Blog Post
PreK Bits - "Z" is for ZOOLOGICAL PARK
by ryanikoglu
Ms. Rachel presented Zoo Stories in Storytime.
First Banjo Betsy led the song "Zippity DooDah".
BABY BEEBEE BIRD is new to the zoo ... and disturbs the other animals' sleep rhythms.
Banjo Betsy led “Mama’s Taking Us To the Zoo Tomorrow” by Tom Paxton ... which you can find on the CD LET’S GO TO The ZOO and the CD PETER, PAUL And MOMMY.
We helped the animals get dressed in BLUE HAT GREEN HAT by Sandra Boynton.
We looked at a few of the cutie patootey photos in ABC ZOOBORNS by Andrew Bleiman ... and everyone said, "AAawwwww!" with the pictures.
Here are more zoo stories to enjoy at home or in the library:
STOP SNORING BERNARD! by Zacchariah Ohora … with illustrations of the cutest otters you ever saw, sleeping in the zoo.
LET’S GO TO The ZOO by Tom Paxton, the creator of “Going To The Zoo” song. You can sing the words in this book.
POO IN The ZOO by Steven Smallman … for folks who like to say “poo” out loud.
FIELD TRIP FIASCO by Julie Danneburg … “be prepared” when the class goes to the zoo.
A SICK DAY For AMOS McGEE by Philip and Erin Stead.
GOODNIGHT GORILLA by Peggy Rathman.
And TANGO MAKES THREE by Justin Richardson … true story of two daddy penguins hatching an egg and raising a chick at the New York City Zoo.
ONE COOL FRIEND by Tony Buzzeo.
Blog Post
PreK Bits - "Y" is for YUMMY!
by ryanikoglu
Ms. Rachel brought YUMMY stories to Preschool Storytime.
Bear woke up one day with a hankerin’ for yummy, yummy UGLY PIE.
Banjo Betsy led the action for “Stir It Up” from the CD FOR THOSE ABOUT TO HOP.
There were "5 Plum Buns In A Bakery Shoppe" ... a rhythmic interlude with "sugar on the top".
And Wolf needed to plump up Ms. Chicken for his chicken stew with plenty of yummy baked goods in WOLF’S CHICKEN STEW. Wolf got a surprise!
If you want more yummy literature for your hungry reading palette try the following:
FROM APPLE TREES TO CIDER PLEASE.
BETTY BUNNY LOVES CHOCOLATE CAKE.
DRAGONS LOVE TACOS.
DONUT CHEF.
BEE BIM BOP.
MAX'S CHOCOLATE CHICKEN.
COW LOVES COOKIES.
HUNGRY ROSCOE.
TALIA And The VERY YUM KIPPUR.
Blog Post
“X” is for Extinct … X’d out
by ryanikoglu
Ms. Rachel brought cave boys, a baby dodo, and dinosaur bones to PreK Storytime.
First we found dinosaur bones and fit them together ... inspired by the book DINOSAUR BONES … a first book of non-fiction for PreK.
Ms. Sara sang “Dinosaurs At Play” by Tom Paxton.
We read IF THE DINOSAURS COME BACK in big book format.
we followed Caveboy to find a new playmate in ME WANT PET .
If you are fans of dinosaurs, here are more things to read and sing:
MEET DIZZY DINOSAUR
DINO BITES … food chain … until a BU-u-rp !
EDWINA: The Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct
IF I HAD A TRICERATOPS
SUPPOSE YOU MEET A DINOSAUR:a First Book Of Manners
IF DINOSAURS LIVED IN MY TOWN
Try these CDs for sing-along dino-songs:
DINOSAURS: 16 All-Time Great Dino-Songs
The BEST Of The LAURIE BERKNER BAND
DINOSTORY: The Ultimate DinosaurRock Opera
SHA-DOO-BE-DOOP
MOST AMAZING DINOSAUR SONGS
OR …
CHOOSE your own Dino from this list.
Blog Post
If You’re a Monster & You Know It!
by manz
This week Ms Amanda told stories about monsters at preschool storytime! Not the scary kind, really, but monsters of the cute, funny, silly, and sad variety.
In Glad Monster, Sad Monster: A Book About Feelings by Ed Emberly we explored different emotions. We practiced looking at a monster and guessing how it was feeling by the face it was making. We then got silly and tickled a monster until he went way in Tickle Monster by Édouard Manceau. And to end with, since we’re talking monsters here, we had to get a little scary in Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas. (It wasn’t really that scary, but we all made our best scary face and scared away a lady bug and a giant green frog!)
All in all it was loads of fun, and a grand adventure to be surrounded by cute and silly monsters.
Blog Post
"W" is for Wiseguys and Whiskers
by ryanikoglu
Ms Rachel brought “Wise Guys and Whiskers” tales to Storytime.
Can you tell who the “Wise Guys” are?
In FLOSSIE And The FOX ... Flossie has to get her basket of eggs safely to Ms. Viola’s house.
Flossie doesn’t know what a fox looks like but she figures it out.
We went on a “Fox Hunt” together … looking for the cute fox with the bushy tail, pointy ears, fur coat and whiskers.
Finally .... we sang along with the GINGERBREAD GIRL … as she planned a more successful ending to the classic story of the GINGERBREAD BOY.
If you had fun on "The FOX HUNT" ... Here are more versions of this classic action story:
WE’RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT ... same book written in Arabic and written in Tamil.
WE’RE GOING ON A LION HUNT.
WE'RE GOING ON A GHOST HUNT.
LOOKING FOR A MOOSE.
Especially for Halloween ... "Looking For Dracula" is one of my favorite versions!
It is found on the CD 10 CARROT DIAMOND by Charlotte Diamond.
Blog Post
"V" is for Varmints
by ryanikoglu
Varmints are animals that cause mischief or nuisance.
Ms. Rachel thinks varmints are cute and silly . So … varmints were in Storytime.
SO COZY used all varmints to create the drama and conclusion.
Ms. Betsy accompanied and Ms. Rachel led “Gray Squirrel” for action/music fun.
You can participate more with the song on the CD SING IT! SAY IT! STAMP IT! SWAY IT!
”Skunk’s Party” is an “oral tradition story”.
Skunk “only lifts her tail when she’s scared or mad.”
For more fun varmint stories, try these favorites:
POSSUM COME A-KNOCKIN’ AT The DOOR … with Appalachian rhythm and action.
THOSE DARN SQUIRRELS
OL’ MAMA SQUIRREL will protect her babies!
MUNCHA! MUNCHA! MUNCHA! is what the rabbits do.
The RABBIT PROBLEM
BRAVEST Of The BRAVE
WEASELS
Blog Post
"U" is for "Up" and "Under"
by ryanikoglu
Ms. Rachel told stories for concepts of up and under.
Mr. Rabbit tricks Mr. Bear with choices of TOPS and BOTTOMS … "Which part of the vegetable would you choose … uppers or unders?"
Banjo Betsy accompanied Bell Horses” and "Grand Old Duke Of York" … with ups and downs ... for our action songs!
These songs (and more) can be heard on the CDs SONGS & GAMES For TODDLERS and WHERE IS THUMBKIN?.
Mr. OWL at HOME … has problems with “Strange Bumps” … under the covers!
For more stories that have something underneath try the following titles:
UP In The GARDEN And DOWN In The DIRT
GOOSE GOES TO SCHOOL … but stays under Sophie’s desk.
OVER And UNDER The SNOW
THERE’S An ALLIGATOR UNDER MY BED
ALPHABET UNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER A PIG TREE ... a confusion of words.
UNDER My HOOD I HAVE A HAT
Blog Post
PreK - "S" is for Shoes
by ryanikoglu
Storytime was all about shoes this week.
SHOE TOWN … begins with Ms. Mouse in her empty shoe ... now that the children have moved on.
Banjo Betsy played her banjo and Ms. Rachel led the action song “Walk Walk Walk" around the block … which can be found on the CD RISE And SHINE by Raffi.
We learned the shoe song from Pete The Cat who loves his new shoes ... I LOVE MY WHITE SHOES.
It’s all GOOD!
Here are more shoe stories you might like:
SHOE BABY… rhyme and fantasy for the youngest kids.
A BOY Had A MOTHER WHO BOUGHT HIM A HAT … and shoes, and boots, and skis … and he always had them with him.
TAKING A BATH WITH The DOG And OTHER THINGS
LOUISE The BIG CHEESE And The LA-DI-DA SHOES
SHOEBOX SAM … shoes and dignity.
SAM BENNETT’S NEW SHOES … a growing story …
Don't forget ... Music on CD leads SHOES to dance!
PUT ON YOUR DANCING SHOES with Joanie Bartels
I GOT SHOES with Sweet Honey In The Rock
RHYTHM IN MY SHOES with Jessica Harper
JIM GILL SINGS MOVING RHYMES FOR MODERN TIMES
TRAIN SONGS And Other TRACKS.
Now go ahead and … put on your choo-choo shoes!
Blog Post
PreK Bits - "R" is for Russian stories
by ryanikoglu
Ms. Rachel brought Russian stories to Storytime this week.
“Naughty Rozalina” is an oral tradition story told with nesting matryoshka dolls.
Ms Sara played guitar and sang “May There Always Be Sunshine”. She even sang the first verse in Russian language!!
The song can be found on the CD GLOBALullabies and the CD SONGS Of Our WORLD.
The TURNIP: An Old Russian Folktale is a classic tale with Dedoushka, Babushka, Mashenka and the animals all pulling together.
Pierr Morgan's version is a favorite of mine for the illustrations and the simple telling.
Unfortunately it can no longer be replaced so we keep the last copy for story programs.
Fortunately there are more versions to borrow in this list.
For more favorite Russian folklore try the following titles:
BABUSHKA’S MOTHER GOOSE … nursery rhymes with Russian themes
AT The WISH Of The FISH … be careful what you wish for …
LUBA And The WREN … a version of the fisherman story illustrated and told by Patrica Polacco
GRANDMA CHICKENLEGS ... a traditonal Baba Yaga story.
The LITTLE SNOWGIRL … Pavel makes a snowgirl for his wife.
The LITTLEST MATRYOSHKA … teamwork saves the day.
MAY THERE ALWAYS SUNSHINE ... a poetically perfect song to grow with.
Blog Post
PreK Bits - "Q" is for Quiet
by ryanikoglu
This week Ms. Rachel presented stories that needed quiet.
The SQUEAKY DOOR had a Grandma putting her Grand-daughter to bed ... she needed quiet.
Ms. Sara played guitar and Ms. Rachel led the copycat song "I Got New Boots”... a song by Charlotte
Diamond. She's one of my favorite recording artist for yound children's songs, but I could not find a recording of this song.
SLEEPYHEADS ... where every quiet creature lays their sleepy head.
For more books that find "quiet" try the following favorites:
QUIET BUNNY'S MANY COLORS ... find them in the garden.
The QUIET BOOK ... very thoughtful, lovely prose, and beautiful gentle illustrations.
SHH! WE HAVE A PLAN ... who needs to be quiet?
TIPTOE JOE ... tiptoe to be quiet.
HANK FINDS AN EGG ... on a quiet walk in the woods. What shall he do?
The FAMILY BEDTIME TREASURY: Tales For Sleepy Times and Sweet Dreams ... a treasure trove in one book!
BEDTIME FOR BEAR ... with a "small but effervescent" overnight guest. Delightful storytelling and illustrations!
Find a cozy space.
Good Night!
Sleep Tight.