Tales for Twos and Threes, 7/15

I finally had some early literacy training this week (with Saroj Ghoting), mainly on the six skills kids need to get ready to learn to read (letter knowledge, print awareness, print motivation, vocabulary,  phonological awareness, and narrative skills). I knew, vaguely, that reading to babies and toddlers was important, and that it was good to repeat things, and to expose them to rhyme, and to new words, but I didn't really know why, so I often felt like I was muddling through things. But having that sense of direction made a world of difference in the way I approached today's books. I'll make some notes about that when I mention the books below.


Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Can You Cuddle Like a Koala? by Jim Butler (2003)
This is a great action book, which wound up being perfect for this age group. Each page shows an animal doing an action that the kids could then mimic. We cuddled like koalas, swung like monkeys, and crept like mice. We also made some noises for animals whose sounds we could identify (mainly the frogs.) This was a good book to use for print motivation. I made the story interactive and fun, and as a result, reading the book wasn't something I had to get done, as it often has been at some of our busy story times, but a fun experience. I even ended by telling the kids how much fun I had, and I wasn't even faking it.

Song: Cuddly Koalas

 

Book: I am a Backhoe by Anna Grossnickle Hines (2010)
This story shows a little boy acting like different construction machines and vehicles. One very savvy little girl in the audience guessed the name of every machine without hesitation- and she was about 95% correct. She was a bit older than the other kids, maybe around four years old, so it's possible I was wrong when I thought this book would be too immature for fours and fives. I think the main early literacy skill touched on here was the vocabulary of all the different machines. (The same little girl who knew her backhoes and dump trucks snuggled up next to me at the end of story time, and said, in a very serious, quiet voice, "I like it when you read.")

Song: Shake My Sillies Out 

Song: Head and Shoulders

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Pretty Sandcastles

Song: If You're Happy and You Know It (a cappella)

Song: One Little Finger

I found this song on a CD I downloaded, but now I can't find it, so I don't know who the singer was. In any case, here are the words and actions. And here is a tune similar to the one I use, that I found on YouTube. When I find my actual tune, I'll add it to my Wiki and link to it from my song index page here on the blog.

One little finger, one little finger, one little finger (hold up one finger)

clap, clap clap  (clap hands)

Point to the ceiling (point up with one finger)

Point to the floor (point down with one finger)

And put it in your lap.

Two little fingers, two little fingers, two little fingers (hold up two fingers)

clap, clap, clap (clap hands)

Point to the ceiling (point up with two fingers)

Point to the floor (point down with two fingers)

And put them in your lap.

(Repeat with three, four, and five fingers.)

Song: One, Two, I Love You (Numbers Are Our Friends)

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Song: Chickadee

Song: Skinnamarink