storytime katie

For more information on how I plan and prepare my preschool storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one class.

The Plan

Books

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington
Penguin and Pumpkin by Salina Yoon*
Piggies in the Pumpkin Patch by Mary Peterson & Jennifer Rofe*
Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson**

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Ladybug Green Music**

Featured Track: #2 Apples and Bananas

Flannelboard: Five Little Apples**

Flannelboard: Five Little Pumpkins

Letter of the Day: A & P**

Props: The Pumpkins Are Here**

Repeating Extension Activities

• Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
• Icky Sticky Bubble Gum*
• Movement Cube*

How It Went

Monday morning
I had an AMAZING turn-out for my last class. And a wonderful storytime. The kids were shocked when I said that I had two Letters of the Day because we were talking about two things: pumpkins and apples! They really enjoyed guessing what animal might be coming next to eat the apples during our flannelboard and they had a great time talking about how much of the apple the different animals ate. They also really enjoyed having their own foam pumpkins as we did the rhyme “The Pumpkins Are Here”!

Tuesday morning
Another wonderful class comes to a close. I had a great job using two letters — I had enough objects in my Letter buckets to let each kid hold an object or a letter. They were really excited to be helpers for me. I absolutely love using Tap the Magic Tree in storytime because it’s so interactive and really gets everyone involved. This group had a little bit of trouble settling down after our flannelboard and action rhyme, but it eventually happened!

For more information on how I plan and prepare my preschool storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one class.

The Plan

Books

ABCs on Wheels by Ramon Olivera
LMNO Peas by Keith Baker*
Oops Pounce Quick Run! by Mike Twohy*
Square Cat ABC by Elizabeth Schoonmaker
The Turn-Around Upside-Down Alphabet Book by Lisa Campbell Ernst*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Here Comes the ABCs*

Featured Track: #15 Who Put the Alphabet in Alphabetical Order?

Flannelboard: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom*

Letter of the Day: A*

Props: Foam Letters on the Parachute*

Repeating Extension Activities

• Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
• Icky Sticky Bubble Gum*
• Movement Cube

How It Went

Monday morning
My storytime crowd was very talkative this morning! One of my kiddos announced that we were reading a ladybug book when I pulled out LMNO Peas and another kiddo immediately said, “No, it’s an ALPHABET book.” I immediately ended the argument by saying, “Well, maybe there is a ladybug, let’s keep our eyes out!” Little did I know! There’s a small ladybug on nearly every page spread in the book and my group had a great time looking for it. We spent a bit more time on this title, but it was time well-spent in my opinion!!

Tuesday morning
No storytime today, sadness! It was election day and our meeting room serves as our local polling place.

For more information on how I plan and prepare my preschool storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one class.

The Plan

Books

Farmer’s Away! Baa! Neigh! by Anne Vittur Kennedy*
Farmyard Beat by Lindsey Craig**
Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Jane Cabrera**
Punk Farm by Jarrett J. Krosoczka*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: The Apple Tree & The Honey Bee**

Featured Track: #11 – Back to the Farm

Flannelboard: B-I-N-G-O

Flannelboard: Open Up the Barn Door**

Letter of the Day: F**

Puppets: When Animals Get Up in the Morning*

Repeating Extension Activities

• Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
• Icky Sticky Bubble Gum
• Movement Cube*

How It Went

Monday morning
A smaller group this morning, but it was Halloween and I know that my families have a lot of things going on in the community. Most of our schools do a costume parade during the morning which did create conflicts if families had older children. But because the group was smaller, we got through THREE books at storytime! The kids had a great time reading me the story of Farmer’s Away! Baa! Neigh! by telling me the animal noises. And they really enjoyed guessing what animals would be coming up next in Old MacDonald Had a Farm.

Tuesday morning
It was another great day with my preschoolers. I’m so proud at all the progress this group has made over the past few weeks. Several of my kids ran into the room and hugged me/told me they missed me last week. (I was home sick with a head cold.) It was really lovely and made me feel very important. This group was the group that I specifically picked out Punk Farm for. They LOVED it. They thought it was the best, most hilarious book ever. They were several requests to read it again. This group also really loves to sing, so “When Animals Get Up in the Morning” was another hit.

For more information on how I plan and prepare my preschool storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one class.

The Plan

Books

Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins**
I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry*
Peanut Butter and Jellyfish by Jarrett K. Krosoczka
The Three Little Fish & the Big Bad Shark by Will Grace**

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Victor Vito**

Featured Track: “The Goldfish”

Flannelboard: Five Little Ocean Friends*

Letter of the Day: O**

Props: Slippery Fish**

Puppets: Did You Ever See a Shark?*

Repeating Extension Activities

• Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
• Icky Sticky Bubble Gum
• Movement Cube

How It Went

Monday morning
I had two new friends in storytime today. One made the transition immediately into the room and the other became my special helper for the Letter of the Day. By the time we had said all of our objects and practiced our letter sounds, my friend was able to sit down and join the group. Thumbs up! The kids LOVED the re-telling, The Three Little Fish & the Big Bad Shark. I had one friend who kept saying, “The wolf says huff and puff; the shark says munch and crunch!” It was a great connection that the stories were the same! This group also appreciated the BURP! at the end of “Slippery Fish”. Burps are great preschool humor!

Tuesday morning
My friend who has had a REALLY hard time adjusting to storytime came into the room like a pro today: took my hand, walked up to the board and added their name tag, found a seat on the floor. It was so wonderful and allowed me to help another friend separate from their grown-up! We had kind of a “eating animals humor” themed class with The Three Little Fish & the Big Bad Shark, I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean!, and “Slippery Fish” that just happened to be all ocean animals. I really enjoyed my time with this class today and am already dreading the end of session in four weeks.

For more information on how I plan and prepare my preschool storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one class.

The Plan

Books

How to Dress a Dragon by Thelma Lynne Godin*
Hurry Up, Alfie! by Anna Walker*
Maggie and Michael Get Dressed by Denise Fleming*
Naked! by Michael Ian Black
Under My Hood, I Have a Hat by Karla Kuskin*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Anna and the Cupcakes**

Featured Track: “Shoes”

Flannelboard: Froggy Gets Dressed*

Flannelboard: Socks Match-Up**

Letter of the Day: C**

Props: Crown for a Day*

Repeating Extension Activities

• Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
• Icky Sticky Bubble Gum
• Movement Cube

How It Went

Monday morning
It was a smaller crowd in today’s storytime because of a day off of school. We tend to be a travel for the long weekend library population. The smaller group let me really get to have one-on-one time with each of the kiddos. Each of them got to assist in a special task today! Our best book was Maggie and Michael Get Dressed — the group just loved the silliness of watching Michael try to dress Maggie. And they were also in stitches over “Froggy Gets Dressed” on the flannelboard.

Tuesday morning
I had 100% attendance today; it’s such a rare occurrence that I always feel the need to celebrate it! I did an almost completely different storytime for this group. Clothes is such a great theme full of awesome materials. These kiddos really responded to the “Socks Match-Up” game and were jumping off the floor waiting for their turn to match up a sock. I love letting the kids handle flannelboard pieces now that they’re older. Their favorite book was How to Dress a Dragon.

For more information on how I plan and prepare my preschool storytimes, check out this introduction post. I starred the materials used in the plan; multiple stars indicate use for more than one class.

The Plan

Books

Dini Dinosaur by Karen Beaumont**
Dinosaur Kisses by David Ezra Stein*
Here Comes Destructosaurus! by Aaron Reynolds
Inside-Outside Dinosaurs by Roxie Munro*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Best of the Laurie Berkner Band**

Featured Track: “We Are the Dinosaurs”*

Flannelboard: Little Dinosaur, Little Dinosaur*

Flannelboard: Ten Little Dinos

Letter of the Day: D**

Props: Two Little Dinosaurs**

Repeating Extension Activities

• Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree
• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
• Icky Sticky Bubble Gum
• Movement Cube*

How It Went

Monday morning
First week of preschool storytime. I had one kiddo that had trouble separating and did wind up having the caregiver stay in the room. (Afterwards, caregiver told us the child’s birthday and the child was only two and a half, so they signed up for a toddler storytime.) So many of the kids in this group I had in babies and toddlers! I feel old! They loved doing the “Two Little Dinosaurs” rhyme with me and enjoyed washing themselves along with Dini Dinosaur.

Tuesday morning
One of my kids was crying really hard at the start of storytime, but agreed to take my hand and come into the room. By the end, the kiddo was rolling on the carpet with laughter. It was a great experience! This group’s average age is 4.5, so I wanted to make sure to use a more advanced book. And for dinosaurs, there’s nothing better than names and explaining why they are called the way that they are, cue: Inside-Outside Dinosaurs. Interestingly enough, I had a child ask if we could roar softer during “Two Little Dinosaurs” and I was very proud when the whole group obliged!