It’s Cold Outside: Winter Stories

During the winter session, instead of dedicating the entire 6 weeks to winter stories, I usually present one winterish storytime, that includes stories about winter, snow, mitten, penguins, and/or snowmen.

Here’s what I shared this week : (note: I don’t read every book, I mix and match based on the age group and attention span of the attendees.)

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming

Three Little Kittens by Paul Galdone

Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett

The Mitten by Jan Brett

Sergio Makes  A Splash by Edel Rodriguez  

  

♫♫Songs and Finger Rhymes ♫♫

 

B-O-O-T-S 

Adapted from Victor Vito by Laurie Berkner

Boots!

Black Boots!

In my black boots, In my black boots

I stomp around in my black boots.

In my boots, (Stomp,stomp)

In my boots, (Stomp,stomp)

I stomp around in my boots.

B-O-O-T-S

Boots!

B-O-O-T-S

Boots!

Brown Boots!

In my brown boots, In my brown boots

I stomp around in my brown boots.

In my boots, (Stomp,stomp)

In my boots, (Stomp,stomp)

I stomp around in my boots.

B-O-O-T-S

Boots!

B-O-O-T-S

Boots!

Frog Boots!

In my frogs boots, In my frog boots

I ribet around in my frog boots.

In my boots, (ribet, ribet)

In my boots, (ribet, ribet)

I ribet around in my boots.

B-O-O-T-S

Boots!

B-O-O-T-S

Boots!

Dancing Boots!

In my dancing boots,

In my dancing boots

I dance around in my dancing boots.

In my boots, (clap, clap)

In my boots, (clap, clap)

I dance around in my boots.

B-O-O-T-S

Boots!

B-O-O-T-S

Boots!

Rain Boots!

In my rain boots, In my rain boots

I splash around in my rain boots.

In my boots, (splish-splash)

In my boots, (splish-splash)

I splash around in my boots.

 B-O-O-T-S

Boots!

 (This song is executed really nicely with  die cut construction paper boots and the letters B-O-O-T-S  to point to as you sing the song with the kids!)

Craft of the Week: Sparkly Mittens

Supplies:

Line drawing of mittens copied on to colored construction paper; crayons; craft jewels; elmer’s craft glue.

Instruction:

Each child receives their own pair of mittens to decorate any way they choose. Once completed they can either use as a bookmark or to hang on string for general decoration.

Tags: 3 Year Olds, 4 Year Olds, 5 Year Olds, Mittens Storytime, moon storytime, Penguin Storytime, picture books, Snow Storytime, storytime, storytime plans, Winter Storytimes

The Moon and Stars

• Nothing takes my breath away, the way the sky does, in this case storytime was all about our beautiful night sky.

I’ll try my very best to hightlight which points of the Every Child Ready to Read guidelines I’ve used or plan to highlight with a particular story and/or song.

Books Read:

Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

A wonderful story about a kittens adventure of trying to touch the moon, believing it to be a delicious bowl of milk.

 

Cabbage Moon by Jan Wahl

 I love this story! It’s also a nice visual aid to point out the  phases of the moon. In this story Princess Adelgitha  loves the cabbage moon, but soon it is stolen away by the heartless villan Lorenzo Squink . What will Princess Adelgitha do without her precious Cabbage Moon?

 

The Little Moon Princess by YJ Lee

The “jewel” in this story is the beautiful artwork created by the author. This is a story of a the lonely moon princess who throws her jewels to the sky so she’ll no longer have to live in darkness.

The Story of the Milky Way: A Cherokee Tale by Joseph Bruchac

Great story and great artwork. A retelling of how the milky way came to be. I used this chance for the kids to become a part of the story. I gave each student a rattler or bell, and when the time came had them shake like crazy to join the characters in scaring away the great spirit dog.  (Lot’s of fun, but don’t expect to read another story after that!)

 

♫♫♫Songs and Action Play:♫♫♫

Climb Aboard the Space Ship

Climb aboard the spaceship, we’re going to the moon. Hurry and get ready, we’re going to blast off soon. Put on your helments, and buckle up real tight. Here comes the count down. Let’s count down with all our might.

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1- BLAST OFF!

 Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.

 

Craft Project: Chalk Moon

Supplies: black constrction paper, glittery star stickers, erasers and outer space stencils.

Instructions:  Have each child draw a half circle at the bottom of their paper with chalk and fill it in. Then erase little circles within the larger one to create moon craters.  Then they can decorate the picture as desired with stars and other space matter.

Tags: moon, moon storytime, stars, stars storytime, storytime plans

Who let the dogs out?

I did! :-#

So this week my storytime is based all around puppies and doggies! There are so many great titles to use, so please keep searching for the ones that are right for your group.

DogKu by Andrew Clements

I actually love Andrew Clements as a middle grade author Frindle anyone?

Anyway, this book is written in Haiku- a poem that is 17 syllables 5/7/5 on each line. The story is about an adorable little lost dog and his journey of finding home. Just a perfect little storytime book!

 

DogGone Dogs by Karen Beaumont

Funny and super cute story about ten dogs that go crazy at the park, then are captured, the story follows their escape and return home. Very funny and its a story in rhyme. I think another wonderful part of this story is the illustrations which were created by the wonderful David Catrow!

This duo creates some pretty great picture books together, I love it!!

Dogs on the Bed by Elizabeth Bluemle

Another story in rhyme– I can’t wait to read this story with the kids! They will just love the silliness and I’m sure I’ll receive more than a couple recountings of when their dogs wouldn’t get out of their beds! Just as the family is settling in for bed and a night story, the dogs start to overrun the bed.

  

  

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

The story of George who does everything except bark! Funny and cute story.

Here are a few more titles that you might want to consider:

 Ten Silly Dogs by Lisa Flather; The Dog Who Belonged To No One by Amy Hest; Some Dog by Mary Casanova; My Father the Dog by Elizabeth Bluemle Songs;

 

 

Finger Rhymes and Felt Boards

BINGO

There was a farmer who had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O.
B-I-N-G-O!
B-I-N-G-O!
B-I-N-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-O!

There was a farmer who had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O.
(Clap)-I-N-G-O!
(Clap)-I-N-G-O!
(Clap)-I-N-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-O!

There was a farmer who had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O!
(Clap, Clap)-N-G-O!
(Clap, Clap)-N-G-O!
(Clap, Clap)-N-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-O!

There was a farmer who had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O.
(Clap, Clap, Clap)-G-O!
(Clap, Clap, Clap)-G-O!
(Clap, Clap, Clap)-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-O!

There was a farmer who had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O.
(Clap, Clap, Clap, clap)-O!
(Clap, Clap, Clap, clap)-O!
(Clap, Clap, Clap, clap)-O!
And Bingo was his name-O!

There was a farmer who had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-O.
(Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap)
(Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap)
(Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap)
And Bingo was his name-O!

My Puppy

My little puppy’s name is Rags,
He eats so much that his tummy sags,
His ears flip flop and his tail wig wags,
And when he walks he goes zig zag.
Flip, flop, wig wag, zig zag.

My little puppy likes to play,
He rolls himself in the grass all day,
And when I whistle w-w-w-w-w,
He won’t obey,
He always runs the other way.
Flip, flop, wig wag, zig zag,.
Flip, flop, wig wag, zig zag,
Flip, flop, wig wag, zig zag.

 

Craft: Doggie Head Bands

 

I love searching the internet for crafts and I stumbled upon these here at about.familycrafts. Its an insanely easy craft, for when your having a crazy week.

Supplies: White Paper- Might I suggest legal size; Crayons- Any colors to make dog spots; Scissors; Glue stick

Instructions: Fold a legal size sheet of paper into two pieces length wise. Unfold and cut. Tape the two pieces together to fit into a crown. Take another sheet of paper and draw dog ears and cut out. Decorate with spots, then tape the two ears on to the sides of the crown headband.

Tags: andrew clements, craft ideas, dog craft ideas, dog crafts, dog storytimes, dogky, dogs, library, picture books, puppies', puppy crafts, storytime

Hoot-Hoot: Calling All Owls

Books We Read Today  

Billy Wise by Judith Nicholls

 The night finally arrives when Billywise the owlet, guided by his mother, jumps from the nest and flies.

 A bit long but this book contains beautiful closeups of the owl and owlet.

 

 

Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Little Hoot wants to go to bed early, like all of his friends do, and he is hopping mad when Mama and Papa Owl insist that he stay up late and play. 

The kids loved this title and we had lots of fun pointing out what a silly owl he was. I think they were jealous he got to stay up late!

 

 

Snow Moon by Nicholas Brunelle

One wintry night, a child awakens to find at his window a mysterious owl that beckons, and together the two set off on a moonlit journey to a place called Owl Ridge. 

Once again this title has beautiful illustrations. I’m not sure that the kids understood the story, they kept asking,  ”why did that boy jump out of bed and why is he running around in the snow?”   So Cute!

 

 

Good-night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins

Because all the other animals’ noises keep him from sleeping , Owl watches for a chance to take his revenge.

Great book! Really take this chance to get into making all of the different animals sounds. Before you read the last two pages, be sure to ask the kids if the owl will get some sleep once all the other animals fall asleep?

 

Songs and Finger Rhymes

~~~Little Owl~~~

Little owl, little owl
High up in the tree.
Little owl, little owl
Blinks his eyes at me.
Hooting loud, hooting soft,
Hooting all night long.
I just love that little owl
And his hooting song.

 

~~~Big Eyed Owl~~~

There’s a Big Eyed Owl,
With a pointed nose,
Two pointed ears and claws for his toes.
He sits in the tree,
And he looks at you;
He flaps his wings,
And says Toowit-Toowoooo!

 

Crafty Acts: The Alphabet Owl

Supplies:

Owl Template; Alphabet Template; 2 different shades of brown construction paper; crayons; glue stick

 

Instructions:

• Copy owl template onto darker shade of brown construction paper.  (Before Storyime)
• Copy alphabet onto lighter shade of brown construction paper. (Before Storytime)
• Shred by hand or cut alphabet into little “feathers” (Before Storytime)
• Place at each setting ; Owl Shape, Crayons, alpha-feathers, and glue stick ( ” )
• Have the children glue on the feathers in the order of the alphabet (During Storytime)
• Once completed they can add eyes, and a beak and other embellishments as desired (During Storytime)

My storytime kids seemed to really enjoy this craft. Before we started we sung the ABC’s song together to make sure that everyone knew them. Just as a note just because the kids can sing the ABC’s doesn’t mean that they know the written letters. That being said they may still need a little help with this craft.

 

Happy Reading! Miss Jasmine

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing My Storytime Plans

Hi World!

Sooo I have decided to share my storytime plans with the world. Not that I think they’re the greatest, but I do try my very best to plan storytimes that focus on developing early literacy skills and just as I’ve looked over the internet for help from week to week, maybe this site will help someone else.

Storytimes here at the Berwyn Public Library run for 6 weeks 4 times per year.  During off weeks I will either write reviews of middle grade level materials that I am reading, or share some of my past storytime plans.

Happy Browsing!