Sunday, August 23, 2015

Storytimes Page

Howdy

I love Blogger but I don't think it's search feature is all that reliable. To make it easier to find preplanned storytimes and to see upcoming storytimes, I've made a Storytimes page available from the right hand menu. 

If you still can't find what you are looking for, perhaps something you thought you'd seen a while back, just comment on any post and I'll help you hunt.  

Also if you see a note or reference to another blogger, website or artist that you think is wrong, vague or inaccurate enough really not give the appropriate amount of credit please get out your lifeguard whistle and give me a head's up on this.  I really appreciate all the librarians, teachers and educators who have taken the time to create great storytime components and then taken the extra step to share them online for those of us, ahem me, who are short on inspiration or time, or both.  I don't want to sell anyone short.

Laura



Tuesday, August 11, 2015

YALSA the Hub - Hub Bloggers Share What They’ve Been Reading This Summer

On my International Harvester...
a joke for my country music fans. 
Howdy

I have a ton of books this year and this summer in particular. I have read on my lunch break, at the doctor's office and on my commute with audio books.  My Good Reads Challenge has been updated at least twice and I think a third increase might be in the future.  To see where else and what other my fellow librarians and bloggers have been up to, check out this YALSA the Hub post :


Hub Bloggers Share What They’ve Been Reading This Summer

In case you didn't know, goats like the following titles: Let's Count Goats by Mex Fox, Gregory the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat and G Is For Goat by Patricia Polacco.  This will make a tad more sense if you check out the blog linked above. 

Photography by Barbara Perenic. :) 

Laura

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Tune Cube

Howdy
When I was unemployed I spent a lot of time wistfully reading library blogs and pinning  storytime ideas on Pinterest.  I now have a job and the time to create the wonderful things I've been reading about and seeing online.  A post I bookmarked ages ago was Early Literacy Storytime: Song Cube from the Blog Mel's Desk.  She says "Inspiration for this idea came from Andrea’s (RovingFiddlehead KitLitSong Spinner and the “Storytime 911 Shuffle Mix” at Storytiming." I have no idea where the original idea for this storytime song and rhyme randomizer came from but some of these posts starting showing up in blogs well over 5 years ago. I think it's about time I got with the program. Ta Da!  I made my own Tune Cube or Song Cube or however you like to call this large single dye covered in song and rhyme prompts. Basically you use it in storytime to introduce a new  activity in an exciting way that also helps involve the kids even more.  You can  encourage  the   children to guess what side the box might land on. You can see if they remember what you did last week.  I purposefully labeled my Tune Cube so that each side had  a  prominent  color so we could cram another concept into the play. Storytimes start up again after Labor Day so I will report back on the response I get from the kids and their parents. 

My Song Box or Tune Cube feature the following songs:

I'm a Little Teapot (with a clever addition I learned online)
I'm a little teapot short and stout.
Here is my handle.
Here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up,
Hear me shout!
Just tip me over

And pour me out 

I'm a clever teapot, yes it's true.
Here's an example of what I can do.
I can turn my handle to a spout.
Just tip me over and pour me out


Itsy Bitsy Spider (repeat with a great big hairy spider and baby spider)
The itsy-bitsy spider
Climbed up the water spout
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
And the itsy-bitsy spider
Climbed up the spout again



Alphabet Song
♫ A, B, C, D, E, F, G
H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P
Q, R, S, T, U, V
W, X, Y, and Z
Now I know my ABCs.
Next time won't you sing with me? ♫



Soap
I love this song.  It earworms me all the time.  I did rearrange the lyrics so that they rhyme. 
oh soap soap
you gotta wash your hands with soap soap
you gotta wash your face with soap soap
you gotta wash your nose with soap soap soap

oh soap soap
you gotta wash your tummy with soap soap
you gotta wash your knees with soap soap
you gotta wash your toes with soap soap soap



Five Little Peas 
Five little peas in a pea pod pressed. 
          (hold fists in front of you with your knuckles pressed                together)
1 grew, 2 grew and so did all the rest 

          (on one hand pull one finger out of the fist at a time as             you count up)
They grew and they grew 

         (begin to pull hands apart)
And they did not stop 

         (hands are as wide apart as possible now)
Until one day, that pod went, Pop! 

        (Clap hands loudly)

This Little Piggy
This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none,
And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home.


Laura