Pop! Pop! Pop-Up Books!

This outreach storytime was presented at Welcome School on January 30, 2015.

This was a fun selection of books!  I don't recall ever doing a storytime comprised solely of pop-up books.  I loved watching the children's faces as I showed them the various beautifully engineered designs!  In order to have a little fun with words, I arrived at Welcome School with a bottle of pop (for those in the East: "soda"; for those in the South: "coke"!), saying that I was happy to "pop in and share a few stories".  I also shared with the children a fun action rhyme called "Popcorn".
My life-long fascination with words, plays on words, puns, etc. dates back to my adolescence, when my mom would often lead me through a process in order to decode words I did not know.  A typical conversation might go something like this:

Me: Mom, what is a mariner?
My mom: Did you find it in a sentence?  Can you tell from the way it's used in the sentence?
Me: No, not really.
Mom: Can you see any clues in the word?
Me: Is it someone who gets married?  A "marry-ner"?
Mom: No.  Do you see M-A-R-I-N?  How about marina?
Me; Where they keep boats!

Once the "light came on" and I understood the root word, I would call out other words that came to mind such as aquamarine (the blue-green color of seawater) and submarine (under the water), then go on to "sub", as in subway, submerge, etc.  I strongly encourage parents to play these types of word games with their children!  Keep a dictionary handy so that you can look up any words you or your child encounter that you don't know.  Ever since my children were young, we have kept a dictionary in the dining room so that we can refer to it as we eat and talk about our day's experiences.
I also gained a great deal of insights into the fascinating world of language by watching a wonderful tv show that aired in the late 1900s (1971-1976!) called "Make a Wish".  Here is a clip from the show!

Books:

Animal Opposites by Petr Horácek 

Dinosaur Stomp by Paul Stickland

Mighty Machines by Terry Burton

Making Colors by James Diaz

Rhyme:

Popcorn!

Pop!     Pop!    Pop!
(clap)  (clap)  (clap)
Pour the corn into the pot.
(Rub palms together quickly)

Pop!  Pop!  Pop!
(clap)  (clap)  (clap)
Take and shake it 'til it's hot.
(Rub palms together quickly)

Pop!  Pop!  Pop!
(clap)  (clap)  (clap)
Lift the lid, what have you got?
(Rub palms together quickly)

Pop!  Pop!  Pop!
(clap)  (clap)  (clap)
Popcorn!!
(Jump up and raise hands in the air!)

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).