Colors: Brown Drop-In Story Time, 5/28/13

Colors: Brown Drop-In Story Time, 5/28/13

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake

Book: Moo Moo Brown Cow, Have You Any Milk? by Phyllis Gershator, illustrated by Giselle Potter

Rhyme with Puppets: I Went to Visit the Farm

Book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle

Song: Where is Brown Bear?
I wrote a piggyback song on my way into story time, to the tune of Where is Thumbkin? I sang about a different animal from the book for each finger - brown bear, red bird, yellow duck, green frog, and white dog - and we ended with "Where are the animals?" It was the perfect song to follow the book, and I think it would be fun to make a flannel board of it, too, perhaps with all the animals from the book, not just these five.

Magic Envelope:  Make a Painting
I originally learned about Magic Envelope from Sharon at Rain Makes Applesauce, but it took me a long time to work up to trying it. But I'm tired of doing a letter of the day every session, so I've decided to try using magic envelopes instead. This is how I presented my first one:

First, I made an announcement: "I brought something new and different to story time this morning. It's my magic envelope! My magic envelope helps me make things at story time. Today, we're going to use the magic envelope to make a painting. But this is my very first time using the magic envelope, so I need everyone to listen and help me out!"

Then we sang what I called the "Magic Envelope Song," to the tune of London Bridge.

Here's my magic envelope, envelope, envelope
Here's my magic envelope - let's do magic!

I reminded them we'd be making a painting, then started showing them the ingredients. I told them that for the magic to work, we all have to say the name of each item together. So I would say "piece of paper" and ask them to repeat after me. We put in a piece of paper, a paintbrush, a glass of water, and four different kinds of paint - red, blue, green, and yellow. 

After all the ingredients were in the envelope, I asked everyone to help me sing the magic words:

ABCDEFG
Abracadabra
1...2...3...!

Then I said, "Let's see! Did we make a painting?"

I reached into my envelope and pulled it out. Half the room erupted into spontaneous applause, but I just went on talking.

"Wow, look at that! We did it! And let's see what it's a painting of. Oh, flowers. Here's what used to be the plain piece of paper, and look, the red paint made the petals, the green paint made the stem, and the blue paint made the pot. Give yourselves a hand - you are great magicians!"

Then we sang goodbye  to the magic envelope.

Goodbye, magic envelope, envelope, envelope
Goodbye, magic envelope - see you next time!

I was not overwhelmingly impressed with the nannies' response to the magic envelope, but those who were into it were really into it, which was nice. The kids' ages varied, so not all of  them got what was going on, but they were all very attentive, and involving them by having them repeat the name of each object, and by helping me name the colors was hugely helpful for keeping their attention as well.

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

Song: Hands Up High

Song with Puppet: Mr. Sun

Song: Monkeys on the Bed

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.

Colors: Black & White Pajama Story Time, 5/22/13

Colors: Black & White Pajama Story Time, 5/22/13 

*Because of my allergies, which stole my voice, this turned out to be my only story time this week. The colors theme will pick up where it left off next week!

Book: Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
This was a hit with the grandparents who came to story time, and the kids liked it, too. The older the child, the more he/she seemed to like it.

Song with Stick Puppets: Baa Baa Black Sheep
The kids got the biggest kick out of it when I changed the color of my sheep from black to white, then to red, and then to blue.

Book: Puffin Peter by Petr Horacek
This is the perfect story time book for kids up to about age 4. It has a simple, but exciting plot, and a happy ending that is sweet without being too sugary. This was a new one for me, but I'll definitely use it again!

Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Song: Hands Up High
I normally have the kids stand up for this one, but since it was a low-key evening story time, we stayed seated and that worked fine.

Book: Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
This book was the only one to get checked out at the end of story time. I wasn't at all crazy about it when it won the Caldecott, but I have to admit it has grown on me the more I have read it to kids.

Song: Moon Moon Moon 
The kids really giggled at the ending of this song, and they don't always, so that was a treat for me!

Book: The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson
This was a nice calm book, and it started winding things down for us. The kids didn't react to it much, but they seemed to like the pictures.

Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Song: Monkeys on the Bed
You can never go wrong with this song. Never ever. 

Song: Goodnight
We sang goodnight to black and white animals - a zebra, a cow, and a cat.

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 skipped If You're Happy and You Know It at this story time because I was losing my voice!)

Outreach Round-Up, 4/24/13 - 5/17/13

Wednesday, April 24: Public School Pre-K (Two Separate Sessions)
Books: Ol' Mama Squirrel, Ribbit, She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain
Notes: These books were much shorter than what I normally read to these groups , and the sessions ran really short! Ol' Mama Squirrel was a huge hit, but they didn't love She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain nearly as much as I did.


Thursday, April 25: Catholic School 5th Grade
Poems: "Stuff" by J. Patrick Lewis, "I Tried to Do My Homework" by Jack Prelutsky, "My Brand-New Bathing Suit" by Sandra Brug
Notes: This group was basically done with poetry by this week, and they didn't react strongly to any of the poems.

Friday, April 26: Catholic School Kindergarten & First Grade (Separate Sessions)
Book: Bink & Gollie  
Notes: Both groups loved Bink & Gollie and begged for more! Unfortunately, copies of the second book were checked out and we had not yet received the third. 

Thursday, May 2: Catholic School 5th Grade
I revealed the results of the kids' votes on the poetry I read to them during the past three weeks. The most popular poem was "Adventures of Isabel" by Ogden Nash. Second place was  "How to Change a Frog into a Prince." Third place was "My Brand-New Bathing Suit."

Thursday, May 9: Catholic School 5th Grade
Reader's Theater: Rumpelstiltskin, Private Eye 
Notes: This clever fractured fairy tale made for a great reader's theater experience, especially for those kids who got into character and read with expression. 

Friday, May 10: Catholic School Kindergarten
Book: Millions of Cats
Notes: This was my favorite book in kindergarten, and just as I did way back when, these kids chanted along with me to the refrain. Their teacher thought it was morbid how the cats ate each other up, but the kids didn't bat an eyelash.

Friday, May 10: Catholic School First Grade
Book: Mr. Putter and Tabby Paint the Porch
Notes: My focus for this group was to teach them to browse. Often  they come in with a long list of specific books they want, but if none of those are available, they don't really know how to look on their own. To give them some help, I pulled a bunch of first grade friendly books and laid them out like a book fair in the story room. I told the kids to first look and see what was available and then decide what they'd like to take. For the first time, every child found a book that satisfied him/her, and that satisfied the teacher who only lets them check out books on their own level. I read a Mr. Putter and Tabby book because we had a lot of those available, and I was hoping they'd get checked out. Many of them did!

Monday, May 13: Psychiatric Institute
Books: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Critter Sitter, Giant Dance Party, Knit Your Bit 
Notes: This group begged me not to leave even after I read four books. All four stories were big hits!

Tuesday, May 14: Public School After Care 
Poem: Ears Hear 
Books: That is NOT a Good Idea, Giant Dance Party
Flannel Board: Quick as a Cricket
Song: Hat, Coat, Pants and Shoes 
Notes: I love early elementary school kids, so even though this group was large, noisy, and wild, I was in my element. We had a fantastic time. Both books were perfect for the age group, and Ears Hear is the best icebreaker for new groups that I have discovered. I ask the kids to make lots of noise, and they always do so willingly!

Wednesday, May 15: Rec. Center Preschool
Books: Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop, Demolition, A House is a House For Me 
Songs: Sing a Happy Song, If You're Happy and You Know It, Here's My Toolbox
Rhyme: Houses
Notes: This group loves everything. They were especially fond of the toolbox, and of the illustrations in A House is a House For Me. Because this was my last visit for this school year, they presented me with a huge canvas with all their handprints painted on it, and my picture with the kids in the middle. Very cute!

Thursday, May 16: Catholic School Pre-K 
Books: Meet Me at the Art Museum, Katie's Sunday Afternoon, Little Green
Songs: If You'd Like to Read a Book, Shake My Sillies Out, These Are My Glasses, The Artist's Crayons 
Notes: The first two books I read at this session were new to me, though Katie's Picture Show - the first book in the series of which Katie's Sunday Afternoon is a part -  was a favorite of mine as a kid. I wasn't sure how this group would do with more sophisticated books, but they did surprisingly well.  I purposely threw in one very short book as  the last story, but they probably could have sat through a third long book if we'd had the time. 

Friday, May 17: Catholic School 3rd Grade & Catholic School 4th Grade (Separate Sessions)
Book: Spot the Plot
Notes: I read each clue, then asked the kids to guess the title of each book. After they guessed, I showed them the actual books, which were hidden under big pieces of paper on two tables. Third grade did very well - the only one they couldn't guess was Tacky the Penguin. Fourth grade hardly guessed any of them correctly - they only knew the ones that had been made into movies. Still, both groups really enjoyed this activity - I'd use it with this age level again.

ABCs: S is for Story Time Preschool Story Time, 5/17/13

 ABCs: S is for Story Time Preschool Story Time, 5/17/13

Book: Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
The group was small - a six year old, an almost five-year-old, a three-year-old, and a toddler. The oldest two kids liked this book, but the little ones were distracted.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out 
During this song, for no reason, all the kids took their shoes off. Then they put them back on. 

Book: Ol’ Mama Squirrel by David Ezra Stein
This was not the hit I expected it to be, so I cut out the next book and quickly skipped through to the end of the story time. 

Flannel Board: Sarah's Silly Socks
This flannel  board will be featured in an upcoming Flannel Friday post!

Book: Stripes of all Types by Susan Stockdale
The illustrations in this one were very engaging. This was a great last book in a story time filled with fidgety kids! 

Craft: Letter S Snakes

 

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.