Saturday, October 13, 2012

Preschool Story Time (Digging Theme), 10/12/12

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here

Book: The Diggers by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Daniel Kirk
This was a crapshoot, but I'm glad I took the chance. The kids loved this one.

Song: One Seed by the Laurie Berkner Band
This group typically does not like to sing, but they seemed to like learning the motions to this one.

Book: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Some toddlers wandered in during this story, and they lost interest really quickly, but the big kids were completely engrossed. 

Song: Shake My Sillies Out


Book: Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
This was the biggest hit of the session. They didn't get all the jokes, but they loved talking about the illustrations.

Song: These Are My Glasses

Toddler Lap Time, 10/12/12

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here

This session was extremely chaotic. One of the moms helped her son get into my shaker egg bag, and all the kids ended up grabbing them. She also moved my books and my set list, which threw off the momentum of the whole thing. I'll have to make a lot of changes for my remaining two Toddler sessions this Fall.

Action Rhyme: Way Up High in the Apple Tree

Song: Way Up in the Sky

Song: Bumpin' Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon

Action Rhyme: Here We Go Up, Up, Up


Book: The Bridge is Up by Babs Bell 

Song: Ring Around the Rosie
For this one, we just turned our hands instead of going around in a circle. Then we all fell down!
  
Book: The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri

Song: Brown Squirrel

Book: A Good Day by Kevin Henkes

Song: Sunny Day

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider
 
Song: ABCs / Twinkle Twinkle / Baa Baa Black Sheep 
 
Songs with Shaker Eggs:

Toddler Lap Time, 10/11/12

I use the same hello and goodbye songs at almost every session. Click here for the tunes and words. For descriptions of each of my story times, click here

This week was my first week ever doing Toddler Lap Time. Most of the families were folks I knew from when their kids were in baby lap time, so there wasn't the usual stage fright, but there were definitely some bumps in the road. This post is about the Thursday morning session. Since the Friday afternoon session was pretty different, I'll post that one separately.

Action Rhyme: Way Up High in the Apple Tree

Song: Way Up in the Sky

Book: The Bridge is Up by Babs Bell 

Song: Bumpin' Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon

Action Rhyme: Up and Down
 
Book: Sky Above, Earth Below by Joanna Cotler
 
Rhyme with Puppets: I'm a Little Bumblebee

Song: Ring Around the Rosie
For this one, we just turned our hands instead of going around in a circle. Then we all fell down!
 
Book: Subway Ride by Heather Lynn Miller
 
Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider
 
Song: ABCs / Twinkle Twinkle
 
Song: Sing a Happy Song
 
Songs with Shaker Eggs:

Outreach Round-Up, 10/4/12 - 10/12/12

Holy outreach, Batman! It's been a busy couple of weeks, and there's more to come. Here's what I shared during my recent class visits:

Catholic School 5th Grade: Thursday, October 4
*The teacher requested a biography. 
Book: Bill the Boy Wonder
Notes: This was a huge hit. The girls, especially, were fired up about the injustices in Bill's career. 

Catholic School Kindergarten: Friday, October 5
Book: George and Martha
Notes: The best part of this visit was when the kids were standing in line at checkout and one of the boys was fooling around. I said, "Be careful," and he said, "Yeah, or I could fall and break my tooth and get a gold one like George." I love it when they make connections, even if they are misbehaving.

Catholic School 5th Grade: Thursday, October 11
Book: The Dunderheads
This didn't get the laughs I expected, but about half the class was still really into it, and one of the girls wanted to see the book again when I finished  reading. I think if these had been fourth graders, it would have been perfect.

Nursery School Class: Friday, October 12
Books: Applesauce Season, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything, Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar
Rhyme: Way Up High in the Apple TreeFlannel Board: Mr. Scarecrow's Jack O' Lantern
Songs: One, Two, Three Caterpillars, These Are My Glasses, Shake My Sillies Out 
Notes: As she left, the teacher told me this was the perfect story time. I didn't feel that way, but it made me happy that she enjoyed it that much. The kids loved Arabella Miller and The Little Old Lady, but not so much Applesauce Season. The flannel board was iffy - they were just a bit too old for it. 


Nursery School Class II: Friday, October 12
*The teacher requested a community theme.
Books: Say Hello, The Little Bit Scary People, Policeman Lou and Policewoman Sue, Trashy Town
Rhyme: Elevator (alternate version) 
Songs: Who are the People in Your Neighborhood?, Shake My Sillies Out, Hurry, Hurry, Drive the Firetruck
Notes: I was not confident about this story time, and it didn't go that well. The kids were engaged, and they especially liked the two community helpers books, but their teacher texted through the whole thing and it annoyed me. I'll have a better idea of what to do with them next time, though. The Little Bit Scary People was a flop, which makes me sad, because I love Emily Jenkins and it's my favorite of her picture books.
 

Catholic School Kindergarten: Friday, October 12 
Book: The Tub People, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel
Notes: My sister adored this book when she was little, and I was right when I guessed that kindergartners would like it. I hadn't planned to read a second book, but the teacher saw Mike Mulligan in my stack for a later story time and made a special request, so I went ahead and read that, too. 

Catholic School First Grade: Friday, October 12
Book: Owl at Home
Notes: This was great! I think I probably read this years ago, but I didn't remember it. I was looking for another read-aloud that would be as fun as George and Martha or Ling and Ting and knew instantly that this would be it. The kids got really into it, and they especially loved talking about the moon following owl home. 
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