Outreach Storytime 1/10/12 Continued

After I read to the babies, I moved on to the three-year-olds. I don't know what was wrong with them yesterday, but they were crazy. I went into the classroom late because three different teachers had to go talk to them.

Opening Song

Hands Are Clapping
(To the tune of Skip to my Lou)
Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap
Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap
Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap
Clap your hands, my darling

Toes are tapping… Tap, tap, tap
Tongues are clicking...Click, click, click

Feet are stomping...Stomp, stomp, stomp

Book 1

Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do by Kathryn Heling and Deborah Hembrook

This book allowed the children to make inferences. Each picture showed a uniform and gave a description and then the children had to guess whose clothes they were. They got all  but the carpenter (which is hard) so we were able to learn some new vocabulary. At the end of the book I asked each of them what they want to be when the grow up. Here are their responses: Fireman, artist, teacher, astronaut, zombie, and birds.

Book 2

Chickens to the Rescue! by John Himmelman

I wanted the children to read the story along with me. I brought in a prop with a picture of a chicken and told them to say "Chickens to the Rescue!" whenever I held up the chicken. It worked out very well and I think they enjoyed telling the story too.

Song

Five Little Monkeys

Swinging in the Tree

Five little monkeys

swinging in the tree

teasing Mr. Alligator

"Can't Catch me!"

along came Mr. Alligator

as quiet as can be 

and snapped

 that monkey out that tree 

Four little monkeys. . 3,2,1

Book 3

Tip Tip, Dig Dig by Emma Garcia

I know this book is a little young for the age group, but it worked for them. Since they were so wild I thought a book with a lot of movement get some of their energy out. It did! They followed all the movements and told me the color of all the trucks.

Song

Roly Poly
Roly Poly, Roly Poly, Up Up Up

Roly Poly, Roly Poly, Down Down Down

Roly Poly, Roly Poly, Clap, Clap Clap

Roly Poly, Roly Poly, Lap, Lap, Lap

They specifically requested this song. Clearly it is loved by everyone.

Book 4

Press Here by Herve Tullet

They loved this book. I didn't let them touch the book since they were behaving so badly. They did get to clap when necessary, so they were very impressed and said the book was magic.

Closing Song

 Zoom, Zoom, Zoom 

Zoom, zoom, zoom

(clap hands rhythmically)

We’re going to the moon

Zoom, zoom, zoom

We’ll be there very soon

 In 5…4…3…2…1…Blast off!
(jump up and blast off)

This storytime was chaotic, but still enjoyable. I felt like I spent most of the time disciplining the children because they were being rude to each other and to me. I normally would not have been as tough on them, but the teacher didn't step in. I felt very assertive and I was glad I didn't let the children walk all over me during storytime.

Outreach Storytime 1/10/12

Yesterday I was able to go to outreach storytime at one of our local daycares. When we got there we were told we were reading to four classes instead of three so my storytelling partner and I were scrambling to make sure we had enough appropriate books for us to each do two storytimes. I was going to read to the babies (one-year-olds) and the three-year-olds.

I was nervous for the babies because that was going to be my first experience reading to them since I usually read to the toddlers. One little girl gave me a hug as soon as I walked in the door and another boy began crying hysterically (and didn't stop the whole storytime). We tried to all sit at a small table, but they kept moving around and some even fell out of their chairs.

Opening Song

Welcome Song

(sung to the tune of London Bridge)

Hi, hello and how are you?
How are you?
How are you?
Hi, hello and how are you?
How are you today?

Book 1

Push the Button

This is a quick book that is meant for children with short attention spans. There is really no story to follow; it just deals with sounds. The squeaky button was a big hit. The children loved hearing it pushed and wanted to press it themselves. Unfortunately, they weren't strong enough, so I had to help them.

Song

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream,

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream.

Rock, rock, rock your boat...

Where is Thumbkin?
Where is Thumbkin?
Where is Thumbkin?
(hold up thumbs)
Here I am, Here I am!
How are you today, sir?
(bend thumb to other)
Very well, I thank you.
Run away, Run away!
(hide behind back)

 Book 2

Whose Nose? by Jeannette Rowe

This book worked very well because I could talk about body parts and we could practice different animal sounds. One little girl even helped me turn the pages in the book.

Song

Where is Pinky?
Where is Pinky?
Where is Pinky?
(hold up pinkies)
Here I am, Here I am!
How are you today, sir?
(bend thumb to other
)Very well, I thank you.
Run away, Run away!
(hide behind back)

Hands Are Clapping
(To the tune of Skip to my Lou)Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap
Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap
Hands are clapping
Clap, clap, clap
Clap your hands, my darling

Toes are tapping… Tap, tap, tap
Fingers are wiggling… wiggle, wiggle, wiggle
Eyes are hiding… peekaboo!

Book 3

We've All Got Bellybuttons by David Martin

This book worked out very well also because we were able to go over body parts. The teacher and I showed the babies where the body parts were on us and then we would touch their same body part. For example: Where are your ears? Here are ears. (We touch our ears.) Where are your ears? (Touch the child's ears.)

Song

The Isty Bitsy Spider

The Itsy Bitsy Spider climbed up the waterspout

Down came the rain and  washed the spider out

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain

And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.

Book 4

Five Little Ducks by Dan Yaccarino

I sang this book since the children liked to hear songs more than books. It went well, but I did lose the tune of the song at one point.

Closing Song

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Zoom, zoom, zoom

(clap hands rhythmically)

We’re going to the moon

Zoom, zoom, zoom

We’ll be there very soon

 In 5…4…3…2…1…Blast off!
(jump up and blast off)

This was a new and interesting experience for me. I've never done a storytime for babies before and I definitely learned a lot about the process and I saw how important it was. Next time I would try to sing more songs and bring more books that can be sung. It may not have seemed like they were enjoying storytime, but they did learn something from it. One little girl helped me turn the pages and she kept touching her nose or my nose when I would say nose. These might be small details for some people, but they were huge for me.

Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger

Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O'Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved The U.S. Presidential Election From a Mad Genius Criminal Mastermind by Tom Angleberger

The title of this book gives a pretty good summary of what the book is about, but there is a lot more to the story. With just a new suit and a fake mustache, Lenny's best friend, Casper, transforms himself into a "short, well-dressed man-about-town supporting a spectacular handlebar mustache." While dressed as his alter ego, he robs the town banks and creates a fortune to begin his takeover of the town. Unfortunately, no one realizes this but Lenny. With help from famous T.V. star Jodie O'Rodeo, the two must simultaneously prevent Fako Mustacho (Casper's new alter ego)  from rigging the U.S. presidential election and save Casper's life.

This book takes the reader on a very silly adventure to ultimately save the country from a ten-year-old boy posing as a man with an impressive mustache. The book never states how Casper gets away with everything, so I am assuming that the mustache has magical powers that someone hypnotize people. I know it's strange, but it's the only answer I can think of. The book is written on a fourth grade reading level and I would give to anyone who likes the humor of Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.

Outreach Storytime 1/7/12

Yesterday I did outreach storytime at my favorite preschool. Their classrooms are named after Bill Martin's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, so I have the privilege of completing storytime with the Red Bird and Yellow Duck classes. Both classes are full of four-year-olds that are excited for storytime every month I show up.

I usually read four to five books, but this time I only made it through three because two of them were pretty long.

Opening Song

If You Listen And You Hear Me

If you listen and you hear me go like this, (clap rhythm)

If you listen and you hear me go like this, (clap rhythm)

If you listen then you’ll hear me ‘cause you’re sitting really near me,  

If you listen and you hear me go like this, (clap rhythm) 

Stomp feet…

Pat knees...

Book 1

Are You A Horse? by Andy Rash

Past storytellers have had problems with this book in storytime because children don't get the joke at the end of the story. (If you haven't read it, the horse rides Cowboy Roy instead of Cowboy Roy riding the horse.)  It's very funny, but they just don't get it. This time we talked a lot about how you ride a horse and what is the purpose of a saddle. This definitely worked because they all thought the book was very funny. Roy also doesn't know what a horse looks like, so we described horses before we began reading. Overall this book is great for storytime as long as you discuss certain topics before you begin reading.

Song

Roly Poly

Roly Poly, Roly Poly

Up, Up, Up!

Roly Poly, Roly Poly

Down, Down, Down!

Roly Poly, Roly Poly

Clap, Clap, Clap!

Roly Poly, Roly Poly,

Lap, Lap, Lap!

Book 2

Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman

This book is wonderful because it allows the children to help tell the story. Throughout the story, the chickens help different people and animals on the farm. Someone needs help and then the chickens come to the rescue. For example: On one page the farmer dropped his watch in the well. On the next page the chickens come to the rescue and creatively get his watch back. Instead of me saying "Chickens to the Rescue!," I held up a picture of a chicken to let them know that it was time to say "Chickens to the Rescue!" The prop really helped because I didn't have to verbally prompt them. By seeing the chicken they knew it was time for them to say the line. The children really got into the book and seemed disappointed when it was over. Maybe I'll bring some other books by John Himmelman next time.  

Book 3

Press Here by Herve Tullet

Let me tell you, this book it magic! It isn't really a story so I would say it's more of an interactive experience. The book begins with one yellow dot on the first page. Each page gives instructions to the reader that will create more dots, change the color of the dots, move the dots, and increase the size of the dots. Since I had nine well behaved children, I let them each take turns with the book. I sat on the floor, held the book, and helped them follow directions. They did all the pressing, tapping, rubbing, blowing, shaking, and clapping that the book asked for. They were so impressed when the dots changed and multiplied. They all said the book was magic and wanted to do it again. Unfortunately we didn't have the time, but I promised that I would bring it back next time.

Song

Since I didn't have time to read another book, we just stood up and sang two songs before the end of the storytime. Five Little Monkeys is always a hit with the snapping and it's a good way to informally talk about subtraction.

Five Little Monkeys

 Swinging in the Tree

Five little monkeys

swinging in the tree 

teasing Mr. Alligator

"Can't Catch me!"

along came Mr. Alligator

as quiet as can be  

and snapped

that monkey out that tree 

Four little monkeys. . 3, 2, 1

Song

This song is great for getting some energy out before the children have to return to their normal routine. It's a crowd favorite at all storytimes. I do add in stomping to make the song longer, and we also repeat stomping and clapping.

Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands

(Tune Row Row Row Your Boat)

Clap, clap, clap your hands

As slowly as you can

Clap, clap, clap your hands

As quickly as you can

Additional verses:

Roll, roll, roll your hands…

Shake, shake, shake your hands...

Pat, pat, pat your head...

Closing Song

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Zoom, zoom, zoom

(clap hands rhythmically)

We’re going to the moon

Zoom, zoom, zoom

We’ll be there very soon

In 5…4…3…2…1…blast off!

(jump up and blast off)

My Favorite Books of 2012

Young Adult (in no particular order)

• Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
• Between Shades of Gray
• Perfect Chemistry
• Sparks: The Epic, Completely True Blue, (Almost) Holy Quest of Debbie
• Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have
• Divergent
• The Fault in Our Stars
• Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer
• 13 Little Blue Envelopes
• An Abundance of Katherines
• Cinder

• The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Graphic Novels (in no particular order)

• Rapunzel's Revenge
• Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer
• Amulet Vol. 1-5
• Ghostopolis

Juvenile Chapter Books (in no particular order)

• The 39 Clues

• The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers
• Regarding the Fountain
• Half-Moon Investigations
• 43 Old Cemetery Road
• Fergus Crane
• Magyk
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1

Picture Books (in no particular order)

• Tip Tip, Dig Dig
• Peanut
• The Incredible Book Eating Boy
• Cat Secrets
• Who Said Moo?
• If You're Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera
• Hello! Is This Grandma?
• Looking for a Moose
• Cloudette
• Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
• Little Owl Lost
• Teddy Bears, Teddy Bears by William Winburn