Monthly Archives: May 2014

NO! – Preschool Storytime

Posted on by
Reply

I noticed that there are a lot of great books you can say, “No!” to, so I figured why not share some of those in today’s storytime?  I would do this theme again — it was so much fun.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Can’t Wait to Celebrate” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem by Jim Gill

BOOK:

No! by Tracey Corderoy, illustrated by Tim Warnes

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them

FLANNELBOARD:
The Little Red Hen
Little Red Hen Flannelboard
(pattern and story from: Sierra, Judy.  The Flannel Board Storytelling Book 2nd Edition. 1997. pg 152)

MOVEMENT: We danced to “Nobody But Me“ by the Human Beinz from Nuggets: Vol 2

You can find this song lots of other places as well.  The kids really enjoyed doing the pony (which I figured was close enough to the filly, whatever that is, to count)

Book:

Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill

Because it’s fun to say “No” along with all the hiding animals until you find Spot!

BOOK:

Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton

VIDEO:

“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! …and more stories by Mo Willems

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: I’m Not Cute! by Jonathan Allen (or any others in the I’m Not series…)
Book: What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas
Book: Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
Book: No, David! by David Shannon
Book: No by Claudia Rueda
Book: Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea
Book: Where’s My Mom? by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Flannelboard: Little Mouse, Little Mouse
Flannelboard: How do I Put it On?
Video: “No Roses for Harry” from Harry the Dirty Dog …and more playful puppy stories

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
Such a fun theme, and I keep thinking of other books you can use with it!  I think I will try this theme again in the future to see if it continues to work well.  The kids didn’t seem to respond back with “No!” as loudly or often as I thought they might, but they still seemed to have a good time.  For the Human Beinz song, I didn’t want it to go on took long, so I queued it up to time 1:25 right before all the “No no no nos..” come in.  I was worried they may not want to dance along, but I was wrong.  Who doesn’t like an awesome 60’s themed dance party?

ATTENDANCE: 22 (adults and children – I think it was a little low because it’s Memorial Day weekend)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

Rabbits – Preschool Storytime

Posted on by
1

The week before Easter, we shared bunny stories at storytime!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Can’t Wait to Celebrate” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem by Jim Gill

BOOK:


MOVEMENT:
Bunny Pokey
(to the tune of “Hokey Pokey”)
You put your bunny ears in
You put your bunny ears out
You put your bunny ears in
And you shake them all about
You do the Bunny Pokey
And you hop yourself around
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your bunny nose in..
You put your bunny paws in..
You put your bunny tail in..

FLANNELBOARD:
The Giant Carrot
Giant Carrot Flannelboard3
(Pattern and story taken from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra)

MOVEMENT: “Shake My Sillies Out” from More Singable Songs for the Very Young by Raffi

BOOK:
Uwungelema

A Boy and His Bunny by Sean Bryan, illustrated by Tom Murphy

MOVEMENT: Did You Ever See a Bunny?

(to tune of “Did You Ever See a Lassie?”
Did you ever see a bunny, a bunny, a bunny
Did you ever see a bunny that hops so slow
He hops and he hops and he hops and he hops
Did you ever see a bunny that hops so slow?

That hops so… fast
… backwards
… on one foot

VIDEO:

“Bunny Cakes” from Party Time with Max and Ruby

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
It took me so long to get to this blog post…. I don’t remember.  Except bunny tails are a hit.

ATTENDANCE: 32 (adults and children)

*To see the words to these movements and activities I use frequently, please visit my A-capella Movements Section on my Storytime Movements and Music Page

Let’s Sing – Toddler Storytime

Posted on by
1

Songs and singing was my last theme for my toddler storytime session.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Clap Everybody and Say Hello” from Sally Go Round the Sun by Kathy Reid-Naiman

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas

MOVEMENT: “Roll Your Hands” from Toddlers on Parade by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*
10InstrumentsFlannelboard
10 Instruments

FLANNELBOARD:
5 Green and Speckled Frogs
FiveGreenAndSpeckledFrogsFlannelboard

MOVEMENT: “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Little White Duck lyrics by Walt Whippo, music by Bernard Zaritzky, illustrated by Joan Paley

MOVEMENT: “Two Little Blackbirds” from Fingerplays and Footplays by Rosemary Hallum and Henry “Buzz” Glass

VIDEO:

“The Wheels on the Bus” from The Wheels on the Bus…and more Musical Stories

MOVEMENT:  Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
Pretty Good.  It’s fun to sing your way through storytime, but it does hurt after the third one. 🙂

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  31 people      11 am: 14 people

* For these songs, please see my Storytime Movements & Music page

Let’s Sing – Infants

Posted on by
1

Here’s a storytime I did for my last round of infant storytimes that I forgot to post!  I can’t believe I’ve never done songs before as a theme – there’s so many options out there, and it fits in perfectly with Every Child Ready to Read early literacy practices.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*

BOOK:

Little White Duck lyrics by Walt Whippo, music by Bernard Zaritzky, illustrated by Joan Paley

MOVEMENT: “Clap, Tap and Bend” from It’s Toddler Time by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

FLANNELBOARD:
Old MacDonald
OldMacDonaldFlannelboard2
(Patterns taken from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra)

BOUNCE: “Ladies Ride” from Wiggleworms Love You by Old Town School of Folk Music

BOOK:

Hush Little Baby by Marla Frazee

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Baa Baa Black Sheep
BaaBaaBlackSheepFlannelboard
(Patterns taken from The Flannel Board Storytelling Book by Judy Sierra

MOVEMENT: “Itsy Bitsy Spider” from Children’s Favorite Songs Volume 3 from Walt Disney

MOVEMENT: “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” from Songs for Wiggleworms by the Old Town School of Folk Music

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
There are a lot of great stories and songs you can do for this theme.  I Love the Marla Frazee version of Hush Little Baby, but I found the page turns, combined with singing, didn’t work as well for me — I think I rushed through a little fast.  I may need to practice that one more, or do it as a flannelboard in the future.  Also, after I sang/read “Little White Duck” I mentioned to parents that, see, you don’t have to have a great voice to sing to your children — they like it no matter what!  And, bless their hearts, some of the parents responded: “You do have a good voice.”  They flatter me, and I appreciate it.

ATTENDANCE: 38 people

* For these songs, please see my page Storytime Movements & Music

A sincere apology, dear Readers.

Posted on by
Reply

I just wanted to write a quick apology for not updating my blog recently!  To all my loyal readers, I am sorry.

I’m working on some really exciting things (in the middle of one grant, just wrote another), and had some wonderful training opportunities that have taken me away from my blog.

But – I do have some programs and storytimes that I’ve been saving up to write about, so while it may take me a bit of time to post here, I am working on new content.

Thanks for sticking with me!