Fingerplay:Stir a bowl of gingerbread (pretend to stir) Smooth and spicy brown Roll it with a rolling pin (pretend to roll dough) Up and up and down With a cookie cutter (imitate) Make some little men Put them in the oven (imitate) 'Til half past ten! (pretend to look at watch) Early Literacy Aside--Example: Rhyming is one way that children learn to hear the smaller parts of words, also called phonological awareness. Talking about the words that rhyme as you say rhymes with your children will better prepare them to read when they begin to sound out words in school. Adding motions makes it more fun!

Submitted by Amy Cook, Henrico County (VA) Public Library--Tucahoe Area Library