Mel’s Desk

It’s still Phonological Awareness Month at my library, so an Animal Sounds storytime is a good match.

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

BOOK: I Love Animals by FLORA MCDONNELL (big book)

SONG: When Ducks Get Up in the Morning
This is a new song for me! In fact I built this whole storytime as an excuse to sing it! Thanks to my friend Miss Mary Liberry for introducing me to Seattle children’s musician Nancy Stewart, who suggests pairing it with I Love Animals.

BOUNCE: A Farmer Went Trotting

A farmer went trotting
Bounce baby on lap, facing you
Upon his gray mare
With his daughter behind him
So rosy and fair
Then a duck cried out, “Quack!”
Lift baby up
And they all tumbled down
Plop baby back into your lap
Off of the horse
And upside down!
Tip baby gently backwards!

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
Today we used mare/chair, duck/truck, hen/pen, goat/boat

BOOK: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by BILL MARTIN JR
Last week we sang this, but this week I read it, stopping at every page and asking what sound each animal made.

SONG: Where Is Brown Bear?
Sing to the tune of “Where Is Thumbkin?” Thanks to Storytime Kids for this idea! Repeat with several animals.

Where is brown bear? Where is brown bear?
Here I am! Here I am!
How are you today, bear?
Very well, I say, bear.
Growl, growl, growl.

LITERACY TIP: Phonological Awareness This skill is all about hearing the smaller sounds in words. Listening to and making animal noises is gives little kids lots of practice hearing some of the different sounds of English, and practice making them, too! (If you have bilingual parents in your group, it’s fun to ask them to share what roosters or pigs say in other languages.)

BOOK: I Went Walking by SUE WILLIAMS

RHYME: I Went Walking to Town One Day
I chanted this, and held up puppets for each verse. Repeat with other animals. This one came from Storytime Kids too! Thank you!

I went walking to town one day
Oh, it was a beautiful day!
As I went walking to town one day
I met a cow along the way.
And what do you think that cow did say?
Moo!

ACTION RHYME: This is Big Big Big*

CLOSING SONG: Sneeze Game*

*Check out the My Baby Storytime page for the words and/or citations for these weekly activities!

Our early literacy skill at my library this month is Phonological Awareness, so I created a storytime all about songs. Singing to children is an amazing way to build their literacy skills.

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

BOOK: Over in the Meadow by OLIVE WADSWORTH illus by DAVID A. CARTER.
I have the big book! I sing this book rather than “read” it.

SONG: Did You Ever See an Owl?
Sing to: Did You Ever See a Lassie? I sang this three times, with three bird puppets: an owl, an eagle, and a raven.

Did you ever see an owl, an owl, an owl
Did you ever see an owl fly this way and that?
Fly this way, fly that way
Fly this way, fly that way
Did you ever see an owl fly this way and that?

FINGERPLAY: Two Little Blackbirds

Two little blackbirds, sitting on a wall
hold up pointer fingers
One named Peter, one named Paul
wiggle one finger, then the other
Fly away Peter! Fly away Paul!
tuck one hand behind back, then the other
Come back Peter! Come back Paul!
bring one hand back to front, then the other

LITERACY TIP: Phonological Awareness
Singing songs with babies is a fabulous way to build their phonological awareness skills! This skill is all about hearing the smaller sounds in words. This is a big help when kids start to sound out words when they read. Songs break down words into syllables and give them each their own note, which makes it easier for kids to hear how words can “come apart.”

BOOK: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by BILL MARTIN JR
Today I sang this book, too! Bill Martin Jr sings his own tune, but I follow Betsy Bird’s lead and use “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
Today I used animals from “Brown Bear”: bear, frog, duck, and fish

BOOK: FIve Little Ducks by RAFFI
Yes, I sang this one too!

FLANNEL SONG: Down Around the Corner
I wish I could remember where I picked up this flannel song, because I use it ALL THE TIME. We go to different stores (pizzaria shop, general store) and buy different things (umbrellas, teddy bears). I sing it to the tune of “Five Little Ducks” and today I told the parents it was okay to make up songs to the same tune over and over again!

Down around the corner in the bakery shop
Were five sugar cookies with sprinkes on top
Along came someone with a nickel to pay
And they bought a sugar cookie and they took it away.

Down around the corner in the bakery shop
Were four sugar cookies…

ACTION RHYME: This is Big Big Big*

CLOSING SONG: Sneeze Game*

*Check out the My Baby Storytime page for the words and/or citations for these weekly activities!

Hooray for fall storytimes! For my first storytime of the season I chose Mother Goose rhymes.

OPENING SONG: Hello Song*

OPENING FINGERPLAY: Open Them Shut Them*

BOOK: 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe by HINES

SONG: Mary Had a Little Lamb

FLANNEL SONG: A Hunting We Will Go*
lamb/jam, hen/pen, whale/pail, fox/box

BOOK: The Little Dog Laughed by COUSINS
Read: Sing a Song of Sixpence

ACTIVITY: Two Little Blackbirds

Two little blackbirds, sitting on a wall
hold up pointer fingers
One named Peter, one named Paul
wiggle one finger, then the other
Fly away Peter! Fly away Paul!
tuck one hand behind back, then the other
Come back Peter! Come back Paul!
bring one hand back to front, then the other

BOUNCE: Humpty Dumpty

BOUNCE: The Royal Duke of York
Bounce babies on lap. When you say “up,” lift them up, when you say “down,” sit them back down in your lap.

Oh, the Royal Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men,
He marched them up the mountaintop
and marched them down again.
Oh, when you’re up, you’re up,
And when you’re down, you’re down,
And when you’re only halfway up,
You’re neither up nor down!

LITERACY TIP: Phonological Awareness
Singing nursery rhymes is a great way to help get your babies ready to read later on! Kids who know as few as 8 nursery rhymes by heart tend to have an easier time learning to read, because playing with rhymes helps them understand how words come apart and go together.**

FLANNEL RHYME: Star Light Star Bright
Put large flannel star on board.

Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
I have the wish I wish tonight.

**This fact is in Mem Fox’s Reading Magic, though the study isn’t cited.

I know many people advise against having a theme for baby storytimes, on the grounds that “the babies don’t care,” and it’s easier to plan without one.

I’ve been planning and giving a weekly baby storytime for over 2 years now, and I’ve decided whether or not the babies have an opinion, *I* do! I continue to plan themes for my baby storytimes for a few reasons.

1) Working with a theme helps me make decisions about which of the hundreds of rhymes and songs I might do that day. Yes, this reason is for my benefit! But storytime is just one of the many things I do every week, and anything I can do to streamline my process is a good thing. I know there are storytime providers who find the exact opposite is true for them! If there’s no theme, they can just grab whatever they want and be ready to go. All I can tell you is, when I have that much leeway, it slows me down. There are too many choices to consider! When I start with a theme, I’m looking at a smaller subset of materials and it helps me plan faster.

2) Using a theme offers opportunities for repetition within that day’s storytime. Repetition is great for babies’ cognitive development. If we’re talking about Farm Animals, then we might have several chances to use the word “horse” over the course of the storytime. Hearing the same word in different contexts is one of the ways babies learn new vocabulary. So they might hear about a horse in “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” see a picture and hear the word again in the book Moo, Baa, La La La, and pretend to ride a horse when we play “Trot Trot to Boston.”

3) Here’s my favorite reason: having a theme makes it really easy for me to transition verbally from one activity to another, and model “baby conversational skills” to the caregivers. When I do storytime, I’m very conscious that I’m “on stage” giving a performance. I’d like that performance to be as smooth as possible. Without a theme, I personally wind up saying the same phrases as transitions over and over: “OK, that was great! Now let’s do a song/rhyme/bounce/book.” Over time, this starts to feel a little disjointed to me. When I use a theme, it’s easier for me to build little bridges from one activity to the next. For instance, after Moo, Baa, La La La, which ends with the words, “What do YOU say?” I might repeat that question, then refer back to one of the animals in the book and say, “What does a cow say?” After we’ve all said Moo! together, I’d say, “That was great! Let’s sing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” and we’ll listen to what some other animals say, too.” To me, this type of transition feels very smooth and keeps my storytime moving along at a steady pace.

Themed transitions like this also give me opportunities to model “how to talk to babies” to the caregivers. After singing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” with a few puppets, I might get out the sheep puppet again and ask, “We just sang about this animal. Do you remember what it is?” Obviously most of the little ones aren’t going to answer! But I’m showing parents that you can ask them questions anyway. I ask a question, then pause (during which usually the grownups answer, which is great! They are modeling to their kids too!) Then I say, “Good job! It IS a sheep! A sheep grows soft wool to keep it warm.” This shows how caregivers can expand on short answers and provide their kids with even more vocabulary and language. Then I might keep the sheep in my lap and say, “Let’s sing a song about a sheep and some wool. Let’s sing “Baa Baa Black Sheep.”

I don’t believe that this is the only way to do storytime, and I totally believe that you can plan efficiently and offer repetition and do smooth transitions and model how to build language skills without using a theme for baby storytimes. But it’s much easier for me if I do!