Storytime: Friends

Friendship storytime for preschoolers.


 
Corduroy
by Don Freeman



Best Best Friends
by Margaret Chodos-Irvine



The Little Red Hen
by Barry Downard



My Friend Rabbit
by Eric Rohmann



Yo! Yes?
by Chris Raschka


Songs...

Diez Amigos/ Ten Friends

I have one, two, three good friends
four, five, six good friends
seven, eight, nine good friends
ten good friends are we.

Uno, dos, tres amigos
quatro, cinco, seis amigos
siete, ocho, nueve amigos
diez amigos son.


Thumbkin

Where is Thumbkin? Where is Thumbkin?
Here I am! Here I am!
How are you today sir? Very well I thank you.
Run away. Run away.

Continue with "Pointer", "Tall Man", "Ring Man", "Baby", and "The Family".

Storytime: Superheroes

Storytime for grades K-2.


Books:

 
Superhero ABC
by Bob McLeod


 
Young MacDonald
by David Milgrim
(No, he's not a superhero. But, he is a great "mad scientist.")



Skippyjon Jones
by Judith Schachner
(one of my new favorite read-alouds!)


 
He Saves the Day
by Marsha Hayles and pictures by Lynne W. Cravath


 Agent A to Agent Z 
by Andy Rash
(I think the kids liked this one, they just had trouble following what was going on.)


All below added for family storytime for ages 3-8 
[added 3/15/10]

 
The Adventures of Max and Pinky: Superheroes
by Maxwell Easton III  


Songs and Action:
 
We pretended we were superheroes with scarves and did, 
 
"Rock and Roll Freeze Dance" from Hap Palmer's So Big  


Scarf Rhyme
Wave your scarf up high.
Wave your scarf down low.
Wave it very fast.
Wave it very slow.
Wave your scarf under your legs.
Flutter it under your chin.
Move your scarf up and down,
As you slowly spin.
Stop the spinning,
And choose your way,
To dance with your scarf.
How does it play?

Modified from Kelly Pfeiffer at fitness.preschoolrock.com  


Preschool Activities Explore Over and Under  
Preschoolers sit down on the floor.

1. Put one hand under your scarf.
2. Put two hands under your scarf.
3. Put one hand over your scarf and one hand under your scarf.
4. Put one foot under your scarf.
5. Put two feet under your scarf.
6. Put two hands and two feet under your scarf.
7. Put two feet and one hand under your scarf.
8. Put your scarf over your head.
9. Put your whole body under your scarf.
10. Put your whole body over your scarf.


Kelly Pfeiffer at fitness.preschoolrock.com  


Craft:  


Superhero Masks

I used plain white plastic half masks, and gave the kids foam pieces to stick on.
You could also copy off a paper mask like the one at hellokids.com.

10 a.m.

Comment: "Children's Librarian Megan Hedna reads to Lincoln Elementary School children at the New Britain Public Library. -Amy Reed"

Reed, Amy. "10 a.m.." New Britain Herald 12 March 2008: 25.

Storytime Shoulder

Now, I don't know if anyone else gets this, because I've never heard anyone else discuss this before. But, I've been having trouble with the muscles around my shoulder blade. Specifically on the right side. I have come to call this "storytime shoulder". I'm sure it's partially due to my poor posture, and my tendency to get so excited that I lean closer and closer to my students while trying to engage them. I've been trying to sit better and switch holding books on my right to holding them on my left (but this is a bit like trying to use a mouse with your non-dominant hand). I'm sure conducting storytimes for 3 classes in a row (1 1/2 hours straight), does not help. Any tips or tricks? Perhaps I'll get some insight into my posture in tomorrow's paper. The local photographer popped into my storytime this morning and disruptively took pictures for five minutes. Very distracting for me and the kids. I would've liked it if she had at least asked permission first.

Computer Literacy and Our Young Ones

On a listserv I'm on a librarian said her departmental supervisor wanted to get rid of their gaming computers for kids. I'm so glad we have ours and will be keeping them indefinitely. I personally feel that it's important for our children's futures, just as books are important.

Children today will need to have two different kinds of literacy. First, will be what we think of as traditional literacy. How to interpret text on a page or a screen or a sign. But, in this increasingly technological world they will also need computer literacy. They won't just have to know how to read, they'll have to know how to use a computer (especially word processors, databases, email, etc.)

Now, games themselves don't help with Microsoft Office. But, using computer games familiarizes children with keyboard and mouse skills. I think of it like preliteracy skills for books. Before children can read they need to know how to hold a book and flip pages. Before they can really use a computer they need to be familiar with the keyboard and mouse. These are essential skills for their futures. And just as we provide the resources for children to develop reading literacy we should provide them resources for developing computer literacy.

Sometimes I feel like I work in an arcade between our game computers and the internet (we have 4 of each). But, I really do believe it's helping them, so that's some consolation.

For more perspective on this issue, I'll recommend this book which was required reading for an MLIS course.

Disconnected: Have and Have-Nots in the Information Age by William Wresch