Wiggly Storytime, April 29th and 30th, 2009

Begin by singing Raffi's Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: Wiggle by Doreen Cronin.

Poem: Wiggle and Wag from Kindergarten Kids by Stephanie Calmenson.

Book: Clap Your Hands by Lorinda Bryan Cauley

Song: Hokey Pokey from Dancin’ Magic by Joanie Bartels

Puppet Show: Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett
We used an awesome cardboard house we made. We told the story
with a little girl puppet, a monkey puppet. And a number of
animal puppets that we had pop out of windows on the
house – SUPER FUN!!

Song: Clap Your Hands from Wiggleworms Love You.

Book: How Can You Dance? by Rick Walton.
We had the kids do the actions while we read the story.

Song: Wiggy Wiggles Freeze Dance from Two Little Sounds by Hap Palmer. We danced with streamers and whenever the music stopped, we froze!

Book: Wiggle Waggle by Jonathan London.

Final Activity: We played Limbo Rock from Dancin’ Magic by Joanie Bartels
While the song played, we held a stick for the children to go under. We first held the stick high enough for the children to just walk under and lowered it a little at a time. Eventually the children had to crawl on their tummies to get under. FUN!

. . . Then we collapsed from exhaustion!

by Deanna and Liesl

Earth Day, April 22nd and 23rd, 2009

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: This is ME and Where I Am by Joanne Fitzgerald.

Song: The Animals in the Desert,
sung to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus.
We built a flannel board desert scene as we sang the song.

The coyote in the desert howls Awwwwoooooowwwww
Awwwwoooooowwwww
Awwwwoooooowwwww
The coyote in the desert howls Awwwwoooooowwwww
All night long!

-The rattlesnake in the desert goes hiss hiss hiss
-The jackrabbit in the desert hops like this
-The roadrunner in the desert runs fast like this
-The lizard in the desert crawls slow like this
-The scorpion in the desert stings like this OUCH!

Book: Starry Safari by Linda Ashman.

Poem: Recipe for a Hippo Sandwich from Where the Sidewalk Ends. We used props with this one.

Book: Noisy Forest! by Harriet Ziefert.

Poem: Eau de Forest from A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems by Deborah Ruddell

Book: I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry.

Activity: Polar Bear, Polar Bear Turn Around.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear,
Turn around.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear,
Touch the ground.

-Dance on your toes.
-Touch your nose.
-Shake your head.
-Go to bed.
-Wave goodnight.
-Turn out the light.
-Wake up now!
take a bow.

Book: 10 Things I Can do to Help My World by Melanie Walsh. We made up actions for each page.

Activity: Planting Beans. We gave each child a clear plastic cup, a bean, and a paper towel. Wrap the bean in the paper towel, keep the towel wet, and watch the bean grow!

by Paul and Robyn

Easter, April 6, 2009

Begin by singing the Hello Song.

Book: Max's Chocolate Chicken by Rosemary Wells

Rhyme: Conejito Conejito (Little Rabbit) Have the children follow along with the actions while you read the rhyme.

Conejito, Conejito
Turn around.
Conejito, Conejito
Touch the ground.
Conejito, Conejito
Shine your shoes.
Conejito, Conejito
Do your homework too!
Conejito, Conejito
Go upstairs
Conejito, Conejito
Say you prayers
Conejito, Conejito
Turn out the light.
Conejito, Conejito
Say good night.

Book: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick We used an old lady puppet who "ate" each of the things mentioned in the story. To make this one bilingual we just translated the last word in each sentence into Spanish.

Song: Bunny Hop. Do the Bunny Hop dance!

Book: Minerva Louise and the Colorful Eggs by Janet Stoeke.

Eggs, April 15th and 16th, 2009

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: The Cow that Laid an Egg by Andy Cutbill.

Poem: Chicks from Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry by Jane Yolen

Chicks
Yesterday
They were warm, brown eggs.
Now they’re fluffy, yellow balls
On legs.

Book: Ollie by Olivier Dunrea, we used a puppet with this one.

Activity: I’m a Little Chickie
Melody: I’m a Little Teapot

I’m a little chickie,
(crouch down inside your egg)
Ready to hatch,
Pecking at my shell,
(Pecking motion)
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
(scratching motion)
When I crack it open,
Out I’ll jump
(jump out of shell)
Fluff my feathers,
Cheep! Cheep! Cheep!

Book: The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett.

Activity: An Egg is on my Nose
melody: The Farmer in the Dell

An egg is on my nose, an egg is on my nose,
Heigh-ho, the derry-o, an egg is on my nose.
(Repeat using other body parts).

Book: Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting.

Finale: The Chicken Dance.

by Deanna and Robyn

Rhyming Fun in the Sun on the Run with a Bun, April 8th and 9th, 2009

Begin by singing Raffi's Shake My Sillies Out.

Book: Yum Yum! What Fun! by Mara Bergman

Activity: Rhyming sounds that end in “oo” … Moo, Choo Choo, Cock-a-doodle-doo, Hoo (we used die-cut letters to make words and noises).

Book: Silly Tilly by Eileen Spinelli.

Song: Jump Up by Dan Zanes, this song rhymes, but we were too busy jumping to notice.

Book: Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw.

Song /Activity: This Old Man (Knick-Knack Paddywhack) with actions.

Book: Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas

Poem /Tongue Twister: Quack Quack from Oh Say Can You Say? by Dr. Seuss. We used two magnet board ducks with this one.

Finale: Hop on Pop! "We like to hop. We like to hop on top of Pop. STOP. You must not hop on Pop." While we chanted this rhyme the kids, one at time came up to the front of the room to jump on an air mattress with Pop painted on top.

by Patrick and Robyn.

Silly Stories, April 1st and 2nd, 2009

Since our stories are silly we definitely did not want to shake our sillies out, so… we shook our sillies IN!

Begin by singing The Hokey Pokey from Songtime Kids Silly Songs or Rockin ‘Tots’ Favorites.

Book: Do Pigs Have Stripes? by Melanie Walsh

Poem: Imagining from Falling Up by Shel Silverstein (we also used flannel board pictures for extra silly fun).

Book: What Did You Put in Your Pocket? by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers. For this one we taped a bag to the inside of an apron pocket and put in the various sundry items as we told the story. We also projected a pocket with the words to the refrain on the wall.

Song: Pat Pat Patty Pat from Bert and Ernie’s Greatest Hits

Poem: Melinda Mae from Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. We used flannel board pictures to make Melinda Mae grows old right before our eyes.

Book: The Wide-Mouthed Frog: a pop-up book by Keith Faulkner.

Book/Activity: There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback.

Song/Activity: Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out

Since this storytime fell on April Fool's Day we invited the children to share a joke with a librarian for a piece of “Laffy Taffy.”

Silliness every day keeps the doctor away. Long Live Silliness!

by Lisa and Robyn

Rain, March 25th and 26th, 2009

Begin by singing Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out.

Book – The Rain Came Down by David Shannon. We passed out shakers and while we read the story and every time we said “And still, the rain came down,” the kids would make a rain sound with the shakers. This was a nice addition to the story.

Poem – Lazy Jane, from the book, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. (We used a puppet while we read the poem).

Book – Rain by Manya Stojic.

Song – Ducks Like Rain, from the Raffi compact disc, Rise and Shine. (Actions included slapping hands together while the ducks quacked, making a rain motion with our fingers, “splashing” in puddles, and flapping our wings and turning in circles.)

Story – The Umbrella, from the book, Kibitzers and Fools: Tales My Zayda Told Me by Simms Taback. We used puppets, an umbrella with holes, and a blue blanket to act out this story. It was pretty funny (but I think we were laughing at it harder than the audience).

Book – Soggy Saturday by Phyllis Root; illustrated by Helen Craig.

Story – Drip Drip Drip, from the book, Well Done, Worm by Kathy Caple. We made cut-outs which can be used on a magnetic chalkboard, in place of the actual book. We read the story put up the parts on the chalkboard. We also had the kids say “Drip, drip, drip” along with the story.

Book – Kipper’s Rainy Day based on the books by Mick Inkpen; illustrated by Stuart Trotter.

Song – And the Rain Came Down All Around, sung to the music of The Green Grass Grew All Around. We made up our own words to the song. As we sang, we would draw the different things being sung about (the rain, the street, the house, the door, the girl, the cat, the bow, the flea, and the dinosaur) on a chalkboard.

by Lisa and Paul

Songs, March 16, 2009

Begin by singing the Hello Song.

Rhyme: We sang the Itsy Bitsy Spider in English and in Spanish!

La araña pequeñita
subió, subió, subió.
Vino la lluvia
y... Plaf! Se cayó.
Pero salio el sol,
y que paso?
La araña pequeñita
subió, subió, subió.

Song: Chocolaté
Uno, dos, tres, CHO!
Uno, dos, tres, CO!
Uno, dos, tres, LA!
Uno, dos, tres, TE!
Baté, baté chocolaté.

Book: If You're Happy and You Know It! by Jane Cabrera. For this one we alternated languages from verse to verse.

Song / Rhyme: It's Raining, It's Pouring / Que Llueva
Both of these songs are sang to the sang to the same tune, but they have different words. We talked about how even though the languages are different sometimes the music is still the same.

It's raining, it's pouring;
The old man is snoring.
Bumped his head
And he went to bed
And he couldn't get up in the morning.

Que llueva, que llueva,
La vieja es en la cueva
Los pajaritos cantan
La luna se levanta
Que si, que no,
Que caiga un chaoarrón,
Debajo del colchón
Con agua y jabón.

Book: Barnyard Banter We sang this book to the tune of Skip to Ma Lou. Unfortunately it only worked in English.

Song: Cucú. This song is only in Spanish. We taught the kids the refrain (cucú) and had them sing along.

Cucú, cucú, cantaba la rana,
Cucú, cucú, debajo del agua.
Cucú, cucú, pasó un marinero
Cucú, cucú, llevando romero.
Cucú, cucú, pasó una criada
Cucú, cucú, llevando ensalada.
Cucú, cucú, pasó un caballero,
Cucú, cucú, con capa y sombrero,
Cucú, cucú, pasó una señora,
Cucú, cucú, llevando unas moras.
Cucú, cucú, le pedí un poquito,
Cucú, cucú, no me quiso dar,
Cucú, cucú, me puse a llorar.

Song: Silly Pizza Song from Signing Time! : Songs. Volumes 1-3 we signed the silly foods and put a picture of the food on a magnet board pizza as we sang.



Book: Like Me and You by Raffi. This book is also a song from Raffi's A Child's Celebration of the World. We played the CD while we "sang" the book. We also pointed out each country mentioned on a large wall map of the world.

Craft: