Transcript Preschoolers in the Library

Preschoolers
in the
Library:
Part 2
Presented by:
Susie Dinsmore [email protected]
Librarian
Stone Spring Elementary School
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Susan Surratt – [email protected]
Librarian
Waterman Elementary School
Harrisonburg, VA 22802
Entering the library…
I usually sing the following song – eventually they
sing along with me:
(To the tune of “Did You Ever See a Lassie”)
Let’s sit for a story, a story, a story.
Let’s sit for a story.
Please come sit with me!
Another Song
(To the tune of “Mama’s Little Baby Loves Shortnin’
Bread”)
Everybody sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down,
Everybody sit down on the rug.
Everybody sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down,
Everybody sit down on the rug.
Not on the ceiling, not on the ____________,
Everybody sit down on the rug.
Beginning of a Lesson
Choose one student to be the “helper” that day.
Allow the student to choose a hat and a wand.
The student leads the class in the chant,
“Zoom, zoom, take us away.
Where? Oh, where? Will you take us today?”
The student waves the wand over the magic book
as the class is chanting. And then the book
“magically” opens.
Magic book
Start of School Activities
Preschoolers love this
story about Chester
Raccoon who goes off to
school for the first time.
Chester has all of the
same fears that most
young children have
about leaving home for
the first time to go to
school! Mommy helps
calm his fears by kissing
Chester’s hand so that he
can hold on to her love all
day long!
I take each child’s picture before they leave the library. On their
second visit during the week, I give them a “hand” to take
home to their parents with their picture on it. On the back of
the hand is a note telling the parents what their child did in
library this week.
Our preschoolers check out books starting the
second week at school. (They keep them at school.)
I read Mr. Wiggle’s Book by Paula Craig and Bobbie
Houser to them during their first visit of that week.
We talk about how important it is to take good care
of books. (Another good title to use is What
Happened to Marion’s Book? By Brook Berg.
On their next visit, we gather in a circle and look at items from
a plain bag. The children decide if these items are ok to use
with their library books. If so, we put them in the “Yes, Yes,
Always Bag” and if they are not appropriate to use with a
library book – we put them in the “No, No, Never Bag!”
Walking in Line
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As we work on walking in a line, we read the
book, Smiley Shark by Ruth Galloway. We sing
our song, “Wear a Smile” (to the tune of Row,
Row, Row Your Boat). Then we make smiley
faces so we will remember to walk quietly with
a smile in the hallway.
Fall Themed Activities:
Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson
Young children are
delighted by this
story of Mouse and
his friend Minka who
walk through the
leaves on a fall day.
This story lends itself
well to the teaching
of colors, shapes,
and sorting! (All of
the “Mouse’s First”
books are good ones
to have!)
After reading the story, I have volunteers come
up to the flannel board to sort leaves by color
and shape. We also count as the leaves are put
up on the board.
Before Thanksgiving, I read Run, Turkey, Run! by Diane
Mayr. This is a humorous story about a turkey who hides
from the farmer on the day before Thanksgiving.
Before reading the story of Run, Turkey, Run, I show my
students a cutout of a “bald” turkey. I ask them if they can
guess what kind of animal this is. Finally, with help, someone
will guess. I ask them what is he missing? – Feathers! We then
go on a hunt through the library looking for Turkey’s lost
feathers. After we find most of them, we return to the story
area and the students take turns giving Turkey back his
feathers! (You can buy a package of feathers from WalMart or
any craft store – or you can make them from construction
paper!)
In December, I usually read The
Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone.
Some good songs and
fingerplays about
gingerbread man are
available at this site.
Before reading the story I
pass out small gift-wrapped
books to each child. (We are
sitting in a circle.) Each time
I read the word “ran” in the
story, the children will pass
their wrapped book to the
person on the right. At the
end of the story, each child
gets to keep the book that
was passed to them last.
This idea came from this website.
A good winter read aloud is Froggy Gets Dressed by
Jonathan London. Beforehand discuss the importance of
clothing and why we wear different types of clothing for
different seasons.
I use flannel board props to assist in telling the story. I purchased
these from, Merry Hearts, an online store.
As a follow-up to Froggy Gets
Dressed, I use activities from the
following website: Froggy Gets
Dressed Lotto.
Froggy Clothespin Math
As a follow-up to winter
stories, students enjoy
playing this fun
concentration game on
the SmartBoard.
Robert Munsch books
Acting out Thomas’
Snowsuit.
Help the children “change” clothes as you read the story. They
absolutely love to do this!
In February, I read aloud the book A Circle is Not a Valentine by H.
Werner Zimmerman (from the Alphonse Knows series…). Alphonse
gets mixed up with his shapes when he tries to paint a picture to
give a friend for Valentine’s Day. This is a great story to use with
preschoolers to review shapes. I use our Accucut die cutter to make
shapes to use on the flannel board. Students can sort the shapes by
color and type or they can make patterns.
We celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday the week of March 2.
After reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish,
by Dr. Seuss. I use a red and a blue hula hoop
(borrowed from the P.E. Staff) as a Venn diagram. The
students sort the fish by color and count by color.
Another activity to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday,
is to read Dr. Seuss by Cheryl Carlson. Then
read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. After
reading the stories, lead the kids on an egg hunt
of “green eggs”. Inside each egg tuck a fact
about Dr. Seuss (author, illustrator, creator of the
Cat in the Hat, etc.) Have the kids find the
eggs, and one at a time open the eggs. Then
you can read the facts.
In March, I read Hooray for St. Patrick’s Day by Joan
Holub, an interactive lift-the-flap book. (Children can find
the hidden leprechaun on each page.) I use extension
activities from this website to go along with the story.
Who took the shamrock? (sung to "who stole a
cookie) author unknown
Teacher: who took the shamrock from the
leprechaun? Child's name took the shamrock
from the leprechaun. (Have each child come up and
take a shamrock from the “pot o’gold.”)
Child: who me?
Class: yes, you.
Child: couldn't be.
Class: then who?
Child: child's name took the shamrock from the
leprechaun.
A math extension to go along with St. Patrick’s
Day is to have the children sort and count gold
coins from the “leprechaun’s pot o’ gold!”
Here is a link to a St. Patrick’s Day
concentration game to play on the SmartBoard.
Our preschool students continue to love the “Mouse”
books. In the spring, I read Mouse’s First Spring by
Lauren Thompson. As Mouse and Momma walk along on a
spring day, Mouse discovers all sorts of creatures. (I have
puppets for all of these animals and I pass them out to
the students. As I read the story and come to a page with
a new creature on it – that child stands up with the
puppet.)
As a follow-up, students can
play a spring-themed
concentration game found at
this website.
Here is another great website for
spring activities.
Daffodils
(this is a great felt board or glove activity)
One little daffodil had nothing much to do,
Out popped another one, then there were two.
Two little daffodils were smiling at a bee,
Out popped another one, then there were three.
Three little daffodils were growing by the door,
Out popped another one, then there were four.
Four little daffodils were glad to be alive,
Out popped another one, then there were five.
Five little daffodils were wearing gold crowns,
They danced in the breeze in green satin gowns.
We learn a new nursery rhyme almost every week
during library time. I send home a copy of the nursery
rhyme with a note about library on the back.
Here is the link I use to get my nursery rhyme posters firstschool.ws
I have several nursery rhyme posters and cutouts that
I purchased with my Scholastic dollars at Scholastic
Instructional Resources.
The “Tell-A-Story” Nursery Rhyme
Kit from Lakeshore is very handy.
It has an easel with a felt board, 5
nursery rhymes with their cut-out
figures.
Also, Puppets & Storytime by Dr.
Jean Feldman is a book with many
puppet ideas and great story ideas to
teach nursery rhymes. This book is
also available through Scholastic.
Mother Goose Rhyme Time: Night and Mother Goose
Rhyme Time: Animals by Kimberly K. Faurot are also
available at Scholastic Instructional Resources. These
books contain activities, extensions, and reproducibles
to go along with the nursery rhyme posters.
Buckle My Shoe by Anna Grossnickle Hines is another good nursery
rhyme book to use with Preschool. This hardback copy was
purchased at Green Valley Book Fair for $5.25. It is very colorful and
lends itself well to counting, sort, and patterning activities. Using
free clip art, I have made signs to use when saying the rhyme after
we read the story together.
During the last few minutes of most library visits,
the children view the nursery rhyme we just
learned from one of the “Mother Goose Treasury”
videos. These are available from The Mother
Goose Treasury Series on DVD.
Flannel board stories are always good to use to mix up storytime!
You can make your own or purchase them from vendors such as
Merry Hearts, Lakeshore Learning, or Highsmith.
Repetition is usually the name of the game with preschoolers. I will
read a story such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin, Jr. Then, using the flannel board characters, the
children will say the story with me.
As we prepare for summer, we read It Looked
Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw. It is a great
story to use for shapes and/or clouds.
After reading the story, we look at shapes (using
the overhead projector or document camera) – and
they decide what the shape is. (I use die cuts
with my Accucut to come up with the shapes.)
Another day, we may read The Sand Castle
Contest by Robert Munsch. After reading the
story, I pull out a tote bag of things and
suitcase. The kids help me to decide if I need
to pack that item to take to the beach.
Leaving the library…
Our preschool and primary teachers usually use this
song:
(To the tune of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”)
My hands are hanging by my side,
I’m standing straight and tall.
My eyes are looking straight ahead,
I’m ready for the hall!
Give me a bubble!
Where can you find great props and
ideas to use with preschoolers?
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Yard Sales
Auctions
Castoffs from your own children or grandchildren
Teacher swap - (at start or end of year have a swap in the library or foyer of things
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Food Lion (They usually have a bin of greatly reduced books!)
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you no longer use – one person’s trash is another’s treasure!)
Merry Hearts
Evan-Moor
Lakeshore Learning
Highsmith
Green Valley Book Fair (located near Harrisonburg, VA)
Scholastic Instructional Resources
Ollie's Bargain Outlet (this is a chain outlet and is located throughout VA)
Education Station/Teacher Store
Accucut
Thanks for being
such a wonderful
audience! Please
feel free to
contact us!
[email protected]
[email protected]