It's Spring!!

This Outreach Storytime was presented at Welcome School on Friday, March 28, 2014.

Books:

Rabbits & Raindrops by Jim Arnosky

Jo MacDonald Had a Garden by Mary Quattlebaum, illustrated by Laura J. Bryant

Song:

I'm a Little Bunny
(tune: "I'm a Little Teapot")

I'm a little bunny, my name is Joe.
I hop fast...and I hop slow.
Whenever I get sleepy, my ears droop low,
But after my nap, back up they go!


Rhyme:

Open, Shut Them

Open, shut them,
Open, shut them,
Give a little clap, clap, clap!

Open, shut them,
Open, shut them,
Lay them in your lap, lap, lap!

Waving, waving, waving, waving,
High up in the sky, sky, sky.
Wave to me...I'll wave to you.
Now let's all say goodbye, bye, bye.


My monthly visit to Welcome School is always highly anticipated, and this time was no exception!  The visit was full of laughter, beginning when Wesley decided to bring something hidden in his shell to Welcome School!  When he came out of my pocket I couldn't figure out why everyone was laughing so hard.  Then I looked at Wesley and instead of seeing this...

I saw what the children saw:

At the end of storytime the children taught me a song, as is our tradition.  The song didn't sound familiar although Mrs. Sloniker said I heard it while attending an OoeyGooeyLady workshop with the Welcome School staff. (I think I must have been in the ladies' room at the time!)
Here is a Youtube video of the song, "Waddaleeacha", featuring that same workshop speaker. Enjoy!

Another tradition we observe involves letting the children say goodbye to Wesley before we leave.  And I really do mean "say goodbye to Wesley"!  I rarely get an acknowledgement from children when Wesley is with me... but that's fine with me!
Children have the option of feeding Wesley imaginary food - usually something that falls into one of four broad categories: Drinks - milk and fruit juice are favorites; Fruits, Veggies and Other Healthy Stuff; Cookies, Candy and Birthday Cake (Wesley tends to have a birthday every few months!); and Main Dishes such as Pizza, Chicken Nuggets and Hamburgers!

At our visit today Wesley received many of these foods, as well as these gems!!:
"steak and milk"
"chapstick"
"smelly shoes"
"cooking spray" 

That reminds me - there is a FIFTH category: "things that Wesley should eat LATER or that need to be stored in his shell"!  Some children have figured out that, if they give Wesley a snack for later in the day or something like cooking spray, he will disappear into his shell, put the item where it belongs in his house, and POP back out again!  

Children take their play very seriously!!

Each Outreach Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).

Bedtime Stories Night at Birchcrest Elementary!

This storytime was presented at Birchcrest Elementary School on Thursday, February 27, 2014.

Books:


Press Here by Hervé Tullet

(Did you know there is POWER in your fingers?!  

This book demonstrated that all of our listeners have the magic touch!)

Let's Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy by Jan Thomas

(sung to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot": "It's time for little cows to rest their heads.   It's time for little cows to go to bed.  It's time for little cows to sleep so tight.  It's time for us to say...")

Hippospotamus by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Tony Ross

(Oh, no!  Hippopotamus has a spottamus on her bottomus!  What could it be??!)

Prairie Chicken Little by Jackie Mims Hopkins, illustrated by Henry Cole

(Mary McBlicken, the prairie chicken, hears "a rumblin' and a grumblin' and a tumblin'!  She knows it must be a stampede!!!  Or is it??!)

I had a tremendously good time at Birchcrest School!  It was great to see so many families reading together and sharing their love of books and great stories!

The students and adults also did an awesome job of helping me read my stories.  Their enthusiasm was contagious!

Congrats to the lucky winners of a free book from the Bellevue Public Library:
Stephanie, Nyagoa, Kaytlyn, Keldin, Kyleigh, Bianca, and Chloie!

  ~ Mrs. B.

Each Outreach Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).

Toddlers - Butterflies

This Toddler Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on Wednesday, March 26, 2014.

Books:

Caterpillar's Wish by Mary Murphy

Butterfly Butterfly by Petr Horacek

Songs:

Caterpillar, Caterpillar
(tune: "Frere Jacques")

Caterpillar (echo),
(wiggle one index finger to represent a caterpillar)
In my hand (echo),
Place index finger on open palm, then close palm to represent a cocoon)
Soon you'll be a butterfly (echo),
(slowly open hand)
And fly away (echo).
(take "caterpillar hand" and make flying butterfly motion)



Activities:

Children and parents had their choice of the following activities for playtime:

Hand puppets were put out so that they could be used to retell either of today's stories. We used the following puppets: Bee, Lady Bug, Caterpillar, Butterfly, and Spider.

Laminated Butterfly cards could be used to play Concentration or a simple matching game.

We also had our Zoo Photo Album available for those who wanted to take a closer look at the pictures from Buzz's trip to Henry Doorly Zoo!  Here are the photos I took when Buzz and I visited the Butterfly House:

 Our next Toddler Storytime will be held on Wednesday, April 2, 2014.

Each Toddler Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).

Every Child Ready to Read^® @ your library^®, PLA and ALSC logos are registered trademarks of the American Library Association and are used with permission.

Papa Bear & Me

This Papa Bear & Me Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on Tuesday, March 25, 2014.

Books:

Goodnight, Me by Andrew Daddo, illustrated by Emma Quay

My Grandpa by Marta Altes
 A wonderful, sweet book that focuses on a young bear who knows that grandpa "occasionally...doesn't recognize me...but my hugs can solve it."

My Dad by Steve Smallman, illustrated by Sean Julian

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
Spring is Here by Will Hillenbrand

Rhyme:

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear

Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, reach up high.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the sky.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, pat your knees.
Teddy bear, teddy bear, sit down, please.

After the children did the actions to this traditional rhyme, I asked all the Papa Bears to stand up and do the rhyme with me as the children looked on.  It was great fun to get the dads involved, especially when we came to the part of the rhyme that says"...touch the ground."  There was a collective groan as the dads all reached down to the floor!

Thanks so much for joining me tonight for Storytime!  I hope to see you next month!

Our next Papa Bear and Me Storytime will be on Tuesday, April 22, 2014 at 7 PM!

~ Mrs. B

Each Papa Bear & Me Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).

Baby & Me Storytime ~ March 25 & 27, 2014

This  Baby & Me Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on March 25 & 27, 2014.

 Book:

Peek-a-Boo! by Roberta Grobel Intrater

Songs:



Let's Shout Hooray!
(tune: "Old MacDonald")

At storytime we have (child's name) today.
We're so glad let's shout hooray!

This Is The Way We Take a Bath

This is the way we take a bath,

Take a bath, take a bath.

This is the way we take a bath

So early in the morning.

Additional verses: scrub our legs, wash our hair, splash around, etc.

Here We Go Up, Up, Up!
(tune: "Here We Go Looby Loo")

Here we go up, up, up!
Here we go down, down, down.
Here we go up, up, up!
Here we go down, down, down.

Suggested additional verses:
Here we go to the side,
Here we are standing up straight.
Here we go to the side,
Here we are standing up straight.

Here we go giving a kiss!
Here we go giving a hug!
Here we go giving a kiss!
Here we go giving a hug!

Rhymes:

Bounce, Tickle and Kiss!
(underlining indicates the stressed beats)

I bounce you here... (rest)  (rest)

I bounce you there... (rest)  (rest)

I bounce you, bounce you everywhere!

I tickle you here... (rest)  (rest)

I tickle you there... (rest)  (rest)

I tickle you, tickle you everywhere!

I kiss you here... (rest)  (rest)

I kiss you there... (rest)  (rest)

I kiss you, kiss you everywhere!

Here is Baby Ready for a Nap

Here is baby ready for a nap.
I'll lay you down here in my lap.
I'll cover you up so you won't peep,
And rock you 'til you're fast asleep.

Our activity this week was Bean Bags!



Our next Baby and Me Storytime will be April 1 & 3, 2014!

Each Baby & Me Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).

Rabbits!

This Toddler Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on Wednesday, March 19, 2014.

Books:

Blue Rabbit and Friends by Chris Wormell

Rabbits & Raindrops by Jim Arnosky

 




Songs:

Everybody Say Hello!
(tune: "London Bridge")

Everybody say hello, say hello, say hello,
Everybody say hello, hello Wesley!

(Wesley is my turtle puppet who pops out of my apron pocket whenever we sing this song.  Then he sits quietly on his rock and listens to the stories and sings along with us.  At the end of storytime he says goodbye to the children, gives them high fives, eats pretend food from their hands, blows kisses, and plays hide and seek!)


Good Morning!
(tune: "Frere Jacques")

Good morning! (echo)
How are you? (echo)
I'm so glad to see you! (echo)
Wesley is too! (echo)


I'm a Little Bunny 
(Tune: I'm a Little Teapot)


I'm a little bunny, my name is Joe.
(hold up two fingers)
I hop fast and I hop slow. 
(hop fingers around fast and slow)
Whenever I get sleepy, my ears droop low, 
(bend fingers down)
But after my nap, back up they go! 
(hold fingers straight up)


Playtime Activities:

* Our activities this week included hopping like a rabbit!  As children arrived for storytime they were greeted by rabbit prints on the floor. Some decided to enter the room by hopping in!  

During playtime I re-positioned the paw prints in the storytime room, allowing children to hop to their hearts' content.

* I also put out our photo album from Buzz's visit to the zoo.   Those who wanted could take a closer look at the rabbits Buzz saw in the desert dome.

Buzz really had to search to find the rabbits when we first came to this area of the Desert Dome.  Can you see them??

Here is a close-up I took of one of the rabbits.

* Some children chose to practice their tracing skills by using dry erase markers to trace a bunny's path across a strip of laminated paper.

* I pulled out the felt pieces that I made for use with "Blue Rabbit and Friends".  This gave children an opportunity to retell the story to a parent, and an opportunity for parents to engage their children in talking about the kind of home that would be best-suited for each animal.

Next week's theme: Butterflies! (Yea!  Spring is here!)

Each Toddler Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).

Every Child Ready to Read^® @ your library^®, PLA and ALSC logos are registered trademarks of the American Library Association and are used with permission.

Crazy for Dr. Seuss!

This Outreach Storytime was presented to students in Mrs. Gerdes' Head Start classrooms at Belleaire Elementary on Tuesday, March 18 and at Fort Crook Elementary on Thursday, March 20, 2014.

Books:

I Wish That I Had Duck Feet by Dr Seuss

Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss

Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog? by Dr. Seuss

Songs:

Feet Are Tapping
(tune: "Skip to My Lou")

Feet are tapping, tap, tap, tap!
Feet are tapping, tap, tap, tap!
Feet are tapping, tap, tap, tap!
Tap your toes, my friends!

Feet are dancing, dance, dance, dance...

Feet are stomping, stomp, stomp, stomp...

Feet are clapping, clap, clap...What??!  
     Feet are CLAPPING??!!
     Yep! Try sitting on the floor, lifting your legs and CLAPPING your feet!
     It's what Dr. Seuss would do!

What other ideas can you think of?

While I was singing this with the students, I said that my feet were getting tired from all that tapping, dancing, stomping and clapping.  So it was probably no surprise that my feet started to SNORE!

Feet are snoring...(make snoring sound - the louder and sillier, the better!)
Feet are snoring...(make snoring sound)
Feet are snoring...(make snoring sound)
Go to sleep, my friends.  Zzzzzzzz.

I really enjoyed meeting Mrs. Gerdes,  Miss Suzette and their students!  This was my first visit to Fort Crook Elementary School - but hopefully not my last!  The children at both schools were awesome listeners and enthusiastic participants!!
  ~ Mrs. B.

Each Outreach Storytime includes activities that support one or more of the five early literacy practices identified as essential in helping your child develop the skills they need before they can learn to read. The five practices – singing, talking, reading, playing and writing –were developed for Every Child Ready to Read®, an initiative of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) and the Public Library Association (PLA).