Fizz, Boom, Read! Preschool Story Time Starter: Sink or Float?

 

Today, I'm sharing my second-to-last preschool story time starter related to the Fizz, Boom, Read! summer reading theme. This one focuses on sinking and floating. (Previous posts can be found at these links: Five Senses, Temperature, Living vs. Non-living Things, and Weather.)
 

Miss Katie's Recommended Books

• Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen
  A series of animals climbs into a rowboat, and the reader is asked on each page to guess who might have sunk the boat. There aren't very many books about sinking, but this one is a great introduction to the concept, and  while I doubt every child in the room would get it on the first reading, the animal characters and the fact that the book addresses the kids directly would be enough to keep them interested. I think it's also fun to listen to kids' theories about who sank the boat.
• 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle
  This book is based on a true story, and it tells what happens to ten rubber ducks when they fall off their ship and into the ocean. It's a great preschool book because Eric Carle is the illustrator, it involves counting, and it involves an animal familiar to most kids under five. I also think kids tend to know Eric Carle's books about bugs, but not many of his others, so this is a chance to give one of the lesser-known titles some attention.
• The Tub People by Pam Conrad
  Most kids first encounter the concepts of sinking and floating in the bathtub, where they have probably played with toys at some point. This book focuses on a whole family of small wooden figures who live along the edge of the bathtub. When Tub Child is sucked down the drain, his parents are sure they will never see him again, until a plumber comes to save the day. Sinking and floating don't figure heavily into the plot, but the subject matter of the story in general should get the kids talking about their own bathtime experiences that relate to this theme.

Other Possible Books

• Little Tug by Stephen Savage
• The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack
• Sail Away by Donald Crews
• What Floats in a Moat? by Lynne Berry
• Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo
• The Toy Boat by Randall de Seve
• Duck Dunks by Lynne Berry
• Daisy Comes Home by Jan Brett
  
• Sink or Swim by Valerie Coulman
• The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen

Extension Activities

• Song: Five Little Ducks
  Kids love this song, and it's a perfect one to sing after reading 10 Little Rubber Ducks, or any duck-themed book. This is especially useful with large groups, as the quacking gets a lot of their excess energy out between books.
• Song: Row, Row, Row Your Boat
  This song is well-known, and most likely to encourage adult participation. It's also a good one to use if your preschool groups tend to skew young or include many toddler siblings.
• Flannel Board Song: Five Pirates in a Boat
  You can sing the original version of this song, Eight Rowers in a Boat, or make it a bit more preschool-friendly by turning it into a flannel board with pirates! Find a diverse array of pirates at mycutegraphics.com, and use a coloring sheet as a pattern for a boat.
  
• Song with Picture Props: Sailing Out to Sea 
  Practice number or color identification with this piggyback song I came up with based on Bumpin' Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon. I used cardboard signs, but you could also adapt this one to the flannel board.
• Song: Swimming, Swimming
  I remembered this song from Girl Scouts and looked up the lyrics again. Have the kids act out the different strokes and speed up a little bit with each verse until everyone collapses into a giggling heap.
• Experiment: Sink or Float Crayons
  This simple experiment comparing the bouyancy of crayons of two brands comes from a book published by Scholastic entitled Teaching Science with Favorite Picture Books. Though it is designed to accompany an early elementary lesson on Stone Soup, it would work just as well on its own. Specific instructions can be found in the Google Books preview below.

Visit These Sites for More Ideas

• Sink or Float? at Brilliant Beginnings Preschool
• Bobbing Along: A Float or Sink Story Time by Abby the Librarian
• Preschool Science - Sink or Float? at No Time for Flashcards
• Preschool - Sink or Float Pinterest board by Lindsay Lamping

Fizz, Boom, Read! Preschool Story Time Starter: Weather

This is my fourth story time starter inspired by the Fizz, Boom, Read! summer reading theme. Today's post is all about weather. (Previous posts focused on the five senses, temperature, and living vs. non-living things.)

Miss Katie's Recommended Books

• What Will the Weather Be? by Lynda DeWitt
  This is probably not a book to read in its entirety, but sharing parts of it will help introduce the topic and share some interesting science vocabulary.
• The Snow Globe Family by Jane O'Connor
  This is really more of a fanciful story than a true scientific exploration of weather, but kids love the idea of parallel snowstorms happening outside the house and inside a snow globe as well.
• Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema
  This book opens up a nice opportunity to talk about why we need rain, and what happens when there isn't enough. It's also fun to make the story interactive by asking the kids to repeat the refrain along with you. It's also a good one for retelling if you have some flannel board pieces on hand to assist. 

Other Possible Books

• Blue Sky by Audrey Wood
• BOOM!: Big, Big Thunder & One Small Dog by Mary Lyn Ray
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
• I Love the Rain by Margaret Park Bridges
• Rabbits and Raindrops by Jim Arnosky
• Rain by Robert Kalan
• Rainy Day! by Patricia Lakin
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• The Storm Book by Charlotte Zolotow
• When it Starts to Snow by Phillis Gershator

Songs & Rhymes

• Song: Boots by the Laurie Berkner Band
  This is one of the few songs for which I would suggest using the recording. It's a bit tricky to sing it yourself and dance around. The only exception would be if you can play it on guitar or ukulele.
• Song: I Can Sing a Rainbow
  This can be a fun sing-along. Make it interactive by passing out colored flags for the kids to wave as they sing it. I like to play this on the ukulele.
• Song: I Like to See the Raindrops Fall
  This song to the tune of Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush uses simple actions to recreate a storm. Kids of all ages love to sing this one!
• Rhyme: Snowman, Snowman (based on Book Bear, Book Bear)
  Pretend to be snowmen with this simple action rhyme that is also good for quieting wild groups between books.
• Rhyme: The Wind is Full of Tricks Today
  I have never used this rhyme myself, but the librarian from King County who performs it on their Wiki makes me want to try it! (The link above is to her video.)

Games & Activities

• Flannel Board Sorting Game: What do we wear in this weather?
  Sort articles of clothing according to the weather in which they would be appropriate to wear. Kizclub has clipart sets for clothing and weather that make useful templates. Instead of a flannel board, you could also sort the items onto a long clothesline with sections for sunny days, rainy days, snowy days, etc.
• Game: Drip, Drip, Drop
  Play this fun game based on Duck, Duck, Goose, which comes from Mailbox magazine.

Visit these Sites for More Ideas

• Weather from Harris County Public Library
• Weather posts from SLC Book Boy
• Weather - Science Storytime from the Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California
• Weather Storytimes at Never Shushed

Flannel Friday Round-Up, March 21, 2014

Welcome to your Flannel Friday Round-Up for March 21, 2014. We have a little bit of everything this week, including several posts inspired by previous Flannel Fridays!

Superheroes

Two people posted about superheroes this week. Lisa at Thrive After Three has made flannel board pieces to accompany Ralph Cosentino's Batman picture books. She has Wayne Manor and the Batmobile, as well as The Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, and Two-Face.   Kathy from Bird's Books shares a set of superhero finger puppets which includes Batman and four others. (I don't know about you, but I'm saving both of these posts to my Pinterest board for summer reading 2015!)

Dr. Seuss

There are also two Dr. Seuss-themed posts. Brenda from Story Tree adapted "Way Up High in the Apple Tree" to "Way Up High in the Green Egg Tree." Her eggs have smiley faces on one side and green yolks on the other - adorable! Meg from Miss Meg's Story Time is also celebrating Dr. Seuss with a fish-themed flannel board rhyme to accompany One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. 

Little Mouse (and Little Frog!)

The ever-popular "Little Mouse Little Mouse" rhyme makes two appearances in this week's round-up. Amy from The Show Me Librarian shares her pieces for the original Little Mouse game, while Kelly, a first-time Flannel Friday participant, combines the little mouse concept with a frog theme in her post at Ms. Kelly at the Library.

Inspired by Flannel Friday

A few of this week's contributors were inspired by previous Flannel Friday posts.  At Storytime Extras, Jennifer shares her interpretation of Jenna's Enormous Turnip flannel board, but she uses an enormous carrot instead. Kathryn at Fun with Friends at Storytime was inspired by Lisa's post to make a set of baby faces so that she could share "Poor Little Baby" at her recent emotions-themed story time. I'm thrilled that Bridget from What is Bridget Reading? was inspired by me this week! Her post is about "Doggy Doggy Where's Your Bone?," which I used as part of my Dig into Reading programming last summer.

Storytelling

If you're looking for stories to tell on the flannel board, there are a few of those this week as well.   At Felt Board Ideas, Christine has created a flannel set for Are You My Mother? for use in a Mother's Day, Spring, or All About Me theme.  At Library Village, Sue has a trio of pigs and a non-scary wolf for telling the classic tale of The Three Little Pigs. I love the way her pigs peek out the windows of their little houses! At Magic Librarian, Dana shares a story by Ron Maris called Better Move on Frog, which was included in her Animal Houses story time this past week. In a post about S.T.EM. stories at Read Rhyme & Sing, Shawn shares a flannel board adaptation of Mouse Count and a few other science and math activities.

Lullabies 

Do you perform story times in the evening? You will love Naptime Chickens, for which Anna at Future Librarian Superhero has made a set of adorable puppets. I especially love her suggestions for lullabies to cluck to the little chicks as they fall asleep. My post here at Story Time Secrets is also perfect for bedtime. It's an expansion on Rock-a-bye Baby which sings baby animals to sleep on the treetop.

Miscellaneous 

Rounding out the round-up today are posts that don't fit into any other category. Linda from Notes from the Story Room shares a wonderful original cut-and-tell story called "Who is Watching?" and Becky of A Librarian Less Ordinary has an entire story time devoted to peas complete with a pea pod made out of felt and green puff balls.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your great ideas! For more information about Flannel Friday, please visit the official website. You can also connect with Flannel Friday on Pinterest and Facebook. Next week's host is Brooke at Reading with Red. Have a great weekend!

Flannel Friday: Rockabye, Baby (Animals)

 

I spend a lot of time singing to Little Miss Muffet, who is now (unbelievably!) almost 4 months old. Typically, I will start out with a traditional song, but often by the fourth or fifth time through, I start changing the words. One night, while singing her to sleep, I heard myself come out with, "Rock-a-bye, monkey in the treetop." That was pretty cute, I thought, so I plugged in a few other two-syllable animals. By the time the baby was asleep, I had been inspired to create a new flannel board.

For the sake of this post, I chose animals for whom I could find easily recognizable silhouettes, and  whose names would fit the rhythm of the song. I would still like to find a cleaner silhouette of a cradle, but the blue one pictured will do for now.

Rock-a-bye, kitten...

Rock-a-bye, piglet...

Rock-a-bye, puppy...

Rock-a-bye, rabbit...

This adaptation of the familiar lullaby would make a nice ending to an evening pajama story time, or  to any story time about animals. 

I am your host for Flannel Friday this week! Leave your links in the comments on the placeholder post and check back for the round-up on Saturday morning.

For more about Flannel Friday, check out the official website, Facebook page, and Pinterest account.