Dig Into Reading (Reading): Family Story Time, 6/15/13

Dig Into Reading (Reading): Family Story Time, 6/15/13

*No photo this time - it's too hard to predict what I'll read when all ages are invited! Credit for the image above goes to mycutegraphics.com.

 
Today was the first session of my library's new Saturday afternoon story time. We are offering this every week until school starts, because so many families have asked us to do Saturday programming. Only two kids joined me today, but I asked them to bring their friends in the future, and one dad promised to let his son's playgroup friends know about it. I think attendance will grow as summer gets in full swing.

Because there were only two kids and neither seemed to love singing, we just sang the hello song, goodbye song, and one other song, and read four books, then colored for a few minutes.

Book: Bats at the Library by Brian Lies
The kids were so quiet, it was hard to tell whether they enjoyed this book or not, but they seemed interested. 

Book: We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems
This was definitely the book they loved most. Neither of the two boys who came to story time had ever seen it before, so it was great to see  them laugh at the jokes for the first time.

Book: Otto the Book Bear by Katie Cleminson
This book didn't get much of a reaction during the reading itself, but the kids clapped when it was over.

At this point, I asked if we should read one more. The younger of the two boys - who was three - told me he wanted three more! (One was enough, as I knew it would be.)

Book: Quiet! There's a Canary in the Library by Don Freeman
The younger boy liked this book a lot. The older one seemed to be kind of over me at this point, and I definitely felt the "you're a lame librarian" vibe coming from him when I then said we would sing before we left. 


Song: These Are My Glasses

Coloring Page: I re-used my bookshelf coloring activity from my book-themed Read-Along story time back in April.  Both boys liked it and spent a good amount of time coloring. The younger boy also took a break to show me his "out of control superhero moves" and his dinosaur stomping.


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.

We Love to Read! Preschool Story Time, 1/18/13

 

 We Love to Read! Preschool Story Time, 1/18/13

  Click to download this week's handout.

With probably 20 kids, this was the biggest preschool story time I have ever seen in this time slot. According to one grandmother, it was also the best ever! 

Book: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
At the part in the story when Harold draws a series of buildings filled  with windows, a little girl raised her hand and said, "I live right there!" When I said, "Where?" she pointed to one of the buildings. That was one of my all-time favorite story time moments. I also laughed to myself when another regular story time goer told me the story made her sleepy. She has said that on at least one other occasion.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert
A few of the older ones in the group, probably closer to five years old, got the biggest smiles on their faces when I read the title of this book.

Song with ukulele: ABCs

Song with ukulele: Aikendrum
I decided on the spur of the moment to play this song, and it was a great decision. The kids loved it! 

Book: The Obstinate Pen by Frank W. Dormer
This book was a hit with most of the kids and surprisingly with parents too. I'm keeping it in mind for future class visits.

Activity in a Bag: What Can You Write With?
Since we read two books about writing implements (and I planned to read more, as the picture above shows), I wanted to do an activity that would promote the fun of writing a story. I gave each child a bag of things to write with - pencil, pen, marker, and crayon - and a sheet of 8 1/2 x 14 paper  folded in half to look like a book. The kids got really into it - and much to my great surprise and happiness, cleaned up after themselves. I wanted to get them to talk to me more about their experience writing and drawing, but there were more kids than anticipated, and a lot of toddlers, so we'll save that for another time.

This was a tough story time week, but ending it with this near-perfect story time felt pretty good.

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.

We Love to Read! Toddler Lap Time, 1/18/13

   We Love to Read! Toddler Lap Time, 1/18/13

  Click to download this week's handout.

This is Friday afternoon's improved lap time session, which was much better than Thursday's. I only wish these books were larger.

Book: Farmyard Rhymes by Clare Beaton
This is one of the only nursery rhyme books I have found useful for story time, and that's because it has a focus. On each page, I pointed out the farm animal, we made the animal sound and then we read the rhyme. A few of the kids knew the animal sounds, the others got excited and pointed at the illustrations.

Song with Stick Puppets: Old MacDonald

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Book: Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray

Song: ABCs

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Sing A Happy Song

Song: Ring a Round a Rosie

Book: It's a Little Book by Lane Smith 

Activities with foam stars:

• Rhyme: Star Light, Star Bright
• Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• Song: There's a Star Upon My Head

Song with Puppet: Mr. Sun

Song: If You’re Happy and You Know It

Song: The More We Read Together

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.

We Love to Read! Drop-In Story Time, 1/18/13

We Love to Read! Drop-In Story Time, 1/18/13

   Click to download this week's handout.

Song: If You’d Like To Read a Book 

Book: In the Foggy Foggy Forest by Nick Sharatt

Song: I’m Going Down to the Library (with animal puppets)

Book: Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Flannel Board Song: Who are the characters in your story books?
To the tune of Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?, we sung about favorite characters Spot, Max and Ruby, Thomas the Tank Engine, Pigeon, and Maisy.

Rhyme: This is Big Big Big

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake

Letter of the Day:  V

• One Violin (I wrote this one. It was inspired by the title of the picture book, Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin)
• Eating Veggies (We said this rhyme, using the characters from our story books and vegetables. The adults taked through the entire thing, but this was unusual - this rhyme normally works.)
• The Wheels on the Van

Songs with ukulele: ABCs / Twinkle Twinkle Little Star / Baa Baa Black Sheep

Song with ukulele: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: If You’re Happy and You Know It


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.

We Love to Read! Toddler Lap Time, 1/17/13

  We Love to Read! Toddler Lap Time, 1/17/13

  Click to download this week's handout.

*Theoretically, the two toddler lap times I do each week are identical, but Thursday's session didn't feel very successful to me, so it's completely different from what I presented on Friday. Therefore, I'm making two separate posts.


Song: If You’d Like to Read a Book

Book: Book! by Kristine O'Connell George, illustrated by Maggie Smith

Song with Flannel Board: I’m Going Down to the Library
This song worked well with the big drop-in group on Tuesday, but bombed with the smaller group. 

Flannel Board Rhyme: Down Around the Corner 
We did this rhyme with picture books at the "children's bookstore." I won't be using this again - none of the groups seemed to connect with it. 

Book: Lola Loves Stories by Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw

Song: These Are My Glasses

Poem: Letter Parade! from Good For You! by Stephanie Calmenson
This was not a hit.

Song: ABCs

Activities with foam stars:

• Rhyme: Star Light, Star Bright
• Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• Song: There's a Star Upon My Head

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Ring a Round a Rosie

Song: Head and Shoulders

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.

We Love to Read! Baby Lap Time, 1/17/13

  We Love to Read! Baby Lap Time, 1/17/13

  Click to download this week's handout.

(The picture above shows a flannel board - We're Going Down to the Library - that I didn't end up using.)

Rhyme: Cheek Chin 

Rhyme: Look at this Book

Song: If You’d Like to Read a Book 

Book: It’s a Little Book by Lane Smith

Song: Tony Chestnut

Song:  Head and Shoulders

Song: All the Little Babies

Poem: Letter Parade! from Good For You! by Stephanie Calmenson
I found some clip art of children wearing letters on their shirts and made my own book out of this rhyme. It didn't get a great reaction, but this was a reserved group of moms with babies on the younger side. (I can't share the book I made here because the clipart is copyrighted, but if you want to see a copy, leave a comment and I'll send it to you.)

Song: ABCs

Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Song: Where is Big Toe?

Rhyme: Hey Diddle Diddle

Song: The More We Read Together...

This session has made me rethink whether I want to do themed story times for the babies. I think I probably will for some of the easier ones, but I also need to revisit my older story time posts for this age and pull out the greatest hits, and just stick with those. This session was fine, and I received some lovely compliments, but I didn't feel that it was my best.


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.

We Love to Read! Pajama Story Time, 1/16/13

 We Love to Read! Pajama Story Time, 1/16/13

Click to download this week's handout. 

There were only three kids at this story time, but it was wonderful. All were regulars at either this or other story times, and all the grown-ups were happy to sing, clap, and participate. They also loved all of the books and there was just a nice, cozy bedtime atmosphere.

Book: Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead

Song: Tommy Thumb

Book: Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Two of the three kids were too young to really point out the characters in each "I Spy" picture, but they loved it when I pointed them out.

Song: Nursery Rhyme Rap
For the verses, we sang "To Market, To Market", "Little Bo Peep" and "Horsey, Horsey", and I placed images of a pig, sheep, and horse on the flannel board. 

Book: It's a Little Book by Lane Smith
The kids like the repetiton of the word "no." The adults laughed out loud, especially at the cute ending.

Song: Sing a Happy Song

Song: Goodnight
I put the sheep, pig, and horse on stick puppets and we sang goodnight to them. Halfway through, a little girl suddenly started crying and trying to sing at the same time. From what I could gather,  this was similar to my own reaction to "You Are My Sunshine" when I was around three. I would burst into tears for no reason every  time I heard it. The little girl's grown-up gave her a snuggle and she bounced back, and it was all very sweet.

Song: If You’re Happy and You Know It

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.

We Love to Read! Drop-In Story Time, 1/15/13

 We Love to Read! Drop-In Story Time, 1/15/13

Click to download this week's handout.

Song: If You’d Like to Read a Book

Book: The Wonderful Book by Leonid Gore
There was a group of four year olds who loved this book. I was glad I chose a longer book, since they wound up joining story time, but it was too long for almost everyone else, adults included.

Flannel Board Rhyme: Down Around the Corner
I printed out covers of five well-known picture books (shown above) and did "Down around the corner at the children's bookstore" where boys and girls bought the books and took them away.

Book: I Like Books by Anthony Browne

Flannel Board Song (with ukulele): I’m Going Down to the Library
We had the whole family visit the library - Mom, Dad, baby, brother, sister, grandma, and grandpa.

Song: I’m a Little Teapot

Letter of the Day: U

• Song: Red Umbrella Keeps Me Dry
• Song: Here We Go Up, Up, Up
• Song: Under the Big Chestnut Tree (We sang only the English.)
• Song (with ukulele): Ukulele Song (I wrote this song ten minutes before story time. It wasn't as good as I imagined, but I might be able to work on it more and make it work.) 

Songs (with ukulele): ABCs / Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/ Baa Baa Black Sheep

Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Song: The More We Read Together

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.