Read-Along Story Time, 2/14/13

 Read-Along Story Time, 2/14/13

Though attendance was down yesterday, owing to the fact that this is a holiday weekend and there is no school today, this was one of the best read-along story times I have done so far. There were eight kids, ranging in age from four to six. Four were in preschool or Pre-K and four were in kindergarten or first grade.

Welcome Message 

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Today we will read two stories about Valentine's Day. We will make a list of Valentine words. We will write messages on hearts. It is time to begin! 

From, 

Miss Katie

The kids who could read knew the phrase "Valentine's Day" so I paused and let them read it. This was not my best welcome message, but they didn't seem to notice.

Read-Along
Today's read-along was a free download from Teachers Pay Teachers, which has a lot of helpful printables, some of which cost money, but many of which are free.  The book is called "Will You Be My Valentine?" and it shows pictures of different animals asking us to be their Valentines. We read it straight through, then we went back through it to decide whether we would or would not want to be valentines with that animal. (They said yes to monster and pig, but no to bee and turtle.)

Picture Book Read-Aloud 
Our read-aloud was The Yuckiest, Stinkiest, Best Valentine Ever  by Brenda A. Ferber, which is  illustrated by Tedd Arnold. It was perfectly age appropriate and the kids really enjoyed it. I thought it was especially hilarious when one of the boys asked me what cooties were. Apparently, cooties are not a thing in kindergarten anymore.

Making a Word Cloud
Storytime Katie makes word clouds with the kids at her Growing Readers story times, and her blog inspired me to try it.  I used the reverse side of my welcome message to write the words. To get things started, we passed around a heart labeled "My Turn" so there would be no problems, as there sometimes are, with certain kids fighting about who is next. As one of the girls was passing the heart to the next child, a boy, she said, "He's my husband!" When I said, "He is? Oh my goodness," the little boy in question said, "Oh, yes, we are falling in love." It was adorable, and so perfect for Valentine's Day. When we were finished, the word cloud looked like this:

Hat, Coat, Pants, and Shoes
This group was an especially good audience for this song. They laughed themselves absolutely silly.

Writing Conversation Hearts
Our final activity was a handout from a blog post at Kinder Alphabet. I put out colored pencils and let the kids decorate their hearts. The ones who know how to write wrote down things like, "Love" and "Mom" and "Happy" and the younger kids colored and drew designs. I talked with everyone as they worked and was surprised by how much they had to say about their work. I definitely want to do more activities like this one in future weeks.

I look forward to this program every week, and this particular session was so much fun. I'm really glad to see some of our early elementary schoolers coming in more regularly and enjoying themselves at a program suited to their abilities.

Sending You My Love Toddler Lap Time, 2/14/13

  Sending You My Love Toddler Lap Time, 2/14/13

 (This week's theme is Valentines and mail.)

Tough crowd today! They weren't especially antsy, but they also weren't at all engaged. A lot of the regulars also didn't make it, so the newbies were more reluctant to participate.  

Book: Where is Baby’s Valentine? by Karen Katz
This was the best of the three books. I'll need to see if I can find more decent lift-the-flap books for this group, because they really love that element of surprise.

Rhyme: Making Valentines
This was cute, but the kids seemed confused.

Song: Love My Mommy

Book: All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri
I have never had this book bomb before, but it did today.

Song: One Little, Two Little, Three Little Kisses

Rhyme: I Can Hug
This one looked better on paper than in practice. A lot of the twos weren't here today, and the younger ones just couldn't do the movements.

Song: Here We Go Up Up Up

Song: Put Your Finger in the Air

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Book: Goose Needs a Hug by Tad Hills
This doesn't work as a group read-aloud because there is dialogue, but the author doesn't specify who is speaking. But it's really cute, and I think three year olds might understand it better. 

Songs with Foam Hearts 

• H-E-A-R-T (based on Bingo)
• Will You Be My Valentine? 
• There’s a Heart Upon...

Song with Puppet: You Are My Sunshine

Song: Skinnamarink

 
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.

Valentine's Day After School Story Time, 2/14/12

This program was really advertised for all ages, but attracted an age group very similar to the group I had last Thursday for Hugs and Kisses story time. I set up the tables again, this time with craft supplies for making Valentines.

While the kids colored, cut, and glued, I read the following:

3 Poems from It's Valentine's Day! by Jack Prelutsky (1983)

• I Made My Dog a Valentine
• Mother's Chocolate Valentine
• My Father's Valentine

This was one of my favorite books when I was a kid, and I couldn't resist sharing some of it! The kids are not used to me  reading poetry at story time, but a lot of them dropped everything to stop and listen. 

Book 1: Valentine's Day by Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Lizzie Rockwell (2000)
I love this picture book series about a diverse early elementary school class and its various holiday celebrations. This book focuses on the different Valentines the kids make for their friend Michiko, who has moved to Japan. I'm not sure the group really understood that each illustration depicts not just a Valentine, but a fond memory the Valentine's creator has of Michiko, but even so, they seemed to enjoy listening to the story. If nothing else, it related well to our craft!

Book 2: If You'll Be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Fumi Kosaka (2005)
A little boy gives Valentines to everyone in his family, including his teddy bear! The best thing about reading this book was that one little girl, who is usually very quiet during our crowded toddler story times on Tuesdays shouted right out loud, "I have that book!"

Book 3: Yours Til the Ice Cracks: A Book of Valentines by Laura Geringer, illustrated by Andrea Baruffi (1992)
The cover image for this book doesn't seem to be online anywhere, so what's pictured is the title page. I chose to share it at story time not for the text, which went over the kids' heads, but for the neat illustrations. Each page shows a heart made of something different - everything from ice to cows! It didn't resonate with everyone, but at least two little boys were totally engrossed.

I still need to work on feeling less awkward using this format, but it really works well for the time of day, and for the wide age range. I'll be trying it again tomorrow (Thursday) with books about U.S. presidents.