School Age Storytime: Celebrating Books and Reading

Open Your Eyes to the World -- either real or through the pages of a book

Book: Pirate Treasure Hunt! -- Jan Peck (chant and response -- treasure is a  box of books!)


Book: hello!  hello! -- Matthew Cordell (girl discovers magical world outside when she puts down her electronics)


Book: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore -- William Joyce (story that inspired this Academy Award-winning short film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJvSXQwBBQg, also any iPad Ap)


Book: The World is Waiting for You -- Barbara Kerley (Kerley's latest collaboration with National Geographic alternates photographs of children exploring their world with extraordinary photos of scientists and explorers.  Short biogs and great quotes in the back as well.)


Book: H.O.R.S.E.: a game of basketball and imagination -- Christopher Myers (multicultural -- a great game of basketball and hyperbole!)

Book: I'm Bored --Michael Ian Black (a girl, initially proclaiming "I'm bored" goes to great lengths to show a skeptical potato that kids are NOT boring!)

Bedm. K-3 6/13  K-3rd Summer Reading promo 2013


Other possibilities: The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak – read by the author here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cREyQJO9EPs

Goldie Takes a Stand – Barbara Krasner – true story of Golda Meir’s childhood campaign to raise money to buy school books for poor kids. (2014)

Pre-School Storytime: Pizza & Pasta

A fun and silly storytime incorporating imaginary food preparation,
music, poetry, numeracy, and active play.

 

Entering Music: “Pasta” track #6 from Linda Arnold’s Peppermint Wings (also on 10 Carrot Diamond.)

Book: Noodles (Pop-Up) – Sarah Weeks 
Song: “Ravioli” (lyrics for this and other songs below)


Book (older kids):  Spaghetti Eddie – Ryan SanAngelo (Eddie finds many clever ways to use his noodles to help his neighbors) – omitted 2017, needed time for craft

Poem: "Spaghetti, Spaghetti" by Jack Prelutsky in the collection Sunflakes – poems selected by Lilian Moore

Flannel/Song: “On Top of Spaghetti” http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/ontopofspaghetti.html (This is an easy flannel to make -- I used yellow yarn hot-glued on a flannel plate, and added googly eyes on my "meatball")
 

Book: Hi, Pizza Man – Virginia Walter (Mother and young child bored with waiting for the Pizza Man play a fun game imagining which animals might deliver the pie.)

Flannel/Song:  P-I-Z-Z-A! (lyrics below) – letter identification, numeracy via clapping & numeral cards

Book (if time): Pizza at Sally’s – Sally Wellington or   Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza – Philemon Sturges (folk tale variant) – omitted 2017, needed time for craft

Action song: “This is the way we…to make our pizza pie” (lyrics below)

 
Pizza Pat  – Pat Gelman (cumulative tale of a pizza maker with a surprise ending)  

Flannel/Song: “I Am a Pizza” from Linda Arnold’s Peppermint Wings (also on 10 Carrot Diamond.) (lyrics below)

DVD/Video: Pete’s a Pizza (Wkrm) GREAT! Also  on PPR DVD Family Stories (at WTL) (acted out making a kid pizza afterwards!)

Alt: Reading Rainbow: Little Nino’s Pizzeria (Lamar making dough before/after)

Craft 2017: Make a paper plate pizza with real or fanciful toppings – optional, cut the “pizza” to get an intuitive introduction to fractions…

Hand-stamping Music: “I am a pizza” track #3 from Linda Arnold’s Peppermint Wings (also on 10 Carrot Diamond.)

Display Additional Books: Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore – McPhail (saved for messes) or Little Nino’s Pizzeria – Barbour, Pizza by Frank Asch, books on making pizza & bread .

Song lyrics: 

"I Am A Pizza" (tune on Linda Arnold's  "Peppermint Wings" -- makes a great flannel board. (It works well as an echo & response song (you sing then audience repeats line)  If you don't have the album, feel free to give me a call and I'll sing it for you.) 
I am a pizza  … (audience) I am a pizza  (place flannel “tomato/cheese pizza” on board)
With extra cheese… with extra cheese    
From tomatoes… From tomatoes…
Sauce is squeezed… Sauce is squeezed…
Onions and Mushrooms… Onions and Mushrooms…  (add flannel onions/mushrooms)
Oregano…Oregano.
I am a pizza … I am a pizza
Ready to go!
I am a pizza… I am a pizza…
Pepperoni… Pepperoni…  (add flannel “pepperoni”)
No Anchovies… No Anchovies…
Or phony balogne… Or phony balogne…
I am a pizza… I am a pizza…
Order by phone… Order by phone…  (flannel phone receiver or just use hand motion)
I am a pizza… I am a pizza…
Please take me home.
I am a pizza… I am a pizza…
Peppers on the top… Peppers on the top… (add flannel “peppers”)
Out of the oven… Out of the oven…
And into a box… And into a box…      (cover with square flannel “pizza box” )
Into the car… Into the car…
Upside down… Upside down… (groan)
I am a pizza… I am a pizza…
Dropped on the ground.   
I was a pizza… I was a pizza…
I was the BEST… I was the BEST…
I was a pizza… I was a pizza…
NOW I’M A MESS!   (flip over “pizza box” to reveal a flannel “scrambled up pizza”!)

Another fun song (from the book "Second Helpings"):
P-I-Z-Z-A (tune: BINGO) (flannelboard has a pizza divided into 5 pieces, I like to use numeral cards with this as well.)
I had a pizza all my own
And all of it was mine-O.
P-I-Z-Z-A,
P-I-Z-Z-A,
P-I-Z-Z-A,
And all of it was mine-O!
I had a pizza that I shared
One piece went to my brother.
P-I-Z-Z-(clap),
P-I-Z-Z-(clap),
P-I-Z-Z-(clap),
But all the rest was mine-O!
(continue with sister, mother, father...)
I had a pizza that I shared
One piece is all I'm left-O.
(clap, clap, clap, clap, clap),
(clap, clap, clap, clap, clap),
(clap, clap, clap, clap, clap),
And now that piece is gone-O!

"Ravioli"  (tune:  Alouette)--great movement song
Ravioli, ravioli, ravioli--
Ravioli, that's the stuff for me.
Do you have it on your pants?
Yes I have it on my pants.
On your pants?  On my pants.  Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Ravioli, ravioli, ravioli--
Ravioli, that's the stuff for me.
Ravioli, ravioli, ravioli--
Ravioli, that's the stuff for me.
Do you have it on your sleeve?
Yes I have it on my sleeve.
On your sleeve?  On my sleeve.
On your pants?  On my pants.  Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Ravioli, ravioli, ravioli--
Ravioli, that's the stuff for me.
Do you have it on your shoe?…     (chin, hair, nose, ear, etc. -- continue on
a round the body tour...)


"On Top Of Spaghetti" (Tune:  "On Top of Old Smokey")
(Another great flannelboard)
On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed.
It rolled off the table, and onto the floor,
and then my poor meatball rolled out the door.
It rolled in the garden, and under a bush,
and then my poor meatball, was nothing but mush.
The mush was as tasty, as tasty could be,
and early next  summer, it grew into a tree.
The tree was all covered, with beautiful moss,
It grew lovely meatball, and tomato sauce.
So if you eat spaghetti, all covered with cheese,
hold on to your meatballs, and don't ever sneeze!

“This is the Way…to Make Our Pizza Pie” (Tune: “Mulberry Bush”)
This is the way we mix the dough, mix the dough, mix the dough
This is the way we mix the dough to make our pizza pie.
…pound & knead…
…twirl the dough around…
…stretch the crust in the pan…
…spread the sauce…
…sprinkle the cheese…
…bake the pie…
…slice the pie…
…gobble it down…we’ve made a pizza pie!
****** 
BWL 2.12, 3.15, 3.16, 3/17 (story/craft)
St. Bernards 3.16

 

Winter Storytime/Theater/Craft: Jan Brett’s The Mitten

Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Jan Brett’s wonderful retelling of the old Ukrainian Folktale “The Mitten” (For ages 3-9)

We’ll read this cozy tale, act out the story and then make our own well-stuffed mittens!

• Talk about folktale, show Tressalt version, then read Jan Brett’s 
• Act out story with puppets (old lady, boy) and masks from www.janbrett.com – we had drawn an enormous mitten on a white plastic tablecloth with thick black marker, placed it on the floor and parents held down the corners while the Iibrarian narrated the story and the children (holding laminated masks from the Jan Brett website), stepped on and huddled together, at the “aachoo” we all jumped off and threw the tablecloth into the air!   Another possibility (suggested here http://lalalalibrary.blogspot.com/2014/12/flannel-friday-mitten.html is to have two kids (or grown ups) hold hands and become each side of the mitten, then let the kids crowd in between.)

• And/or play “The Mitten Game” from A Storytime Year by Susan Dailey p. 18 (adapted for Jan Brett’s version)

Have parents & children get in a circle & hold hands. The circle represents the mitten. Sing (to: “Twinkle, twinkle, Little Star”)
Mitten on this day so cold
How many animals can you hold?
A little mole tunnels in
To get out of the snow and wind
Mitten on this day so cold
How many animals can you hold?
Repeat for the other animals (snowshoe rabbit, hedgehog, owl, badger, fox, bear, mouse) As each animal’s name is called, a couple of children enter the circle and the circle gets tighter around them (the mitten is getting “crowded”).

On the last verse, sing the following and all fall down!.

Mitten on this day so cold
How many animals can you hold?
A tiny mouse crawls right in and…. Ha-Choo!!!

Alternatively:
The Mitten in the Snow (original source unknown, tune: The Farmer in the Dell) 
The mitten in the snow, the mitten in the snow,
Help us please so we don’t freeze, the mitten in the snow.

The mole (snowshoe rabbit, hedgehog, owl, badger, fox, bear, mouse) squeezes in (2x)
Help us please so we don’t freeze, the mitten in the snow.

The bear goes “kachoo” (2x),
All the animals fly up high – out of the mitten in the snow!

• Craft: animals & mitten www.janbrett.com/put_the_animals_in_the_mitten.htm
  -- we used hole punch and yarn for lacing mitten halves together (note: it’s easier to get the animals in and out if you don’t lace up the cuff portion – can copy on heavier paper, B&T chipboard cardboards are too hard to hole punch). Optional: Make eight hole punches along the cuff and use yarn to attach each of the animals to the cuff – then you can get them out of the mitten more easily at the “aachoo” – and the pieces don’t get lost! – we found a 8-10” long piece of yarn tied in a 4” long loop prevents too much tangling.) Used coloring sheet: “design your own mitten” from Jan Brett’s website for younger kids.)
• Alternatively, could do Story Rocks: http://fun-a-day.com/mitten-activities-using-story-rocks

12.2009 (20th Anniversary)
1.2016  (added plastic bag snowball fight details here before craft)
Heather Forest's Musical version here: http://www.heatherforest.com/files/01_-_The_Mitten.mp3
from: http://libraryladystorytimes.blogspot.ca/2014/01/flannel-friday-sort-of-mitten-madness.html has a great idea of using chopped paper confetti for the penultimate verse!

The Mitten (version from: Heather Forest, storyteller)

One cold and frosty day, a boy went into the forest to collect firewood. Along the way,he dropped a warm mitten his grandmother had just knit for him.

Along came a mouse. When the mouse saw the mitten lying in the snow, the mouse was shivering so. He said, “I'm frosty cold out here in the storm. I'm going to climb into that mitten where it's nice & warm.” And into the mitten he went.

Along came a rabbit. When the rabbit saw the mitten lying in the snow, the rabbit was shivering so. He said, “Can I come in? I'm cold from the storm. Let me in, let me in, where it's nice & warm.”
The mouse inside the mitten said, “Come on in the door.” And he moved over and sang, “There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more.” And so the rabbit climbed into the mitten and it stretched & stretched.

Along came a fox. When the fox saw the mitten lying in the snow, the fox was shivering so. He said, “Can I come in? I'm cold from the storm. Let me in, let me in, where it's nice & warm.”
The animals inside the mitten said, “Come on in the door.” And they moved over and sang, “There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more.” And so the fox climbed into the mitten and it stretched and stretched.

Along came a bear. When the bear saw the mitten lying in the snow, the bear was shivering so. He said, “Can I come In? I'm cold from the storm. Let me in, let me in, where it's nice & warm.”
The animals inside the mitten said, “Come on in the door.” And they moved over and sang, “There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more.” And so the bear climbed into the mitten and it stretched and stretched and stretched.

Along came a cricket. When the cricket saw the mitten lying in the snow, the cricket was shivering so, the cricket didn't even ask. It just stuck its leg right in and -- BAM!! The mitten exploded into 10 000 tiny pieces.

All the animals tumbled out onto the snow and scambered off into the forest in every direction. One piece of the mitten floated down and landed right on the mouse's head.

Just then the boy came back looking for the mitten he had dropped. But it was no where to be found. He did notice a little mouse running round and round however. And the mouse was wearing a hat, exactly the color of the mitten he had lost. “How strange!” he thought as he turned for home. When he arrived at his house, he looked in the window & saw his grandmother. She was sitting in a big rocking chair by the fire and she was knitting him a brand new pair of mittens just in case he ever lost one.

When she heard him outside she called, “It's frosty cold out there in the storm. Come in, come in where it's nice & warm.” And just as he came in the door she said, “Come and sit with me in this chair by the fire.” And she moved over and sang, “There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more. There's always room for one more.

It’s a Wrap (Story/Craft program Ages 3-10)

It’s a Wrap (Story/Craft program Ages 3-10)

  

“We'll share stories & songs about gifts and giving, then create our own wrapping paper and cards. Please wear old clothes or bring a smock as we will be using paint.”

Opening music & craft music: Season’s Greetings (could have used Beethoven’s Wig if secular preferred)  
Book: Giving – Shirley Hughes
Flannel: “Helping”
Book: Silver Packages – Cynthia Rylant (if the kids had been on the younger side, would have substituted Immi's Gift – Karin Littlewood)
Prop/Story: The Surprise – George Shannon (skipped 2016 – saved for Gifts & Giving program)
Book/Song: The Marvelous Toy – Tom Paxton

Book:  The Extraordinary Gift – Florence Langlois (skipped 2016)
Details about the above can be found at:
http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/12/pre-school-storytime-gifts-and-giving.html

Crafts:
· Wrapping Paper supplies: large paper (used packing paper bought at UPS store, could have also used bulletin board paper), plastic tablecloths, tempera paint and Styrofoam trays and brushes, Ellison die cutout stencils, bottle caps to make circles.)
· Holiday Cards supplies: construction paper for cards, seasonal Ellison die cut outs, markers, glue, scissors, hole punches, feathers, sequins, pompoms etc.

12.13, 12.16


Gifts & Giving: Story and Craft (Ages 3-9) Get an early "wrap" on your holidays with seasonal stories and songs plus a chance to make your very own wrapping paper!



Opening music & craft music: Goin’ to the Zoo – Tom Paxton and A Child’s Celebration of Song 2
Book: Rabbit’s Gift: A Fable from China – George Shannon
Prop/Story: The Surprise – George Shannon
Book: Immi's Gift – Karin Littlewood)
Book/Song: The Marvelous Toy – Tom Paxton
Book:  The Extraordinary Gift – Florence Langlois

Craft:  wrapping paper – Supplies: large sheets of white paper, markers, stamps & stamp pads

12.14

School Age Storytime: Giving Thanks: Celebrating Native Americans at Thanksgiving

A storytime for K-4 students celebrating the first Americans – Helping students gain an understanding of the Native Americans’ reverence for the natural world through their words & pourquoi stories. 

Can be used with Core Standards relating to folk tales. (R.L. 2.3, 3.3.- details below).

Opened with track #1 (flute solo) from  Beneath the Raven Moon (any Native American flute CD would do) -- asked kids to identify instrument -- any sense of where it was from?   Talked about the First Americans – for many generations (hundreds  of years before before the Pilgrims), many different people had lived in what we now call America. Some of them (a people called the Wampanoag) helped the Pilgrims survive that first terrible winter.  Two weeks before Thanksgiving, we’ll share some of their old stories “folktales” (get kids to help define)
Before science came up with the idea of the Big Bang…Native American pourqoui tales of how the world came to be…


Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest – Gerald McDermott (398.208997 MCD)
A beautifully illustrated (Caldecott honor) retelling of the tale of how Raven stole the sun from the Sky God and gave it to the People.

Song: Mr. Sun (Raffi) (Kindergarten only) 


Fire Race: A Karuk Coyote Tale (California area) retold by Jonathon London  -- All the animals work together to steal fire from the Yellow Jacket sisters so that the People will be able to make fire for cooking and warmth.

Song: “This Little Light of Mine”  lyrics


The Great Ball Game: A Muskogee Story (Georgia) retold by Joseph Bruchac (398.208997 BRU) – To prevent a war, the Animals & the Birds decide to determine which is superior by way of a ball game. Animals have teeth, birds have wings but bat has both – which side will he play on?  Little creatures can make a big difference in this tale that tells why birds have to fly south every winter.


Frog Girl – Paul Owen Lewis (398.208997 BRU)  After all the frogs are carried away from a nearby lake, the Chief’s Daughter ventures under the lake to save her people’s village.

Puppets/Storytelling:  The Frog: A Rainstick Story (adapted from a Hopi Indian tale – source unknown.)  (pupppets: frog, owl, coyote/wolf, prop: rainstick)

Many years ago, there was a drought. No rain had fallen for many weeks. The rivers were dry. The animals had no water to drink. A little frog sitting on the bank of the dry river bed thought to himself.
“I wonder if the rain clouds have fallen asleep and forgotten to make it rain. Perhaps if I make a lot of noise I could wake him up.” He began to croak: “Ribbit. Ribbit. Ribbit.”
The other frogs heard him. “Why are making so much noise?” The little frog answered, “I think the rain clouds have fallen asleep and forgotten to make it rain. I’m making a lot of noise so that they will wake up.”
“We would like to help,” said the other frogs. And they began to croak. {Children in audience} “Ribbit. Ribbit. Ribbit.”
An owl flew over the dry river bed and heard the frogs croaking. “Why are you making so much noise?” the owl called to them. After the frogs explained the owl said, “I would like to help.” He began to hoot “Hoot. Hoot. Hoot.”
Other owls said they would help too. They all began to hoot. {Children in audience} “Hoot. Hoot. Hoot.”
A wolf in the desert heard the noise and called to the owls, “Why are you making so much noise?” The owls explained the situation.
The wolf said, “I would like to help.” He began to howl, “Ow-oo, Ow-oo, Ow-oo.” Other wolves said they would like to help. {children in audience} “Ow-oo, Ow-oo, Ow-oo.”
Soon it began to rain. {Use rain stick} It rained, and rained and rained.
One little frog can make a big difference. “Ribbit. Ribbit. Ribbit.”

optional craft: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/music/rainstick/

Song: “We’ve got the Whole World in Our Hands” (traditional) lyrics  -- used “frogs in the lake” “birds in the air” “animals in the woods” “mountains and seas” “flowers and trees” “you and me” “whole world”
Discussed how Native Americans cared about the environment, didn’t think people could own the land, the trees, or the wild animals anymore than they owned the sky…

Read selected pages from Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle, paintings by Susan Jeffers (811.3 SEA)
(Alternative: Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by Chief Jake Swamp (299 SWA) – also available as a Reading Rainbow episode)

Song: “Thanks a Lot” (Raffi) lyrics

Common Core Connections:
2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
3.2 Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

Related titles:
Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving – Joseph Bruchac (398.208997 BRU)
Tapenum’s Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times by Kate Waters (974.4 WAT) a photo-essay exploring the life of a Wampanoag boy in the 1620s.
Giving Thanks: the 1621 Harvest Feast by Kate Waters (394.2649 WAT) a photo-essay reenactment as a 6 year old English boy and a 14 year old Wampanoag boy share their stories of what might have happened at that first feast.
1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving – Catherine 0’Neill Grace & Margaret M. Bruchac – illustrated with photographs from the Plimoth Plantation.  Great background info but not a read-aloud.
Eagle Boy: A Pacific Northwest Native Tale retold by Richard Lee Vaughan (Picture Vaughan) – the story of how an abandoned orphan boy is saved by bald eagles and comes to save his people as well.
Maiden of the Mist: A Legend of Niagara Falls – Veronika Martenova Charles (398.208997 CHA)
Owl Eyes –Frieda Gates (398.208997 GAT)
Dancing With the Indians – Angela Shelf Medearis (Picture Medearis)
The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush – Tomie dePaola (398.208997 DEP)
& many of the Paul Goble titles ((398.208997 GOB)
Bedm 11.14


Reading Rainbow: Knots on a Counting Rope -- Native American boy overcomes blindness
Reading Rainbow: Legend of the Indian Paintbrush