Lauren Thompson

Week Five of Author Highlights: Lauren Thompson
This plan is for a preschool storytime, a registered program for 3-5 year olds that attend the program independently without a caregiver.

Note: I was in a haze during this storytime. I ended up going home sick right after this program and found out I had strep! So, there isn't really a Jazz It Up Moment for the program. I was lucky to just get the storytime done. Also, because of the sickness there will be no Music Maker post this week.

Opening Activity:
Little Mouse flannel

Books:

How Many Cats by Lauren Thompson
Little Quack's New Friend by Lauren Thompson
Mouse's First Spring by Lauren Thompson

Bean Bag Song:
"Bean Bag Rock" by Georgiana Stewart from Action Songs for Preschoolers

Special Request Book:

Little Quack by Lauren Thompson

Goodbye Song:
"Goodbye" by Old Town School of Folk Music from Songs for Wiggleworms


What Went Not So Great

• Obviously the sickness prevented a truly great storytime, so the whole thing was pretty low energy. I had grand plans to make a magnet story out of Little Mouse's First Spring in hopes of elevating the story to a preschool level. I ended up not getting it done and therefore the book fell a bit flat for the kiddos. They were a bit bored by it.
• I really wanted the bean bag song to go over well. Unfortunately I've noticed that my preschoolers aren't really into the bean bags. We have this set from Music in Motion and I don't know if it's because they are small or what, but the children just don't like this prop as well as scarves or rhythm sticks. It was a bummer because I've found great success with this song in the past. The only thing I can think of is that the song is possibly a little young for my current group of preschoolers.

What Went Right

• They LOVED Little Quack! My plan was to read Little Quack's New Friend and in our discussion about authors and Lauren Thompson I wanted to talk about how she wrote about the same characters a lot (Little Quack, Little Mouse), so I had other Little Quack books on display. They enjoyed New Friend so much that I ended up reading the original Little Quack as well by special request.

Music Makers: Sign Language

Music Makers is a thirty minute registered program for 2 and 3 year olds and their caregivers. The focus of the program is music and each storytime concentrates on music, singing, and movement. I usually read two books during the program, but they are all "sing-a-book" titles so I actually end up singing the books instead of straight reading.

I don't normally use a theme when I plan Music Makers. After I planned this current session I noticed that each week had some vague similarities/theme qualities so I went ahead and labeled them. Just remember that it's a very loose theme and not everything pertains to it.

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear greets everyone on the way in with hugs and high fives.

Opening Song:

"Tony Chestnut" by Carol Hammett from Toddlers on Parade

Book:

Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort

I used the big book version of this title and the children just couldn't get over how BIG the book was.

Prop Song:

"A Piece of Paper" by William Janiak from Songs About Me

For this song I give each child a piece of scrap paper about the size of half a page of computer paper to use as their prop. They LOVE it.

Movement Songs:

"Bicycle Bicycle" by Carole Hammett from Toddlers on Parade

"Three Little Kittens" by Georgiana Stewart from Nursery Rhyme Time

During "Bicycle Bicycle" we lay down on our backs and stick our feet in the air and kick them around like we're riding a bike. It's a great work-out!

Jazz It Up Moment:

"Get Up and Shake" by Sign2Me from Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning ASL Sign

Signs Learned: Shake, Jump, Reach

"Pick Me Up" by Sign2Me from Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning ASL Sign

Signs Learned: Up, Mommy, Daddy, More

I introduced sign language in this storytime. I explained it's importance to parents and how it is a great way to enhance early literacy skills. I showed off some of the resources the library has, but specifically highlighted the Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning ASL Sign kit from Sign2Me that I used for this program. 

If you're unfamiliar with this kit, get familiar with it! It's great for sign language beginners. It's a spiral bound book that comes with a CD. The book shows all the lyrics and signs to each song on the CD and gives a difficultly level. That way you know what signs to introduce first and it gives you a foundation to build on as you learn the song and teach it to the kiddos. 

I have used this kit in previous toddler programs and used the same song 3-4 weeks in a row adding new signs each week. It's always been highly successful.

For this particular storytime I decided to stick with two of the easier songs. One that only has a few signs ("Pick Me Up") and the other that is basically just a dance song with very simple signs ("Get Up and Shake"). The children really responded to the movement and picked up on the sign language quite fast. It looked like the caregivers were really interested as well. The sign language section of the program was when I had the most adult participation.

Shared Board Book:
Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani

Closing Song:
"Skinnamarink" by Carole Peterson from Stinky Cake

One thing I haven't mention about this song is that I always have the children find their elbows before we sing the song. It's a great exercise in body identification. I further the activity by never being able to find my elbow. I point to my knee, head, leg, tummy, etc and have the children correct. This activity NEVER gets old to the kids. When I don't do this and find my elbow right away I get yelled at, "But your supposed to need help finding your elbow!!".

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear says goodbye to everyone on the way out with hugs and high fives.

How It Went:

This was a great storytime! I ran out of time and we didn't get a chance to sing "Three Little Kittens", but that's okay. I really wanted to focus on the sign language in this program. I'm thinking about bringing back "Pick Me Up" in the next couple of weeks just so that the adults and children can learn more signs. It's not in my plans, but I'm going to try and squeeze it in I think, that's how much they enjoyed it.

Another element of the program that took a little bit more time then I anticipated was Itsy Bitsy Spider, it's actually a little on the long side (as are a lot of Trapani's works). It was really well received and I had some parents asking for more books by her on the way out the door.

Caroline Jayne Church

Week Four of Author Highlights: Caroline Jayne Church
This plan is for a preschool storytime, a registered program for 3-5 year olds that attend the program independently without a caregiver.

Opening Activity:
Little Mouse Flannel Activity

Books:

Hungry Hen by Richard Waring (illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church)
Little Lost Cowboy by Simon Puttock (illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church)
Ping Pong Pig written and illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church

Not all of these books are written by Caroline Jayne Church, but they are all at least illustrated by her. This was a great opportunity to discuss the difference between the author and the illustrator and what they are responsible for in the bookmaking process. It might be hopeful thinking, but I really think my kids are starting to get the whole author concept!

Scarf Song:
"The Airplane Song" by Laurie Berkner from Whaddaya Think of That

This song was not intended to be a scarf song, but my preschoolers seem to really respond to scarves. I have kids that will ONLY participate if a scarf is involved. I'm lucky enough to have enough scarves to give each of my kids two, so we used them as our airplane wings in this song. It is also a good listening song because it gives specific actions throughout.

Jazz It Up Moment #1:
I use board book sets in my toddler programs a lot. We have sets of 15-20 books of the same title so that each child can hold their own copy of the book I'm reading aloud to them. I've tried using these board books sets once or twice with my preschoolers with great results so I brought it back for this storytime because we happened to have a board book illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church.

You Are My Sunshine illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church

This was a perfect choice for this storytime. We just read through the book together at first with me pointing to each word as I read it. I went extremely slow so the children could follow along with me in their own copies. They LOVED being able to do this with me. The second time through the book I sang it, a lot of them sang it with me too!

Jazz It Up Moment #2:
This was completely improptu and wasn't in my plan at all. I had a couple of extra minutes and decided it would be fun to sing the song "The More We Get Together" and teach the children the signs to go along with it. I used the signs for "more", "together", "happy", and "friends". The Skokie Public Library has a great YouTube video of this, HERE.

This is typically a song I use in my toddler programs, but I thought these kids would like it and would really appreciate what sign language was and understand it's meaning. Turns out, they really enjoyed it! I'll probably be quizzing them on it next week and see if they remember the signs.

Goodbye Song:
"Goodbye" by Old Town School of Folk from "Songs for Wiggleworms"


What Went Not So Great:
Timing. I was all done with my songs, books, and activities and still had 5 minutes left of my 30 minute program. So I decided to teach the children the sign language for "The More We Get Together". I thought about this song because Caroline Jayne Church has illustrated a board book of this song. We have a set of that title as well so I was considering using it when I was doing my planning. Maybe that's why the song was on my mind.

What Went Right:
Really, everything. The only thing I would add is possibly a prop or flannel retelling instead of doing the sign language, only because it would go along with the author theme better.

I would say the absolute most successful moment was the shared board book reading. It was great seeing the kids get so engaged in the program. I might invest in some higher level board books for our collection so I can do this more often. I loved how it presented such a perfect opportunity to practice  early literacy with print awareness!

Music Makers: Easter and Spring

Music Makers is a thirty minute registered program for 2 and 3 year olds and their caregivers. The focus of the program is music and each storytime concentrates on music, singing, and movement. I usually read two books during the program, but they are all "sing-a-book" titles so I actually end up singing the books instead of straight reading.

I don't normally use a theme when I plan Music Makers. After I planned this current session I noticed that each week had some vague similarities/theme qualities so I went ahead and labeled them. Just remember that it's a very loose theme and not everything pertains to it.

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear greets everyone on the way in with hugs and high fives.

Opening Song:

"Tony Chestnut" by Carol Hammett from Toddlers on Parade

Book:

The Croaky Pokey! by Ethan Long

Movement Songs:

"The Wiggle Song" by Carole Peterson from Sticky Bubble Gum

"Five Little Fish" by Dr. Jean from Dr. Jean Sings Silly Songs

Scarf Songs:

"Let's Go Fly a Kite" by Georgiana Stewart from Musical Scarves and Activities

"Flitter Flutter" by Johnette Downing from Second Line Scarf Activity Songs

"Ribbons in the Air" by Pam Schiller from Leaping Literacy

Shared Board Book:

Duck and Goose, Here Comes the Easter Bunny! by Tad Hills

Jazz It Up Moment:

"Five Little Bunnies" flannel song, sung to the tune of "Five Little Monkeys" (taken from 1234 More Storytimes)

Five little bunnies hopping down the trail,

One fell down and bumper her tail.

Mama called the doctor - what did she say?

No more bunnies hopping today! 

(continue to count down until there are no more bunnies)

Closing Song:

"Skinnamarink" by Carole Peterson from Stinky Cake

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear says goodbye to everyone on the way out with hugs and high fives.

The children freaked out about the scarves, they loved them! Just another storytime to use as evidence that prop songs are always a solid choice. It was also nice to have a couple songs that we could sit for, "Five Little Fish" and "Five Little Bunnies"were great AND they were really fun to use because we got to count on our fingers together repetitively (and we all know toddlers thrive on routine and repetition).

Denise Fleming

Week Three of Author Highlights: Denise Fleming

This plan is for a preschool storytime, a registered program for 3-5 year olds that attend the program independently without a caregiver.

Opening Activity:

Little Mouse

This time I hid spring related items under the houses. The kids loved it!

Books:

Action Song:

"List of Dances" by Jim Gill from Jim Gill Gets Noisy in Boise

This is a great storytime song because it's got so much directed action. I decided to turn this into an early literacy moment and focus on text in the song. I wrote out on the white board all the different dances we do and pointed to each before we actually sang the song and practiced. We talked about the word meaning the specific dance and even the order of the numbers. 

Jazz It Up Moment:

Retell Lunch by Denise Fleming using flannel pieces and a mouse puppet

This was a HUGE success! I kept the food pieces hidden in the pockets on the back of the easel and described each item before I put it on the board. That gave a chance for the children to guess what food I was presenting. Once it was on the board I made a big show of "Mr. Mouse" gobbling it up for lunch. I adapted this (and got the idea from Miss Courtney Meets Bobo). 

Goodbye Song:

"Goodbye" by Old Town School of Folk from Songs for Wiggleworms

What Went Not So Great:

• I wanted The Cow Who Clucked to be received better, but the children were not enthused and they just thought it was overall a bit short and boring.

What Went Right:

• Retelling Lunch was fantastic! It's been a couple weeks since I did this activity and the children are still asking about Mr. Mouse. It was a great way to turn a very simple book (that is really too low for my preschoolers) into a more complex activity for the children to enjoy. It really did Jazz Up the program.

Music Makers: Food

Music Makers is a thirty minute registered program for 2 and 3 year olds and their caregivers. The focus of the program is music and each storytime concentrates on music, singing, and movement. I usually read two books during the program, but they are all "sing-a-book" titles so I actually end up singing the books instead of straight reading.

I don't normally use a theme when I plan Music Makers. After I planned this current session I noticed that each week had some vague similarities/theme qualities so I went ahead and labeled them. Just remember that it's a very loose theme and not everything pertains to it.

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear greets everyone on the way in with hugs and high fives

Opening Song:
"Tony Chestnut" by Carol Hammett from Toddlers on Parade

Book:

Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Play Rhyme illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott

Movement Songs:
"Peanut Butter" by Jean R. Feldman from Keep On Singing and Dancing with Dr. Jean
"We Will Stomp" by The Learning Groove from Yummy Yellow
"The Slow Fast Soft Loud Clap Song" by William Janiak from Songs About Me

Prop Songs (shakers):
We use these mini-rainshakers from Lakeshore (unfortunately they are discontinued now). We chose this set because they are not choking hazards for under 3 year olds like most egg shakers are.

"Fruit Salad Salsa" by Laurie Berkner from Victor Vito
"Shake With You" by The Learning Groove from Bouncy Blue


Shared Board Book:

It's Raining, It's Pouring by Iza Trapani

Jazz It Up Moment:
"Five Green and Speckled Frogs" with puppets

I'm trying a new thing this session where I incorporate a re-telling of a classic song either with puppets or flannel each week. This forces me to think creatively at times and I feel like it's really pushing me to think outside of the "song-book-song" routine.

"Five Green and Speckled Frogs" is one that most parents know so I was pleased to discovered these cute finger puppets. The blue flannel easel we have was great for a log/pond set-up and the frogs got to jump all the way down to the little tray where the were hidden from view. The children were all engaged and I even got the grown-ups to sing along with me!

Closing Song:
"Skinnamarink" by Carole Peterson from Stinky Cake

Dewey Bear

Dewey Bear says goodbye to everyone on the way out with hugs and high fives.

I ran out of time and wasn't able to do "The Slow Fast Soft Cloud Clap Song". But overall it was a great storytime!

Karma Wilson

Week Two of my Author Highlights: Karma Wilson


This plan is for a preschool storytime, a registered program for 3-5 year olds that attend the program independently without a caregiver.


Opening Activity:
Little Mouse

Books:

Bear's Loose Tooth by Karma Wilson
The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
Moose Tracks! by Karma Wilson
Mortimer's First Garden by Karma Wilson
Sakes Alive! A Cattle Drive by Karma Wilson

Jazz It Up Moment/Song:
"Cake" by Juice Box Heroes from No Sugar Added

I tried something new with this song, normally I encourage the kids to free dance and jump whenever they hear the word 'cake', which is pretty often (it's to the tune of "Faith" by George Michael). This time I decided to introduce a new prop, Boomwhackers!

Boomwhackers are big plastic, hollow tubes that make specific musical notes. The longer the boomwhacker, the lower the note. We have used rhythm sticks a lot in storytime so the children are familiar with the general rules of a prop this shape and size. The difference with these is that they are specific to musical notes! We discussed that and then listened to the different notes and what was high and what was low. Every child got one shorter boomwhacker and one longer one.

Then I just let them go! We danced and hit our boomwhackers along with the song. A lot of them mimiced me when I slammed my boomwhackers on the ground every time I heard the word 'cake'. The loved the colors, the size, and all the noises they could make! I'm really encouraged now to take the next step with these props and assign notes to each child and possibly play a song together.

Closing Song:
"Goodbye" by Old Town School of Folk Music from Songs for Wiggleworms



What Went Not So Great

• Moose Tracks is a hilarious story with a great punch line. Unfortunately none of the children got it and were just kinda lost at the end.
• Sake's Alive! A Cattle Drive is another story that the kids didn't really get all the humor. They didn't really understand what a cattle drive was so they missed the main plot of the book. However, they really loved watching the silliness of the cows driving the truck all around.

What Went Right

• Mortimer's First Garden went really well even though I was very nervous. I was concerned because it discusses God and  miracles, but I just changed the words a bit and made it more of a story about Spring and the miracle of growth. The older kids really enjoyed it.
• The boomwhackers were an enormous hit! The children really seemed to understand that the longer ones made lower notes and the shorter ones made higher notes. A great success and first try-out with the props.
• Bear's Loose Tooth was a great choice because a lot of the the children could really relate to Bear and his loose tooth. The only I would do different is allow more time for discussing this book because every child wanted to tell me story about their loose tooth or one of their siblings'.