Pre K/ K Class Visit, 6/2

We have a community that is very invested in children's literacy and today we had a local preschool come in to kick off their summer reading program. I signed them up for our program and then did a story time for them. They were such wonderful listeners, and singers, and though I was quite nervous, I managed to give one of my best performances ever.

Here is what we did:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?
I tortured myself trying to come up with a better hello song for older kids, and then realized what I have isn't terrible and stuck with it. And they seemed to really like it 

Book: We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems (2010)
I have always wanted to read Elephant and Piggie out loud, and today was my chance! A little boy in the front row really made me want to ham it up, because he was laughing so hard, and Gerald the Elephant's dramatic shouting and weeping are too much fun to read without expression.

Song: Boots

Song: Seven Continents on our Globe
I made the felt board pieces for this just before story time started this morning, but the song was a big success, and I think I'll be doing it a few times this summer. 

Book: All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee (2009)
This book is just beautiful, and I wanted something really general about the whole world, that would still be interesting and appealing as a story, rather than a dry nonfiction book about continents. The kids had a lot of really great comments, and they responded especially to the illustrations.

Book: Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal (1981)
I was so impressed - more than half the kids knew this book! I remembered it from Reading Rainbow myself, and can still hear the voice of whoever read it on that show, but I wasn't necessarily expecting it to still be so popular. The kids helped me out with the cumulative rhyme by repeating "Kapiti Plain" for me each time it showed up in the text. One little girl was particularly businesslike about it, and pronounced it with wonderful precision and expression.

Song: Rum Sum Sum
I learned recently that this song comes from Morocco. I originally learned it at the special ed preschool I worked at during library school, and it fits the summer theme perfectly - especially for this age group. They loved it, and got really into it - teachers too!

Song: Turn Around by Hap Palmer (from Getting to Know Myself) 

Song: Skinnamarink