Monday, November 28, 2016

Apples and Bananas

I have mentioned it in passing in a previous post (and will post fully about it later), but I will be transitioning into doing school-age programs full-time starting in the spring and will no longer be doing the weekly storytimes at my library. So, since this is my final hurrah for awhile, I scrapped my original theme for the last week of storytimes for a theme that I been thinking about. 

A few new books arrived at our library a month or so ago ("What's an Apple?" and "What's a Banana?" by Marilyn Singer). I was dying to use them in a storytime and do a 'Apples and Bananas' theme but since I wouldn't be doing storytime regularly for a long while, it would be forever before I could have an opportunity. Soooo, I pounced on the chance to do it as my finale!

 

Books:

Toddler Books:
Tap the Magic Tree - Christie Matheson
What's an Apple? - Marilyn Singer
What's a Banana? - Marilyn Singer

Preschool Books:
Gladys Goes Out to Lunch - Derek Anderson
What's an Apple? - Marilyn Singer
What's a Banana? - Marilyn Singer
Detective Small in the Amazing Banana Caper - Wong Herbert Yee

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Bananas Unite:
Peel bananas, peel, peel bananas, (make banana peel with arms overhead, then make peeling motion)
Peel bananas, peel, peel bananas.

Chop bananas, chop, chop bananas, (make chopping motion with hands)
Chop bananas, chop, chop bananas.

Mash bananas, mash, mash bananas, (mash hands together)
Mash bananas, mash, mash bananas.

Eat bananas, eat, eat bananas, (make motion of bringing bananas from hands to mouth)
Eat bananas, eat, eat bananas.

Gooooooo bananas!
Source: Jbrary


Apples and Bananas (Raffi Song):
I like to eat, eat, eat, apples and bananas,
I like to eat, eat, eat, apples and bananas.

I like to ate, ate, ate, epples and benenes,
I like to ate, ate, ate, epples and benenes.

I like to eat, eat, eat, eepples and beeneenees,
I like to eat, eat, eat, eepples and beeneenees.

I like to ite, ite, ite, ipples and bininis,
I like to ite, ite, ite, ipples and bininis.

I like to ote, ote, ote, opples and bononos,
I like to ote, ote, ote, opples and bononos.

I like to ute, ute, ute, upples and bununus,
I like to ute, ute, ute, upples and bununus.
Source: Raffi
For Lyrics: Raffi via Google Play

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Thanksgiving

I decided it was high-time to do a storytime about Thanksgiving! We had smaller numbers this week because of the holiday, but we got to have a lot of fun and be goofy with all our fun turkey day themed activities.



Books:

Toddler Books:
Thanks for Thanksgiving - Julie Markes
The Thankful Book - Todd Parr
Feeling Thankful - Shelley Rotner

Preschool Books:
Over the River: A Turkey's Tale - Derek Anderson
The Airport Book - Lisa Brown
Thanks for Thanksgiving - Julie Markes
The Thankful Book - Todd Parr

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Five Nervous Turkeys:
Five turkeys were getting quite nervous. 
Thanksgiving Day would soon be back.
So one turkey put on a duck suit,
And now he says "Gobble, Quack, Quack!"
Count down...4, 3, 2, 1
Source: ALSC Blog



Hello, Mr. Turkey (Tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It")
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you? (clap, clap)
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you? (clap, clap)
With a gobble, gobble, gobble (hand under chin, wiggle fingers)
And a wobble, wobble, wobble (move body from side to side)
Hello, Mr. Turkey, how are you? (clap, clap)
Source: Laptime Songs

Monday, November 21, 2016

Home

Our theme last week, leading up to Thanksgiving this week, was Home. We talked about different animals homes and what home means to us.





Books:

Toddler Books:
Welcome Home, Bear: A Book of Animal Habitats - Il Sung Na
Do Lions Live on Lily Pads? - Melanie Walsh

Preschool Books:
Room for Bear - Ciara Gavin
Welcome Home, Bear: A Book of Animal Habitats - Il Sung Na
Mama Built a Little Nest - Jennifer Ward
The Napping House - Audrey Wood

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Whose House Guessing Game
One of my library assistants made a laminated flannel. She made six different pictures of animal homes and six separate pictures of animals. 
We had a cave, a barn, the ocean, a tree, a nest, and a hive.
For animals, we had a bear, a cow, a fish, an owl, a bird, and a bee.
We played a game with the kids, asking them if a fish belonged in a tree, or a cave, and the kids had fun telling us where each animal lived.
Source: My lovely Library Assistant


Home Sweet Home Fingerplay:
A nest is a home for a robin (cup hands),
A hive is a home for a bee (put fists together),
A hole is a home for a rabbit (make circle with hands),
And a house is a home for me! (make roof with hands)


Little Mouse Hiding Game:
Little Mouse, Little Mouse, are you behind the  red  house?
repeat with different colors
Source: Traditional


The Napping House (flannel story adapted from the book by Audrey Wood):
There is a house.
A napping house.
Where everyone is sleeping.

And in that house,
There is a bed.
A cozy bed,
In a napping house,
Where everyone is sleeping.

And in that bed,
There is a granny.
A snoring granny,
On a cozy bed,
In a napping house,
Where everyone is sleeping.

And on that granny, 
There is a child.
A dreaming child,
On a snoring granny,
On a cozy bed,
In a napping house,
Where everyone is sleeping.

And on that child,
There is a dog.
A dozing dog,
On a dreaming child,
On a snoring granny,
On a cozy bed,
In a napping house,
Where everyone is sleeping.

And on that dog,
There is a cat.
A purring cat,
On a dozing dog,
On a dreaming child,
On a snoring granny,
On a cozy bed,
In a napping house,
Where everyone is sleeping.

And on that cat,
There is a flea.
A wakeful flea,
On a purring cat,
On a dozing dog,
On a dreaming child, 
On a snoring granny,
On a cozy bed,
In a napping house,
Where everyone is sleeping.

A wakeful flea who bites the cat,
Who claws the dog,
Who thumps the child,
Who bumps the granny,
Who breaks the bed,
In the napping house,
Where no one now is sleeping.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Leaves - For School-Ager's

It has been awhile, but this week I also did the School-Age program. Our topic was about leaves - the importance of leaves and why they fall every autumn. 

I have mentioned before that I trade age-groups with another librarian for a week every session so that we can cross-train for when our positions rotate. To give both librarians as many opportunities for growth as possible, we rotate every couple years and we will actually be rotating starting in December (more to come about that at a later date). 

So this was a great opportunity to work with some of the kids that I will get to work with weekly, starting in January!


1. Reading:



2. Discussion:

I used the book "Leaves" by Melanie Waldron from the Plant Parts Juvenile Nonfiction series to discuss why leaves are important and what they provide for us and for the plant. 



Each page had different topics related to leaves (flowering plants, seedling leaves vs. true leaves, etc.) that gave us plenty to discuss about leaves. 

3. Activity

A couple years ago, a volunteer group in our community disbanded. They wanted to use up the funds they had been donated and generously offered them to our library for our program supplies. Our manager decided, for one of the purchases, to buy several microscopes. It's the first program that I had decided to use them almost as a test to see how the kids would handle them.

I set up the microscopes and several of the sample slides, that were purchased with the microscopes, of leaves. One slide was of a pine leaf, one was of a fern spore, and the third was of a blade of blue grass. I also printed out pictures that showed enlarged images of what the kids saw under the microscope so that they could take a look after viewing it under the microscope slide.

*It was a learning curve. If I use the microscopes in the future, I would like to have the same slide for all three microscopes because the group at my program was larger than anticipated and it was hard for everyone to wait their turn.

4. Craft

Our craft was leaf etchings. My library assistant and I gathered leaves from the trees around the library. The participants got to choose several leaves and we taped them with the leaf underside taped down against the cardstock. I let the school-agers choose between crayon and color pencils, and they went to town making their own leaf etchings. 

Below are example crafts that I made before the program. Labeling the leaf parts was optional, but most of my kids were too engrossed in making additional leaf etchings to get to labeling their leaves.





Monday, November 7, 2016

Superheroes

We thought it was time to dig out all of the Superhero flannels we had used for CSRP 2015 (Every Hero Has a Story), and use them at our storytimes this week! I'm only doing one day of storytimes this week since I will be doing our school age programs. It is a little weird for me since I usually do three days (six storytimes) every week. On occasion the school-age librarian and I trade roles for a week so that we can know how to do both age groups. So, as much fun as dressing up like a superhero librarian was today, it was only for today!



Books:

Toddler Books:
Supertruck - Stephen Savage
Elecopter - Michael Slack

Preschool Books:
Mighty Truck - Chris Barton
Ten Rules of Being a Superhero - Deb Pilutti
Supertruck - Stephen Savage
Elecopter - Michael Slack

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Five Superheroes:
Five superheroes, ready to fly.
Here comes the villain, stop that guy!
This superhero can save the day.
Off she (he) flies, up and away!
Count down...4, 3, 2, 1
Source: Jbrary
*We did not do it as a song and fingerplay like Jbrary, but instead used it as a flannel story.


If You're a Superhero and You Know It (Tune: "If You're Happy and You Know It"):
If you're superman and you know it, fly through the sky.
If you're superman and you know it, fly through the sky.
If you're superman and you know it, and you really want to show it,
If you're superman and you know it, fly through the sky.
Repeat with:
Spiderman (Jump up high)
Catwoman (Climb a building)
Aquaman (Swim through the ocean)

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Owls

We have an abbreviated week, this week, because our Halloween storytimes wrapped over onto Monday. But, keeping with the fall-like themes, our storytimes are about Owls this week!


Books:

Toddler Books:
Owl Sees Owl - Laura Godwin
Night Owl - Toni Yuly

Preschool Books:
Little Owl's Orange Scarf - Tatyana Feeney
Good Night Owl - Greg Pizzoli
Night Owl - Toni Yuly

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Five Hoot Owls:
Five hoot owls, sitting in a tree.
One flew away! Now how many do you see?
1, 2, 3, 4...
Continue counting down
Source: Unknown (my flannel drawer)


Owl Hiding Game:
Owl, Owl, where do you hide?
Are you in the  red  house? Let's peek inside!
Source: My Library Assistant


Two Little Hoot Owls (Tune: "Two Little Black Birds"):
Two little hoot owls, flying in the sky.
One named Low and the other named High.
Fly away Low, fly away High,
Come back Low, come back High.
Two little hoot owls, flying in the sky.
One named Low and the other named High.
Source: Jbrary