Tag: preschoolers (winter 2017)

Preschoolers: Numbers

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

numbers

1 Big Salad by Juana Medina*
123 Peas by Keith Baker*
One Family by George Shannon
The Very Cold, Freezing, No-Numbers Day by Ashley N. Sorenson**

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Here Comes the 123s**

Featured Track: #6 High Five!

Flannelboard: Five Little Birds**

Flannelboard: Picture Counting Windows**

Letter of the Day: N**

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
Oh, this group had a great time counting with me. Their favorite book was easily 123 Peas — this group was much of the same friends from this alphabet storytime and they remembered the ladybugs. So, we went on a ladybug hunt. I wound up calling each kiddo individually to have a chance to find the ladybugs as we counted. This was an unscheduled departure from what I had planned and took up a lot of class time, but it was hugely rewarding (and very Whole Book Approach) to spend this time with a single book!

Tuesday morning
This group LOVED The Very Cold, Freezing, No-Numbers Day, which is a book that I’ve had pinned on Pinterest for quite a while to read in storytimes. And this group also requested to do “Five Little Monkeys Swinging from a Tree” in American Sign Language like we had done during Languages storytime. They also wanted to start off doing it silently, but I led them into using ASL slowly since they were having trouble remembering all the signs.

March 14, 2017 0 Comments Short URLPreschool Storytime

Preschoolers: Languages

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

languages

Hands and Hearts by Donna Jo Napoli*
Mañana Iguana by Ann Whitford Paul
Say Hello! by Rachel Isadora**
Spicy Hot Colors by Sherry Shahan*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Putumayo Animal Playground**

Featured Track: #13 Mdube

Flannelboard: Braille Match**

Flannelboard: Little Mouse (in Spanish)

Letter of the Day: L**

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
This class heard Say Hello! and Hands and Hearts. Their favorite was definitely Say Hello! and I really enjoyed how willing they were to try new words in other languages. We repeated each “hello” several times and I did clarify any pronunciation issues to help the kids with their new words. The kids in this group *really* loved the Braille Match flannelboard and touching each of the pieces. All of the kids thought that the Braille felt “bumpy” and some of the kids counted how many bumps they felt as they touched their number.

Tuesday morning
I chose to read Say Hello! and Spicy Hot Colors in this class. They enjoyed both books equally, but their love went to signing in ASL “Five Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree”. I learned how to sign this song from Marge Loch-Wouters and her version is available on YouTube for you to learn as well! My favorite moments from this included: loudly humming the words that we took away the first time so they wouldn’t say them, a kiddo who shouted “WHAT??” when I said we would sign the whole song without singing, and the utter pride and silence on their faces — some of them had their lips pressed together to avoid singing — as we signed together. I’m glad this activity went so well because I had a parent specifically request that I teach the kids ASL on our evaluation sheets last session. Also! I have a kiddo who is fluently reading in this class. They are always attentive and never disruptive, but I could see on their face this week the awe of learning something new and it was HUGELY rewarding.

February 28, 2017 2 Comments Short URLPreschool Storytime

Preschoolers: Books

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

books

I’m Not Reading! by Jonathan Allen**
Lola Loves Stories by Anna McQuinn*
This Book Just Ate My Dog! by Richard Byrne*
Where Are My Books? by Debbie Ridpath Ohi*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: The Bossy E**

Featured Track: #5 More Books for Me

Flannelboard: Five Little Books**

Props: Alphagator*

Letter of the Day: B**

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
Both I’m Not Reading! and This Book Just Ate My Dog! really captivated the kids. They thought it was hilarious that Baby Owl was covered up by Tiny Chicks and his friends. We had a great conversation about whether or not all of my storytime friends could fit on my lap. One of my kiddos kept shaking their head and saying, “Only one of us!” I appreciated that no one decided to turn that into a hands-on learning experience, haha! We used Lola Loves Stories as a prediction text. I asked the kids what they thought Lola would be after every book that she read. They got very good at paying attention to see what she would be the next day!

Tuesday morning
The kids were very into I’m Not Reading! and trying to count the birds in this storytime. They also LOVED “Five Little Books” because I used finger puppets to check the book out and let my rabbit hop on their shoulders or my dog licking their arms (if they wanted a puppet visit, most of them did). The books were a little bit too restless while I began the second book Where Are My Books?, but they did settle down once they realized the gravity of the book’s situation. One of them commented, “No one should steal books, Miss Katie.” I’m sure my dramatic reading helped focus their attention.

February 21, 2017 0 Comments Short URLPreschool Storytime

Preschoolers: Shapes

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

shapes

Apples and Robins by Lucie Felix
City Shapes by Diana Murray*
Go, Shapes, Go! by Denise Fleming**
Round is a Mooncake by Roseanne Thong*
Round is a Tortilla by Roseanne Thong*

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Forest Friends’ Nature Club Album**

Featured Track: #4 Shapes Are Everywhere

Flannelboard: Color Zoo

Flannelboard: The Shape Story**

Letter of the Day: S**

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
This was my first session on Monday mornings and it went pretty well. I had a kiddo that did so good for the first fifteen minutes and then asked to go to the bathroom. Then, they all wanted to go to the bathroom. Luckily, I was able to clarify with the group that only the first kiddo needed to go. This morning I read Round is a Mooncake & Round is a Tortilla and had the kids trace the shapes in the air. And I invited the kids to come up to the book and find shapes in the page spreads that asked readers if they could find more shapes. It worked SO WELL. I really liked using both titles and talking about the different examples of shapes that we saw.

Tuesday morning
This is my large group (19 kids) and there is a bit more class management that’s needed for everyone to remember to sit still and follow directions. That being said, we had a really interactive class today that involved chomping monkeys, acting like shapes in Go, Shapes, Go! and finding shapes in City Shapes. Our flannelboard story really captivated this audience. They really enjoyed telling me what color shape and the name of the shape. And they were guessing very quickly after the new shape was placed what the shapes made together.

February 14, 2017 0 Comments Short URLPreschool Storytime

Preschoolers: Manners

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

manners

Blocks by Irene Dickson*
Horrible Bear! by Ame Dyckman
Please Mr. Panda by Steve Antony*
One Word From Sophia by Jim Averbeck & Yasmeen Ismail*
That’s Not Mine by Anna Kang

Theme Extension Activities

Featured CD: Juice Box Heroes*

Featured Track: #6 Please and Thank You

Flannelboard: All the Little Germs*

Flannelboard: Thanks a Lot

Letter of the Day: M*

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 didn’t get to do a Monday class because I was at ALA Midwinter. But my fabulous co-worker covered for me and the kids had a good time!

Tuesday morning
We had a great time at storytime today. This storytime included a visitor from our administration department to take pictures and they caught an EPIC grumpy face from me on film as we were talking about how some of the animals might be feeling in Please Mr. Panda. I really loved using Blocks in a preschool setting because it wasn’t just a story; it became a conversation starter about how using manners and being kind can make us all feel better. SOCIAL JUSTICE IN STORYTIME.

February 7, 2017 0 Comments Short URLPreschool Storytime