Preschool Story Time - Spoon

Well this was one of those 'what was I thinking?' moments.  There are SO many books you can use for the theme of cooking or eating, I thought I would narrow it down.  I love ALL of Amy Rosenthal's books, especially Chopsticks, but cuts had to be made.  Other books considered were Spork by Kyo MacLear, and Stone Soup in any format.  The kids looked puzzled when I introduced this theme, but the moms looked at me as if to say "OK, let me see you pull THIS off."  It was just good fun before we got into all of the seasonal and holiday themes which take over from September-January.

The Plan:

 

Spoon by Amy K Rosenthal

This super cute book is one of several about cooking utensils.  Spoon is lamenting that his friends are all so super cool and there is nothing special about him.  He doesn't realize that his friends all see the specialness in Spoon and appreciate him for his abilities.  Many of the kids have read this one, many more of the mom's wanted to see more by Ms. Rosenthal.  Of course, I had everything on display!

Too Many Cooks by Margaret McNamara

Well, I was expecting everyone to shout RATATOUILLE!!  But no one did!  One of my favorite Pixar movies was just not known by the preschoolers.  But the text is rather short and the kids did get to count the rats so it made up for it.  The down side of this book is many of the cooking terms no one knew, and some were difficult to pronounce.  I opted not to read it in my later, quieter group.

Before HALFTIME (see my Preschool Story Time Tab for the additional parts of story time I do weekly) We did this Finger Play from The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Chants and Finger Plays (Silberg and Schiller):

Porridge is Bubbling

Porridge is bubbling, bubbling hot (make bubbles rising and popping with your hands)

Stir it round and round the pot (make one arm holding a pot and one arm stirring)

The bubbles plip (make pop with left hand)

The bubbles plop (make pop with right hand)

It's ready to eat all bubbling hot (rub your tummy)

Wake up baby, wake up soon (put hands up to mouth like calling for the baby)

We'll eat the porridge with a spoon (pretend to eat).

I also tried this rhyme to see if any parents or children knew it:

Peas Porridge Hot

Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold,

Peas porridge in the pot, nine days old.

Some like it hot, some like it cold,

Some like it in the pot, nine days old.

Then we had our HALFTIME dance.

As a cool down to our dance, we did our flannel board which was brought to me by Miss Kristie's little preschooler and my special story timer, Daisy.  Miss Kristie let me borrow her flannels for Hey Diddle Diddle which she featured in a recent Flannel Friday (Click HERE to see more about this Flannel Story)

 

 

We review Mother Goose rhymes often in story time.  I try to do them once a month, but find many of them have been fitting in with my themes, so we have been doing them quite regularly!  Children like repetition and feel successful when they can follow along.  Also, this helps with early literacy because we slow the rhymes down so they can hear sentences broken down into smaller pieces, they hear rhythms, and learn rhyme.

"If you want to hear a story wiggle your ears....if you wanna hear a story wiggle your ears....!"  Back to the books!

 

 

Little Pea by Amy K Rosenthal

An audible GASP from a MOM on this one!  I guess it is a family favorite!  I love it too.  Little Pea loves her little pea life, except what she is forced to eat for dinner every night: CANDY!  In a quaint story that every child can relate to, Little Pea must clean her plate of candy before she can have dessert - spinach is her favorite!  

 

A Soup Opera by Jim Gill

A man in a restaurant is pained because he cannot eat his soup!  A Waiter, a Chef, a Policeman, the Mayor and the President all come to his aid in this Operetta.  This was a strange one!  I find this book hysterically funny, but it felt like the preschoolers didn't get it.  Jim Gill does a great job of narrating/performing this book, so I put many copies on display and encouraged the kids to check them out.  Even though the kids sat quietly through it (while I acted ridiculous through it!), ALL of the books were checked out.  Many of the moms hopped up to grab it, so I guess it went over better than I thought!

Check out this blog I found a little too late - a Flannel Friday post about this book with puppets! http://www.sotomorrowblog.com/2013/01/a-soup-opera-by-jim-gill-with-puppets.html

 

My Craft was based on Miss Kristie's Hey Diddle Diddle Flannels (pardon the pins!).  The kids adored this craft!  YAY!  I even got feedback from mom's saying their child played with their 'dish ran away with the spoon puppets'!!  I love it when that happens!

So in the end, this theme went over well.   Nothing compares to a rip-roaring animal theme, but its always fun to do a theme 'out of the box'...or in this case, out of the utensil drawer!

Toddler Story Time - Shh... It's Nighttime!

This week’s theme changed directions several times while I was planning it.  But, I was really happy with the end results!  The theme was nighttime.  It primarily focused on the moon, but ended up with a sprinkling of stars too!    

Books I read…

Moongame by Frank Asch

This book was longer than the books I usually read.  I was a little concerned, but I read it first and we did make it all the way through!  It is a cute story about a bear playing hide and seek with the moon.  

 

Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

A wonderful story about a kitten who thinks the moon is a bowl of milk.  This story did not hold the little ones attention as well as I thought it would.  However, they did enjoy the kitten jumping into the pond! 

Goodnight Moon By Margaret Wise Brown

You simply cannot go wrong with this book!  This was a great way to end our busy story time.  I tried to read it slowly so it would bring the excitement level down a bit.  Most of the little ones sat very still throughout this book and I could see they were enjoying it.

How it went…

We began with the action rhyme Moon Ride from SurLaLune Storytime via Storytime Katie.  (Thanks: SurLaLune Storytime)  This was a great rhyme to begin with because it ends with “Sit back down, and I’ll read you a book.”  An awesome segue into book one! 

Do you want to go up with me to the moon?      (Point to friend, self, then to sky)
Let's get in our rocket ship and blast off soon!      (Pretend to climb in ship)
Faster and faster we reach to the sky.      (Jump and reach)
Isn't it fun to be able to fly?      (Stretch arms out)
We're on the moon, now all take a look.      (Look down)
Sit back down, and I'll read you a book.      (All sit down)

 

After reading our first book, we were back up on our feet with the song, The Moon Up Above

(to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus”). 

(Thanks: Morristown Centennial Library)

 

The moon up above is      
Big and round                                  
Big and round                                  
Big and round                                  
The moon up above                       
Is big and round                              
In the sky                                          

The moon up above is

Near the stars 
Near the stars
Near the stars
The moon up above is
Near the stars
In the sky 

The moon up above helps

Me to sleep
Me to sleep
Me to sleep
The moon up above helps
Me to sleep
In my bed!

Our flannel this week was Hey Diddle Diddle!  The little ones love to look at the felts so Flannel Time is always a bit crazy.  Once I had all the pieces on the board, we were able to say the rhyme together, giggling along with the dog! 

With the felt pieces safely put away, I passed out bells and we jingled our way through Aikendrum from Raffi’s cd Singable Songs for the Very Young.  Most of the little ones were not familiar with this song, but Aikendrum was a man from in the moon after all, so it totally needed to be included in this story time!

Slowing it down a bit in anticipation for a quiet storytelling of Goodnight Moon, we did the fingerplay Stars.  (Thanks: Concord Public Schools) This sweet fingerplay was so much fun, we did it twice!  We followed it up by singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

At night I see the twinkling stars      (Fists up and open hands over your head)

And a great big smiling moon      (Circle arms overhead)

My Mommy tucks me into bed      (Lay pointer of one hand across the palm of the other hand)

And sings a good-night tune.      (Rock your hands back and forth)

 

This was my most well attended story time and the energy in the room was contagious!  It can be a little difficult to accomplish some activities with a large room of little ones.  But, overall it went fantastic!  I think everyone was ready for nighttime when it was over!

 

Flannel Friday - Hey Diddle Diddle

Nursery rhymes are a great addition to any story time!  These classic rhymes are easy to use at a moment’s notice because we typically already know the words!  What better way to teach new little ones these rhymes, but with a fun flannel set to accompany it.

Hey Diddle Diddle

 

   Hey diddle diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon,

The little dog laughed,

To see such sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

This week I am using this flannel as part of my nighttime/moon theme, but I am excited to use it again and again!

--- Miss Kristie