Tales for Fours and Fives, 6/16

Another day, another learning curve. It occurs to me, now that I've done four story times for this age group (including class visits), that my repertoire for this age is very, very limited. I've worked so hard on learning how to read and sing with babies and toddlers, but I haven't really spent much time with kids over the age of three. And though today's session went very well, and my attendance doubled (3 last week, 7 this week), I find myself uncertain about where to go from here. And I need to figure it out soon, because school's out next week!

One thing I know I'll be using is Anna's delightful secret weapon song, The Watermelon Song, but beyond that, I need pre-K and K suggestions! I'll be digging into my favorite blogs for more ideas later today, but in the meantime, here's what I did this morning:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Song: Seven Continents on our Globe

Book: Earthdance by Joanne Ryder, illustrated by Norman Gorbaty (1999)
Very fitting for the summer reading theme, this book imagines what it would be like to be the Earth, spinning in space, crawling with animals and people, and filled with mystery. The text is highly poetic, with some instances of concrete poetry (icebergs that crack, for example), and the illustrations are very abstract, but the oversized pages and interesting colors drew me right in, and though the kids were very quiet, I think the story spoke to them on some level, too.

Song: Rum Sum Sum


 
Book: Papa, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Barbara Lavallee (2005)
This is a story set in Africa, and featuring the Masaai culture. A father answers his son's many questions about the depth and breadth of his love. This book introduces a lot of African vocabulary, but also speaks to the universality of a father's love. The boys in this audience especially liked the lion, and the father's promise to scare him off with his shield and spear.


Song: Boots by The Laurie Berkner Band (from Victor Vito)

Book: Perfect Square by Michael Hall (2011)
A perfect square faces adversity in the form of being poked full of holes, shredded, cut into strips, and shattered, but each time it makes the best of the situation by making something new out of its pieces. This book can be extrapolated in a lot of ways, and lends itself to a wonderful craft project (which I didn't do, but any library easily could.)

Song: Taba Naba by The Wiggles from (It's a Wiggly Wiggly World) 

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


Goodbye Song: Skinnamarink

Only two more story times this week - a Pre-K class visit this afternoon, and baby lap time tomorrow. Then I get three days to relax before the next round!