Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Winter Happenings

School's out... for winter! The library has a ton of FREE activities planned all across the system. Check out the brochure by clicking on the cover to see what will be happening at your library. There's gift making, movies, crafts and SANTA!

http://jaxpubliclibrary.org/schoolbreakresources/

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Sensory Storytime- Snow

Sensory storytime is for children with Sensory Integration Issues, Autism Spectrum Disorders or other developmental delays, their friends and families.
 
The program includes fine/gross motor activities, songs, fingerplays and stories.
A predictable, visual schedule guides our sessions.  

 
The program is open to all ages, but is geared towards a preschool interest level. 
 
This week our theme was Snow. 
 
 
Carpet squares are already in a circle and children are welcomed into the room and invited to sit on one of the squares, with their parents close to them.
I introduce myself and go over storytime rules. They are simple! 
1. Participate
2. If anyone gets too rowdy, they are welcome to go to the calming corner (where there is a calming caddy; a small caddy filled with fidgets, stress balls and other manipulatives) and come back to the circle once they are settled.
3. A little movement around the room is ok, but if the child gets too close to any materials that are being used, please bring them back to their square.
 
The visual schedule is already on a flannelboard. I go over the activities we are going to do today, pointing at each card as I talk.There is a lot of repetition between programs.
 
This week's theme is snow and as there is very little snow in Florida, when introducing the theme, I ask if anyone has ever been in the snow. We talk about what it looks like, what it feels like and that we will use our imagination to pretend it is snowing.
 
 
 
Time to sing! We go around the room and welcome everyone by singing to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell:
___________ is here today,
 ___________ is here today,
Everybody wave hello
'Cause __________ is here today.
 
Then we sing "Open, Shut Them"  Click on the link to see how to do it at home.
Open, shut them
Open shut them,
Open shut them,
Give a little clap clap clap!
Open shut them,
Open shut them,
Put them in your lap, lap, lap!
Creep them, crawl them,
Creep them, crawl them,
Right up to your chin, chin, chin!
Open wide your little mouth,
But do not let them in!  
 
Falling, falling, falling, falling
Almost to the ground, ground, ground
Slowly pick them up again
and turn them ‘round and ‘round, ‘round, ‘round
Faster, faster, faster, faster,
faster, fasterClap, clap, clap
Slower, slower, slower, slower
Put them in your lap, lap, lap
 
 
 

 
We read:

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

We read this book twice. The first time, children were just to listen.
The second time, we did all of Peter's actions.
I coached children as necessary to make the appropriate movements.
 
  
I gave each child 2 pieces of paper and talked about how it doesn't really snow in Florida so we have to use our imaginations and pretend.
As we sang the song, we crumpled our paper and made snow.
Make a Snowball
(tune: Frere Jacques)
Make a snowball, make a snowball,
Throw it now, throw it now,
Make yourself a snowball,
make yourself a snowball,
Throw it now, throw it now. 



This is actually a Flannelboard song.
5 Little Snowmen
5 little snowmen riding on a sled,
1 fell off and bumped his head.
Mamma called Frosty and Frosty said,
"No more snowmen riding on a sled!"
...4, 3, 2, 1....
(found at: http://lisaslibraryland.blogspot.com/2013/01/flannel-friday-five-little-polar-bears.html)





We read: 
 
Snow by Uri Shulevitz
Before I read this book, I gave each child a bag filled with packing peanuts and Christmas scatter. We explored what it looked like when we shook it and talked about what snow actually feels and looks like.
 
Children were instructed to shake their bags and make it "snow" when the boy in the book says "Its snowing!"
 

Once the story is over, have children put their bags away to take home after storytime. 
 


I give a scarf to each child and they make a "bird" with the scarf and we sing: 
There's a bird in the air
(tune: There's a spider on the floor)
There's a bird in the air, in the air
There's a bird in the air, in the air
There's a bird in the air, now he's flying in my hair!
There's a bird in the air, in the air.

There's a bird on my leg, on my leg.
There's a bird on my leg, on my leg.
There's a bird on my leg and he's getting pretty big,
There's a bird on my leg, on my leg.

There's a bird on my hand, on my hand.
There's a bird on my hand, on my hand.
There's a bird on my hand, but look, he's my friend!
There's a bird on my hand, on my hand.

We then use our scarves to do:
Peek-a-boo, I see you- I see you in the morning
Peek-a-boo, I see you- I see you in the afternoon
Peek-a-boo, I see you- I see you in the evening.



Our opening and closing songs, our scarf song and this rhyme/ fingerplay are the same across all storytimes.

Two Little Blackbirds
Two little blackbirds, sitting on a hill,
One named Jack, and one named Jill.
Fly away Jack, fly away Jill.
Come back Jack, and come back Jill.

 
Tickle the Clouds
Tickle the clouds, 
Tickle your toes
Turn around and tickle your nose
Reach down low
And reach up high
Storytime's over- wave good-bye!
 


As a parting activity, I hand out bubbles and play a song and allow children to blow bubbles around the room.
 
It is important to give children an opportunity to play and parents an opportunity to socialize, so I open our play room; you could bring out toys.
 
I remind parents and children about the items I have given them and instructions on how to continue the activities at home.
 
My final words are to remind parents and children about our next storytime.

Winter animals storytime


Today's storytime is all about animals in winter; animals that like the cold weather and animals that sleep all winter.


Open Shut Them
Open shut them, Open shut them,
Give a little clap clap clap!
Open shut them, Open shut them,
Put them in your lap, lap, lap!
Creep them, crawl them,
Creep them, crawl them,
Right up to your chin, chin, chin!
Open wide your little mouth,
But do not let them in!

Falling, falling, falling, falling
Almost to the ground, ground, ground
Slowly pick them up again and turn them round and round, round, round.
Faster, faster, faster, faster,
Faster, faster, clap, clap, clap
Slower, slower, slower, slower,
Put them in your lap, lap, lap

Ten on the sled by Kim Norman
This is a really great book for this theme. It is to the "tune" of Ten on the Bed and has all kinds of winter animals throughout with the Caribou "singing" the chorus.

Something in the snow
There’s something in the snow,
 now what can it be?
There’s something in the snow
that I can’t really see.
Hear its funny sound…Ah-ooooo!
A wolf is what I found! Ah-ooooooo!
...Grrr, Grrr, Grr/ polar bear
...Arrrf, Arrrf, Arrrf/ seal
Whoo, Whoo, Whoo/ snowy owl
…waddle, waddle/ penguin








For this activity, I used made the sounds of the animals and then showed the children pictures of the animals and we made the sound again, all together.



Bear Snores on by Karma Wilson
I am a big fan of Karma Wilson, and especially her Bear books. For this one, I used puppets and retold a story, very loosely based on the book. 

Where is Bear?
(echo song to tune of: Where Is Thumbkin)
Where is bear?
Where is bear?
Here I am.
Here I am.
How are you this winter?
How are you this winter?
Very tired, thank you.
Very tired, thank you.
Go to sleep.
Go to sleep.
…box turtle
…hedgehog

Egg Shaker Song- If you’re happy and you know it
If you’re happy and you know it, give a shake
If you’re happy and you know it, give a shake.
If you’re happy and you know it then your face will surely show it.
If you’re happy and you know it, give a shake.
tap your knees
…touch your toes
…beep your nose
… do all four


Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows


Hibernation Song
(Tune: Wheels on the Bus)
The bears in the cave sleep all the time, sleep all the time,
Sleep all the time.
The bears in the cave sleep all the time, winter’s coming soon!
…squirrels in the trees get lots of nuts
…frogs and toads go deep in mud
…ducks and the geese go flying south
…people in the town wear hats and gloves

Two little penguins

Two little penguins sitting on the ice (hold up two fingers)
One bows once, the other bows twice (made index fingers bow)
Waddle little penguins. Waddle away. (put fingers behind back)
Come back penguins. Time to play! (bring fingers to the front)



Polar bear
Polar bear, polar bear, turn around
Polar bear, polar bear, touch the ground
Polar bear, polar bear, reach up high
Polar bear, polar bear, touch the sky
Polar bear, polar bear, bend down low
Polar bear, polar bear, touch your toes
Polar bear, polar bear, slap your knees
Polar bear, polar bear, sit down please

Goodbye Song
(tune: She’ll be coming around the mountain)
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"
Now it's time to say goodbye,
Wave your hands,
Wink your eye,
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"


More winter animal books to use/ check out:
 Baker, K. No two alike
Berkes, M. Over in the arctic
Denslow, S. In the snow
Dodd, E. I am small
Gershator, P. When it starts to snow
Judge, L. Red Sled
Messner, K. Over and under the snow
Na, Il. Snow rabbit, spring rabbit
Wolff, A. Baby Bear counts one
Yolen, J. Sleep, black bear, sleep

Monday, December 2, 2013

Traveling Tales


Have you heard about Traveling Tales?
They are:

A unique collection of thematic storytime programs. Each Traveling Tales kit contains a children’s program you check out and take home.

Traveling Tales kits encourage reading readiness and language skills for children ages two through five.

We’ve made it easy for you by collecting books, puppets, songs, craft ideas, snack recipes, a music CD, a DVD, and a flannel board story all related to a theme.

You can borrow up to three kits for three weeks and return them to any Jacksonville library. Kits can be renewed one time.

Traveling Tales can be placed on hold via the library catalog or by contacting the Main Library Children’s Department to request a theme. Click here to place a hold on an available kit.



It is a storytime you can take home!

There are currently 76 themes to choose from: 


Sunday, December 1, 2013

December Calendar


So much is happening at your library this month! Hope to see you soon.



Saturday, November 23, 2013

Thanksgiving Storytime


Thanksgiving is next week! We celebrated this weekend with books, songs and fingerplays!

We began our storytime by learning the ASL sign for "Thank you." This image is from http://www.babysignlanguage.com/dictionary/t/thank-you/ There were plenty of opportunities to use this sign in our storytime!

Glad to see you
Hello everybody, glad to see you
Clap your hands and show you’re glad to see me too!
Clap your hands everybody, clap your hands.
Clap your hands and show you’re glad to see me too!

…Add additional verses, repeating all of the previous actions at the end of each verse….

Stamp your feet…
Shake your hips...

Nod your head...
Blink your eyes...

If you’re thankful
(tune: If you’re happy & you know it)
If you’re thankful and you know it,
Clap your hands.
If you’re thankful and you know it,
clap your hands.
If you’re thankful and you know it and you really want to show it,
If you’re thankful and you know it,
clap your hands.
… stomp your feet
… shout “I am!”

Bear says Thanks by Karma Wilson
I encouraged everyone to use their new sign, "Thank you" every time we read "Thanks" in the book.

Turkey in the brown straw
(tune: Skip to my Lou)
Turkey in the brown straw,
Ha, ha, ha
Turkey in the brown straw,
Ha, ha,ha
Turkey in the brown straw,
Ha, ha, ha
Turkey in the brown straw, my darling

 … green tree/ hee, hee, hee
… white snow/ ho, ho, ho
…red  barn/ harn, harn, harn
… blue sky/ high, high, high

For this flannelboard, I gave each child a feather and they brought it up and added it to the turkey when we sang about their color.



Turkey Feathers
(tune: Mary wore her red dress)
Turkey wore his red feather, red feather, red feather.
Turkey wore his red feather, all day long!
… orange feather
…yellow feather
…brown feather

Alternate version: 
Turkey Feathers
(tune: Frere Jacques)
Turkey feathers, turkey feathers,
Brightly colored, brightly colored,
Who has the red one, who has the red one, 
Bring it now, bring it now.

One little, two little, three little pilgrims by B.G. Hennessey
I did not read all of this book, but we sang "Ten little pilgrims, then Ten Little Wampanoag and finally Ten fat turkeys" as we read the lyrics in the book.

We repeated our song after the book was finished: 


Ten little pilgrims
1 little, 2 little, 3 little pilgrims
4 little, 5 little, 6 little pilgrims
7 little, 8 little, 9 little pilgrims
10 little pilgrim boys and girls.

We are trying out new egg shaker songs, and this one worked pretty well.
If you’re happy and you know it
If you’re happy and you know it, give a shake
If you’re happy and you know it, give a shake.
If you’re happy and you know it then your face will surely show it.
If you’re happy and you know it, give a shake.
tap your knees
…tap your toes
…beep your nose
… do all four

Ten Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston
There was no mention of Thanksgiving in this book, but it was very cute and matched our theme, anyway. 

Turkey Pokey
You put your right wing in
You put your right wing out
You put your right in
And you shake it all about
You do the Turkey pokey and you turn yourself around
That's what its all about
… left wing
…left foot/ right foot
… tail feathers
… whole turkey self
Two Little Turkeys
Two little turkeys sitting on the hill
One named Jack and one named Jill
Fly away, Jack
Fly away, Jill
Come back, Jack, Come back, Jill

Shake my sillies out
I’m gonna shake, shake, shake my sillies out.
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out.
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out.
And wiggle my waggles away.
(Repeat with clap my crazies out, jump my jiggles out,  yawn my sleepies out,  stretch my stretchies out, and shake my sillies out.)

Goodbye Song
(tune: She’ll be coming around the mountain)
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"
Now it's time to say goodbye,
Wave your hands,
Wink your eye,
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"



Who will carve the turkey this Thanksgiving by Jerry Pallotta
We did not have enough time to read this book, but it was very cute and will be part of storytime next year!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Birthday Storytime

The Main Library is 8 years old!! A celebration is a must and so our theme this week is.... BIRTHDAYS!!


Hello Everybody
Hello everybody! Glad to see you.
Clap your hands and show you’re glad to see me too. 
Clap your hands, everybody, Clap your hands.
Clap your hands and show you’re glad to see me too.
Hello everybody! Glad to see you.
Stamp your feet  and show you’re glad to see me too.
Stamp  your feet, everybody, Stamp your feet.
Stamp you feet and show you’re glad to see me too.
Clap your hand and show you’re glad to see me too.
Hello everybody! Glad to see you .
Shake your hips and show you’re glad to see me too.
Shake your hips, everybody, shake your hips.
Shake your hips and show you’re glad to see me too.
(Repeat last two actions)
Hello everybody! Glad to see you.
Nod your head and show you’re glad  to see me too.
Nod your head, everybody, nod your head.
Nod your head and show you’re glad  to see me too.
(Repeat last three actions)
Hello everybody! Glad to see you.
Blink your eyes and show you’re glad to see me too.
Blink your eyes, everybody, blink your eyes.
Blink your eyes and show you’re glad to see me too.
(Repeat last four actions)

“A Birthday”
Today is everyone’s birthday
Let’s make us a cake (form cake with hands)
Mix and stir, stir and mix (stir)
Then into the oven to bake (push hands out)
Here’s our cake so nice and round (make a circle)
We frost it pink and white (spread frosting)

We put five candles on it (hold up han)
To make a birthday bright!

A birthday for cow! by Jan Thomas
Another hit by Jan Thomas! The kids loved this book, much like ALL books by Jan Thomas.

Jell-o
Jell-O  in  the  bowl,
(cup hands and wiggle around)
Jell-O in  the  bowl.
Wibble Wobble
Wibble Wobble
Jell-O  in  the  bowl.
Cookies in the jar,
(form “jar” with hands and shake)
Cookies in the jar,
Shake ‘em up,
Shake ‘em up,
Cookies in the jar,
Candles on the cake, (hold up ten fingers)
Candles on the cake,
Blow ‘em out, (“blow out” fingers)
Blow ‘em out,
Candles on the cake.
(Tune of A Huntin’ we will go)

Shaker song- If you're happy and you know it
 If you’re happy and you know it, give a shake
If you’re happy and you know it, give a shake.
If you’re happy and you know it then your face will surely show it.
If you’re happy and you know it, give a shake.
( Tap your knees, tap your feet,  beep your nose, do all  four)

Happy Birthday!
CumpleaƱos  feliz  4X
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday, happy birthday
Happy Birthday to you.

Birthday Months
If your birthday is in January, turn around
If your birthday is in February, touch the ground
(March, march along; April, sing a song; May, wiggle your nose; June, shake your toes; July, jump up high; August, reach the sky; September, tap your shoe; October, call out “Boo!”; November, tickle your ears; December, give three cheers)


Flannel: Five Candles 
Five candles on a birthday cake
Five, and not one more
You may blow one candle out,
And that leaves four!

(There for all to see / three; Standing straight and true / two; Helping us have fun / one; We know its task is done / none)

Shake my Sillies out
I'm gonna shake, shake, shake my sillies out
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out.
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out.
And wiggle my waggles away.
(Repeat with clap my crazies out, jump my jiggles out,  yawn my sleepies out,  stretch my stretchies out, and shake my sillies out.)

Goodbye Song
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"
(clap hands to beat and wave during 'goodbye')
Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"
Now it's time to say goodbye,
Wave your hands,
Wink your eye,

Now it's time to say goodbye to all our friends, "Goodbye!"
Sang to the tune of “She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain”

Early Literacy Tip of the week: 
Infants and children have the most active brains and the more stimulation they receive, the more connections are made between brain cells. It is repetition that keeps these connections and makes them strong.

A secret birthday message by Eric Carle
We had so many birthday activities planned for this storytime, we actually did not get to the second book today!