packing in between 60-120 people in a room and we are DANCING ourselves silly!

shakeshimmyanddance

The Plan

nosetotoesyouareyummy
Book
Nose to Toes, You Are Yummy! by Tim Harrington
This new book to the Shake, Shimmy rotation this summer was billed to me as the new “From Head to Toe” at ALA Midwinter. I was really excited when the book came into the library and it was clear to me that it would make a great choice for this program. The kids didn’t get as involved as they do with “From Head to Toe”, but this was definitely a winner!

Props
Activity Scarves!

The Playlist

Hello & How Are You? — Old Town School of Folk Music
Let’s Get Together — Bari Koral Family Rock Band
Everybody’s Jumping — Aaron Nigel Smith
If You Got 1 — Justin Roberts
Walking, Walking — Old Town School of Folk Music
Little Cloud — Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights
Wave Your Ribbons in the Air — The Wiggles
Shake Hands With Friends — Ella Jenkins

How It Went

This was my first Shake, Shimmy after coming back from ALA and I always have SUCH energy after conference that it made this a great day. “If You Got 1” was a perfect song for the older kids and “Let’s Get Together” is a new favorite to add to the regular SSD rotation. I was a little bit nervous doing “Walking, Walking” since it has running mentioned, but I made sure to prep the kids by reminding that that we were only going to run in place and not around the room. It worked!

(For an example of the Powerpoint and handouts that I made for each Shake, Shimmy please visit the original post.)

September 23, 2015 0 Comments Short URLMusic and Movement

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