Pre-K Class Visits, 6/11/12

This morning I had the opportunity to visit yet another school to do story time and promote summer reading. Interestingly, the regular teacher who had asked me to come was absent, and the substitute did not know I was expected, so my arrival initially upset the classroom dynamic quite a bit. I actually thought about offering to leave. But then I noticed the substitute was just having a terrible time getting the kids under control. Understandably, the kids are wound up because it's the last week of school, and probably more so because their teacher was out. I looked around the room, and found myself thinking, "I can fix this." I don't mean that I was thinking ill of the teacher who was trying so hard to get the kids to listen. Rather, I am surprised - and pleased - by the level of confidence it took for me to say, "I know how to do this, and I'm going to make this situation better."

I greeted the class with a loud, "Hello, boys and girls!" and then invited them to sing with me. They were being served snack at the time - not the ideal story time environment, but also not impossible, because by the end of that song, the kids had put their food down and were singing and moving along with me. And from there, we really had a wonderful time.

Afterwards, another pre-K teacher in the room across the hall asked me to come over and read to her group as well. Since I had more than an hour to kill before I had to be at work, I agreed to read to her group as well. Below are the two sessions, which varied slightly from each other.

Session 1: 

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: I Took My Frog to the Library by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Blanche Sims (1990)
This group thought this book was hilarious, and they were constantly begging me to turn the book more toward one direction or another so they could see more closely. They laughed the hardest at the punchline of any group I've read it to this entire Spring season. 

Book: Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee (2011)I wished so much that I had brought a less poetic and more interactive book, but I didn't need to worry. There is something about this book - maybe the universality of seeing stars in the sky - but it hooks them. I think it helped when I told kids what my favorite parts were, and tried to connect the text to their experiences.

Song: Moon Moon Moon  by the Laurie Berkner Band
The line at the end of this song, which says that the moon looks like a pizza pie got another great laugh out of these kids. They're the only kids who have laughed at that so far this season, and it made me really happy!

Book: Please Try to Remember the First of Octember by Dr. Seuss, illustrated by Art Cumings (1977)This book was too long for this antsy class, but we powered through it anyway. A few of them got annoyed with me for saying Octember, because they thought I meant October, and only a couple of the more savvy girls seemed to understand that the whole thing was tongue in cheek. One little girl did raise her hand to tell me the book rhymes, though, and another group got all excited when they realized the kite on one of the pages was colored with a pattern.

Song: These Are My Glasses by the Laurie Berkner Band
They loved this song, too! I suspect they were just so desperate for a break from being yelled at, that they would have been willing to do anything. 

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

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Session 2: 

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: I Took My Frog to the Library by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Blanche Sims (1990)
This class liked this book, but they weren't quite as mesmerized as their neighbors across the hall. They were much more interested in talking to me than in actually listening to the story. They didn't seem to "get" the joke at the end, either.

Book: Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee (2011)
This group also really got interested in this book, and they wanted to tell me about every time they had ever seen a star, or gone to see fireworks. The teacher seemed puzzled by my choice of story, but I think even she would agree it was a hit by the end. 


Discussion: If you could wish upon a star, what would you wish for?
I intended to ask this question of the first group, but decided not to rile them up anymore. This group was sitting in a circle, though, which lent itself very well to a quick discussion. Three girls said they wanted costumes -two princesses and one mermaid. Other wishes included toys, a dirtbike car, some kind of house (I couldn't understand some of the kids), a daily trip to Disneyland, and to be allowed to watch Cinderella every day. I love asking this question, and I plan to turn the idea into a display at my branch in July.

Book: Please Try to Remember the First of Octember by Dr. Seuss, illustrated by Art Cumings (1977)
This book went over a little better with this class, but they still couldn't help correcting me every time I said Octember. I think this is more of a kindergarten or first grade book, than a Pre-K book. It requires just a little more life experience than these kids had yet. 

Song: These Are My Glasses by the Laurie Berkner Band
We sang this three times. They really enjoyed it, and by the end, they knew pretty much all the words.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Pre-K Class Visit, 6/7/12

Opening Song: Hello, how are you? 

Song: If You'd Like To Read a Book

Book: Harry the Dirty Dog by Harry Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham (1956)
Most of the kids didn't know this one, but they made great predictions based on visual cues in the illustrations. I think this is one of the best pre-K read-alouds I've discovered this year.

Book: From Head to Toe by Eric Carle (1997)
I asked the kids to say, "I can do it!" every time I said, "Can you do it?"  They also did a great job acting out the different movements.

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake 

Book: Tiger Can't Sleep by S.J. Fore, illustrated by R.W. Alley
This one is funny and full of onomatopoeia, two qualities this group loves. They giggled in all the right places and loved guessing whether the tiger would be quiet or make more noise.

Song: Moon Moon Moon  by the Laurie Berkner Band

Book: If You Had a Nose Like an Elephant's Trunk by Marion Dane Bauer (2001)
This book was a dud. It wasn't funny like I expected, and the kids didn't engage with it at all.

Song: Chickadee 

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This 

Encore Request: These Are My Glasses by the Laurie Berkner Band
The teacher mentioned this one and the kids immediately wanted to sing it, so we tacked it onto the end!

Pre-K Class Visit, 6/6/12

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee (2011)
I took a chance starting with this quiet, poetic book about stars, and it really paid off. The kids got really into it, and they loved the two-page spread toward the end of the book showing a sky full of fireworks. To keep them interested when the story was done, I asked them a question related to stars and wishing.

Discussion: If you could wish upon a star, what would you wish for?
One girl said a dog, and one said a cat. Three girls said diamonds.  One said trampoline. One little boy said he wouldn't wish for anything. Then came the off-the-wall answers I loved most:
"A ninja!"
"A big red gem, and when you open it up, it has a medium gem, and a small gem, and a large gem!"
"Snowflakes that turn into throwing stars!"

I love the four-year-old mind.

Book: Please Try to Remember the First of Octember by Dr. Seuss, illustrated by Art Cumings (1977)
I segued from the discussion to this book by telling them they were about to hear about a silly day when all wishes come true. I asked them to tell me which silly author they thought wrote the book, and they all answered correctly in one voice. A couple of them seemed appalled that someone would make up a fake month, but the rest of the group had a good laugh.  

Song: Moon Moon Moon  by the Laurie Berkner Band

Book: Princess Hyacinth: The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated by Florence Parry Heide, illustrated by Lane Smith (2009)
This is my favorite read-aloud of all time. I  never get tired of reading it, and the tone is pitch-perfect. It's also the only princess book I know that boys love as much as girls.

Song: These Are My Glasses by Laurie Berkner Band

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Baby/Toddler Story Time, 6/5/12

Beginning this week, Baby/Toddler story time has moved to the large meeting room, and I'm doing just one Tuesday session, as opposed to two or three. Because of these changes, this was one of the best story time audiences I've had in a long time. It's amazing how a crowd's mood can change when they have enough room to breathe! This story time was loosely based on a counting sheep theme.

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Song: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Book: Sheep Blast Off by Nancy Shaw (2008)
I chose this book for the rhythm and rhyme than the plot, because this group is usually too noisy for me to focus on much more than getting through the book.  This time, though, they sat quietly through the whole thing, and some of the older twos and threes actually made comments about the pictures. (And one girl kept saying, "Sheep!" which was cute.)

Song: Shake My Sillies Out 

Song: Five Astronauts Went Up In Space 

Book: When Sheep Sleep by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by David McPhail (2006)
This book lends itself to lots of animal sounds, which is what made me choose to include it. I think that interactive element is what kept their attention through this middle portion of the story time. 

Song with Puppet: Mary Had a Little Lamb
We sang two verses, then repeated them once.

Flannel Board Song: Baa Baa Black Sheep
I sort of made up some impromptu movements to go with this song, since the flannel board pieces are kind of tiny.  It worked very well - almost everyone sang along and even some of the really little ones tried holding up three fingers for "three bags full."

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Book: Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang (1983)
We finished with a counting book, since there weren't other sheep books I liked enough to share. It was just the right length for a third book. 

Song with Puppets: Goodnight by the Laurie Berkner Band
We sang goodnight to a sheep, a cow, and a horse.

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This