Seussapalooza!! (Read Across America) Family Story/Craft Program

 

 

Saturday Morning Story/Craft Program  ages 3-10
Have a Seuss-arific good time as we celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday with stories, songs, activities and crafts!  Costumes are welcome - feel free to come as your favorite Dr. Seuss character.
(ideally done with 4-8 teen volunteers, but can be done with just kids & parents)

Music playing as children arrive: album “Seussical”
Greeted the children dressed in a Cat in the Hat Costume (Black pants & shirt, famous hat, white bib & bowtie, black fake-fur tail)
As kids arriving: had a table with nametags for them to fill out (helps with crowd control) and a table with Ellison die-cut “Cat in the Hat” hats (red hats, long white cardstock for headbands, white strips for gluing on hats, scissors & gluesticks) so each could make own hat for the program.

 
3/2016: Act out  “Green Eggs & Ham” – 2 volunteers play Sam & Fred, other volunteers hold cue cards, and young kids hold laminated “green eggs” and “hams” – everyone chiming in on the rhyming words & refrain. Script here: http://files.havefunteaching.com/fun-activities/readers-theater/green-eggs-and-ham.pdf. described here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/03/pre-school-storytime-everything-green.html

Song/Movement --  a rousing “Silly Hat” song (Source Unknown):
On my head I wear a hat,
It is such a silly hat,
That my head will wiggle,
Wiggle to and fro,
Where else should my silly hat go?
...continuing with audience suggestions...e.g. elbow, knee, foot, chin, tail, eyes, ear, hand, bottom,belly, nose (pinched nose to sound funny)...ending with
In my lap I have a hat,
It is such a quiet hat,
That my lap won't wiggle,
It just stays flat,
What do you all think of that! (everyone sits down, hat goes back on my head)

Asked kids what Dr. Seuss stories they know?

Played Name that Book: The Cat in the Hat Says “Who Said That?” -- Read out the clues and had the kids name the book. (clues, signs, and instructions for this program are here: http://tinyurl.com/seussapalooza

Mentioned Dr. Seuss known for his silly rhymes,
Read: There’s a Wocket in my Pocket.

Omitted 2016: play rhyming game -- kids shouted out silly words to practice rhyming with: e.g. hat, car, fan, etc. …if you end with “bad” –> “sad”)

Omitted 2016: Read: My Many Colored Days (a lesser-known Dr. Seuss about moods) fun to act out with kids naming the colors and participating in the actions described
Action Song: “If You’re Happy and You Know It” 

Explain stations, turn the music back on and let them go!

Activities, Crafts & Stations: (signs for all activities and additional instructions are here: http://tinyurl.com/seussapalooza)

Activities: Choose from
· Pin the bowtie on Cat in the Hat (paper bowties, laminated Cat, blindfold)
· Cat in the Hat Relay– paper plate & cup relay (kids put these on their heads and try to cross the room without dropping them)
· Horton Hears a Who Relay-- shakey egg and spoon relay (see who can carry the egg on the spoon across the room without dropping it!)
· The Foot Book -- paint feet and toenails with washable markers, play “musical feet” (cut out feet instead of chairs) -- set up next to cd player with “Seussical” starting and stopping
· One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Silly Fishing -- Make a few “fishing poles” with dowels, string, and magnets on the end; place die cut fish, each with a silly instruction written on it and a paper clip attached. Children fish, then do the indicated activity.

Games:
· Cat in the Hat floor puzzle (commercial product we had)
· Go Fish Card Game (commercial product we had)
· Cat in the Hat Tic Tac Toe (http://www.seussville.com/activities/CAT_TicTacToe_0.pdf)
Paper & Pencil Table:
· Words & Rhymes – make your own rhymes/poems

· Word searches, matching, what’s in a box (pencils, markers, scissors, gluesticks, stamp pads) http://origin-www.seussville.com/activities/RAAEK13_Booklet_WEB.pdf, http://origin-www.seussville.com/activities/CAT_FunInABox.pdf (lots more stuff here)

Crafts:
· Cat in the Hat paper bag puppet – handouts, paper bags, scissors, markers, gluesticks, staples
· Bartholomew Hat making – die cut, gluesticks, markers, feathers, pom poms, sequins, etc.
· Horton out of hearts – handout , scissors, gluesticks, markers, pompoms
· Create your own Seussical creature – toilet paper rolls, gluesticks, colored paper, markers, pipe cleaners, pompoms, markers, etc.
· Dr. Seuss Birthday Cards (cards, markers)
· And the above-mentioned Cat-in-the-Hat craft (for late arrivals)

· note: no oobleck -- I’ve made this in other programs but it is too messy to add to the Seussapolooza mix!
3/14, 3/16 BWL
Additional Possible Activities
Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Create the biggest birthday card ever!
Three Cats in a Row!
Fun-In-A-Box
A Word (or Two!) About Seuss
A Hatful of Seuss!
Important Information About Dr. Seuss/About Me Fun Facts Sheet
Knock Around with Dr. Seuss Door Hanger
Party Suggestions
Hats off to Dr. Seuss Hat Toss
Cat, Cat, Hat!
Rhyming Fun Has Just Begun!

Horton Hears a Who Party
AfterSchool Program Ages 4+

I conducted a very successful Dr. Seuss program  thanks to Betsy Stroomer BetsyS@cityoflafayette.com, who shared Lafayette Public Library's Reader's Theatre version of "Horton Hears a Who"with me.
Before the program, I hung a large Red & White Dr. Seuss Birthday Card made of Bulletin Board paper (& curling ribbon)  for the kids to decorate, set up a birthday cake, put out a CD player with the CD "Seussical", laid out audience sitting space with masking tape, handed out scripts and name boards (character name and picture laminated on a 8x10 board to hand around the actors' necks) and did a 20 minute run-through of "Horton Hears a Who" with my 4 teen volunteer actors (all I had available), who played Horton, the Narrator, Kangaroo (and Young Kangaroo too--high voice and fingers arranged bunny rabbit style), and the Mayor.  I played the Wickershams, and I used young audience members for Vlad and Jo-Jo.  The whole audience (4-8 year olds) were the Whos and the Mayor directed them at the appropriate time to call out "We are here!  We are here! We are here! We are here!"

I greeted the children dressed in a Cat in the Hat Costume, and after the children were seated, I led them in a rousing Silly Hat song (lyrics above):
Then I returned the hat to my nose, and asked what animal I looked like? (an elephant) as a bridge to the performance of Horton.

After the Reader's Theatre, I divided the children into four groups and gave each group a plastic teaspoon and a large pompom.  Then, I turned on the CD of "Seussical" and they did pompom-carrying "egg races" across the room.
Following that, we moved to the craft tables and made elephants out of hearts (since Horton is certainly an elephant with a big heart).  Craft directions are at:   www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/melephant.htm.  (One tip I would recommend -- include the little finished elephant design on the craft template cutout page as the assembly is not obvious.)

When they finished, the kids signed and decorated our Dr. Seuss Birthday Card and then we sang "Happy Birthday" and served cake (an inexpensive Costco cake with a Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat birthday candle added).
Duration: 1 hour.
Another option -- Horton printable mask: http://stickyfloorshappykids.com/dr-seuss-the-lorax-and-horton-masks-free-printable-templates/        3/05

3.16

Some other clever ideas here: http://fromtheshortstacks.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-suess-tastical-celebration.html

Pre-School Storytime: Egg-citing Stories

Silly springtime storytime which teaches children about the many creatures who hatch from eggs, also reinforces names of body parts, and includes puppets, music and movement, and an interactive version of Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs & Ham.  Lots of rhyming fun as well.

A great program for emphasizing Every Child Ready to Read 2:

"playing, singing, reading, talking -->learning!"
(Note: this program also works well with kindergarten & first graders)

Music playing as kids arrive: Laurie Berkner’s album “Whaddaya Think of That”

Book: The Odd Egg – Emily Gravett (all ages --award winning, surprise ending -- make sure kids know what "odd" means)

Puppet(Alligator) Action Song: I’m being Swallowed by a Big Alligator…(Explained concept of “piggy-back” song, my variation of “I’m being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor.” Phonemic awareness/have children supply rhyming body part…)

I’m being Swallowed by a Big Alligator, Big Alligator, Big Alligator
I’m being Swallowed by a Big Alligator and I don’t like it very very much!
Oh no, he’s swallowed my… (point & wait)… toe.
Oh rankle, he’s swallowed my… (point & wait)… ankle
Oh fee, he’s swallowed my… (point & wait)… knee.
Oh sigh, he’s up to my… (point & wait)… thigh.
Oh fiddle, he’s reached my… (point & wait)… middle.
Oh heck, he’s swallowed my… (point & wait)… neck.
Oh dread, he’s swallowed my… (cover face, gulp, silence)!

Book:  An Egg is Quiet – 591.468 Ashton (some groups – have to chose between this and the Eggbert set, or booktalk it after the Posada title)

Song/Puppets: “Cluck Cluck Red Hen” (lyrics below)

Interactive Book (Non-Fiction): Guess what is growing inside this egg – 591.468 Posada (With older groups, I just read the rhymes and have them guess before showing the pictures to help the kids work on their listening skills.)

Book (younger groups): The Chick and the Duckling – Mirra Ginsburg (chick discovers she doesn't always have to do what duckling does)
Book (older groups): P. Zonka Lays an Egg -- Julie Paschkis (new 2015, a wonderful book about an unusual chicken who notices the world around her and finally lays an extraordinary egg), or Eggbert, The Slightly Cracked Egg – Tom Ross (Eggbert discovers it is ok to be different) or Hunwick's Egg – Mem Fox (Hunwick finds he still loves his mysterious egg even after discovering it isn't an egg at all) – skipped, no time

Action Song (younger groups) (Chick/Egg Puppet):  I’m a Little Chicken by Susan Peters (tune “I’m a Little Teapot”, children doing action with fist wrapped around finger that “pops out.”))
I’m a little chicken,
Ready to hatch,
Pecking at my shell,
Scratch Scratch Scratch.
When I crack it open, out I’ll leap,
Fluff up my feathers and cheep, cheep, cheep!

Flannel: Humpty Dumpty (classic nursery rhyme, since it is a “downer” I like to conclude with a silly variation: Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, eating black bananas. Where do you think he put the skins? Down the king’s pajamas!” –speaking of scrambled eggs…)

Poem: "Spring Is" by Bobbi Katz from Sunflakes: Poems for Children selected by Lilian Moore (wonderful image -- poet suggests that daffodils are scrambled eggs that have jumped off the plate)
(also shared poem "Sunflakes" by Frank Asch with some groups -- and talked about our forthcoming Poetry Treasure Hunt http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/03/national-poetry-monthpoetry-treasure.html)

Book: Eggs on Your Nose – Ann McGovern (silly book about a very messy eater)

Song: Eggs Upon Me by Carol Simon Levin (“piggy back” version of the classic camp tune “Ravioli”, great for learning body part names)
Chorus: Eggs upon me, eggs, oh, eggs upon me
Eggs upon me, what’s a kid to do?
Do you have them on your head?
Yes I have them on my head!
On your head, on my head…oh oh oh oh… Chorus
Continue with: Do you have them down your chin…on your shirt.. in your lap… on your shoes… in your hair, etc.

Interactive storytelling: Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs & Ham I hand out picture/word cards to the kids for all the places the green eggs & ham are refused (here, there, house, mouse, box, fox, car, tree, train, dark (or use flashlight), rain (or use umbrella), goat, boat) and have extra laminated green eggs & ham pieces so everyone in the room can have a part. If you have another adult you can use laminated neck cards with pictures of Sam-I-Am and the friend (picky eater) -- Script here:  http://files.havefunteaching.com/fun-activities/readers-theater/green-eggs-and-ham.pdf or you can read the book aloud and have kids hold up the cards as the words are read.  The kids holding green eggs & hams are the enthusiastic chorus waving them about… and everyone chimes in on “I will not eat them anywhere!” (skipped in 2016)

Take home rhyming practice activity –from http://www.obseussed.com/2012/03/green-eggs-and-ham-activities-and-free.html

2017: did this plus binoculars toilet paper roll craft (2 toilet paper rolls, paper, decorations, tape, gluesticks, hole punches, yarn)






Book (Non-Fiction):  Except If -- Jim Averbeck, booktalk: Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones – Ruth Heller (also available as Reading Rainbow DVD, but narrator is slow and I feel it works better as a book because reader can work interactively with children.)

Can reinforce concept of animals besides birds who lay eggs with Shakey Eggs Game: Who Lays Eggs?
1. Give each child a shaker egg
2. Hold up a stuffed animal– if the animal lays eggs, have the kids hold up their eggs; if it does not, have them hold eggs behind their backs.
3. Start with easy animals & then do less obvious (insects, reptiles, snakes, dinos)

Active Play with eggs: follow the directions in Laurie Berkner's song "I know a Chicken" on her "Whaddaya Think of That?" CD.

DVD: “Max’s Chocolate Chicken” from The Rosemary Wells Library (Weston Woods, PPR) or Reading Rainbow: Rechenka’s Eggs (older groups) 2016 or The Emperor’s Egg

Other lovely titles for school age groups:
Just Plain Fancy -- Patricia Polacco
Rachenka's Eggs -- Patricia Polacco
Horton Hatches the Egg -- Dr. Seuss
Eggs Mark the Spot – Auch

Humpty Dumpty Eggsplodes – O’Malley

 

for preschool-K (can also be used older):

Daisy and the Egg – Simmons  
Eggday – Dunbar

Yes --Goffin

An Extraordinary Egg -- Lionni
What's in the Egg Little Pip? -- Wilson
Humpty Dumpty – Kirk
When Blue Met Egg -- Ward
The Cow That Laid an Egg -- Cutbill
Hurry, Hurry -- Bunting
Hank Finds an Egg -- Dudley


Optional: 

Puppets/Song: Cluck Cluck Red Hen (Lyrics by Raffi, Tune: "Baa Baa Black Sheep" Song on Raffi's album "The Corner Grocery Store.")
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for your sweater and one for your rug,
And one for your blanket to keep you warm and snug. (repeat first two lines)

   Cluck, Cluck, Red Hen, have you any eggs?
   Yes sir, yes sir, as many as your legs.
   One for your breakfast and one for your lunch,
   Come back tomorrow, I'll have another bunch.(repeat first two lines)
Moo, Moo, Brown Cow, have you milk for me?
Yes sir, yes sir, as tasty as can be.
Churn it into butter, make it into cheese,
Freeze it into ice-cream or drink it if you please.(repeat first two lines)
   Buzz, Buzz, Busy Bee, is your honey sweet?
   Yes sir, yes sir, sweet enough to eat.
   Honey on your muffin, honey on your cake,
   Honey by the spoonful, as much as I can make.(repeat first two lines)

3.13, 3.14. 3.15 3.16, 3.17 (also PJ Time)
3.14 St.B
3.14 Bedm




Egg: Nature's Perfect Package --  by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page -- great discussion, further ideas, and interview with the author/illustrator: http://www.smartbooksforsmartkids.com/natures-perfect-package-egg/.  Good for school age.

School Age Storytime: Hold Fast to Dreams–Fly High!

 

(K-3rd grade)
At the tale end of  Read Across America week celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday and the beginning of Women’s History Month, we shared stories of girls who defied convention, worked hard and followed their dreams. 
(Relates to Dr. Seuss’ book Oh the Places You’ll Go)

 

Amazing Grace – Mary Hoffman  Grace loves acting out stories. Told by her classmates that she can’t play the part of Peter Pan because she’s a girl & black, she learns that she can do anything she puts her mind to.

Asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. Women often were told they couldn’t be what they wanted to be. 

Every-Day Dress Up – Selina Alko – A girl ditches her princess duds in favor of daring dames – Amelia Earhart, Ella Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Marie Carie & more. Briefly discussed each woman presented. When we discussed Stanton, mentioned women couldn’t even vote in the US until a little less than 100 years ago – had them figure out how old the US is (240 years) so for most of that time, women couldn’t vote. Long battle, Stanton and others spent their whole lives (70 years!) trying to get women’s voting rights.

“It is fun to dress up in princess skirts for dress up or a party, but how would they like to wear long heavy skirts (as heavy as a box of books!) everyday?  They couldn’t bike, or climb a tree, or run and play…”

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer! --- Shana Corey –  Delightful biography of the suffragist & newspaper founder who founded a movement to get women out of long limiting skirts.

Nobody Owns the Sky: The Story of “Brave Bessie” Coleman – Reeve Lindbergh (youngest daughter of Charles) – No American flying school would teach Bessie because she was black so she sailed to France for lessons then returned to the states with the dream of starting her own school for African American pilots.

Movement – “Stretch High, Bend Low, Reach to the Sky, Then to Your Sides, Spread Your Wings, Turn around , then sit back down.”

Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee – Marissa Moss – Maggie Gee, who dreamed of flying from the time she was a girl, finally gets her chance during WW2 when she becomes one of only two Chinese-American WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots).

(did a variety of stretches and chants encouraging the kids to dream high & work hard to achieve their dreams)

Previous years: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2014/03/school-age-storytimes-womens-history.html

Some other great titles:

My Name is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream? – Jennifer Fosberry
To the Stars: The First American Woman to Walk in Space – Carmella Van Vleet
Wilma Unlimited – Kathleen Krull
Elizabeth Leads the Way:Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote – Tanya Lee Stone
I Could Do That: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote – Linda Arms White
Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor – Robert Burleigh
many more here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/03/celebrating-women-history-month.html
and here: http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/2013/03/women-in-history-best-books-for-kids.html

 

More on early pilots:  https://nobodyownsthesky.wordpress.com/

Bedm. 3/16.

School Age Storytimes: Women’s History Month

Storytimes for grades K-3 celebrating women in history and encouraging girls and boys to go beyond their comfort zones, to take risks and make history!

"Do something every day that scares you." -- Eleanor Roosevelt
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right -- for you'll be criticized
anyway." -- Eleanor Roosevelt from Eleanor: Quiet No More by Doreen Rappaport. 

Another great biography: 

Unshakable Eleanor: How Our 32nd First Lady Used Her Voice to Fight for Human Rights by Michelle Markel

There was a young woman who wanted to fly.
But the people said, "Kiss that wish good-bye!
The sky's too big and the sky's too high,
And you never will fly, so you'd better not try."
But this woman laughed, and she just said, "Why?
Nobody owns the sky!"
-- from Nobody Owns the Sky: The Story of
"Brave Bessie" Coleman by Reeve Lindbergh

 

Elizabeth Leads the Way (Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote)

by Tanya Lee Stone (JB Stanton)
(some classes) sing/chant: "V-O-T-E (form letters with bodies – tune “YMCA”)-- Women Want Equality!!"

Eleanor: Quiet No More by Doreen Rappaport (JB Roosevelt)

 

 

Nobody Owns the Sky -- The Story of "Brave Bessie" Coleman by Reeve Lindbergh (black woman who became a pilot in 1921 when everyone said she couldn't do that), ...mentioned Amelia Earhart books, Soar Elinor by Tami Lewis Brown, Sky High, The True Story of Maggie Gee by Marissa Moss (WWII women pilots finally receiving Congressional Medals of Honor a couple of years ago) & compared with the fictional picture book "Amazing Grace" by Mary Hoffman).  Other great female pilot books at: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/09/school-age-storytime-to-fly-stories.html

 

Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers -- Kathi Appelt (JB Roosevelt) (just told segments in some groups) (inspiration for Barbara Cooney's picture book "Miss Rumphius"?) finished with quote: ...When asked why she helped found the National Wildflower Research Center, Lady Bird said that it was her way of
"paying rent for the space I have taken up in this highly interesting world!"

 

3/13

 

 

 

3/16  School Age Storytime: Hold Fast to Dreams–Fly High!

http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2016/03/school-age-storytime-hold-fast-to.html

School Age Storytime: Hold Fast to Dreams–Fly High!

(K-3rd grade)
At the tale end of  Read Across America week celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday and the beginning of Women’s History Month, we shared stories of girls who defied convention, worked hard and followed their dreams.
(Relates to Dr. Seuss’ book Oh the Places You’ll Go)

Amazing Grace – Mary Hoffman  Grace loves acting out stories. Told by her classmates that she can’t play the part of Peter Pan because she’s a girl & black, she learns that she can do anything she puts her mind to.

Asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. Women often were told they couldn’t be what they wanted to be.

Every-Day Dress Up – Selina Alko – A girl ditches her princess duds in favor of daring dames – Amelia Earhart, Ella Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Marie Carie & more. Briefly discussed each woman presented. When we discussed Stanton, mentioned women couldn’t even vote in the US until a little less than 100 years ago – had them figure out how old the US is (240 years) so for most of that time, women couldn’t vote. Long battle, Stanton and others spent their whole lives (70 years!) trying to get women’s voting rights.

“It is fun to dress up in princess skirts for dress up or a party, but how would they like to wear long heavy skirts (as heavy as a box of books!) everyday?  They couldn’t bike, or climb a tree, or run and play…”

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer! --- Shana Corey –  Delightful biography of the suffragist & newspaper founder who founded a movement to get women out of long limiting skirts.

Nobody Owns the Sky: The Story of “Brave Bessie” Coleman – Reeve Lindbergh (youngest daughter of Charles) – No American flying school would teach Bessie because she was black so she sailed to France for lessons then returned to the states with the dream of starting her own school for African American pilots.

Movement – “Stretch High, Bend Low, Reach to the Sky, Then to Your Sides, Spread Your Wings, Turn around , then sit back down.”

Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee – Marissa Moss – Maggie Gee, who dreamed of flying from the time she was a girl, finally gets her chance during WW2 when she becomes one of only two Chinese-American WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots).

(did a variety of stretches and chants encouraging the kids to dream high & work hard to achieve their dreams)

Some other great titles:

My Name is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream? – Jennifer Fosberry
To the Stars: The First American Woman to Walk in Space – Carmella Van Vleet
Wilma Unlimited – Kathleen Krull
Elizabeth Leads the Way:Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote – Tanya Lee Stone
I Could Do That: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote – Linda Arms White
Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor – Robert Burleigh
many more here: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/03/celebrating-women-history-month.html
and here: http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/2013/03/women-in-history-best-books-for-kids.html

Arrived too late: To The Stars: The First American Woman to Walk in Space by Caremella Van Vleet & Dr. Kathy Sullivan

More on early pilots:  https://nobodyownsthesky.wordpress.com/

Bedm. 3/16.

 

 

Girls Can! Determination Succeeds.

Showed "Boy Meets Girl" from "Free to Be You and Me"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUpLiJfV4_A&feature=related ...discussed how for much of US (and world) history, women have not been allowed to do the same things as men...vote, jobs, even drive (Saudi Arabia)...

Asked children “Who has a woman doctor?” – lots – wasn’t always that way. (Kindergarten only) Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman (black girl told she can’t be Peter Pan in the class play discovers she can do anything she puts her mind to. Booktalked: Boundless Grace and Princess Grace – great book for promoting powerful princesses!)

Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone
Rough Tough Charley by Verla Kay (one class) – rhyming tale based on true story of stagecoach driver who spent her life disguised as a man

Tillie the Terrible Swede: How One Woman, a Sewing Needle and a Bicycle Changed History by Sue Stauffacher. (no time in Kindergarten) Art in Society: Toulouse Lautrec, The Bicycle and the Women’s Movement  (Background: article (for adults) analyzing the role of the bicycle in the women’s movement.)

On the topic of overcoming personal odds…even disability (talked about this word)…


Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull (The amazing story of a tiny, sickly black girl stricken by polio who ended up winning gold medals in track at the 1960 Olympics!)  (This is a long text so I talk it rather than reading the text aloud to younger classes.) Newer title: Go Wilma Go by Amira Rose Davis & Michael G. Long

Another story about a running race --  "Atalanta" from "Free to Be You and Me" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-77_cVnmUQ

3/14

 

 

“I Could Do That!”

Sybil’s Night Ride (Sybil Ludington) by Karen B. Winnick (The story of young Sybil Ludington, who, like Paul Revere, rode through the countryside to alert the colonists that the British were coming.)

Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret Knight Became an Inventor by Emily Arnold McCully or In The Bag!: Margaret Knight Wraps it Up by Monica Kulling --  both Biography Knight (Each tells the story of Margaret Knight, eventual holder of twenty patents, who fought discrimination and proved that she was just as intelligent an inventor as a man.) Could also use Kulling's Spic-in-Span: Lillian Gilbreth's Wonder Kitchen JB Gilbreth, which tells the story of the world's first female efficiency expert and the first woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets the Vote by Linda Arms White –JB Morris (In 1869, a woman whose "can-do" attitude had shaped her life was instrumental in making Wyoming the first state to allow women to vote, then became the first woman to hold public office in the United States -- 50 years before women across the country finally got the vote with the 19th Amendment.)

Annie Jump Cannon, Astronomer by Carole Gerber – JB Cannon (Introduces a trailblazer in the field of astronomy, who developed the Harvard Spectral Classification System, a system to classify a star's light, still used today. Also presents insight into the challenges of women interested in science during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.)

Meet My Grandmother: She’s a Deep Sea Diver by Lisa Tucker McElroy  (Groundbreaking marine biologist and diver whose ocean exploration and advocacy have made her known around the world.) Life in the Ocean: The Story of Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola – JB Earle is beautiful but small pictures make it problematic for sharing in a large group.
3/12

3/15: reprised: Sybil's Night Ride (K-3 kids didn't know about Paul Revere or the American Revolution) and I Could Do That! (lots of historical items to discuss along with women getting right to vote (note: both a bit long), added Goldie Takes a Stand by Barbara Krasner (true story of 10 year old immigrant girl (discussed meaning of "immigrant", where families came from) who organized a fund-raising drive so kids in her school could have textbooks -- that girl grew up to become Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel. -- Had kids consider what they might want to do to make the world a better place.  sing/chant: "V-O-T-E (form letters with bodies – tune “YMCA”)-- Women Want Equality!!"

 

Girls Can Do Anything(long…have to pick and choose for 40 min.)

 

Showed "Boy Meets Girl" from "Free to Be You and Me"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUpLiJfV4_A&feature=related
...discussed how for much of US (and world) history, women have not been  allowed to do the same things as men...vote, jobs, even drive (Saudi Arabia)...

Rough Tough Charley by Verla Kay (some classes) -- based on true story of stagecoach driver who was a woman disguised as a man.

Mama Went to Jail for the Vote by Kathleen Krull ...after the vote was achieved, women still not allowed to do many jobs...until WW2 necessitated (booktalked Rosie the Riveter J940.531 PRI)

Sky High -- Biography Gee (Chinese American Woman who became a WASP,
then a physicist)

Overcoming personal odds Wilma Rudolph (shared poem from All by Myself  J811.54 PAU)

Told story Wilma Unlimited (abridged the text by Kathleen Krull)
Finished with "Atalanta" from "Free to Be You and Me" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-77_cVnmUQ
(some classes also got to see a 14 year old Michael Jackson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsRIbyZ5rqE
3/11







Other possible empowering women read-aloud titles include:


History:
The Ballot Box Battle by Emily Arnold McCully
The Bobbin Girl by Emily Arnold McCully
Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President by Ann Malaspina
Marching with Aunt Susan: Susan B. Anthony and the Fight for Women’s Suffrage by Claire Rudolph  Murphy
A Woman for President: The Story of Victoria Woodhull by Kathleen Krull
The Taxing Case of the Cows by Iris Van Rynbach and Shea Pegi Deitz
Liberty’s Voice: The Story of Emma Lazarus by Erica Silverman
Emma’s Poem by Linda Glaser
Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth by Anne Rockwell
Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds: a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss
The Daring Nellie Bly: America’s Star Reporter by  Bonnie Christensen 
Patience Wright: America’s First Sculptor and Revolutionary Spy by Pegi Deitz Shea
They Called her Molly Pitcher by Anne Rockwell
Mary Walker Wears the Pants: The True Story of the Doctor, Reformer, and Civil War Hero by Cheryl Harness
Friends for Freedom: The Story of Susan B. Anthony & Frederick Douglas by Susanne Slade (J303.484 SLA)
Brave Girl: Clara & the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel

Environment:
Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World by Laurie Lawlor
Seeds of Change by Jen Cullerton Johnson,
Mama Miti by Donna Jo Napoli
The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever by Joseph Hopkins
Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor by Robert Burleigh

Trailblazers:
Look Up! Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer by Robert Burleigh
Of Numbers and Stars: The Story of Hypatia by  D. Anne  Love
Julia Morgan Built a Castle by  Celeste Davidson Mannis
To The Stars: The First American Woman to Walk in Space by Caremella Van Vleet & Dr. Kathy Sullivan

Sports:
Queen of the Track: Alice Coachman Olympic High-Jump Champion by Heather Lang
Fearless: the true story of racing legend Louise Smith by Barbara Rosenstock
Mermaid queen: the spectacular true story of Annette Kellerman, who swam her way to fame, fortune and swimsuit history by Shana Corey
Players in Pigtails by Shana Corey
Girl Wonder by  Deborah Hopkinson
She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story by Audrey Vernick
The Bravest Woman in America by Marissa Moss

Misc:
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
Red bird sings: the story of Zitkala-Sa by Gina Capaldi
The Librarian of Basra : A True Story of Basra  by Jeanette Winter

Looking for many more suggestions?  Check out:
http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2015/03/celebrating-women-history-month.html

Note, there are a LOT of books about female pilots. Find them at: http://carolsimonlevin.blogspot.com/2013/09/school-age-storytime-to-fly-stories.html

There are many more book possibilities for this program – check out the early reader’s section of the annual lists at http://ameliabloomer.wordpress.com for more great suggestions.

And Karen Chace has posted an excellent list of Women's History Sources here:
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2010/03/celebrate-womens-history-month-women-in.html



Reading Rainbow: Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express
Collective Biography: Amelia to Zora: Twenty-six Women Who Changed the World by Cynthia Chin-Lee

Storytime Shake Up -- Jazzing Up Storytime Programs

Storytime Shake Up -- Jazzing Up Storytime Programs
Extended Version of the Youth Services Forum Program

Presented by Carol Simon Levin, Youth Services Librarian, Somerset County Library.

I have been doing storytimes for 20+ years and love to "jazz them up." Most of the plans for programs I've done in the last couple of years are posted here on my blog: CarolSimonLevin.blogspot.com. You can also search the blog for any of the items listed below to find their use in context.  Email me if you want me to share any patterns.

Today, will be:

*sharing favorite flannelboards,

* participatory story-sharing/theater (e.g. showing how we act out Halloween stories, The Three Little Pigs in my Houses & Homes storytime, Green Eggs & Ham for Dr. Seuss Day, a Hopi Rainstick story for our Rain storytime),

* piggyback songs to reinforce activity sequencing (e.g."This is the way" for the steps in baking after we read The Little Red Hen),

*using sign language songs (we call it "dancing with our hands" - Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning Signs is a great resource),

*action songs and surprises (e.g. indoor "snowball fight"),

*and a variety of other things I do regularly to jazz up the traditional book- flannel-song/fingerplay rhythm of storytime.

Fall favorites -- interactive Halloween stories & songs, a turkey towel-folding story for Thanksgiving...

· "Brand New Day" (sign language song) from Pick Me Up: Fun Songs for Learning Signs 

· One by Kathryn Otashi bullying/concept book

· Monkey Face by Frank Asch -- flannel

· "Look There Daddy Do You See?" -- flannel song, make up verses

· "School Stuff" from A Storytime Year by Susan Dailey-- flannel

· Moonkey by Mike Thayer -- flannel

· "Aikendrum" by Raffi -- flannel song

· Little Red House with No Doors...-- flannel/hanging signs

· Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman = Great Big Enormous Turnip -- flannel/participatory story-acting

· Rotten Pumpkin by David M. Schwartz -- non-fiction potential reader's theater!

· The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams -- flannel/participatory story-acting

· One Dark Night by Edna Mitchell Preston - flannel/participatory story-acting

· "Old McDonald Had a Haunted House" -- piggyback song clip art flannel

· Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

· It's Monster Day by Linda Arnold -- pinking sheers flannel

· I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson -- prop

· "Ten Friends - Diez Amigos" -- glove puppets

· Towel folding story: The Case of the Missing Thanksgiving Turkey -- Rhonda Turley  

· "The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven" words: Jack Prelutsky, chorus: Cathy Darby – song

Winter favorites -- snowball fights, stone soup, counting cookies…

· Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathon London -- participatory story-acting

· The Mitten by Jan Brett -- participatory story-acting, prop

· Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson

· "In the Freezer" by Joe Scruggs -- flannel/song

· Snowball Fight -- plastic bag snowballs Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride

· Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Tabeck

· "Hi, My Name is Joe and I Work in a Button Factory" -- action (Also good to pair with Herve Tullet's Press Here)

· The Little Red Hen -- various versions

· "This is the Way" -- piggyback songs

· The Cake That Mack Ate by Rose Robart-- flannel

· The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins -- flannel math concepts

· The Gingerbread Man -- flannel/masks

· "Helping" from Free to Be You and Me -- flannel

· The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza) by Philemon Sturges

· "I Am a Pizza" by Linda Arnold -- flannel

· "On Top of Spaghetti" -- flannel

· Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert,

· "This is the Way We Make the Soup" -- piggyback song "Mulberry Bush"

· Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt

· "If You're Happy and You Know it...sad, angry, loving"... piggyback song

· Doing the Chocolate Shake -- action

· Stone Soup -- puppets & props, participatory storytelling

· Alphabet Soup by Tom Chapin -- flannel

· Monkey Soup by Louis Sachar

· Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak, tune from Really Rosie -- enlarged pages

· "Popcorn" by Linda Arnold -- action song

Spring Favorites-- interactive Earth Dance, Three Little Pigs, Napping House, Hopi Rainstick…

· Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss -- participatory story-acting

· "On My Head I Wear a Hat" -- Cat in the Hat hat, song Seussapalooza

· "Deep in the Jungle" by Joe Scruggs -- puppet/flannel song

· "Alligator Pie" by Dennis Lee -- make up your own verses

· "I'm Being Swallowed by a Big Alligator" -- action song

· "There's a Dinosaur Knocking at My Door" by Linda Arnold -- puppet song

· "Down by the Bay" by Raffi -- flannel song

· "And the Green Grass Grew All Around" -- flannel song

· Earth Dance by Joanne Ryder -- participatory story-acting

· Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson -- participatory story-acting

· All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon -- simple but very profound

· Rainstorm – interactive action chant

· The Frog: Hopi Rainstick Story -- rainstick, puppets

· "Walk the World Now Children" by Tom Chapin -- sign language song

· A Squash and a Squeeze by Julia Donaldson -- great to act out this story with a large box or card table

· Mouse House -- flannel shapes

· The Three Little Pigs -- participatory storytelling

· "Cluck Cluck Red Hen" by Raffi -- flannel/puppet song

· The Napping House by Audrey Wood -- prop story

These and many more ideas are posted on my blog: CarolSimonLevin.blogspot.com.
Historical impersonation programs for adults & children are at: tellingherstories.com.

Questions?  Patterns? Please feel free to contact me at:
cslevin59 (at) gmail (dot) com
or call 908 526-4016 x126.

 

Carol Simon Levin presents Interactive Stories & Songs for all Reasons & Seasons!

Halloween Hootenanny * Dinosaur Roar * Bundle Up * Houses & Homes * Holiday Happenings * Seussapalooza * Earth Day * Animal Antics * Summer Fun * Folk Tale Frolics

A Sampling of S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) Programs:

A library is a feast to which we are all invited. -- Katherine Paterson

A library is a place full of mouth-watering food for thought. -- Diana Wynne-Jones

If you don't like to read, there are books out there that you will love...and this is why librarians were invented. -- Linda Sue Park

presented to Union County Children's Librarians, 2/20/15