Friday, November 1, 2024

School Age Storytime: Apples & Pumpkins

 


A storytime for K-2nd grade celebrating the season
emphasizing empathy & compassion 

Participatory Storytelling/Props:
  The Little Red House with No Doors & No Windows, a Chimney On Top & a Star in the Middle (Tip: instantly turn flannel pieces into hanging signs for kids to wear using plastic paper protector sleeves with stiff paper inserts & yarn ribbon to hang around each child's neck, act out the wind blowing the trees and the “plop” of an apple falling in the farmer’s backyard. Prop: real apple & knife to slice horizontally.)

Book: One Green Apple by Eve Bunting --This beautiful (and beautifully illustrated) story emphasizes understanding and compassion as Farah, a new student from an unnamed country, goes with her class on a field trip to an apple orchard (defined) and finds that though she is different and doesn’t know the language, she can be accepted and will find friends here.

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Participatory Storytelling/Props: Big Pumpkin – from the book by Erica Silverman -- In this variant on the folktale, “The Great Big Enormous Turnip,” the witch, ghost, skeleton, and vampire are unable to pull up the pumpkin until a tiny bat ignores their derisive laughter and suggests they all work together.  I sing/chant this to a tune from an old Scholastic recording – feel free to contact me if you want to learn the tune.


Book: Pumpkins: A Story for a Field by Mary Lyn Ray – A splendid modern environmental myth in which a man, saddened by the thought that the field across from his house is about to be sold, sells everything he has, buys seeds, grows pumpkins, and then sends them all around the world (by planes, trucks, ships, and even flying carpets) to get enough money to buy the field and save it.  



Participatory Storytelling/Props: The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything based on the story by Linda Williams (1st grade only, Kdg no time)  props for children to use - shoes, pants, shirt, hat, gloves, pumpkin head, scarecrow)

Booktalked:

Non-Fiction Book: Rotten Pumpkin: A Rotten Tale in 15 Voices* – 577.16 SCHWARTZ – “UnCommon Core” at its best!  -- Told in the first person by the pumpkin, mouse, squirrel, slug, fly, black rot, bread mold, sow bug, Penicillium, earthworm, yeast cell, slime mold, soil, and seed, this is science “on the hoof.”  Wonderful writing & delightfully yucky photographs complete this unforgettable tour through the life cycle of a pumpkin that kids will find completely enGROSSing!  (Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell is a less-detailed version for a younger crowd. Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller makes a great fictional companion story.)

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Book (K-2): Bear’s Bargain – Frank Asch (also published as Moonbear’s Bargain)  Bear wants to fly & Little Bird wishes he was big -- clever problem solving).


See more ideas at: 
https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/search/label/Apples
https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/search/label/Pumpkins

Bedm K-1 11/1/2024

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Memory Cafe (YMCA) - Apples

 I was invited as a storyteller for the Basking Ridge YMCA "Memory Cafe"  - a place of respite for adults with dementia & their caregivers. 

Opened by discussion of the embellishment of the story of Johnny Appleseed - mentioned that he was a real person (John Chapman) but that apples don't grow true from seeds - you don't get the same variety, sweetness etc. - instead they grow from grafting a branch of a tree that produces tasty apples. Johnny Appleseed's seed trees were used for hard cider - alcoholic drinks were drunk by all ages because water and milk were unsafe -- might contain disease producing organisms.  Read: Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh, illustrated with the folk-art styled paintings by Kathy Jacobson. 



Followed with the rollicking "tall tale" Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains by Deborah Hopkinson.  

Crafts: 



https://www.thrive.org.uk/get-gardening/simple-homemade-apple-bird-feeder#

Mentioned the book Night Tree by Eve Bunting - every Christmas Eve, a family decorates a tree in the woods with edible items for the wildlife there.

9/25/24

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Read Across America Day - Changemakers

 A storytime celebrating brave and determined people who have worked to change the status quo....


  • Steadfast : Frances Perkins, champion of workers' rights by Jennifer J. Merz.
  • Frances Perkins witnessed NYC's Triangle Fire and made it her life's mission to aid workers -- she championed worker safety laws in NY then become FDR's secretary of labor - the 1st woman US Cabinet Member and the force behind the New Deal.
You don't need to be a grownup to make a difference:

I am Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges
When Ruby Bridges was aged just six, she became the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the South. Based on the pivotal events of 1960 and told from her own point of view for the first time, this is a poetic reflection on her experience that changed the face of history and the trajectory of the Civil Rights movement. Also showed pages from The story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
Received too late to share but a great teacher resource: Dear Ruby, hear our hearts : letters to civil rights activist Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges

Booktalked: 
Sit-in : how four friends stood up by sitting down by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Opening the road : Victor Hugo Green and his Green Book by Keila V. Dawson



Greta Thunberg by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara ; illustrated by Anke Weckmann
T
he inspiring true story of Greta Thunberg, the environmental activist. When young Greta learned of the climate crisis, she stopped talking. She couldn't understand why people in power were not doing anything to save our Earth. One day she started protesting outside the Swedish Parliament, creating the "School Strike for Climate." Soon, lots more young people joined her in a global movement that shook adults and politicians alike. She had found her voice and uses it to inspire humans to action with her powerful message: "No one is too small to make a difference."  (Didn't discover until afterwards: Greta and the Giants : Inspired by Greta Thunberg's stand to save the world by ZoĆ« Tucker - a fictionalized but tells true story at the end - would make a good readaloud) or consider Our house is on fire : Greta Thunberg's call to save the planet by Jeanette Winter

Sang the inspiring words with the book: 

This little light of mine  illustrated by E.B. Lewis
Through the words of a well-known African-American spiritual dating back to the days of slavery, a little boy finds that through simple, kind acts he has the power to let his light shine and warm the world around him

Finished with the wise advice from: 


  • Be a king : Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream and you by Carole Boston Weatherford ; illustrated by James Ransome   "You can be a King. Stamp out hatred. Put your foot down and walk tall. You can be a King. Beat the drum for justice. March to your own conscience. Featuring a dual narrative of the key moments of Dr. King's life alongside a modern class as the students learn about him, Carole Weatherfor's poetic text encapsulates the moments that readers today can reenact in their own lives.
And asked the kids what they could do to make the world better...today & in the future


Bedminster School 2nd Grade 2/28/24

Memory Cafe (YMCA) - Changemakers/Black History Month

I was invited as a storyteller for the Basking Ridge YMCA "Memory Cafe"  - a place of respite for adults with dementia & their caregivers. 


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Read Sit In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney  323.1196 PIN – Splendid writing filled with food metaphors telling the story of the  4 college students who inspired a movement with their patient wait at a Woolworth’s lunch counter for their order of “doughnuts & coffee & cream on the side.

Followed with us all singing together this beautifully-illustrated and affirming book - a good song for young and old to have in our hearts and minds for tough days... 

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Book/Song: This Little Light of Mine illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Also talked about possible handprint art project - showed how they could trace a grandchild's hands on a piece of  of plain paper and have them decorate it - possibly including a note of something/someone that they are thankful or grateful for in the center heart section - great for Valentine's Day or Thanksgiving or really, any time...

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Literacy Volunteers - Middle Earth "Snow" Storytime/Craft

 




Read: Snow by Uri Shulewitz (discussed Caldecott Medal – what it means)

Acted Out: The Mitten by Jan Brett (did with a large tablecloth mitten & sign/masks from janbrett.com details: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/12/winter-storytimetheatercraft-jan-bretts.html)

  • Talked about folktale (story retold over generations/centuries (define), then read Jan Brett’s  book with kids holding tablecloth and masks from www.janbrett.com at the “aachoo”, I grabbed the tablecloth and the kids scattered. Another possibility is to have two kids (or grown ups) hold hands and become each side of the mitten, then let the kids crowd in between. (from http://lalalalibrary.blogspot.com/2014/12/flannel-friday-mitten.html)

Frosty the Snowman

Singable Book: Frosty
Booktalked: Raymond Brigg’s The Snowman (wonderful video available on Youtube) 

Snowflake Bentley

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Mary Azarian (talked about Caldecott Gold woodcut illustrations, true book – would find in the Biography (bio=life, graphy =writing,stories section)

Singable/flannel: “In the Freezer” by Joe Scruggs – lyrics here.



Snowballs by Lois Ehlert (had kids look at the collage art –> art project)

Snow creatures (inspired by Ehlert’s book) – Materials: White & colored construction paper, markers, scissors, glue, pompoms, buttons, feathers, etc.

Finished with: Snowball fight using plastic bag snowballs, to the music “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson (on album Season’s Greetings)
Making snowballs:
1) Gather a white plastic grocery bag into a long, skinny tube-like length with the handles on one end.
2) Fold the length in half, then in half again.
3) Wind a rubber band around the middle until it is tight.
4) Cut open both ends to remove any folded areas.
5) Then fluff out pieces
Idea courtesy of:  Susan Dailey, librarian, speaker and author of "A Storytime Year"

Optional Additional Craft : Cut out paper snowflakes http://thechocolatemuffintree.blogspot.com/2012/12/making-giant-snowflakes.html (could use large tissue paper) (booktalked Snowflake Bentley – another Caldecott)
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1/24/24

Friday, January 19, 2024

2024 Mock Caldecott - Bedminster School K-2

2024 – I conducted 4 Mock Caldecott elections with a total of about 200 K-2nd* graders at Bedminster School. I used the books and ideas from this blogpost: https://mrschureads.blogspot.com/2023/11/2024-mock-caldecott.html and the basic procedure here (using Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes and Tuesday by David Wiesner as samples of previous winners and mentioning how the Caldecott Committee is meeting in secret and no one knows which books they are considering – we are all guessing!).  

*Because of snow days, 3rd grade had to bow out.  Here are the results:


Kdg Winner: Big by Vashti Harrison
Honors: In the Night Garden by Carin Berger
The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker
Once Upon a Book, illustrations by Grace Lin
Also Read: Remember Illustrations by Michaela Goade, Words by Joy Harjo
My Powerful HairIllustrations by Steph Littlebird


1st Grade Winner: If I Was a Horse by Sophie Blackall
Honors: Big by Vashti Harrison
The Skull by Jon Klassen
Once Upon a Book, illustrations by Grace Lin
Remember Illustrations by Michaela Goade, Words by Joy Harjo
Also Read: In the Night Garden by Carin Berger
This is a Story, by John Schu, illustrations by Lauren Castillo
 

2nd Grade Winner: The Skull by Jon Klassen
Honors: Evergreen by Matthew Cordell
The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker
Jumper by Jessica Lanan
Nell Plants a Tree, illustrations by Daniel Miyares
Also Read: In the Night Garden by Carin Berger
If I Was a Horse by Sophie Blackall
Remember Illustrations by Michaela Goade, Words by Joy Harjo


All the books we considered are discussed here: https://mrschureads.blogspot.com/2023/11/2024-mock-caldecott.html






Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Literacy Volunteers Virtual Storytime - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

 


Read: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett about a town which gets its food through precipitation, then followed with some Thanksgiving-themed food stories & songs

Towel Folding Story: The Case of the Missing Turkey -- Rhonda Turley   Piedmont, OK via PUBYAC. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq4eojAsNlY  (or search youtube for towel and chicken).
Other Thanksgiving ideas and songs can be found here: Pre-School Storytime/Craft: Thanksgiving

"Last year, I was in charge of cooking the family thanksgiving turkey.I set my alarm for early in the morning so I could pop it in the oven to cook for our family dinner.

When the alarm went off, I got up, put on my fuzzy slippers and shuffled out to the kitchen to get the bird.  I opened the fridge, and…IT WAS GONE!
Where could it be!? (this is where the towel folding starts…lay the towel out flat)
I looked everywhere!
I rolled up the living room rug (roll one end of the towel to center)…it wasn’t under there.
I pulled down the covers on my bed (roll other end to the center)…it wasn’t there.
I turned over the couch cushion  (Flip rolled towel over so rolled ends are underneath)…it wasn’t there.
I looked under the chair (fold towel in half end to end, and hold upright like a bouquet of flowers)…it wasn’t there.
I looked in the flower vase (peek in end of one tube and pull up the corner of the towel)
I looked in the umbrella stand (peek in end of one tube and pull up the corner of the towel)…it wasn’t there.
I even looked in the trash can  (peek in end of one tube and pull up the corner of the towel)...thankfully it wasn't there!
Finally, I looked in the cookie jar  (pull up last corner of the towel)
(here’s the finale…grasp two corners with one hand, the other two corners with the other hand, and pull them apart…resulting in what looks like a plucked bird.)
…And there it was!"


Prop/Song: I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie – based on the book by Alison Jackson (great song for helping kids work on their memory skills – try to have them remember the different foods in the countdown; can also use rhyming reminders (phonemic awareness) as clues.) (We use a cardboard old lady with a plastic see-through stomach panel and a cardboard box mounted behind for the food items.) Lyrics and more images: www.4gaslps.com/IKnewAnOldLadyWhoSwallowedAPie.doc


Song: The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven (words: Jack Prelutsky, chorus: Cathy Darby)
Tune: “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” Check it out on Youtube, subtitled in Chinese! 

The turkey shot out of the oven
And rocketed into the air,
It knocked every plate off the table
And partly demolished a chair.
Oh my, oh me, why didn't I follow the recipe?
Oh my, oh me, why didn't I follow the recipe?

It ricocheted into a corner,
And burst with a deafening boom,
Then splattered all over the kitchen,
Completely obscuring the room. Chorus

It stuck to the walls and the windows,
It totally coated the floor,
There was turkey attached to the ceiling
Where there'd never been turkey before. Chorus

It blanketed every appliance,
It smeared every saucer and bowl,
There wasn't a way I could stop it,
That turkey was out of control. Chorus

I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure,
And thought with chagrin as I mopped,
That I'd never again stuff a turkey
With popcorn that hadn't been popped!



While the kids worked on their drawings of what foods they'd like to have rain down,
we played this video of Bridgewater author David Wiesner's story of mysterious floating giant vegetables, June 29, 1999

11/7/2023



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