storytime katie

I was so happy when one of my preschools asked for “Interactive Stories” as a theme because there are SO MANY good books that invite audience participation and movement!

The Plan

Books

Hop, Hop, Jump! by Lauren Thompson****
The Mixed-Up Truck by Stephen Savage**
Play This Book by Jessica Young*
Shake the Tree! by Chiara Vignocchi****
Ten in the Bed by Jane Cabrera***

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Going on a Bear Hunt”****

Flannelboard: “Red Crane, Red Crane”**

Prop Sticks: “Green Says Go”***

Prop: Song Cube****

How It Went

Preschool 1 (four classrooms)
I got to read in this preschool’s library! Each classroom had their own storytime. Both The Mixed-Up Truck and Shake the Tree! worked well in every classroom. Hop, Hop, Jump got one class too riled up and their teachers had to redirect them a few times to make sure they gave their classmates enough space. The “Going on a Bear Hunt” flannelboard continues to be a massive success when paired with a hidden bear puppet. I actually didn’t use any rhymes or songs on their own, other than my opening/closing routines since the kids were up and moving the entire storytime. I would definitely repeat this theme again!

As it was seasonally appropriate, so many of my preschools and centers requested a “spring” theme. Needless to say, while this is a great storytime plan that worked well for every group that I visited, I’m very glad to put it away for the year.

The Plan

Books

Butterfly, Butterfly by Petr Horacek********
Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson*******
Splish, Splash Ducky! by Lucy Cousins******
When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes****
Wow! Said the Owl by Tim Hopgood******

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Five Little Ducks”*******

Flannelboard: “Planting a Rainbow”****

Folder Story: “Old MacRainbow’s Flower Garden” (found at Fun With Friends at Storytime)****

Puppet: Flutter, Flutter Butterfly********
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 (site is down)

ASL: “Butterfly”********

Fingerplay: “Here is the Beehive”********
Here is the beehive. (hold up fist)
Where are the bees? (shrug)
Hidden away where nobody sees. (move other hand around fist)
Watch and you’ll see them come out of the hive (bend head close to fist)
One, two, three, four, five. (hold fingers up one at a time)
Bzzzzzzzz! (wave fingers)
Credit: Co-worker at old library

How It Went

Preschool 1: four classrooms
At this preschool, I presented in one of the larger classrooms and different groups rotated to storytime. This preschool was enamored with Wow! Said the Owl and did the best job of remembering our secret code to say “WOW!” together. (I wave my hand at the group instead of pointing.) As always, Butterfly, Butterfly is a sure-fire win due to the pop-up page at the end. And it worked so well with our ASL sign!

Preschool 2: two classrooms
My friends at this school remained in their classrooms and I traveled. Since it was only two storytimes and their classrooms were right next to each other, it worked out. This group really responded to the planting element of spring. Their favorite activities were definitely the “Planting a Rainbow” flannelboard and the folder story. I really appreciated the teachers in this group because they carefully wrote down each book and I could tell that they were just as engaged in the storytime as the kids were.

Preschool 3: eight classrooms (two per storytime)
I had a lot of fabulous surprises at this preschool — mostly especially the “thank-you” notes that were given to me as each set of classrooms came for their storytime. I had a child notice the endpapers of Splish, Splash Ducky which led to a great conversation about authors and illustrators and why that book had a picture of a person on the inside cover. My friend asked me after every book if there were any more author/illustrator pictures and we checked every time. These groups *loved* singing “Five Little Ducks” with the flannelboard, as well as the “Flutter, Flutter Butterfly” puppet and rhyme. I extend this song now to other silly actions (jumping, spinning, hiding) and the kids love when the butterfly peeks out from behind me during the hiding verse.

During the summer, I visit several area preschools to do storytime. They all request specific themes, relevant to their curriculum. At this school, I visit a total of six classrooms. Each classroom doubles up with another group creating three storytimes at the visit. I’ll star the materials each time I use it. This week’s theme was the ocean.

The Plan

Books

Fish, Swish! Splash, Dash! by Suse MacDonald**
Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins**
I’m a Shark by Bob Shea**
I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry**
Peanut Butter and Jellyfish by Jarrett J. Krosoczka*
Surprising Sharks by Nicola Davies*
Ugly Fish by Kara LaReau*

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Five Little Ocean Friends”***

Flannelboard: “Five Big Whales”*

Flannelboard: “The Three Little Fishes & the Silly Shark”*

Stick Puppets: “Slippery Fish”**

Puppet: “Did You Ever See a Shark?”**

How It Went

This was a fun set of storytimes. All three groups really enjoyed the theme, particularly the extension activities. The older group got to hear Surprising Sharks because their teacher requested some easy non-fiction, preferrably about sharks. I was happy to oblige with this Monarch nominee from a couple of years ago. I think the kids enjoyed I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean the most out of any of the books.

During the summer, I visit several area preschools to do storytime. They all request specific themes, relevant to their curriculum. At this school, I visit a total of six classrooms. Each classroom doubles up with another group creating three storytimes at the visit. I’ll star the materials each time I use it. This week’s theme was Epic Explorers.

The Plan

Books

Explorers of the Wild by Cale Atkinson**
It’s a Tiger by David LaRochelle***
Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera***
Shark in the Park! by Nick Sharratt**
Where is Tippy Toes? by Betsy Lewin*
The Woods by Paul Hoppe***

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Campfire Hokey Pokey”*

Flannelboard: “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”***

Prop: “Song Cube”*

Puppets: “Five Little Monkeys Swinging from a Tree”**

How It Went

This theme ABSOLUTELY stumped me until I reached out to my librarian cohort and got suggestions for It’s a Tiger, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Shark in the Park!, and “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”. So the moral of the story is you’re never too experienced to stop and ask for help! All three of these storytimes were great. I was able to share many of the books across the three different age groups. Their favorite books were Shark in the Park! and It’s a Tiger!.

During the summer, I visit several area preschools to do storytime. They all request specific themes, relevant to their curriculum. At this school, I visit a total of six classrooms. Each classroom doubles up with another group creating three storytimes at the visit. I’ll star the materials each time I use it. This week’s theme was inventions.

Normally, I’m able to use many of the same books over and over, but not with this theme. I basically created three separate storytimes.

The Plan

Books

Going Places by Peter Reynolds*
Hoop Genius by John Coy*
Imaginative Inventions by Charise Mericle Harper*
Meeow and the Blue Table by Sebastian Braun*
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires*
Not a Box! by Antoinette Portis*
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beauty**
Tip Tip Dig Dig by Emma Garcia*

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Building Blocks”**

Props: “Song Cube”***

Fingerplay: “Five Little Nails”**
Five little nails, standing straight and steady
Here I come with my hammer ready!
Bam, bam, bam! That nail goes down.
Now there’s just four nails left to pound.
(count down)
Credit: Mel’s Desk

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

How It Went

Toddlers
Books: Meeow and the Blue Table, Not a Box!, Tip Tip Dig Dig.
Inventions are a hard theme for toddlers! I went with very simple books and some fun rhymes/fingerplays to keep their attention. They really liked acting out all the construction vehicles in Tip Tip Dig Dig and also enjoying “Zoom Zoom Zoom” after I read Not a Box!. (Rabbit imagines a rocketship in the story.)

Preschoolers
Books: Going Places, The Most Magnificent Thing, and Rosie Revere, Engineer.
I would normally do four books with preschool, but Rosie is such a long story that I stuck to three! This group really benefited from my Monarch reading. Two of the titles are current 2017 Monarch Award nominees! This group LOVED “Five Little Nails”!

School-Age
Books: Hoop Genius, Imaginative Inventions, Rosie Revere, Engineer.
I really feel like the School-Age group got the best books. Hoop Genius is another Monarch book and tells the story of how basketball was invented. They were so excited about this book. I have a lot of boys in the school-age group and I could just see their engagement during this whole text. I read out the index (which let me do a little information literacy about how books are organized!!) of Imaginative Inventions and had the kids pick some of the inventions that interested them most. What a fabulous storytime!

During the summer, I visit several area preschools to do storytime. They all request specific themes, relevant to their curriculum. At this school, I visit a total of six classrooms. Each classroom doubles up with another group creating three storytimes at the visit. I’ll star the materials each time I use it. This week’s theme was the circus.

The Plan

Books

Circus by Lois Ehlert***
Circus Opposites by Suse MacDonald***
Circus Surprise by Sue Harris*
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell***
Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer**
Song of the Circus by Lois Duncan*

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Five Little Kernels”***

Flannelboard: “One Elephant Went Out to Play”***

Props: “Song Cube”***

Fingerplay: “Dance Your Fingers Up”**

Song: “Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes”***

Song: “Sticky, Sticky Bubblegum”*

How It Went

This is my group with three storytimes:

Toddlers
I went very basic with the toddlers and stuck with Dear Zoo (which I changed to Dear Circus), Circus Opposites, and Circus. These basic books got the theme across very nicely and in an accessible way for the two year olds. I rolled the “Song Cube” a few times in this storytime to help get our wiggles out.

Preschoolers
This group found “Five Little Kernels” to be the most hysterical thing ever. They laughed so hard when the popcorn appeared and loved shouting POP with me. Their favorite book was definitely Olivia Saves the Circus. They loved Olivia taking charge. They also enjoyed doing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes” really fast and slow.

School-Age
I was pretty worried about the circus being a babyish theme for the school-age group. But it wound up being one of the best storytimes because the kids were really engaged and I found a great read for older kids: Song of the Circus by Lois Duncan.

During the summer, I visit several area preschools to do storytime. They all request specific themes, relevant to their curriculum. At this school, I visit a total of six classrooms. Each classroom doubles up with another group creating three storytimes at the visit. I’ll star the materials each time I use it. This week’s theme was Eric Carle.

The Plan

Books

1, 2, 3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle***
The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle**
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? by Eric Carle*
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle***
Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle**
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle**

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”***

Flannelboard: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”***

Prop: “Song Cube”*

Puppets: “Two Little Bears”**

How It Went

First of all, Eric Carle’s books are SO interactive that I barely felt the need to do any extensions activities. We made animal noises during The Very Busy Spider, acted like zoo animals during From Head to Toe and 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo, made our moons bigger and smaller during Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me, pretended to painted during The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse and joined in on the refrain during nearly all of the books.

[I don’t normally do storytime without rhymes/fingerplays, but knowing this school and the group of kids, I was confident that we’d be okay with the books and the interactivity there.]

The toddler rooms really enjoyed The Very Busy Spider and making animals noises. That was definitely their high point.

The pre-k rooms were spell-bound by the flaps in Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me and also enthusiastically participated in From Head to Toe.

The preschool rooms were my loudest chanters during the “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” flannelboard and really enjoyed all the books. I was able to read FIVE BOOKS with them because of Carle’s shorter texts and their incredible attention.

During the summer, I visit several area preschools to do storytime. They all request specific themes, relevant to their curriculum. At this school, I visit a total of six classrooms. Each classroom doubles up with another group creating three storytimes at the visit. I’ll star the materials each time I use it. This week’s theme was Road Trip USA.

The Plan

Books

Go, Go, America by Dan Yaccarino**
Red, White, & Boom by Lee Wardlaw***
Tulip Sees America by Cynthia Rylant & Lisa Desimini**
Who Is Driving? by Leo Timmers*
Wow, America! by Robert Neubecker***

Extension Activities

Flannelboard: “Lots of Cars”***

Flannelboard: “Red, White, & Blue”***

Prop: “Song Cube”***

Action Rhyme: “Everyone Can March”**
Everyone can march, march, march
March, march, march, march, march, march
Everyone can march, march, march
And then we’ll make it stop!
Credit: Jbrary

Fingerplay: “Where is Thumbkin?”***
Credit: Childhood

How It Went

This wasn’t the easier storytime theme to find appropriate books for — let me tell you that! I wound up having a good mix of younger titles (Who Is Driving?, Red, White, and Boom), all ages titles (Wow, America!), and older titles.

A couple of quick notes: I paperclipped one spread in Tulip Sees America because the main character takes his clothes off (nothing showing). And I also didn’t read all of Go, Go, America. I read the pages that introduce the Farley family and then read the Illinois facts that were easy for preschoolers to understand. For my oldest group, I flipped to another couple of states and read a few more facts for them.

My favorite book was definitely Wow, America! because it was perfect for all ages. In my toddler classrooms, we just marveled at the cool things in America. In my preschool and pre-k classrooms, we had great discussions about the monuments and landmarks.

I had a couple of friends who were AMAZING in their US knowledge. One pointed out that the Statue of Liberty was “a gift” and another pointed out that “[the White House] had burned down once”. I was really impressed.