Concepts: Numbers Drop-In Story Time, 5/10/13

 Concepts: Numbers Drop-In Story Time, 5/10/13

Book: Daisy 123 by Peter Catalanotto
I wanted this to work. I asked  everyone to make a dog sound with me after every page. Only two or three adults actually did it, and therefore none of the kids did. I seemed to be the only one in the room who liked the book at all. 

Song: Numbers Are Our Friends 
I have to start using this song more regularly. All the nannies have forgotten it! Still, it's catchy and the second time through was much more lively than the first.

Book: Four Fur Feet by Margaret Wise Brown
I thought this rhythmic, repetitive book would be a hit. It was a flop. I'm not sure why. Maybe just this group's particular mood today. 

Song: Four Red Cherries
I don't particularly like this song, but everyone else enjoys it, so I use it every now and then. Today it seemed like a perfect opportunity to talk about the number four. 

Book: Five Green and Speckled Frogs by Priscilla Burris
We sang this book, and it was the only one that kept the adults and the kids interested. Everyone wanted to borrow it after story time, but someone grabbed it right after the goodbye song, so anyone else had to place a hold! 

Song: Monkeys on the Bed 
This brought down the house. It's nice to have something so consistent in my repertoire.

Letter of the Day: W

• Rhyme: Wiggle Fingers
• Flannel Board Song: Wash the Cars
  I wrote the words to this simple song which can be used as a flannel board and a movement song. The kids seemed to have mixed feelings about it, but if they'd been a tiny bit older, they would have loved it. The three year olds in the room were into it, for sure.
• Song: Wheels on the Bus

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

Song: Hands up High 

Song with Puppet: Mr. Sun

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.

1 2 3 Count with Me! Preschool Story Time, 2/8/13

 1 2 3 Count with Me! Preschool Story Time, 2/8/13

This story time looks so promising on paper, but the kids did not enjoy it. Most of them seemed bored, and the ones who weren't bored were out of their seats and in my lap (and too young for this story time.) I think part of it was the books - they were disappointed that I had Chicka Chicka 1-2-3 but not the original, and they didn't even like this Pete the Cat! Eggs 1 2 3 was too hard for them and they couldn't cooperate well enough to sing Over in the Meadow with me. I also read way too many books.  Next week, I have to rethink the structure of this story time, especially if there are going to continue to be so many toddlers.

Book: Chicka Chicka 1-2-3 by Bill Martin Jr., Michael Sampson, and Lois Ehlert
This book is nowhere near as great as the original, but apparently Monday is the 100th day of school so the kids got excited about that.

Book: Ten Things I Love About You by Daniel Kirk
I thought this book would work because of its similarities to the Elephant and Piggie books, but I was wrong. Half the kids got up and and walked out of the room! I think part of that is just lack of discipline - the adults tell them they're free to come and go - but they also just didn't connect with the book. I was disappointed.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Book: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean and Eric Litwin
I don't understand a group of kids that doesn't enjoy Pete. Only a couple would chant with me, and the rest seemed bored bored bored.

Book: Eggs 1 2 3: Who Will the Babies Be? by Janet Halfmann, illustrated by Betsy Thompson
This was probably the book that went over the best, but they got bored halfway through, possibly because one of the little boys who I think is too young to be there kept getting up to say, "Mommy Daddy and my mommy and daddy mommy mommy daddy." And his nanny refused to do anything about it.

Song with ukulele: Over in the Meadow
I played this for kindergarten and first grade today, and I used the poster shown in the photo to help them keep up with me. They loved it more than I expected, but this group sat like stones and said nothing. One mom awkwardly tried to clap along, but even she was looking at me like I don't know what I'm doing. Trust me, ma'am, this stuff works at other times! 

Book: Birdsongs by Betsy Franco, illustrated by Steve Jenkins
This one I'm taking on class visits, I think, because it's great, and it suffered in this story time by being last. I hadn't really planned to read it, but I thought it might redeem the session somehow. I was wrong.

It's hard to keep kids' attention after school on Friday, but it's still better to have kids who are restless than to not have any preschoolers coming to story time. Friday is the only day these kids are not in other activities, so it's what we've got to work with. Next week, I'll look for more interactive things and maybe only read three books.

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.

1 2 3 Count with Me! Toddler Lap Time, 2/8/13

   1 2 3 Count with Me! Toddler Lap Time, 2/8/13

Book: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury

Rhyme: Dance Ten Fingers

Book: Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker

Song: One, Two, I Love You

Book: Counting in the Garden by Kim Parker

Song: Here We Go Up, Up, Up

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Songs with Foam Stars:

• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• One Little, Two Little, Three Little Stars
• There’s a Star Upon My Head

Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
 
Song: Chickadee
 
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.

1 2 3 Count with Me! Drop-In Story Time, 2/8/13

1 2 3 Count with Me! Drop-In Story Time, 2/8/13

Book: Build a Burrito by Denise Vega
I didn't feel confident enough to read the Spanish, so I just read the English words. The kids seemed to like it, though none of the adults were even pretending to listen.

Song: One Little, Two Little, Three Little Fingers 

Book: One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Jane Chapman
One little girl in the front said, "Miss Katie, Miss Katie, I HAVE this book!" She is the only one in the room who seemed to like it.

Song: Five Little Ducks
They got really into this song, much more so than any group in the past.

Book: Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell
This book dragged a little bit, but I think it would be perfect in a smaller group of three-year-olds. I am going to hang onto it to bring to the rec. center in a couple of weeks.

Song: One, Two, I Love You

Song: Here We Go Up, Up, Up

Letter of the Day: A

• Rhyme: Way Up High in the Apple Tree
• Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Little Acorns
• Song with ukulele and Flannel Board: Aikendrum

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

Song: Head and Shoulders, Baby

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.

1 2 3 Count with Me! Baby Lap Time, 2/7/13

 1 2 3 Count with Me! Baby Lap Time, 2/7/13

Rhyme: Cheek Chin 

Book: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury

Song: One, Two, I Love You

Book: 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe by Anna Grossnickle Hines
 
Rhyme: 1, 2, 3, the Bumblebee

Song: Tony Chestnut

Song: Eyes Nose Cheeky Cheeky Chin

Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Song: All the Little Babies

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Song: If You’re Happy and You Know It

Song: Where is Big Toe?

Song: Head and Shoulders Baby 

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.

1 2 3 Count with Me! Toddler Lap Time, 2/7/13

  1 2 3 Count with Me! Toddler Lap Time, 2/7/13

Book: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury

Rhyme: Dance Ten Fingers

Book: Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews

Song: One, Two, I Love You

Book: Counting in the Garden by Kim Parker

Song: Here We Go Up, Up, Up

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: Chickadee

Songs with Ukulele and Foam Stars:

• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• One Little, Two Little, Three Little Stars
• There’s a Star Upon My Head

Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider

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.

1 2 3 Count with Me! Pajama Story Time, 2/6/13

 1 2 3 Count with Me! Pajama Story Time, 2/6/13

Book: Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood and Bruce Wood
One of the moms in the room is expecting a baby so the ending of this one - where the mother and father fish have their babies - got a big "aww" from her. The kids were not that into it, but they were also still warming up to me. Both girls in attendance will be two this Spring. 

Song: Three Little Fish

Book: Hardworking Puppies by Lynn Reiser
This is a longer one, with a lot of references to subtraction, so I was hesitant about using it, but both girls kept getting up to come over and point at the puppies. They were very fond of the illustrations even if I think the text went mostly over their heads.

Song: Counting Dog  
I couldn't listen to the tune when I was at the desk, so I just sang these words to the tune of Froggie Went a Courtin'. 

Book: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
This was a huge hit as I knew it would be. All the adults knew it, and the kids picked up some of the words and sang them with me when we did  the song.

Song: Monkeys on the Bed

Book: Ten Little Sleepyheads by Elizabeth Provost, illustrated by Donald Saaf
On every page, instead of finding the sleeping bug, the girls pointed to the ladybug. Interesting that he is the one who caught their attention.

Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Song: Moon Moon Moon

Song: Goodnight

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.

1 2 3 Count with Me! Drop-In Story Time, 2/5/13

1 2 3 Count with Me! Drop-In Story Time, 2/5/13

Book: I Bought a Baby Chicken by Kelly Milner Halls,

Rhyme: Five Eggs and Five Eggs

Book: Count-A-Saurus by Nancy Blumenthal

Song with ukulele: Stomp Like a Dinosaur
I got the tune for this song from the yoga instructor who sometimes does story time at my library - the original song is Fly Like a Butterfly. This was a much bigger hit than I expected - the kids got really into the dinosaur motions.

Song: One, Two, I Love You

Song: One Little Finger

Letter of the Day: Z  

• Song: Ten Little Zebras 
• Song: You Can Hear the Lions Roaring at the Zoo
  I found this song at Storytime Katie's blog. The tune is She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain, which, amazingly, none of my story time families every seem to know. 
• Rhyme: Zoom Zoom Zoom We're Going to the Moon
  

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

Song: I’m a Little Teapot
 
Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big
 
Song: Chickadee
 
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.

Preschool Story Time, 9/7/12

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. 

This story time came at the end of a very difficult week, on the most difficult day of that week, and I have to admit it was kind of a disaster. Three different kids asked the adults with them if they could leave. ("I don't like this." "This is for babies.") The books I chose that seemed so perfect when I pulled them from the shelves went over like lead balloons, and because I had a splitting headache, I didn't do as great a job with the songs as I could have. That said, three or four kids got really into with me and we managed to make it through the story time. I am also pleased to report that the following week, when it was not my turn to do this story time, lots of kids came and things went a lot more smoothly. When it's my turn again, I have no doubt it will improve greatly. In the meantime, here is my numbers-themed story time.

Book: Every Buddy Counts by Stuart J. Murphy, illustrated by Fiona Dunbar

Rhyme: I Have Ten Fingers

Book: Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh 

Book: Let's Count Goats by Mem Fox, illustrated by Jan Thomas

Flannel Board: The Doorbell Rang
This was very successful. I'll definitely use this one again. 

Song: The Number March 
I printed the document, put it on a music stand, and turned the pages as we sang. 

Book: Monster Musical Chairs by Stuart J. Murphy, illustrated by Scott Nash

Song: One Little Monster