Pre-K Class Visit, 9/15

I have a couple of Pre-K groups that plan to come to the library for story times on a monthly basis throughout this school year. This morning, I did my first one for the month of September, and I used a theme of apples. I've decided to start doing themes for preschool story times, because it makes my life easier, and - in theory, at least - makes the story time more organized. We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, here is today's order of events:

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?
 
Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book

Book: Applesauce Season by Eden Ross Lipson, illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake

Book: Ducking for Apples by Lynne Berry, Hiroe Nakata (2010)


Song: Hands Are For Clapping 

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Little Apples
 (I did  the version with the animals, not with the angry wind.)

Song: ABCD Medley

Song: Chickadee

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

6 Train Picture Books

	Freight Train by Donald Crews Learn the colors and the parts of a freight train from this wonderfully illustrated classic picture book.
	Window Music by Anastasia Suen This book explores what can be seen from the window of a moving train.
	Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown An actual train and a toy train take parallel journeys.
	And The Train Goes... by William Bee This great read-aloud is filled with wonderful sounds that a train might make.
	I Love Trains! by Philemon Sturges An introduction to trains for the littlest learner.
	1, 2, 3 to the Zoo by Eric Carle A simple counting book counts all the animals as they travel by train to the zoo.

Baby/Toddler Story Time, 9/13

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Book: Mama Cat Has Three Kittens by Denise Fleming (1998)
This was a huge and unexpected hit. Mama Cat has three kittens - two do what she does, and one naps all day. One-year-olds were walking up and pointing at the book even before we started, and several moms said it was a new favorite for their little ones.



Rhyme: This is Big, Big, Big

Rhyme: Blue is the Lake

Book: Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins (2000)
Too long for toddlers. I should have switched after the first session, but I didn't leave myself enough time to choose a back-up. This would be much better for twos and threes.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Song: I'm a Little Teapot (Sessions 1 and 2 only)

Song: Hands Are For Clapping

Flannel Board Rhyme: Down Around the Corner by the Big Oak Tree
I made some changes to this. I put some Velcro onto some large craft sticks and attached the squirrels to them. Then I had each squirrel literally come along and take the acorn then disappear behind the flannel board. I put them all back on at the end, and added this new verse:

Down around the corner 

and down the trail

are five little squirrels

with big bushy tails!

Listen to them chew

with a nibble and crunch

as they eat their yummy little 

acorns for lunch!

This final verse brought down the house, but it took too long to get there. I think next time I'd do this one in place of  a second book. Maybe next week I'll try a book and two flannels and see how that goes.This will also be good to do with pre-K, maybe, or at preschool story time.


Song: One Little Finger (Session 1 only)

Song: Tommy Thumb

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This

Preschool Story Time, 9/12

This story time is right back to square one now that school is back in session. The wonderful group I had two weeks ago wasn't in today, and in their place, I had a bunch of bored-looking, unengaged families. I had to change my entire routine because I had planned for older kids, and got mostly twos and under (the program is for 2 to 5), and they wouldn't sit for the flannel boards I wanted to do. Very disappointing. But here is what I came up with.

Opening Song: Hello, how are you?

Song: If You'd Like to Read a Book

 

Book: Let's Look at Dinosaurs by Frances Barry (2011)
I love this one. The language is simple enough for preschoolers, and the pop-up images of the dinosaurs are eye-catching and exciting - especially the T-Rex!

Flannel Board Rhyme: Five Enormous Dinosaurs

Song: Hands Are For Clapping

Book: Too Much Noise by Ann McGovern, illustrated by Simms Taback (1967)
A man's house is too noisy. A wise man makes it even noisier. Why? To teach the man a lesson! Amazingly, people managed to talk through an entire story about making too much noise. They also didn't laugh once, even though I really hammed it up. Maybe I'll try this one with my class visit on Thursday, though...

Song: Shake My Sillies Out

Song: Head and Shoulders

Book: Shout! Shout it Out! by Denise Fleming (2011)
Complete and utter disaster. Never again. The book is awesome, but people actually stopped participating halfway through and started having conversations. Awful. This group just won't do anything interactive.

Song: The Wheels on the Bus
A pathetic attempt to salvage the story time. It didn't really work.


Goodbye Song: We Wave Goodbye Like This