Something Special for the Holidays

 Something Special for the Holidays

Book: Lights for Gita, a Diwali Story by Rachna Gilmore (told a shorter version of the story & showed the pictures) 

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

Book: Duck for Turkey Day by Jacqueline Jules  (more Thanksgiving book ideas: https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/search/label/Thanksgiving

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!"

Images: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Towel-Chicken

Action: Turkey Trot

Optional 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!

Optional 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

Book: The Borrowed Thanksgiving Latkes by Linda Glaser

Flannel Song: I had a Little Dreidel, I made it out of ...clay, mud, sand, soap, ice, straw, etc! 
Lyrics for this and other songs can be found here:  http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/11/turkey-latkes-thanksgiving-chanukah.html

Book: Silver Packages: An Appalachian Christmas Story by Cynthia Rylant

Book/Song: The Marvelous Toy by Tom Paxton

Activity: Snowball fight using plastic bag snowballs, to the music “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson (on album Season’s Greetings)
Making snowballs for the program:
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"

Bedminster Library - Craft: Make your own wrapping paper - bulletin board paper, markers, stickers, etc. 

More ideas: https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/search/label/Winter%20Holidays

Nov-Dec 2021: Did variations on this program for Somerset Hills Allies in Dunham Park

Bedminster School K&1st grades via Zoom

Bedminster Library in person

Read Across America Day 2021 - Bedminster School Kindergarten

 

Opened by mentioning that this has been a year with a lot of changes, then shared the book Changes by Anthony Browne encouraging them to notice all the strange things in the pictures!  (You can hear me read this book again here and visit  https://tinyurl.com/Storytime-with-Carol for more of my read-alouds.) 

 Then followed up with Joanne Ryder's book EarthDance and encouraged kids to get up and move with the book as well.

Mentioned I also have created a compilation of fun family sites for at-home reading & learning at: https://tinyurl.com/familylearningideas​.

Family Literacy Night - Superheroes are Everywhere (Virtual for Washington Elementary, Roselle)

Introduced myself as portraying Alice Paul, NJ Suffragist who had picketed the White House and even been imprisoned for demanding that women have the right to vote. 

Read Fight of the Century: Alice Paul Battles Woodrow Wilson for the Vote by Barb Rosenstock, the brand new book that depicts their struggle of wills in the fight to win the vote for women.

Talked about women finally getting the right to vote 100 years ago and that thousands of women (and men) worked for many years for women's suffrage. Shared the info and coloring page on Alice Paul from Remembering the Ladies: From Patriots in Petticoats to Presidential Candidates which profiles 69 women of all colors and creeds who worked for women's rights in this country. E-book available free of charge at my webpage tellingherstories.com.

Mentioned we now for the first time in our history have a woman Vice-President - Kamala Harris!

Shared her book Superheroes are Everywhere which shows how our own family and friends can be superheroes...and we can be too!  We read the "superhero Pledge" together. Asked them about superheroes in their own lives.  

Booktalked and shared selections from Barack Obama's inspirational Of Thee I Sing.

Finished by sharing the Schoolhouse Rock video "Suffering Till Suffrage"

Read Across the Ocean -- Virtual Storytime for the Students at Kiwimbi School in Kenya

 

Carol reads EarthDance by Joanne Ryder to the students of Kiwimbi School Kenya. If you want to have a reading that shows close ups of the book, you can find it here.

Possible follow ups:

Book: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer – the true story of a boy from Malawi, who, when a drought threatened his village, used books found in a library to learn to build a windmill from scraps. Read Aloud : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieSIhow18kU

Kids can make their own pinwheels - directions You can meet him "in person" here: Moving Windmills: The William Kamkwamba story 6 min. interview His first TED Talk (2009) William KamKwamba: How I harnessed the wind Updated with TED Talk (2018) (after he studied engineering at Dartmouth University!!) Catching up with inventor William Kamkwamba | William Kamkwamba Interview with Chris Anderson (Also now a full-length Netflix film: "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/03/incredible-adventures-boy-who-harnessed.html – has more ideas for this title. Another innovative real-life solution to a problem of lack of power:

The Soccket, an energy-generating soccer ball that turns into a lamp

More books that celebrate African inventors:

Book: One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul tells how plastic bag trash was becoming a terrible problem in a village – even killing the goats – until a clever and enterprising woman and her friends figured out how to take this trash and make it into useful purses that could be sold for income. Reading with music available here Instructions to make them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r354rs7aYzI Related videos: Young woman is recycling plastic into building bricks: https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/recycling-plastic-waste-to-make-bricks-that-are-stronger-than-concrete https://mymodernmet.com/gjenge-makers-recycled-plastic-bricks/

Book: Galimoto by Karen Lynn Williams tells the story of a young child who uses scraps of wire to create his own toy. Reading Rainbow: Galimoto book starts around 2:50.

Book: Masai and I by Virginia Kroll offers a child's perspective comparing the daily lives of a child in a U.S. city and a Maasai child in Kenya. Musical reading

Book: 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy Maasai tribal members, after hearing the story of the September 11th attacks from a young Massai who was in New York on that day, decide to present the American people with fourteen sacred cows as a healing gift. Reading Author interview: My favorite follow up is Tom Chapin's beautiful song "This Pretty Planet" (with beautiful pictures) or Children doing it as a round with Tom Chapin Many more ideas -- and other books I could read -- are here: https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/04/mothers-fathers-of-invention-if-at.html

Here are some of my favorite booklists from "What Do We Do All Day" 

INSPIRING PICTURE BOOKS:

These are picture book lists that will inspire kids to create, dream and spread kindness in their community.

• Books to Inspire Kids to Change the World 
• Books to Teach Kindness
• Books to Inspire Kids to Follow Their Dreams
• Books to Inspire Artistic Creativity
• Books to Inspire Inventors and Engineers
• Picture books about the Theater
• Books Celebrating Screen-Free Life
• Funny Picture Books
• Books about Trying New Things
• Picture Books about Peace
• Growth Mindset Picture Books
• Picture Books about Observation and Perspective
• Nature Picture Books
• Books about New Beginnings

PICTURE BOOKS ABOUT INTEGRITY & EMOTIONS:

• Picture Books that Teach Meaningful Values
• Picture Books to Support Emotional Intelligence
• Picture Books about Mindfulness and Meditation
• Books that Teach Empathy
• Books about Anger, Frustration and General Crankiness
• Books about Fear and Courage
• Picture Books about Perseverance and Determination
• Children’s Books about Happiness
• Picture Books about Lying and Honesty
• Picture Books to Teach Responsible Citizenship
• Picture Books about Friendship
• Picture Books about Communities Coming Together 
  • Picture books about global social justice
  • Picture Books about Refugees
  • 30 Days of Diverse Picture Books for K-1st Grade
  • 30 days of diverse books for 2nd and 3rd grade
  • Picture Books about Diversity and Multiculturalism
  • Read Your Way Around the World: 50 books set in different countries

American Girls Superheroes - True Superheroes

American Girls Club - True Superheroes Party (Sussex County Library Virtual Program)
"Don’t miss this very special meeting of the American Girl Club featuring Carol Simon Levin! Ms. Levin shares stories of remarkable women throughout history (our true Superheroes!). There will be activities too! Miss Jenise hosts. Kindergarten and above. American Girl dolls are welcome, but you don’t need a doll to join in." March 27 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm FREE

Superheroes-->Flight-->Real female flyers

Opened by having each attendee introduce her American Girl doll(s), then had a discussion of characteristics of "superheroes." After "able to fly" came up, said that while real people can't fly by themselves, they can become pilots and I was going to share a story about a real person named Bessie Coleman who, despite people saying she couldn't learn to fly an airplane because she was Black and a woman, went on to become a famous aviatrix.

Read: Nobody Owns the Sky by Reese Lindbergh (daughter of Charles Lindbergh)

Booktalked other picture book biographies of aviatrices (above) Jenise Sileo, Sussex County Library Youth Services Librarian sent out this terrific video booktalk after the program)

Showed the Bessie Coleman segment from the Reading Rainbow episode "Ruth Law Thrills a Nation" (starts at 7:45)

Introduced the concept of "lift" then we experimented Asked what they thought would happen if they blew above and below a strip of paper, then using strips of paper, blew and watch how they lift UP either way! (air moving faster above the paper causes low air pressure which counteracts the force of gravity which is how airplanes can fly" 
(“c” from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/education/activities/2412_barrier.html)

Make and fly our own paper airplanes – “classic” plus unusual “Flying Saucer” “Spirit of Alabama” (instructions: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/11/incredible-adventures-flight-school.html)

Here are links for lots of more great paper airplanes: https://www.foldnfly.com/#/1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2  More ideas at: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/search/label/Aviators 

Then asked who knew who Kamala Harris was and read her book Superheroes are Everywhere. 

Booktalked: Barack Obama's marvelous Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters (more like this in my program called "Big Dreamers" ) and the new book Dreams for Our Daughters.  

You can find lots of great booklists at: What Do We Do All Day

Profiles of groundbreaking women at A Mighty Girl

Daily math problems from Bedtime Math

More Fun & Educational Ideas for Kids during the Coronavirus Quarantine 

You can hear me read-aloud "Soar Elinor" another book about a daring young female flyer here

We share the story of the plucky young female pilot who flew under four NYC bridges then talk about "lift" and make a paper airplane to fly. Find instructions for a variety of paper airplanes at my website: http://www.carolsimonlevin.blogspot.c...

​ or check out this video: https://tinyurl.com/5EasyPaperAirplanes

​. Want to read "Soar Elinor"? You'll find it here: https://archive.org/details/soarelino...

​. More activities at: https://www.tamilewisbrown.com/soarel...

​. You might also enjoy Flight! by Robert Burleigh (a book about Charles Lindbergh's solo across the Atlantic Ocean) here: https://archive.org/details/flightjou...

​. Interested in learning about other female flyers, check out the links at: https://nobodyownsthesky.wordpress.co...

​ flying! You can find more of my storytime videos at: https://tinyurl.com/Storytime-with-Carol

​. I also have created a compilation of fun family sites for at-home learning at: https://tinyurl.com/familylearningideas

​.

School Age Storytime: “Soup’s On”

School Age Storytime: “Soup’s On”   K-2 Bedminster School

Featuring soup stories and songs, incorporating fiction and non-fiction, concepts of alphabet, emotions, and months of the year, and participatory storytelling of a classic folk tale.

Kdg only: Book: Growing Vegetable Soup – Lois Ehlert (vocabulary, non-fiction concepts of gardening & food prep)

“Piggy Back” Song/Action: This is the Way we… make the Soup (lyrics for this and all other songs below) (reinforces sequencing)

All classes:  Interactive story with props (pot, puppets, & veggies): Stone Soup  (Participatory storytelling, mentioned old story many variants – I use the Ann McGovern version with old lady and young man - script and songs here: https://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/02/school-age-storytime-soups-on.html)

Song/Flannel:  "Alphabet Soup" by Tom Chapin (reinforces alphabet) 

Book: Mean Soup – Betsy Everitt (A great idea for a difficult day – could also make "Mean Cheerios!") (Alternative: That is NOT a Good Idea -- Mo Willems)

Song:  "If you are happy and you know it…" .. sad, angry, excited, etc.

Book : Monkey Soup – Louis Sachar – author of Sideways Stories from Wayside School  (child makes her father a special kind of soup to help get him well – silly!)   Don't try this at home! 

Book/Cards/Song: Chicken Soup with Rice – Maurice Sendak, tune by Carole King from “Really Rosie” concept: the names of the months (Watch on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSJ0FDplzjk , more tracks from the musical here: https://www.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEB&search_query=really+rosie)

Book (1st & 2nd grade):  Armadilly Chili – Helen Ketterman (Armadillo fails to get help from her friends in chili preparation but when they return with "sackfulls of apologies plus apple cider, cornbread, and brownies, she finds sharing dinner with friends is best of all. This is a  folktale variant of "Little Red Hen" – which I challenged students to identify midway through the story.)

Song/Action: “Doing the Chocolate Shake” (chocolate soup)

1/20/2020