Flannel Friday - Duck! Rabbit!

To go along with my Duck Story Time (Click HERE for that), and my Ugly Duckling Flannel Friday set (Click HERE for that), here is my Flannel Friday submission to go with the book Duck! Rabbit!!  Not exactly creative, but definitely easy and handy for multiple ages.

I was a little worried how this set would fly in my story time.  I wasn't sure the 3-6 year old set would appreciate how this drawing could be seen two ways.  Well, I am sure some of the younger ones didn't quite understand, but most of the group really did get it and were fascinated by it!

Is it a duck?  Or is it a Rabbit?  Let's vote!
I hear duck sounds!  What does a duck say?
Wait - I think I hear Rabbit sounds!  What does a Rabbit say?  Hmmm.  How about 'sniff sniff'?

Well look at that!  The duck is having a piece of bread!  No wait.  The rabbit is eating a carrot!

Now I see a duck in a swamp!  Hmm or is it a rabbit in the tall grass?

The duck is getting a cool drink in the pond.....or is it a rabbit cooling his ears in the stream?

Now I am SURE I see a duck!

Now I am certain I see a rabbit!

Then I showed the last page of the book with the anteater and brontosaurus and said "hmm, I guess we could do this all day!  I better stop now."

Some of the kids really saw one or the other more.  Quite frankly, I see the rabbit more than the duck, but the book really is fascinating and the moms were really into this book too.  It is just fun and something completely different.  I am sure I could use this book for school visits and outreach too.  I have a Duck! Rabbit! poster I used during school visits and there was always ONE student who pointed out the poster saying "HEY - I get it!!!" so I bet the flannel set would work very well with them.  Very fun!

Thanks to my friends Lindsey and Dana at JBrary for hosting this week. Please check out their wonderful blog HERE.   If you would like more information on Flannel Friday and how you can participate, click HERE!
Thanks for stopping by!

Kindergarten Story Time - Birds!

A Kindergarten class came to visit us today and we had a great time celebrating spring with a lively story time! (Miss Kristen can do something other than Baby ST, you say?? Yes, yes, she can!)

Action Rhyme: "My Hands Upon My Head I Place"

My hands upon my head, I place.

On my shoulders, on my face.
On my knees, and at my sides.
Then behind me they will hide.
Then I reach them up so high,
'Til they nearly reach the sky!
Now I clap them: one, two, three!
Now I fold them quietly.

Now are hands are in our laps - ready for a story! Pretty clever, huh? ;o)

1st Book: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

Is there a child alive who doesn't LOVE this pigeon?

We used Miss Sue's fantastic Pigeon flannel set - each child got to hold the word "No."  I just had them hold the pieces up every time they shouted "No!" to the pigeon.  This was great fun!  See how she used this set with Preschoolers here.

Action Song: "Shake My Sillies Out" (from Raffi's cd More Singable Songs)
I gotta shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
Shake, shake, shake my sillies out,
And wiggle my waggles away!

2nd verse: Clap my crazies out
3rd verse: Jump my jiggles out
4th verse: Yawn my sleepies out
5th verse: Shake my sillies out

2nd Book: Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard

This book and its mate, Boo Hoo Bird, are both hillarious!

Action Song: "I've Got Two Hands" (from Peter Allard's cd Sing It! Say It! Stamp It! Sway It! Vol. 3)
I've got two hands that I can clap,
I can clap a song for you,
I've got two hands that I can clap,
Clap a song for you!
Clap, clap a song for you,
Clap, clap a song, it's true,
Clap, clap for me and you,
Clap, clap a song!

2nd verse: I've got two hips that I can wiggle
3rd verse: I've got two legs that I can march
It goes on and on - a really fun song! I've done this with toddlers as well, and just stopped after 3 verses.

Fingerplay: "Wiggle Your Fingers"
Wiggle your fingers just like so,
Wiggle them high, wiggle them low.
Wiggle them left, wiggle them right.
Wiggle your fingers out of sight!

3rd Book: There is a Bird on Your Head by Mo Willems

The kids had never read this book, but they predicted the ending - little smarties!

Rhythm Time: Rhythm Sticks!

"Mama Duck" (from Peter Allard's cd Sing It! Say It! Stamp It! Sway It! Vol. 3)
We tapped our sticks every time we said "Quack!"

Here comes the Mama duck - Quack! (one tap)
Here comes the Mama duck - Quack! (one tap)
Here comes the Mama duck and 1 little duckling - Quack! (one tap)

Here comes the Mama duck - Quack! Quack! (two taps)
Here comes the Mama duck - Quack! Quack! (two taps)
Here comes the Mama duck and 2 little ducklings - Quack! Quack! (two taps)

The song goes up to five, which we discovered is pretty tricky to do! I always sing this song without the cd, so I can control the speed, and stop for directions between each verse.  It's lots of fun! See how I do this song with babies here.

"We are Tapping" (to the tune of "Clementine") (from 101 Rhythm Instrument Activities for Young Children by Abigail Flesch Connors - you NEED this book!)
We are tapping, we are tapping,
We are tapping with our sticks.
We are tapping, we are tapping,
We are tapping with our sticks.

It's as easy as that! Try more verses:
-We are scraping...
-We are drumming...
-We are pounding...
-We are rolling...

Action Song: "If You Wanna Hear a Story" (borrowed this from Miss Sue!)
If you wanna hear a story clap your hands.
If you wanna hear a story clap your hands.
If you wanna hear a story, if you wanna hear a story,
If you wanna hear a story clap your hands.

4th Book: Spring is Here by Will Hillenbrand

Not about birds, but a wonderful spring book! I was worried it would be a little too young for them, but they really enjoyed it! Teachable moment: they didn't know what a mole was!

Letter Box: The letter "B"
What was inside??
A bird!
You can buy these from Lakeshore Learning, but the bird was something I added - it was supposed to be a beach ball.

Closing Song: "List of Dances" (from Jim Gill's cd Jim Gill Makes It Noisy in Boise, Idaho)
Make your own list to display while you dance to this great song!

What a fun group! A big shout out to Miss Carol, our teen librarian, from whom I stole the "bird" theme for story time!

Want to see a "bird" themed story time for babies? Check out mine here.

Bookworms Book Club - We Are in a Book!

Guess what? We, here at Library Village, actually do other programming besides story times!!

I started a book club for children in Kindergarten through 2nd grade last winter, and it has been a hit!  We are called the "Bookworms," and we've read some really fun stories such as:

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems
Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold

Some parents think I'm crazy when I hand them a picture book or beginning reader for the book club because they think the books are too easy.  I think it's important to note that I'm not trying to challenge their reading.  Instead, I'm teaching them how to be in a book club.  This means how to have a group discussion, where everyone gets a turn to talk, and how to analyze a book and find the right words to discuss it.  In this way, the children are building vocabulary and comprehension skills, as well as social skills.  We are also celebrating the joys of reading!

We took the summer off, so September was our first meeting for the school year.

September's Book: We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems

Gerald the Elephant and his best friend Piggie have many zany adventures together in this series.  In We Are in a Book!, they realize that a reader is reading them!  Can they make the reader say anything they want? And what happens when the book comes to an end??

Miss Kristie made us these fabulous name tags: 

We always start out reading the book aloud, story time style.  Since the children have already read it, this is a great way to have some discussion about the book as we read.  We talk about what we see in the artwork, what the characters' intentions are, why they have certain reactions, etc.  My goal is to go beyond reading comprehension, guiding the children in how to analyze a book and it's author.

I ask a lot of open-ended questions, asking about favorite characters, favorite parts of the story, and what they thought the author was trying to convey.  I don't want it to feel like school; just like a fun and relaxed conversation.

Here's one thing I thought was great, and showed how much they were thinking: the Elephant &Piggie Party Kit  (from Mo Willems' website) stated that Elephant is the serious one, and Piggie is the silly one.  When I asked the kids who they thought was the serious one, they all said Piggie!  I think this makes a lot of sense because to a young child, Piggie's dry sense of humor comes off quite serious, while Elephant's over-the-top reactions come off quite silly.

Next we did an Elephant & Piggie Mad Lib from the Party Kit.  I was afraid they wouldn't know what Mad Libs are or understand how to do it, but they did a great job!  We went around the group and every child gave a word, and then I read the story - it was hilarious!  We did it twice!

I had more activities planned, but we had such a great discussion that we were running out of time!  We moved on to the craft, paper bag puppets, which I found at Three Little Birds.  There wasn't a template, so I printed out her samples and recreated them.  Ours turned out pretty cute, and the kids had fun recreating the story with their puppets!

"BANANA!"

While they crafted, I couldn't resist showing them this awesome Elephant & Piggie Dance Game.  They thought it was hilarious!

How it went:

I was so pleased to have 9 children attend this book club!  They were very enthusiastic and had a great time.  I was worried they were too young for the Mad Libs, but they loved it, and I was worried they were too old for the paper bag puppets, but they loved those, too!  These kids always surprise me with how bright and creative they are! 

Can't wait til our October meeting!  We'll be reading The Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey!