Preschool Storytime: Autumn Has Arrived!

This Preschool Storytime was presented at Bellevue Public Library on September 26, 2018.

Each Preschool Storytime includes activities that support all or most 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).

Reading:

The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri

The Leaves on the Trees by Thom Wiley, illustrated by Andrew Day

As children and adults arrived they were greeted with a trail of leaves leading from the library entrance to the Storytime room.  During Storytime I invited them to pick up some of the colorful autumn leaves I had scattered and encouraged them to talk about the colors, shapes, and feel of the leaves.  

Playing:

During Storytime everyone picked up a handful of leaves and used them as we danced to a beautiful piece of music called "The Trees Weep Leaves" by David Huntsinger.

Singing:

Hello, Friends!
(tune: "Goodnight Ladies")

Hello friends.
Hello friends.
Hello friends.
We're glad you came today!


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!)

What's in the Green Box?
(tune: "Sally Wore a Red Dress")

What's in the green box,
The green box, the green box?
What's in the green box 
For us today?

Today's Green Box held paper and crayons!
We used the leaves that were scattered on the floor outside the Storytime room to make leaf rubbings.

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.

We always say this rhyme at least twice, increasing the speed with each repetition!

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