Fun With Words – 4th Grade Class Visit

I did this class visit a while back, but I thought I would add it to the blog just to remind me what I did.  I always have trouble thinking I what to do for the older grades, but for this one I thought it would be fun to have fun with words.  Originally I was thinking about including something about where words have come from (my linguistic undergrad roots are showing…), but it morphed into this presentation.

BOOK:

13 Words by Lemony Snicket illustrated by Maira Kalman

BOOK:

Yum! Yuck! A Foldout Book of People Sounds by Linda Sue Park and Julia Durango. Illustrated by Sue Rama

We started this one off with a discussion of what different languages everyone in the room spoke.  Then we played it as a guessing game to see what all these words translated to in English.

ACTIVITY:

Happily Ever After Mad Libs by Roger Price & Leonard Stern.

We played Mad Libs for a few rounds.  I gave kids the option of watching a short movie, but they voted on playing more madlibs.  To extend the life of my Mad Libs, I actually made copies of the pages and filled in the copies as we played.  Then I gave those to the teacher so she could take their stories home.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
  
Book: Mung-Mung: A Foldout Book of Animal Sounds by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Diane Bigda
Book: I Scream Ice Cream: A Book of Wordles by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Serge Bloch
DVD: “Max’s Words” from Pete’s A Pizza .. and more great kid stories

Under the Sea – Preschool Storytime

For storytime around the 4th of July it felt fitting to do a beach theme.  When I started putting together the books I wanted to share it tweaked to be more of an Under the Sea group of stories, except for the video.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: “Jump Up, Turn Around” from Jim Gill’s Irrational Anthem by Jim Gill

BOOK:

I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry

MOVEMENT: Once I Saw an Octopus

Once I saw an octopus in the deep blue sea (put hand over eyes, as if searching)
I called, “Mr. Octopus, won’t you swim with me?” (hands around mouth to call)
Then out came his tentacles, so very long and straight.
(link thumbs with fingers out, as if making a bird shadow puppet, but make more of a circle for the head)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. (count 8 fingers)

FLANNELBOARD:
We’re the Family of the Sea
We're the Family of the Sea Flannelboard
(rhyme from: Totline Magazine July/August 2001 p. 29.  patterns from clip-art/web search)

(to tune of: “Old MacDonald had a Farm”)
We’re the family of the sea,
The ocean is our home.
And in the seas there lives a whale
Who loves to play and roam.
With a spout spout here and a spout spout there.
Here a spout, there a spout,
Everywhere a spout, spout.
We’re the family of the sea,
The ocean is our home.

Other verses:
Fish – swish swish
Crab – pinch pinch
Seal – bark bark
Octopus – wibble wobble

BOOK:

This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

MOVEMENT: Octopus, Octopus

Octopus, octopus turn around
Octopus, octopus touch the ground
Octopus, octopus reach up high
Octopus, octopus swimming by

from Caitlin Peterson’s Sea Life storytime idea found here

VIDEO:


“At the Beach” from Peppa Pig: My Birthday Party 

MOVEMENT: Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Wiggle! Like an Octopus by Harriet Ziefert & Simms Taback (also a good app)
Book: Thank You, Octopus by Darren Farrell
Book: Beach Day by Karen Roosa, illustrated by Maggie Smith
Book: Scuba Bunnies by Christine Loomis, pictures by Ora Eitan
Book: Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Splash! by Candace Fleming and G. Brian Karas
Book: Beach Feet by Kiyomi Konagaya, illustrated by Masamitsu Saito
Book: Penguin on Vacation by Salina Yoon
Song: “Octopus (Slippery Fish)” by Charlotte Diamond from 24 Carrot Diamond: The Best of Charlotte Diamond

THOUGHTS ON THIS STORYTIME:
Originally, I thought it would be fun to do an octopus/squid storytime, which is why some of my additional ideas are cephalopod themed.  However, after reading the stories I did, I’m thinking this turned into more of a food-chain themed storytime, since there was a lot of eating of animals in what I picked.  I seemed to have a good mix of older preschool aged children today, and some of them had already read This is Not My Hat so it was fun to hear them kind of narrate along with me.  I wish I had downloaded the Charlotte Diamond track to use today — I meant to but forgot.

ATTENDANCE: 33 (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

NO! – Preschool Storytime

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

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

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

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.

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!

Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Toddler Storytime

St. Patrick’s Day is almost here, so it’s time to celebrate all things green!  (Also, celebrating green makes it easier to find books to use.)

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Green
by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*
10 Shamrocks
Shamrocks

FLANNELBOARD:
Leprechaun’s Lucky Charms
LeprechansLuckyCharmsFlannelboard2
inspired by K at Storytime ABC’s and her Leprechaun, Leprechaun, What Do You See? and Lucky Charms breakfast cereal
Patterns via Google Images search and Microsoft Shapes tool on Word

Leprechaun’s Lucky Charms
Start with the leprechaun on the flannelboard.  Add the other pieces where mentioned in the story.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a red heart here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have an orange star here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a yellow moon here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a green clover here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a blue diamond here with me.

Leprechaun, leprechaun
What lucky charms have ye?
I have a purple horse shoe here with me.

Let’s see what colors we have – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.
What does that make?
A Rainbow!

And what can you find at the end of the rainbow?
Leprechaun’s pot of gold!

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Good Luck Bear  by Greg Foley

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

VIDEO:
VeryHungryCaterpillarDVD
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories

MOVEMENT:  Storytime’s Over*

HOW IT WENT:
This was a pretty good storytime.  I feel like the kids don’t connect as well with Good Luck Bear as much as they do with the other Bear stories by Foley, but it is still such a cute read (while being topical and age-appropriate).

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  38 people      11 am: 28 people

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

Green (St. Patrick’s Day) – Infants

There are not a lot of good St. Patrick’s Day stories for infants (at least, not that I have right now), so this one was a Green (heavy on shamrocks) storytime.

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

MOVEMENT: Peek-a-Boo*

BOUNCE: I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock*

BOOK:

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox, illustrated by Judy Horacek

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

FLANNELBOARD:
Five Green Shamrocks Two Ways
5 Green Shamrocks Flannelboard
(template from Google images search)

Five Green Shamrocks (counting up)
(rhyme from DLTK Holidays)
One green shamrock, in the morning dew,
Another one sprouted,
and then there were two.

Two green shamrocks, growing beneath a tree;
Another one sprouted,
and then there were three.

Three green shamrocks, by the cottage door;
Another one sprouted,
and then there were four.

Four green shamrocks, near a beehive
Another one sprouted,
and then there were five.

Five little shamrocks, bright and emerald green,
Think of all the luck
these shamrocks will bring.

Five Green Shamrocks (counting down)
(rhyme taken from King County Library Wiki)
5 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked one up and put it on the door
that’s for good luck now there are 4

4 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and and put it on a tree
that’s for good luck now there are 3

3 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and put it on his shoe
that’s for good luck now there are 2

2 little shamrocks lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he picked it up and held it toward the sun
that’s for good luck now there is 1

1 little shamrock lying in the grass
along came a leprechaun skipping down the path
he left it there so there’d always be 1
that’s for good luck and now my story’s done!

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

BOOK:

Green
by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

NURSERY RHYME FLANNELBOARD:
Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet
LittleMissMuffetFlannelboard
Flannelboard from Little Folk Visuals

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

TICKLE: Catch a Wee Mouse*

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*

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

HOW IT WENT:
While St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t lend itself very well to stories for young ones, this was still an enjoyable storytime.  Where is the Green Sheep? went over very well with the audience today — even though it can be a little long the parents seemed to stick with it.  I shortened Green a little bit to work with the group, but that one was good too.

ATTENDANCE: 34 people

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

Kites – Toddler Storytime

When things get blustery – fly a kite!

MOVEMENT: Welcome Song*

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

MOVEMENT: Open Shut Them*

BOOK:

Kite Day
by Will Hillenbrand

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

MOVEMENT: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

COUNTING SONG:*
10 Kites Flannelboard
Kites

FLANNELBOARD:
Five Colorful Kites
Five Colorful Kites
(template and pattern adapted from page 55 of some book, but I got this flannelboard from my mom, so I don’t know which one.  Dental floss was used as the “thread” for the kite tails.)

Way up high in the sky so blue,
5 (4, 3, 2, 1) little kites flew and flew.
The wind blew hard (blow hard),
The wind blew loud (say “wooooo”),
The wind blew the little red (yellow, blue, green, orange) kite
Off to the clouds! (remove the appropriately colored kite).

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

MOVEMENT: Itsy Bitsy Spider

BOOK:

Kite Flying  by Grace Lin

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

VIDEO:

“Flying a Kite” from Peppa Pig: Flying a Kite and Other Stories

MOVEMENT:  Storytime’s Over*

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS IDEAS:

Book: The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins
Book: What’s the Magic Word? by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Marsha Winborn
Book: While You Were Chasing a Hat by Lilian Moore, illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger

TO ADAPT FOR OLDER AUDIENCES:

Book: Super Duck by Jez Alborough
Book: Windblown by Edouard Manceau
Book: Something Bigger by Jonathan Emmett

HOW IT WENT:
Well.  For this audience, I think Kite Flying was the better of the two books.  I love Peppa Pig.  Those are some silly videos.

ATTENDANCE:  10 am:  41 people      11 am: 32 people

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