Fun with Nursery Rhymes Preschool Story Time, 9/20/13

Fun with Nursery Rhymes Preschool Story Time, 9/20/13

I originally wanted to do fairy tales as my theme for this story time, because it's one of my favorite  themes, and my story time opportunities are winding down. But I realized that a lot of fairy tales are way too long for read-alouds, and that a lot of the read-aloud-friendly ones were checked out and couldn't get here in time from other branches. So... I opted to focus on fun retellings of nursery rhymes instead, figuring the kids would be more familiar with the originals and would "get" the jokes. For the most part, this was true, and it would have been an even better theme to use with a slightly older (Pre-K/K) group. 

Poem: Little Boy Blue, Please Cover Your Nose
I found this poem months ago, and I never had a chance  to use it. I probably wouldn't have thrown it in here, either, ordinarily, but since this was my second-to-last preschool story time, I decided to go for it. (The kids didn't get it at all.)

Book: Mary Had a Little Lamp by Jack Lechner
I thought this was funny, but the parents clearly didn't get the humor and gave me funny looks. The kids seemed a little bit into it with some prompting, but overall, it was not the strong opener I had hoped for. 

Book: Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman
We sang this book, and made motions for each tool, which the kids absolutely loved! 

Song: The Seals on the Bus (from the book by Lenny Hort)
I put some clipart images on the iPad for this song (because we apparently don't have our copy of the book anymore), and had the kids call out the animal names and help me make their sounds. It was a huge hit, and everyone in the  room - four kids, and three adults - sang along! 

Book: There Was an Old Monster by Rebecca Emberley
This book was well-received, even though the youngest preschooler in the group (age 3) got restless and began roaming as I was reading.

Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider 
We sang this song just as a warm-up to the last book. The kids were surprisingly into it.

Book: The Eensy Weensy Spider Freaks Out by Troy Cummings
This book didn't feel long to me until I was halfway through reading it to the kids. Then I realized it really should have been the first book in the session.  It wasn't a total flop, but it was a bit long for a last book.

Coloring Page: Spider
The kids were very creative with their spiders - lots of rainbow legs and two-toned bodies!

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.

Fun with Nursery Rhymes Drop-In Story Time, 9/20/13

 Fun with Nursery Rhymes Drop-In Story Time, 9/20/13

This group is never completely silent, and never totally responsive, so it's often hard to gauge the success of a particular set of activities just by their reaction. Throughout the room, I noticed pockets of engaged kids and distracted ones, quiet nannies and chatty ones, and there were moments where I don't think anyone was really listening to me. Still, though, this set of books and songs is a keeper. 

Song with ukulele: Nursery Rhyme Rap
We sang the ABCs as the chorus for this song, and each verse was one of the nursery rhymes for which I had a book version.

Book: Hickory Dickory Dock by Keith Baker
I had a bad experience with this book early on in my tenure at this library (so long ago, that it's not even in this blog, or on Goodreads), but I don't think it was the book's fault. Today's reading was much better received, and even though the text is a bit on the long side, most of  the kids were with me until the end. 

Song: Go In and Out the Window
I like this song, and I came up with some basic motions that even the smallest kids can do so that everyone could participate. We sang all three verse twice through.

Book: To Market To Market by Anne Miranda
One nanny was very excited to discover this book, and she checked it out at the end of story time. I tried to make it interactive by asking everyone to make animal sounds with me, but that didn't really catch on.

Song with stick puppets: Mary Had a Little Lamb
The preschoolers like to call out the names of colors, so this song - where Mary has various lambs of assorted colors - is always a hit.

Book: Row Row Row Your Boat by Iza Trapani
The adults pay better attention when I sing, so I sang this entire book. They seemed confused by the new verses, even though I warned them they would be different.

Rhyme with Cow Puppet: Hey Diddle Diddle

Book: 1 2 Buckle My Shoe by Anna Grossnickle Hines

Song: I’m a Little Teapot
Since this was my second-to-last story time, and this song is an old favorite of this group, I decided to sing it at least one more time. The kids were really into it, so we sang it three times.

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

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.

Elementary School Story Time Celebrating Ezra Jack Keats, 9/18/13

Elementary School Story Time Celebrating Ezra Jack Keats

When no one showed up to my last-ever Read-Along Story Time, I decided to put one more school-aged story time on the calendar before my departure from the library. I chose to focus on Ezra Jack Keats because his books are kind of in a weird spot in our collection where they don't get much attention, and because I knew we had some Weston Woods DVDs of his books that would be fun to show. I was disappointed once again because only five kids came to the program, and only one in the target age range, but the kids who did come seemed to enjoy it, and I will remember this story time plan in the hopes of using it again whenever I return to the library world.

Introduction to Ezra Jack Keats and his Characters: I opened story time by showing the kids a picture of Ezra Jack Keats from Keats's Neighborhood. Since the kids were a lot younger than I expected, I only briefly mentioned that he is no longer living, and that he used collages to illustrate his books. Then I used the iPad to show pictures of the four characters we'd be focusing on and gave a brief description of each one. 

Book: Jennie's Hat by Ezra Jack Keats
The younger girls in the room- maybe ages 2, 4, and 5 - were really into this book, but they wouldn't really talk to me about it after the fact.

Book: Louie by Ezra Jack Keats
I couldn't tell how well this book resonated with the kids, but I really enjoyed seeing Louie, who is somewhat shy and down in the dumps, receive a surprise gift from the other kids in the neighborhood.

Book: Over in the Meadow by Ezra Jack Keats
I wanted this book to serve as an interactive movement activity, but because of the small group and the fact that they seemed shy, I opted to just sing it to them instead.

Book: Maggie and the Pirate by Ezra Jack Keats
The kids got really into this one - possibly because of the mystery elements. They were not bothered by the cricket's death, and they seemed really invested in Maggie's story from beginning to end.  

Weston Woods Videos: The Snowy Day and Whistle for Willie
I wanted to choose different stories, but our DVD player no longer has a remote so I could only play from the beginning. Therefore, we watched the first two stories on the disc.

Coloring Activity:  Jennie, Louie, Maggie, and Peter
I had some trouble coming up with a coloring activity, and ultimately decided to create my own, focusing on the characters, instead of on Keats's artwork. I divided a page into four sections and asked the kids to design a hat like Jennie's, decorate a puppet for Louie, catch a bug for Maggie and build a snowman with Peter. Hardly anyone stayed long enough to actually get the coloring sheet, but I think it would have been a great activity for some of the first and second graders if they had come.

Road Trip! Preschool Story Time, 9/6/13

 Road Trip! Preschool Story Time, 9/6/13

Two brothers, ages five and two, were the only kids at this story time (possibly because of the absolutely beautiful weather), but we still had fun! 

Book: Round Trip by Ann Jonas
I wouldn't use this book with a big group of preschoolers, but since there were only two kids, I gave it a try. The neat thing is that the first half of the story - the ride to the destination - is told going in one direction, then you have to turn the book over  to go back home again. I wouldn't say the kids loved it, and their mom looked at me like I was nuts, but I don't regret trying it out. I'd also consider trying it again with an elementary audience. 

Book: The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
This much more straightforward book went over much better, though it is still pretty quiet and the kids didn't have much of a reaction to it.

Book: In the Driver's Seat by Max Haynes
This book was a big hit! I asked the older brother to act it out with me, and he did a great job turning his pretend steering wheel and making engine sounds.

White Board Story: The Bus for Gus (based on The Bus for Us by Suzanne Bloom)
I drew a little roadway scene on the dry erase wall, and put up vehicles one at a time, asking whether they were a bus for Gus. It would have been more fun with more kids, but these guys still enjoyed it.

Book: Let’s Go For a Drive by Mo Willems
Another huge hit. This was the best book of the entire story time, and I think part of that was because I got really into my performance.

Coloring Page: Along the Street
It turned out the boys' street had just been paved on Friday morning  so that inspired their coloring. The older brother drew a street covered in blacktop, then left just a little brown spot to show where the old road had been. Love 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.