A near repeat of my “Snow Day” First Grade visit… but with a few tweaks…
Picture Book: Straight to the Pole by Kevin O’Malley
Discussion: If school was closed for a Snow Day, what would you do?
Nonfiction Book Bites: read/showed snippets from Snow Play by Birgitta Ralston, The Story of Snow by Mark Cassino, and Animal Antics by David Harvey
Picture Book: Making a Friend by Tammi Sauer
Storytell: The Magic Ice Cream Maker (I adapted storyteller Priscilla Howe’s frosty fun story)
Opening: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: Snow! Snow! Snow! by Lee Harper
*Fingerplay: Snow Fell Softly
Book: Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
Song: Silly Hat Song
Storytell: The Mitten (You can use beautiful visuals as props from Jan Brett’s website here.) (I also used Heather Forest’s musical refrain from her version on her Tales Around the Hearth cd.)
Book: Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht
Dancing Song (with bells): “Jingle Bells” from Raffi’s Christmas Album
Closing: We Wave Goodbye
*The snow fell softly all the night.
It made a blanket soft and white.
It covered houses, flowers, and ground,
But did not make a single sound!
Winter is here, and Snow Days are sure to come…
Picture Book: Straight to the Pole by Kevin O’Malley
Discussion: If school was closed for a Snow Day, what would you do?
Nonfiction Book Bites: read/showed snippets from Snow Play by Birgitta Ralston and The Story of Snow by Mark Cassino
Picture Book: Pizza-Pie Snowman by Valeri Gorbachev
Picture Book: Red and Lulu by Matt Traveres (also printed out and showed pictures of current 2019 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree)
Opening: If You Want to Hear a Story
Book: Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
Song: Silly Hat Song
Book: Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett
Storytell: The Mitten (You can use beautiful visuals as props from Jan Brett’s website here.) (I also used Heather Forest’s musical refrain from her version on her Tales Around the Hearth cd.)
Book (Sung): Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, version illustrated by Richard Cowdrey
Song: If You’re Wearing Red Today
Dancing Song (with bells): “Jingle Bells” from Raffi’s Christmas Album
Closing: We Wave Goodbye
It’s been cold and snowy in Illinois. Today, my toddler friends and I stayed warm indoors and shared this fun storytime together. (This month, my preschool and kindergarten friends are enjoying a version of this “It’s Frosty Cold Out!” storytime plus “The Freeze!” song listed below.)
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story
Read-aloud: Under My Hood I Have a Hat by Karla Kuskin
Song: Silly Hat Song
Action Song: If You’re Wearing Red Today
*Flannel Rhyme: Cute Little Snowman
Action Song: Fun with Hands
Dancing Song (with scarves): “The Freeze!” from Carole Peterson: Dancing Feet
Closing Song: We Wave Goodbye
Schools visited: Little Bear Academy
*Cute Little Snowman
A cute little snowman
Had a carrot nose
Along came a bunny,
And what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny,
Looking for his lunch,
Ate the snowman’s carrot nose,
Nibble, nibble, crunch!
Last Friday, I enjoyed doing a 20-minute toddler storytime for my nephew Jackson’s class at Crystal Lake Montessori School!
OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story
PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1 (Story Cards): Oh! by Kevin Henkes
Flannel: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. (Templates available here.)
Song/Fingerplay: Hands Up High
Read-aloud #2 (Story Cards): Disappearing Snowman
*Flannel: Five Little Snowmen
Song: Silly Hat Song
Read-aloud #3 (Sung): Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, version illustrated by Richard Cowdrey
Action Song: Fun with Hands
Dancing Song: “The Wiggle Song” from Carole Peterson: Sticky Bubble Gum and Other Tasty Tunes
CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Goodbye
*Five Little Snowmen
Five little snowmen round and fat.
Each one wearing a funny hat.
In the morning, out came the sun.
It looked down and melted one.
More Golfview Family Literacy Fun! Happy Holidays, everyone 🙂
Opening Song: “Put Your Finger in the Air” from Pete Seeger: Children’s Concert at Town Hall (live version)
Read-aloud #1: You Make Me Smile by Layn Marlow
Flannel: Rudolph! Rudolph!
Read-aloud #2 (Sung): Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins, version illustrated by Richard Cowdrey
Storytell: The Mitten (You can use beautiful visuals as props from Jan Brett’s website here.) (I also used Heather Forest’s musical refrain from her version on her Tales Around the Hearth cd.)
Read-aloud #3: Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London
Closing Song: “Jingle Bells” from The Wiggles: Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (with bells, of course!)
Craft: Make holiday cards
BRR! Come in to the library where it’s nice and warm… and listen to some fun winter stories! So far, I’ve done this storytime (some variation of it) with 3 preschool groups, 2 kindergarten classes, and a family literacy group. I’m also planning on using it for my regular Panera storytime and my new storytime over at the Randall Oaks branch 🙂
OPENING:
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story
PROGRAM:
Read-aloud #1: All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Schertle OR Snowmen at Night by Carolyn Buehner
*Flannel Rhyme: Cute Little Snowman
Read-aloud #2: Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London OR Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman
Action Song: If You’re Wearing Red Today
Read-aloud #3: Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett
Song: Silly Hat Song
Storytell: The Mitten (You can use beautiful visuals as props from Jan Brett’s website here.) (I also used Heather Forest’s musical refrain from her version on her Tales Around the Hearth cd.)
Read-aloud #5: Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson OR Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman OR Oh! by Kevin Henkes OR Pip and Squeak by Ian Schoenherr
(Song: “Silly Dance Contest” from Jim Gill Sings the Sneezing Song)
CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Goodbye
*Cute Little Snowman
A cute little snowman
Had a carrot nose
Along came a bunny,
And what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny,
Looking for his lunch,
Ate the snowman’s carrot nose,
Nibble, nibble, crunch!
This week, I experienced my first snow fall since moving back to the chilly Midwest from sunny California. I guess it’s time to bundle up! Here’s a fun Snow & Clothing preschool storytime. I like to combine the two themes. It was always interesting to do a snow storytime in California… most of the kids had never even seen the stuff 🙂
Also: you may notice me changing the look of my blog/website a couple of times within the next few weeks… please be patient with me as I try to get everything “just right”. I have actually changed the look back to how I originally had it in the first place for this week… kind of retro:)
Clothing and Snow Preschool Storytime with Jennifer: January 23, 2007
OPENING:
Play “Jenny Jenkins” as audience enters (and wear Amelia Bedelia hat)
Have competition with fish puppet to see if I can swim
Discuss clothes and what you wear
Opening Fingerplay: 10 Little Fingers
Opening Song: If You Want to Hear a Story
PROGRAM:
Put hat on fish puppet to segue into…
Read-aloud #1: Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing, Barrett
Song: If You’re Wearing Red Today
Action Rhyme: Can You Hop Like a Bunny?
Song (with artfelt): Five Green and Speckled Frogs
Read-aloud #2: Froggy Gets Dressed, London
*Fingerplay: Snow Fell Gently
**Song: This is the Way We All Get Dressed
Storytell: The Mitten (You can use beautiful visuals as props from Jan Brett’s website here)
VIDEO:
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (10 minutes)
CLOSING:
Closing Song: We Wave Good-bye Like This
*The snow fell softly all the night.
It made a blanket soft and white.
It covered houses, flowers, and ground,
But did not make a single sound!
**This is the Way We All Get Dressed (to the tune of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”)
This is the way we all get dressed, all get dressed, all get dressed…so early in the morning
This is the way we put on our shoes… (pants, socks, shirt, coat, etc.)
Today we brought “snow” to California with a snowy storytime!
FYI: I will be presenting a Pajama Storytime over at Buena Vista next Tuesday night at 7 pm. Wear your pjs and bring your teddy. We’ll be reading stories about love, and we’ll have a movie encore afterwards.
Stories Shared:
Snow by Uri Shulevitz
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin (Templates here)
Rhymes (Can be found on Toddler Storytime Rhymes Sheet.):
If You’re Wearing Red Today
Where is Thumbkin?
Fun with Hands
Open, Shut Them
Bonus Flannel Rhymes:
Six Little Snowmen
Six little snowmen
All made of snow,
Six little snowmen
Standing in a row.
Out came the sun
And stayed all day.
One little snowman melted away.
Five little snowmen all made of snow.
Five little snowmen standing in a row.
Out came the sun and stayed all day.
One little snowman melted away. (continue)
Cute Little Snowman
A cute little snowman
Had a carrot nose
Along came a bunny,
And what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny,
Looking for his lunch,
Ate the snowman’s carrot nose,
Nibble, nibble, crunch!
Music:
Carole Peterson: Sticky Bubble Gum and Other Tasty Tunes (I am a Fine Musician)
Jim Gill Sings the Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes (Silly Dance Contest)