Thursday, September 29, 2011

Guessing Games

Openers:
The More We Get Together


Flora's Blanket (Debi Gliori) 2-5
The hunt is on for Flora's blanket!  Where she finds it is a sleepy and pleasant surprise.
Game:  I Spy With My Little Eye
Finger Play:  Where is Thumbkin




Who ate All the Cookie Dough? (Karen Beaumont) 2-5
This delightfully colorful, bold, and energetic story by Karen Beaumont and illustrator Eugene Yelchin sends Mama kangaroo hunting for her lost cookie dough.  Laugh along with the unexpected ending!
Game:  Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar (w/ puppet)
Game:  Skizamaroo and Timbuktu (w/ animals)





I Went Walking (Sue Williams ) 2-4
Go for a walk and guess what critter you'll come across next!
Wiggler:  Walking, Walking
Wiggler:  Sticky, Sticky Bubble Gum

Felt Board Story:
What is Missing

Closer:  
Wave Goodbye Poem

Take Home:  
Matching Game

Coming up Next Week:
Barrel of Apples


More Books!
Toddler                                                                                                                                               Duck's Key, Where Can It Be? by Jez Alborough
I Lost My Dad by Taro Gomi
I Miss You Mouse by Greg Foley 
I Went Walking by Sue Williams
Maggie's Ball by Lindsay Barrett George
Mommy, Where Are You? by Leonid Gore
Peek In My Pocket by Sarah Weeks
Strange Case of the Missing Sheep by Mircea Catusang
Treasure Hunt by Allen Ahlberg
What's the Matter, Bunny Blue?  by Nicola Smee
Where's the Fish? by Taro Gomi
Who Says Woof? by John Butler
Whose Chick Are You? by Nancy Tafuri
Whose Nose and Toes? by John Butler
Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? by Jane Manning
Who Took the Cookie from the Cookie Jar? by David Carter
Who Took the Farmer's Hat? by Joan Nodset
Yum! by SAMi

Preschool 
Augustus and His Smile by Catherine Rayner
Closer Look by Mary McCarthy
Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allen Ahlberg
Foggy Foggy Forest by Nick Sharratt
Guess Who?  by Guido Van Genechten
Have You Seen Duck?  by Janet A. Holmes and Jonathan Bentley 
Here A Face, There A Face by Arlene Alda
Hide and Snake by Keith Baker
I Spy With My Little Eye by Edward Gibbs
Look Book by Tana Hoban
Looking for a Moose by Phyllis Root
Lost! by David McPhail
Missing Chick by Valeri Gorbachev
Mouse Views: What the Class Pet Saw by Bruce McMillan
Parts by Shelley Rotner
Peek! A Thai Hide-and-Seek by Minfo Ho
Puppy Is Lost by Harriet Ziefert 
Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young
We're Going On A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
We're Going On A Lion Hunt by David Axtel
What Is This? by Anje Damm
Where in the World is Henry? by Lorna and Lecia Balian
Where Is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox
Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? by Karen Beaumont

School Age
Bertie Was A Watchdog by Rick Walton
Farley Follows His Nose by Lynn Johnston
Grandpa's Teeth by Rod Clements
I Feel A Foot! by Maranke Rinck and Martijn van der Linden
Imagine by Normal Messenger (share an excerpt)
Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard
Moose Tracks! by Karma Wilson
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Puzzlehead by James Yang
Science Verse by Jon Scieska (share several poems)
Secret Knowledge of Grownups by David Wisniewski (share an excerpt) 
Steal Back the Mona Lisa! by Megan McCarthyTrue Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Web Files by Margie Palatini
What Do You Do With A Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins (share a few scenarios)

Display for Children to Explore                                                                                        Composer is Deadby Lemony Snicket
Find Anthony Ant by Lorna and Graham Philpot
Follow the Line by Laura Ljungkvist
I Spy Colors in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
I Spy series by Walter Wick
Look-Alikes series by Joan Steiner
Private I. Guana by Nina Laden
Scoop! by John Kelly
Searching for Oliver K. Woodman by Darcy Pattison
Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer
Tough Cookie by David Wisniewski
Trouble With Normal by Charise Mericle Harper
What Really Happened to Humpty? by Jeanie Franz Ransom
Who's Hiding? by Satoru Onishi

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Going Shopping

Openers:
The More We Get Together
I Wiggle
Props: 
Basket w/ market goods--discuss!

To Market To Market (Anne Miranda) 3-5
Taken from the classic nursery rhyme, this fun book makes a classic market mess!
Felt Board Activity:  Apples!
Wiggler: This Little Pig




Sheep in a Shop (Nancy Shaw) 3-5
Exploring rhyming patterns, the text of this book follows five shopping sheep as they purchase a birthday gift.  Find out what happens when they don't have enough money to pay.
Song:  Happy Birthday (use..."dear friend" in 2nd to last line)
Finger Play: Three Little Nickels







Paddington Bear Goes to Market (Michael Bond) 2-4
Simple phrases and bright colors help the youngest of readers follow Paddington Bear through market day to a tasty ending.
Wiggler:  Shopping at the Store

Felt Board Activity:  
Five Yummy Muffins
Closers: 
I Wave
Take Home: 
Coloring Page

More Books!
Toddler 
Baby Loves Visiting by Michael Lawrence
Carl Goes Shopping by Alexandra Day
I Lost My Dad by Taro Gomi
Let's Go, Anna! by Vivian French
Little Buddy Goes Shopping by Patrick Yee
Old Mother Hubbard by Jane Cabrera

Preschool 
At the Supermarket by Anne Rockwell
Bear Goes Shopping by Harriet Ziefert
Brownie and Pearl See the Sights by Cynthia Rylant
Don't Forget the Bacon by Pat Hutchins
Five Little Monkeys Go Shopping by Eileen Christelow
Hen Goes Shopping by Mark Birchall
I Want A Blue Banana by Joyce Dunbar
Llama Llama Mad At Mama by Anna Dewdney
Mama, Papa and Baby Joe by Niki Daly
Put It On the List! by Kirsten Darbyshire
Room for One More by Mathew Price
Sheep in a Shop by Nancy Shaw
To Market, To Market by Anna Miranda
Where Are You? by Francesca Simon

Kindergarten 
Aunt Lucy Went to Buy a Hat by Alice Low
Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells
Bunny Money by Rosemary Wells
Bill in A China Shop by Katie Weaver
Bunny Money by Rosemary Wells
Kettles Get New Clothes by Dayle Ann Dodds
Shoe Bop by Marilyn Singer
What Would Mama Do? by Judith Ross Enderle

Friday, September 16, 2011

Beautiful Butterflies

Props: 
Live butterfly-let children release after story time if season is appropriate
Dried butterflies (found, not killed!)
Straw (to explain what a proboscis is--natural history)
Butterfly weed or butterfly bush flowers (purple ones would match Kipper's story below)          
Openers:
The More We Get Together
I Wiggle
Optional: Talk about natural history of butterflies (colors/wings/antennae/proboscis/migration)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle) 2-4
Carle's classic follows the stages of a caterpillar's life as he eats his way through a week.   

Wiggler:  Bumpin' Up and Down (in my little cute chrysalis)
Felt Board: The Very Hungry Caterpillar sequencing activity

(bring out purple butterfly bush flowers)
 Butterfly (Mick Inkpen) 2-4
Kipper finds a great way to catch a butterfly! 3-4
Fingerplay:  A Caterpillar Crawled
Wiggler: Walking Walking



Butterfly Butterfly: a Book of Colors (Peter Horacek) 2-4
Looking for her butterfly friend, Lucy discovers other colorful friends in her garden.  There's a colorful surprise on the last page!
Wiggler: This is the Way We Blow Our Balloon


Felt Board: Beautiful Butterfly Big and Bright
Closer: Wave Goodbye Poem

Take Home: Butterfly coloring page

More Books!
Waiting for Wings (Lois Ehlert): 2-4
Bob and Otto (Breul) 2-4
The Caterpillar and the Polliwog (Jack Kent) 2-4
In the Tall, Tall Grass (Denise Flemming) 2-4
Caterpillars Wish (Murphy) 2-4
Clara Caterpillar (Edwards) 3-5
Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar (Jarrett) 4+
Butterfly Suits/Little Einsteins (Kelman) 4+
Hurry and the Monarch: 4+Marigold's Wings (Vlasta van Kampen): 4+
The Butterfly Garden (Minarick) 4+

Next Week:  Market Day

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Sensational Sunflowers!

Openers:
The More We Get Together
Opener Cube ???

Sunflower House (Eve Bunting/Kathryn Hewitt)
Follow the cycle of a sunflower's life as children enjoy a sunflower house through the seasons.  (3+)
Wiggler:  Oh Mr. Sun
Wiggler:  I'm a Little Sunflower



Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? (Susan Shea/Tom Slaughter)
What grows and what doesn't?  This book answers an important question with fun, rhyming text and bold, lift-the-flap illustrations. (3+)
Story Glove:  Ten Sunflowers
Wiggler: Now I'm Growing Very Tall




Sunflower (Miela Ford/Sally Noll)
With big, bold illustration and simple text, younger readers will appreciate the comparison of a growing sunflower to their own growth. (2+)
Wiggler 1:  Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes



Felt Board:  I'm a Little Sunflower
Closer:  Wave Goodbye (Rob Reid)

More Books!
Toddler
Big Yellow Sunflower by Frances Barry  
Can I Help? by Marilyn Janovitz
Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
Flower Garden by Eve Bunting
Fran's Flower by Lisa Bruce
How Does A Seed Grow?  by Sue Kim 
Jasper's Beanstalk by Nick Butterworth
Lenny in the Garden by Ken Wilson-Max -- great interactive text
My Day in the Garden by Meila Ford
Sunflower by Meila Ford
Ten Seeds by Ruth Brown
What Color is Your Apple?  by Jerry Pallotta 
Who's in the Garden?  by Phillis Gershator 

Preschool 
Big Yellow Sunflower by Frances Barry - too bad the title gives the surprise away
Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?  by Tom Slaughter 
-CROWD PLEASER
Handful of Sunshine by Melanie Eclare
In the Garden, Who's Been Here? by Lindsay Barret George
Jack and the Beanstalk by Nina Crews
Just Teenie by Susan Meddaugh
My Garden by Kevin Henkes 
One Two Three Jump! by Penelope LivelyOver In the Garden by Jennifer WardRound the Gardenby Omri Glaser
Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin, Jr.

School Ages
And the Good Brown Earth by Kathy Henderson 
Curious Garden by Peter Brown
Farm Fresh Cats by  Scott Santoro
Garden of Opposites by Nancy Davis
Gardener  by Sarah Stewart
Grandpa Green by Lane Smith
Holly Bloom's Garden by Sarah Ashman
Huck Runs Amuck by Sean Taylor 
Our Tree Named Steve by Alex Zweibel

Next Week:  Beautiful Butterflies!