School Age Storytime: Stepping Out (of Your Comfort Zone)

A K-4 storytime celebrating curiosity and a willingness to try new things -- with a nod to books and reading, the beauty of this country and the world around us, and the power of possibilities....

The Book of Gold by Bob Staake Isaac Gutenberg isn’t interested in anything, until an old bookseller tells him the legend of a book of gold which contains answers to everything and, when opened, turns into solid gold.  Eager for riches, he opens every book he finds – and gradually starts reading what is inside…he’ll need patience and fortitude…and eventually finds them both at the NY Public Library.

On this Spot: An Expedition Back Through Time by Susan E. Goodman (J974.71 GOO)  (Non-Fiction – uncommon core!) --  A brilliant tour-de-force tracing NYC from the present back in time 540 million years…lots of mathematical comparisons (e.g.if all the 8 million people in NYC today were laid end to end would reach to California and back, 350 years ago New Amsterdam had 1500 people = about the population of 3 schools today), fascinating historical trivia (e.g. pigs and chickens roamed NYC streets 175 years ago, the Lenape path to winter grounds is now today’s Broadway) and scientific information (the rise and fall of mammoths, ice age glaciers*, dinosaurs, lakes, mountains, and seas).   Text is long so I point out highlights.)  *mentioned our gorgeous local Buck Garden was carved by a mile high glacier.

This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, Paintings by Kathy Jakobsen (J782.42 GUT)

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein (also DVD)-- The Caldecott-winning evocation of Phillippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the world trade towers.

The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan  -- Dodsworth leads a very dull life until a rusty old refrigerator filled with different supplies each day opens his eyes to amazing new possibilities.

See also:

http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/10/school-age-storytime-on-this-spot-new.html 

http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2016/05/school-age-storytimeimagine.html

http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/04/school-age-storytime-earth-day-heroes.html

 

Bedm 10/2017

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~ Anne Frank (1929-1945)

“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” ~ Helen Keller

"The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day." ~ Gloria Steinem

"I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one."~ Calamity Jane (1852-1903), American frontierswoman

School Age Storytime : Pumpkins

A K-4 storytime combining the joy of storytelling, an environmental fable, some truly enGROSSing science, and a great ghost story or tale of creative problem-solving 
(order of books varied in some groups)

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 – Mary Lyn Ray (Modern environmental fable/fairytale about a man who saves a field from development by growing pumpkins and sending them around the world.) (omitted for Kindergarten)

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!  Booktalked: Living Sunlight by Molly Bang 572.46 BAN (an unforgetable look at photosynthesis and the interconnected web of all life on earth told by the sun.)

Book (K-2): Bear’s Bargain – Frank Asch (also published as Moonbear’s Bargain)  (“have you ever wished you were big, or could fly?”..we tried flying with bear in the book -- clever problem solving). (3rd-4th grade): The Perfect Pumpkin Pie – Denys Cazet (when Old Mr. Wilkerson dies while eating pie, he returns as a  grumpy ghost with a roving eyedetermined to find a perfect pie – have poster for his chant -- could use puppets & ping pong & tennis ball “eye” props.)

Bedm. K-4, 10/2017

STEAM Storytime–Rotten Pumpkin

S.T.E.A.M. Storytime (ages 3-6 & grades K-4) Problem solving, creative dramatics, and the  cycle of life – all celebrated with the orange icon of the fall season! 

Book: Bear’s Bargain – Frank Asch (also published as Moonbear’s Bargain)  (“have you ever wished you were big, or could fly?”..we tried flying with bear in the book -- clever problem solving).

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.

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!

Book: Pumpkin Heads – Wendell Minor – great inspiration for unusual jack-o-lanterns.

Craft: Create either cute or gross pumpkins inspired by the books above.  Materials: orange construction paper, scrap construction paper, goggly eyes, markers, stamp pads & cotton balls (to create simulated “rot”)

Music playing: Andrew Gold’s Halloween Howls

BWL 10.17

Ideas for Halloween engineering projects: http://leftbraincraftbrain.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&chash=0a09c8844ba8f0936c20bd791130d6b6.195