Spring Animals Drop-In Story Time, 4/9/13

Spring Animals Drop-In Story Time, 4/9/13

Song with Puppets: When Cows Get Up in the Morning 
I really like this song as an alternative to Old MacDonald. The kids seemed to enjoy it more, too.

Book: In the Spring by Craig Brown
This is a good book for introducing the correct names for the mother and baby animals. The ending, where the farmer's wife has twins, is cute, but not particularly exciting. It went over fine, but it's never going to become a favorite.

Song: Way up in the Sky
We have been doing this song pretty regularly for a few weeks, and this morning, I noticed that many of the little toddlers know all the motions. We sang it twice - as we usually do - to give them a chance to show off! 

Book: Birds by Kevin Henkes
This book was a bit long for my antsy group this morning, though the ones who paid attention showed the usual enthusiasm. The high temperature here today is 88, and it was pretty warm this morning, so I'm not surprised that the kids were a bit distracted.

Rhyme: When Skies Turn Blue
This is the first half of a poem. The kids didn't like it as much as I expected, though they did all of  the motions with me.

Song: Shake My Sillies Out 

Letter of  the Day: Q

• Flannel Board Poem: The Quilt that Grandma Made
• Flannel Board Story: Quiet, Quiet said the Queen
  (I have scheduled Flannel Friday posts about each of these flannel boards - stay tuned!)

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

Song with Ukulele: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Song with Puppet: Mr. Sun

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Song: If You're Happy and You Know 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.

Signs of Spring Toddler Lap Time, 4/5/13

  Signs of Spring Toddler Lap Time, 4/5/13

Book: The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Crockett Johnson 

Song: One Seed by the Laurie Berkner Band

Book: Planting Seeds by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace 

Song: Sunny Day
I decided not to sing Love Grows again, as it was not a big hit and went instead with Elizabeth Mitchell's Sunny Day. The kids liked this one, and the adults remembered it from previous sessions. 

Book: Ten Little Caterpillars by Lois Ehlert
This book was a bigger hit with this group than it has been with any other. One little boy came right up and pointed out the caterpillar on each page.

Song: One, Two, Three Caterpillars 

Song with Puppet: Flutter, Flutter Butterfly 

Song: Here We Go Up, Up, Up

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Songs with Foam Flowers: 

• Oh Little Flower (also with flannel board)
• There’s a Little Flower Growing...

Flannel Board: Color Rhymes 

Flannel Board: Five Little Birds 

Song: Chickadee
I normally don't do this song right after the flannel board that uses the exact same words, but it seemed like it would go over well this time, and I was right. It's also nice to have the repetition of the same ideas in a different format.

Song: If You’re Happy and You Know 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.

Signs of Spring Drop-In Story Time, 4/5/13

Signs of Spring Drop-In Story Time, 4/5/13

Book: Wake Up, It’s Spring! by Lisa Campbell Ernst
The kids liked this book, but the adults seemed extra distracted.

Song: Way Up in the Sky

Book: Inch by Inch: The Garden Song by David Mallett (with recording from Pickin' & Grinnin' Great Folk Songs for Kids )
I thought it was important with a song like this that not everyone knows to expose the kids to a recording rather than try butchering it myself. Unfortunately, the kids were very restless and only a few listened all the way to the end.

Song with Puppet: Mr. Sun

Letter of the Day:  P

• Book: Peanut Butter and Jelly by Nadine Bernard Westcott
  Last time I read this, I said I wanted to change the refrain and sing instead of chant it, but I didn't do that today and it worked great!
• Song: Pigs in the Mud
  This song was a new discovery for me just this morning. It'll be fun for the summer reading theme when we talk about mud!
• Rhyme: Mix a Pancake
  A new action rhyme for us. The motions came from KCLS.
• Flannel Board Song: Five Pirates in a Boat
  This song is one I found on Spotify. Its original title is Eight Rowers in a Boat. I changed the words to suit my needs.

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

Song: I'm a Little Teapot

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Song: If You're Happy and You Know 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.

Read-Along Story Time for Beginning Readers, 4/4/13

 Read-Along Story Time for Beginning Readers, 4/4/13

I was on vacation last week and did not do this story time, but heard from my colleague who filled in that there were a lot of kids in attendance who don't normally come (which makes sense during Spring Break). With that in mind, I decided to ease up on myself a little bit and plan something very simple. I like this structure more than the usual chaos, but I did also find myself wishing that this group of ten boys and one girl was a bit more vocal and a little more willing to be silly. I'm still seeking that happy medium! Still, this one felt like a success, and I would use the same structure again in the future.

Opening Song
I debated about whether to do an opening song, and finally decided it might be wise to get the kids' wiggles out. I sang It's Story Time (based on "Warm Up Time" from Action Songs for Preschoolers) and asked the kids for suggested motions. One boy - who is a regular - suggested jumping jacks then tried to tell me I was doing them incorrectly. The parents in the room got big laughs out of  that. The song itself was a flop and we ended it quickly. This was not a wiggly group, and the song did not  break the ice as I had hoped.

Making an Alphabet List 
I told the kids our story time was about games this week and asked them to name other things that start with G. Answers included grapes, gum, ghost, and gray.

Read-Aloud
This was less of a read-aloud and more of a cooperative discussion, because The Boys by Jeff Newman is a wordless picture book. This worked fairly well with just one or two kids actively participating. I imagine it would have been much better if the regular loudmouths had been here, and it might have channeled their wild energies into something positive. In any case, I may take this book with me to my next Pre-K visit, because I think it does work well in story time.

Making a List 
We made a second list - this time of games you can play inside and games you can play outside. Inside games included cards, puzzles, and airplanes. Outdoor games were rubgy, golf, baseball, basketball, and hide-and-seek. 

Read-Along
This week's read-along was a poem I found in Ladybug magazine - "Hide-and-Seek" by Susan Weiss, from the   The library I work in does not subscribe to Ladybug in full text, but the library where I live does, so I logged in there and printed out enough copies of the poem for every child to have one. I also wrote the words up on the whiteboard, but in retrospect I'm not sure why, because no one looked at them. We read the poem twice, which traditionally we don't do, and the kids seemed to like it, though they were very quiet. 

Writing Activity
I devised my own write and draw activity to suit the games theme. (Click the image to download a copy.)

I showed the kids the handout ahead of time and explained that the second line was for a game they liked to play, and the last line was for someone they liked to play with. Kids wrote about games like "ambulance" and "teepees" as well as baseball and golf.

This was a nice, calm session that would have worked slightly better with older and more vocal kids. Still, it was well-attended, everyone seemed to have fun, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of next week!