Read Rabbit Read

Flannel Friday: What Color is Bear's Underwear by Todd H. Doodler

2011-12-16T15:22:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I have done Flannel Friday. I couldn't wait any longer to share my Bear in Underwear flannel. It was so fun to make. I just made enlarged photocopies from the board book and went from there. I am doing an underwear storytime for the toddlers in a few months, but this could work for colors and days of the week too.

What Color is Bear's Underwear? by Todd H. Doodler

Monday: Red

Tuesday: Blue

Wednesday: Green

Thursday: Purple

Friday: Yellow

Saturday: Orange

Sunday: Blue, Red, and White

Whatever the color, undies are DYN-O-MITE

Toddler Storytime: Dress Up

2011-11-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

I did this storytime the week of Halloween to give the toddlers an opportunity to dress up in the costumes more than once. It was a lot of fun. I would like to add more books, songs, rhymes, etc. to this storytime so I can use it again next year with more variety. Please leave some comments if you have any suggestions. Thanks!

Early Literacy Tip: Scientific studies have shown that children develop best when they have a strong, positive relationship with a nurturing adult. This helps not only their physical development but their intellectual development as well. Hugs and kisses can be just as important as flash cards in getting a child ready for success in school.

Books

Maisy Dresses Up by Lucy Cousins

My Dress-Up Box by DK

I Could Be, You Could Be by Karen Owen

Flannel Board Visual

Tell the story Spot and Friends Dress Up by Eric Hill using the flannelboard.

Songs/Rhymes/Fingerplays

Librarian's favorite songs, rhymes and fingerplays

Flannel Friday: Five Little Turkeys

2011-11-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

I know a this has been posted recently, but I wanted to add mine to the mix. I used Microsoft clipart for the rhyme Five Little Turkeys.

Five little turkeys standing at the door,

One waddled off, and then there were four.

Four little turkeys sitting near a tree,

One waddled off, and then there were three.

Three little turkeys with nothing to do,

One waddled off, and then there were two.

Two little turkeys in the morning sun,

One waddled off, and then there was one.

One little turkey better run away,

For soon it will be Thanksgiving Day.

Toddler Storytime: Pumpkins

2011-11-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

This is a storytime I did in October. I am behind in posting my visuals and storytimes, so I am trying to play catch-up as I continue to post on what I am currently doing in storytime.

Early Literacy Tip: The language of nursery rhymes and books is different from the language of conversation. Rhymes and books often have one or two unusual words, ones that children don't hear in regular conversation. Having a large vocabulary helps children understand what they hear and what they will later read. Remember, don't replace unfamiliar words, explain them and use them later in the day so your child will learn more new words.

Books

My Pumpkin by Julia Noonan

Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills

Pumpkin Harvest by Calvin Harris

Activities/Visuals

Hand out the different pumpkins to the song Did You Ever See a Pumpkin? After you sing the first verse, the children with the pumpkins described bring them to the flannelboard. After singing the second verse, the rest of the kids bring their pumpkins to the board.

Songs/Fingerplays/Rhymes

Did You Ever See a Pumpkin?

Ten Little Pumpkins

One little, two little, three little pumpkins.

Four little, five little, six little pumpkins.

Seven little, eight little, nine little pumpkins.

Ten little pumpkins here.

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,

Had a wife, but couldn't keep her.

He put her in a pumpkin shell,

And there he kept her very well.

(I explain that Peter didn't have a house for his wife, so he made one out of a pumpkin shell. Once his wife had a house, she was very happy.)

Mr. Pumpkin

(tune: Where is Thumbkin)

Mr. Pumpkin, Mr. Pumpkin,

Round and fat,

Round and fat.

Harvest time is coming.

Yum, yum, yum,

Yum, yum, yum.

(Not) Flannel Friday: Did You Ever See a Pumpkin?

2011-11-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago the theme for toddler storytime was "Pumpkins". I got this song and visual from makinglearningfun.com. I printed off the pumpkins, cut them out and then enlarged them on the copy machine (using the same size to enlarge each one so they would stay in proportion). I made enough pumpkins for each toddler to bring to the board after singing the two verses of the song. So, the toddlers brought the pumpkins to the flannelboard in two groups, one after each verse.

Did You Ever See a Pumpkin?
(tune: Did You Ever See a Lassie)

Did you ever see a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin?
Did you ever see a pumpkin way down in the patch?
There are BIG ones and LITTLE ones.
There are BUMPY ones and FLAT ones.
Did you ever see a pumpkin way down in the patch?

Did you ever see a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin?

Did you ever see a pumpkin way down in the patch?

There are TALL ones and SHORT ones.

There are YELLOW ones and ORANGE ones.

Did you ever see a pumpkin way down in the patch?

Toddler Storytime: People in the Community

2011-11-07T11:37:00.002-07:00

This is a storytime I did in October. I am behind in posting my visuals and storytimes, so I am trying to play catch-up as I continue to post on what I am currently doing in storytime.

Early Literacy Tip: Reading non-fiction books is a great way to build vocabulary, share information and increase your child's understanding of the world.

Books

Firefighters A to Z by Chris L. Demarest

I Drive a Garbage Truck by Sarah Bridges

Whose Hat Is This? by Sharon Katz Cooper

Whose Shoes? by Stephen R. Swinburne

Activities/Visuals

Hand out hats to match the story Whose Hat is This by Sharon Katz Cooper. When each hat is revealed in the story, the toddlers bring the corresponding hat to the flannelboard.

Songs/Fingerplays/Rhymes

The Wheels on the Bus

Drive the Firetruck

Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck

(hands on steering wheel)

Hurry, hurry, drive the fire truck

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

(ring bell)

Hurry, hurry, climb the ladder

(pretend to climb ladder)

Hurry, hurry, climb the ladder

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

(ring bell)

Hurry, hurry, squirt the water

(pretend to spray hose)

Hurry, hurry, squirt the water

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

(ring bell)

Slowly, slowly, back to the station

(lean slowly to the left and right)

Slowly, slowly, back to the station

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

(ring bell)

(Not) Flannel Friday: Whose Hat is This by Sharon Katz Cooper

2011-11-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

I am behind on posting my storytimes and visuals for October. A couple of weeks ago in toddler storytime the theme was "People in the Community". It is fire prevention week and I was really tired of doing a fire fighter theme, so I expanded it this year and made this visual to go with the book Whose Hat is This by Sharon Katz Cooper. I handed out the hats to the toddlers before reading the book and then when each hat appeared in the story, the child brought it to the board. I can't seem to find my file for this visual. I think I just used clipart and Google Images to find all the hats.

Whose Hat is This by Sharon Katz Cooper

Flannel Friday: Spot and Friends Dress Up by Eric Hill

2011-11-04T09:26:00.000-06:00

It has been so long since I posted on my blog! I have been attending conferences and trainings all month, which really cut into my time thinking about storytimes, flannel boards and blogging. Here is the most recent flannel board I used in toddler storytime this week. I have many more from the month to add and will be working on that in the coming weeks.

I did a dress-up storytime this week so the toddlers would have another opportunity to wear their Halloween costumes. All my books were about playing dress-up. Surprisingly it was really hard to find books at the toddler level about playing dress-up. So, I used a couple of flannel board stories instead of reading the actual books. If anyone has book suggestions, I would like to do the same storytime again next year. Our volunteer made this wonderful flannel board of the board book Spot and Friends Dress Up by Eric Hill. I got a used copy of the book from Amazon and used it as the template.

Spot and Friends Dress Up by Eric Hill

Spot and his friends want to have a dress-up party.

Spot wants to be a cowboy.
He puts on his hat and boots.
Yippee! Now he is a cowboy.

Tom wants to go to the party as a pirate.

He puts on his pirate hat and striped sweater.

Yo-ho-ho! Now he is a pirate.

Helen wants to be a ballet dancer.

She needs her tutu and ballet slippers.

Tra-la-la! Now she's a ballerina.

Steve wants to dress as a clown.

He puts on his funny shoes and clown shirt.

Ha-ha-ha! Now he's ready to be a funny clown and make everyone laugh.

Spot and his friends have lots of fun playing dress-up at their party. When they are all ready, they share yummy milk shakes and cookies while they have fun playing games.

Toddler Storytime: Apples

2011-10-10T09:03:00.000-06:00

Early Literacy Tip: You don't actually need to read books aloud to your children ALL THE TIME in order for them to benefit. Talking about the illustrations in books helps children develop background knowledge and an appreciation for the visual arts. Talk about the colors- not only the names of the colors, but whether they are bright or pastel, clear or blurry. Doing this can be especially fun for longer books and books you have read over and over again.

Books

Apple Harvest by Calvin Harris

Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins

Pepo and Lolo and the Red Apple by Ana Martin Larranaga

Ned's New Home by Kevin Tseng

Activities/Visuals

Hand out red, yellow and green apples to toddlers. Recite the rhyme I Like Apples. After each verse, the toddlers bring their red, yellow or green apple to the flannel board.

Songs & Rhymes

Way up high in an apple tree

(add actions to the song)

Way up high in an apple tree.

Two red apples smiled at me.

I shook the tree as hard as I could.

Down came the apples!

Mmmm they were good.

Applesauce

Peel an apple, cut it up, cook it in a pot.

When you taste it you will find it’s applesauce you’ve got.

I Like Apples
Red apples,

Big apples,

Good apples,

Yummy apples,

Any kind of apples,

I like apples.

Green apples,

Big apples,

Good apples,

Yummy apples,

Any kind of apples,

I like apples.

Yellow apples,

Big apples,

Good apples,

Yummy apples,

Any kind of apples,

I like apples.

Flannel Friday: I Like Apples

2011-10-07T10:48:00.000-06:00

This week in toddler storytime the theme was "Apples". I will get the whole storytime posted soon. Here is the rhyme and the flannel board the kids did with the rhyme. I got the apples from Microsoft Clipart a couple years ago. I didn't save the file once I made the visual. All the toddlers got an apple and they brought it to the board after we recited the verse about the red, green or yellow apple.

I Like Apples

Red apples,

Big apples,

Good apples,

Yummy apples,

Any kind of apples,

I like apples.

Recite rhyme for green and yellow apples too.

Autumn Leaves Storytime

2011-10-03T09:40:00.000-06:00

Early Literacy Tip: Imagination plays a critical role in problem solving and learning. You can nurture your child's imagination by playing games. Today we are going to sing a song while we throw cloth leaves in the air. At home you can reenact this game and song by waving colored scarves and pretending they are leaves swirling down from a tree.

Books

Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson

Autumn Orange by Christianne C. Jones

Kitten's Autumn by Eugenie Fernandes

Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall

Activities/Visuals

Flannel Board Guessing Game Little Bird, Are You in the Green Tree?
I got this activity and visual from Mel's Desk. First I asked the toddlers what color the trees were and then I told them there was a blue bird hiding behind the tree and asked them if they wanted to help me find it. Each time we looked under the tree, I asked the toddlers to name the color first. They loved the game. I did it at the very beginning of storytime so I could hide the bird before anyone was in the room. It was a great way to introduce how the leaves are changing colors and the theme for storytime.
Throw fabric leaves in the air while you sing Autumn Leaves are Falling Down (see words below).
I put a basket of fabric leaves in the middle of the room and invite the toddlers to help me throw them in the air while we sing the song. We sing the song three times while we throw the leaves around the room. Then I ask them to help me pick them up. The whole time we are cleaning up I talk about what great helpers they are and how they are such good listeners. This is also a big hit for this storytime. I got the leaves at a craft store for decorating the tables at my fall wedding several years ago. I saved them (like I do everything) for storytime.

Songs

This is the way we rake the leaves...
(act out motions)
This is the way we rake the leaves
Rake the leaves, rake the leaves.
This is the way we rake the leaves
In the middle of autumn.

This is the way we jump in the leaves
Jump in the leaves, jump in the leaves.
This is the way we jump in the leaves
In the middle of autumn.

Autumn Leaves
(Tune: London Bridge is Falling Down)
Autumn leaves are falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
Autumn leaves are falling down,
Yellow, red and brown.

Flannel Friday: Mouse Mess by Linnea Asplind Riley

2011-09-23T08:54:00.000-06:00

I did a mouse theme for toddler storytime this week. Here are the flannel boards I used and the books, rhymes and songs I had fun sharing.

Flannel Board Visuals for "Mouse Mess" Storytime Theme

The toddlers brought the pictures of food to the the board while I read Mouse Mess by Linnea Asplind Riley aloud. I do an activity like this with the last book or rhyme every week. The toddlers love helping out in storytime. It is great for helping them practice taking turns and being in a larger group of kids.

Here is the pdf for the food images to use with the book. I just found pictures of food from searches on Google Images.

I also used my flannel board for Lunch by Denise Fleming. I posted that one for a previous Flannel Friday.

"Mouse Mess" Storytime Outline

Early Literacy Tip: One way kids prepare for reading is by learning about print. A good way to point out print is by reading food labels aloud in the kitchen or in the grocery store. Soon your child will recognize the words and will practice "reading" them when he or she see the labels.

Books:

I Miss You Mouse by Greg Foley

Lunch by Denise Fleming

Mouse Mess by Linnea Asplind Riley

Mommy, Where Are You? by Leonid Gore

Songs/Rhymes/Fingerplays:

Action Rhyme: Jumping Beans

Rhyme: Make Your Hands Go Clap, Clap, Clap...

Nursery Rhyme: Hickory, Dickory Dock

Song: The Wheels on the Bus

Tickle Rhyme: 'Round and 'Round the Garden

Rhyme: Mouse in a Hole

Rhyme: Where are the Baby Mice?

Shakers:

Song: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Song: Goodbye Song

Words for Mouse Rhymes:

Mouse in a Hole

A mouse lived in a little hole,
Lived softly in a little hole.
(cup hands)
When all was quiet,
as quiet as can be...
(whisper)
OUT POPPED HE!
(loudly and tickle)

Where Are the Baby Mice?
(add actions to fit the words)
Where are the baby mice?
Squeak, squeak, squeak.
I cannot see them.
Peek, peek, peek.
Here they come from a hole in the wall...
1, 2, 3, 4, 5...
That's all!

Aden's Bookshelf: Fall 2011

2011-09-21T11:37:00.001-06:00

My husband, Aden (now a 1 year-old) and I just got back from a three week vacation in Europe. We took Aden's five favorite books and then bought some new ones while we were traveling around. So far, these are his favorites this fall.

What's the Time, Mr. Wolf? by Ladybird
This is a great version of the rhyme. It has everything you could want in a book for babies. It is touch-and-feel, lift-the-flap, counting and rhyme. Aden is drawn to all these features and the colorful illustrations. He loves the ladybugs on the cover and he points to them every time we read it, which is followed by a five minute discussion about ladybugs. He loves talking about the illustrations, he mimics the animal noises we make while reading it and does a little dance to the rhyme. This was a great find in a British/English bookstore while we were in France on our recent trip.

Fall by Roger Priddy
We bought this book right before we left on our trip. It was perfect because it was already autumn in France at the end of August. We read this book for three weeks straight and talked about all the things we do as a family in the fall. Aden loves this touch-and-feel book and I love telling him stories about my favorite season, fall.

Leon petit cuchon by Klaartje Van der Put
We have a few of these puppet books already, but we didn't take one on our trip. We picked this up in France because my husband speaks French. Aden loves the puppet and the hole in the book, like his other ones. It is always a great book for restaurants because it is such a good book and toy.

Romeo & Juliety by Jennifer Adams
These books are so funny. When I got back home from our trip, I was very happy to see our library had just processed a bunch of new books. We read the Pride & Prejudice one at the bookstore earlier this summer, but Aden wasn't into it. I checked this one out because both my husband and I have literature backgrounds and we get a kick out of these. I was really surprised when Aden liked this one too. He points to the large numbers on each page as we flip through the book together. He loves them. This book is a fun counting book that both babies and parents will actually like. I think we will give Pride & Prejudice another try.

You Will Be My Friend! by Peter Brown
My husband and I love Children Make Terrible Pets, so I snatched this from our new cart at the library as soon as I got back from our trip. Aden really isn't into this story and he plays with the remote controls while my husband I read this to him. My husband has a great voice for Lucy and I play all the other parts. We have a blast. You just can't read board books all the time. The sweet insanity of this book is good for our sanity.

Animal Babies by Charles Reasoner
Aden really likes the large, bright photograph illustrations. The text includes the baby animal name and the sound it makes. Aden and I play an "I Love You" game. When he likes something or someone, he lays his head on the object or person (stuffed animal, toy, mommy, daddy, etc.) and I say, "Ohhhh... he love's his mamma... kitty... papa..." I know Aden likes this book because every time there is an illustration he likes, he lays his head on it and we play the game with the animal baby in the book. He also practices the sounds the animals make, especially the lamb going "baa" and the duck going "quack".

Beep Beep by Petr Horacek
Aden loves this book. His first word was "car" a little over a month ago, so we have been reading car books like crazy. He loves the page where they stop at the light and I really ham it up for him. We read this at least three times before bed each night.

Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia
I love Emma Garcia books and now Aden does too. We love counting the cars, looking for the black birds on all the pages and talking about the different colors of the cars. What I love about this book is that the text is so big. It makes it really easy to point out while I read aloud to Aden.

Flannel Friday: I Love You Sun, I Love You Moon by Karen Pandell

2011-09-16T10:00:00.000-06:00

This is the first week of toddler storytime at our library (we take the summer off). I put together an "I Love You" storytime to kick off the season. Our volunteer made a new flannel visual for me to use for the book I Love You Sun, I Love You Moon by Karen Pandell and illustrated by Tomie de Paola. I have tried to get a big book of this a couple of times and can never manage to find one in stock. So, here is my flannel visual to tell the story and also my outline for the storytime I did this week.

Here is the pdf for the clipart the volunteer used to make the flannel pieces.

The toddlers put the pieces on the board as we got to each thing in the story. I forgot to have our volunteer make a sheep, so I used a clipart one I have used for different rhymes or stories.

"I Love You" Storytime Outline

Early Literacy Tip: Through reading you will develop a special bond with your child. Today we are reading books about love. Snuggle up with your kids and let them know how much you love them through the books you share.

Books:

All the Things I Love about You by LeUyen Pham

Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton

I Love You Sun, I Love You Moon by Karen Pandell

I Love My Mommy by Giles Andreae

I Love My Daddy by Sebastien Braun

Songs/Rhymes/Fingerplays (I just did my favorites since it was the first storytime for the year):
Sing I’m a Little Teapot
Bounce Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Sing Itsy Bitsy Spider
Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes
Action We Can Jump

Flannel Visual with Book:
I Love You Sun, I Love You Moon by Karen Pandell
Toddlers put their flannel piece on the board when we come to it in the story.

Shakers:
Sing Alphabet Song with shakers
Sing Goodbye Song

Flannel Friday: Bruno's Hammer

2011-08-18T10:33:00.000-06:00

I am putting together a tool storytime to use this year for my toddler groups. So, I had our volunteer make Bruno's Hammer from rovingfiddlehead kidlit. Thanks so much for sharing this great visual. Here is the pdf of clipart I put together for our volunteer to use as a template.

Flannel Friday: Bouncin' Up & Down in My Little Red Wagon

2011-08-12T16:06:00.000-06:00

I love this song at home with my son and in storytime. So, I decided I should have a flannelboard with wagons of different colors. I haven't used it yet, but I will ask the toddlers to tell me what color the wagon is and then we will sing the song for each color. I give the option for the kids to jump up and down or to bounce in a caregiver's lap. They love the option for movement or being close to their caregiver.

Here is the pdf for the wagon.

Bouncin’ up and down in my little red wagon.

Won’t you be my friend? (lift child in air)

Aden's Bookshelf: Summer 2011

2011-08-06T09:17:00.000-06:00

Things have been super crazy this summer with Summer Reading Program, my Early Literacy Fair, planning a huge vacation with my husband, etc. But, we haven't forgotten to read to Aden with everything that has been happening. Here are some our favorite books so far that we have been enjoying at home this summer.

Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton

I love singing books aloud, so Boynton is always a fun choice.

Woof-Woof by SAMi

Aden loves books that have holes in them. These types of board books help him learn how to handle the book and he can more easily turn the pages.

I Love Animals by Flora McDonnell

This book is great for building vocabulary with all the animal names and sounds.

I Love My Mommy by Giles Andrae

Here is another great mommy/son book.

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

Aden loves it when Bill cries for his mommy. He always looks up from what he is doing when we get to Bill’s parts. I crocheted some owls to act out the story while reading it aloud. This is always a hit.

This Plus That by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

So, Aden doesn’t really pay attention to this one, but my husband and I love reading it. We are big fans of Rosenthal.

Daddy Kisses by Anne Gutman

For every mommy book I bring home, I try to bring one for daddy to share too. This is a good one for snuggling up close.

All About Me!: A Baby’s Guide to Babies by David Salariva

Aden likes looking at the babies. This interactive book is great for building vocabulary and talking about your baby’s day.

Kittens by Roger Priddy
Thank you Denver Public Library for giving this book away during Summer Reading Program. Aden LOVES it. His favorite animals are cats (we have two indoor and one outdoor). He giggles every time we read this book (five times a day) and he sleeps with it in his crib. The pictures are bright, big and engaging and the cats have hilarious, cute names.

Trucks by Roger Priddy
This is Aden's second favorite book this summer. We got this one during the Denver Public Library Summer Reading Program too. Aden's favorite toys right now are small trucks he can zoom back and forth on our floor. This book is great for building vocabulary and talking about Aden's second favorite thing- trucks. He also sleeps with this book.

Flannel Friday: Build a Snowman, 1, 2, 3! by Megan E. Bryant

2011-08-05T13:26:00.000-06:00

I made this board book into a flannel board visual to storytell it in my toddler storytimes this winter. It wasn't too hard to put together. I just found clipart I liked to use as a template for some of the snowman parts and went from there.

Build a Snowman, 1, 2, 3! by Megan E. Bryant

Max and Ella woke up one morning to a winter white world. They decided to build a snowman.

First they needed one carrot for the nose. Then they found two branches outside for arms. Then they rolled three balls of snow- one big, one medium, one small- for the body. The four holly leaves made the snowman look fancy.

There was still some things missing. They decided to put five buttons on him to make the snowman look dressed up. Then they put a special hat on top with six feathers.

The snowman was almost done, but Ella decides to give him her scarf with seven stripes in seven different colors. Max used eight pebbles to give the snowman a happy face and Ella gave him a heart made out of nine red winterberries.

It still looked like there was something missing. Suddenly birds flew down from the sky and landed on the snowman (this is where the toddlers each bring up a bird to put on the snowman). Finally the snowman was done and Max and Ella did their best. Let's count the birds to see how many landed on the snowman.

Flannel Friday: Five Shiny Stars

2011-07-28T16:42:00.000-06:00

Our volunteer made this board book by Little Scholastic into a flannel board story for me.

Five Shiny Stars illustrated by Gabrielle Buckingham

Five shiny stars were twinkling at the cat,

Looking very pretty in the sky like that.

One of the stars found the perfect place to hide…

Leaving four shiny stars and a cloud outside.

Four shiny stars were twinkling at the cat,

Looking very pretty in the sky like that.

One of the stars found the perfect place to hide…

Leaving three shiny stars and some clouds outside.

Three shiny stars were twinkling at the cat,

Looking very pretty in the sky like that.

One of the stars found the perfect place to hide…

Leaving two shiny stars and some clouds outside.

Two shiny stars were twinkling at the cat,

Looking very pretty in the sky like that.

One of the stars found the perfect place to hide…

Leaving one shiny star and some clouds outside.

One shiny star was twinkling at the cat,

Feeling very lonely in the sky like that.

All the other stars came out to shine so bright…

So there were five shiny stars to wish the cat good night!

The book suggests you sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star at the end of the book.

Flannel Friday: Little Boy Blue

2011-07-08T13:42:00.000-06:00

I made this flannel board for parents to use with their kids at the Early Literacy Fair we will be having at our library in July. I couldn't find the flannel board we had bought of Little Boy Blue, so I decided to use clipart to make my own. I found all these images on clipart.com and in Microsoft clipart. I like using real images when I can because some kids may not realize what a corn field or what hay actually looks like. I grew up on a farm, so all these things were normal for me, but not always the case for kids in suburbia. I will probably use this in one of my storytimes this year. Here is the pdf.

Flannel Friday: Lunch by Denise Fleming

2011-07-01T10:49:00.000-06:00

We have an amazing volunteer who is making some wonderful flannel boards for us right now. She just finished Lunch by Denise Fleming. I can't wait for my storytime to start again in the fall so I can use it. Here is the pdf she used as a template. As you can tell, she added her own artistic flare.

Flannel Friday: Fun Books Storytime

2011-06-24T11:22:00.000-06:00

At our library, we divide the weekly family storytimes between the librarians during the summer. This summer I did two. My second one was this week. I decided to do books and stories that I love to make it fun and easy since we don't get a lot of time to plan a storytime in the summer. Here is my storytime outline. Thanks Storytime Katie for sharing the great owl flannelboard. We have an awesome volunteer who is making a bunch of the Flannel Friday visuals for us.

Fun Books Storytime

Sing: Open, Shut Them

Early Literacy Tip: Today I am going to share some of my favorite books with you. Reading with your kids should be fun for everyone. So, share books both you and your child love.

Rhyme: Leg Over Leg

Sing: Bouncin' Up & Down in My Little Red Wagon

Read: Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli (One of the other children's librarians made a large visual on the copier for this book to make it easier to share in a large group.)

Rhyme: 5 Hungry Ants (One of the other children's librarians made this flannelboard. So, I don't have the clipart she used.)

Sing: Row, Row, Row Your Boat (bounce version)

Sing: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Read: Ivan the Terrier by Peter Catalanotto

Sing: Hey Diddle, Diddle (perform actions)

Sing: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Rhyme: Five Little Owls

See the Storytime Katie blog

Read Big Book: Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (I used a set of stuffed Owl Babies that came with a board book. I held up each bird when I said his or her line. Our set looks like the stuffed owl with this one on Amazon, but we have three baby owls and one mother owl. I don't know where we got it. I am making a crocheted set of Owl Babies to use at home and as a gift idea with a cute and easy owl pattern from the book Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet by Ana Paula Rimoli.)

Hand out shakers.

Shake to Hap Palmer's Shake Your Sillies Out

Sing: Goodbye Song

Flannelboard Friday: Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh

2011-06-17T09:56:00.000-06:00

I made this flannelboard for Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh in Microsoft Publisher with the shapes you can draw. I printed them on card stock, cut them out, laminated them and then put magnets on the back. I have used it in my toddler storytime for shapes and my family early literacy storytime for letter knowledge. In toddler storytime, I needed to copy enough of the pieces to hand out to each child (15 - 20 pieces). The toddlers put the pieces on the board when we come to that part in the story. In my family early literacy storytime, I used the pieces as I was telling the story to put on the flannelboard. Here is the pdf.

Flannelboard Friday: Making Food Storytime

2011-06-10T12:31:00.000-06:00

I did a storytime called "Making Food" this week for one of our summer family storytimes. I made a of visual out of clipart and a flannelboard from Mel's blog (thanks!) to use with two of the rhymes. Here is my storytime outline with the flannelboard templates linked.

Early Literacy Tip: Today we are going to read books about preparing food. Cooking with your kids is a great way to make learning fun at home. Reading the recipe, talking about the different foods, making lists and going to the grocery store are all literacy building skills that will prepare your child for learning how to read.

Rhyme Five Little Kernels (see Mel's Desk)

Lift baby/child in air on the word POP (bounce to rhyme)

Clap on the word POP

I made my popcorn pop too hard the first couple of times and all the kearnels fell off the board. I figured it out by the second storytime. Everyone thought it was fun, even with the flying kearnels.

Rhyme Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake… (speed up each time for the older kids)

Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell

Rhyme Jumping Beans

Sing I'm a Little Teapot

Rhyme Do You Know the Muffin Man? Cupcake man? Pizza man?

During one of the storytimes a little boy kept saying, "I don't know the Muffin Man..." and the little girl next to him would say each time, "I do. I know a muffin man..."

Bee-bim Bop! By Linda Sue Park

Rhyme Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Sing Mix a Pancake

The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred by Samantha R. Vamos
I made a visual to go with this story, but I didn't end up using it for the storytime. It is a picture of each animal, person and thing in the book with the English and Spanish word. Feel free to use the pdf I made.

Hand out shakers and shake to Laurie Berkner’s I Know a Chicken on CD Whaddya Think of That

Extra Books

To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda

Happy Belly, Happy Smile by Rachel Isadora

Soup Day by Melissa Iwai

Flannelboard Friday: Hickety, Pickety, My Black Hen

2011-05-27T07:52:00.000-06:00

I have started to make flannelboards at home using fabric crayons and fabric markers. First I found an outline of a hen I like on clipart.com. Then, I printed it on paper and colored it with Crayola fabric crayons. Next I transferred the hen onto felt per the instructions on the crayon box. It didn't turn out quite as bright as I would have liked (I am getting better at it though). So, I added more detail and color with some fabric markers I already had at home.

I love using Hickety, Pickety, My Black Hen in storytime. I am going to use this flannelboard next year for several different storytimes I am putting together: feathered friends, eggs and probably a storytime about colors. I will cut out more eggs for storytime so the toddlers can bring them to the board when we are talking about the different colors of the eggs.

Right now I am using it at home with my son. He loves pulling the eggs off our homemade flannelboard while I talk about the different colors and count how many eggs our black hen lays.

Hickety, Pickety, My Black Hen
Hickety, pickety, my black hen,
She lays eggs for the gentlemen;
Gentlemen come every day
To see what my black hen doth lay;
Sometimes nine and sometimes ten,
Hickety, pickety, my black hen.

Flannelboard Friday: Where's Spot by Eric Hill

2011-05-20T08:58:00.000-06:00

I used the flannelboard below to tell the story Where's Spot by Eric Hill in my dog/puppies storytime this year. I found the template online at The Daycare Resource Connection. There are other stories here you can make into storytime visuals or flannelboards.

I laminated all the pieces and then cut them out. I used magnets to hold the flaps closed until we looked under them in storytime. I photocopied, laminated and cut out a couple of the missing pages of the book that were not included in the template. A lot of the toddlers had heard the story before, but they loved helping me tell it again and got really involved.

Aden's Bookshelf: May 2011

2011-05-18T22:06:00.003-06:00

Cat by Matthew Van Fleet
Aden loves cats. He likes loves how interactive this book is and watching the cats move. We usually sing Soft Kitty after reading this together.

Yummy YUCKY by Leslie Patricelli
Aden loves Leslie Patricelli and always laughs when we read one of her books. We own this book and read it over and over again. His first encounter with Patricelli was Tubby. I read it to him when he was around five months old. Whenever the baby runs around naked, Aden giggled. These are books babies love and are funny for parents too.

Farm by Bright Baby
Aden is teething all the time. He has chewed on all parts of this book. This is a fun one because the pictures are bright and colorful, the rattle makes a noise and the pages are easy for him to turn. We make animal noises and sing Old MacDonald when we read it together. This is a good book for the car seat.

Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler
This book is full of fun musical sounds and expressions and by the end of the book I wanted to start all over again because I had really gotten into the swing of it. However, Aden was too distracted by the book below, so, we read that one three times the night we read this one for the first time.

Baby Talk by SAMi
I wasn't too excited about bringing this home from the library, but Aden couldn't stop staring at it. The first time I read it, I did the sounds in the book. The second and third time I read it (in the same night), I acted out the expression and then talked about a time Aden felt that way too. Aden loved turning the pages and we looked at each other through the holes in the book. Aden loves books with holes in them. That's why I checked this one out in the first place.

Do Monkeys Tweet? by Melanie Walsh
This is a great nonfiction book to introduce animal sounds. It is silly and fun to read aloud.

The Little Dump Truck by Margery Cuyler
There are so many wonderful noises in a dump truck's life.

Jack and Jill by Salley Mavor
Aden really liked the pictures in this story. He kept reaching for the book while I read it to him. He is teething right now, so, I made sure to give him one of our books for him to chew on while I read this library book aloud to him.

I Love My Daddy by Sebastien Braun
My husband is a stay-at-home dad, so, this book is an especially sweet one to share.

Little Giraffe Finger Puppet Book
This is one of Aden's favorite books to use for teething. He loves playing peek-a-boo with the puppet and looking through the holes in the pages. Aden also likes to help turn the pages of the book and grab onto the giraffe with his mouth (ouch!) and hands.

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
We finished Wizard of Oz a couple of weeks ago. This week we started Paddington. Aden and I sit on the floor and play with his toys together while I read aloud to him.

Flannelboard Friday: Print Awareness

2011-05-13T12:38:00.000-06:00

I made this story with clipart and images from Google last month for my Family Early Literacy Time. This is a storytime I do once a month to focus on one early literacy skill. We were doing print awareness, so, I put together this story to highlight environmental print. I copied Bill Martin, Jr.'s format for Brown Bear (so good to use for almost any storytime theme). By the end of the story everyone was reciting it with me.

I printed this on 11 x 17 paper and then laminated it. I don't know if it counts for a flannelboard, but it is definitely a storytime visual you can use in the future. I call the story "Blue Car, Blue Car What Do You See?".

Blue Car, Blue Car What Do You See

Flannelboard Friday: Counting in the Garden

2011-05-06T13:27:00.002-06:00

I always try to have something visual to involve the toddlers in storytime. A lot of times I will create clip art flannelboards for the toddlers to put on the board while I am reading a book. I use the clip art because I have to have enough copies for the toddlers (at least 15) and then extras for attending siblings. I am going to use this flannelboard for my butterfly storytime next week with the book Counting in the Garden by Kim Parker. When I get to each animal or insect, the child with that picture and number will put it on the board. Here is the pdf if anyone would like to use the images.

Counting in the Garden

Flannelboard Friday: Where Has My Little Dog Gone

2011-04-29T09:42:00.001-06:00

In my dog/puppies storytime, I used these clip art images to sing the song "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?". I hide the dog behind one of the pieces and the group sings the song together. After we are done, I ask the toddlers in my storytime if they think the dog is hiding under one of the pieces or to guess where the dog is hiding. We sing the verse until we find the dog.

Song lyrics:
Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone
Oh where, oh where can he be
With his ears cut short and his tail cut long
Oh where, oh where can he be?

Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?

Aden's Bookshelf: April 2011

2011-04-28T22:13:00.002-06:00

Hickory Dickory Dock by Jonas Sickler

Aden, currently 8 months, likes this book because it makes a cool noise when we shake it in the air.

Humpty Dumpty by Jonas Sickler

He also likes to crumple up the indestructible books to hear the noises they make.

Who's in the Forest by Phillis Gershator

Aden liked touching the pictures and feeling the hole in the page.

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

Okay, this book was too long for Aden to pay attention to, but my husband loves reading it aloud and it was fun to play with Aden while he read it to us.

Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy by Denise Fleming

The vocabulary is great in this book and it is easy to point to the words while sharing it with Aden.

Shout! Shout it Out! by Denise Fleming

This is a perfect concept book. It's fun to shout, but maybe not in the car, which is where I read this aloud to Aden for the first time (my husband, who was driving didn't appreciate it).

Boom Bah! by Phil Cummings

All the Things I love About You by LeUyen Pham

This is a perfect book for a mother to read to her son. I love sharing it with Aden.

Except If by Jim Averbeck

Shhhhh! Everybody's Sleeping by Julie Markes

The Tree in the Wood by Christopher Manson

Even though I don't get the tune quite right, Aden loves to hear me sing this book aloud to him.

Strawberries Are Red by Petr Horacek

Aden loves to touch the pages and look at the vibrant colors. It's fun to read over and over again.

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

A couple times a week I read chapter books aloud while Aden plays. Even though it doesn't seem like he is paying attention, it is good language exposure and fun for me to read since I have never actually read this classic.

Welcome Spring by Jill Ackerman

Beach Babies Wear Shades by Michelle Sinclair Colman

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! by Mo Willems

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

Peek-a-Moo by Marie Torres Cimarusti

Olivia by Ian Falconer

Perfect Square by Michael Hall

Babybug: April 2011 published by Ladybug