Sing your own songs

Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Singing with your children helps them to hear words broken into smaller parts because there is a different note for each syllable. Hearing these smaller parts of words will help them later to sound out words.Early Literacy Aside--Empower: We sang some songs today in storytime. You can make up your own songs and sing about the things you do everyday. Singing helps children hear words broken down into part and you can do this throughout the day in fun ways. Heather Bratt

Jack and Jill Rhyme and Song

Nursery Rhyme: Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Preparation: Have the words to the rhyme up on a chart. Have the group say, not sing, the words. Then have the group sing the rhyme. Ask the adults what differences they noticed when singing it vs. saying it.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Singing slows down language so that children can hear the smaller sounds in words. This helps children later to sound out the words when they learn to read.

A Rhyming We Will Go

Early Literacy Aside--Example: Let's take an interesting word from this book we just read. [Choose a word.] Now we'll play this song game. Helping your children make rhymes or notice words that rhyme is one way to help them hear the smaller sounds in words which will help them later to sound out words.Song to the tune of A Hunting We Will Go A rhyming we will go A rhyming we will go We’ll catch a rhyme In the nick of time And this is how it goes.

I caught the word _____!  What rhymes with ______? Good, what else rhymes with _____? 

 Repeat as often as you like. Rhyming words can be nonsense words!

Early Literacy Aside--Empower: Remember the rhyming song game we played earlier? You can play this little game any place, any time you are with your children--in the car, waiting in line, at the doctor's office. These little things you do all add up to make a difference in helping your child be ready to learn to read. When you help them hear and make rhymes, you are helping your child develop phonological awareness, hearing the smaller sounds in words so they can later sound out words when they learn to read.

 

Old Macdonald using sounds

Early Literacy Aside--Example: Helping children hear the beginning sounds of words is one way to develop their phonological awareness--their ability to hear the smaller sounds in words. This will later help them sound out words when they learn to read. You can put new words to the tune of the song Old Macdonald. I'll say two words and you see if you can hear the beginning sound which is the same for both words. SSSSSad and SSSSSSilly. What's the sound that is the same for both words? Right! /s/ Now we'll sing a song about it. Let's try it. To the tune of Old Macdonald Had a Farm What’s the sound that these words share? Listen to these words: Sad and silly are these words Tell me what you heard. With a /s/, /s/, here and a /s/, /s/ there Here a /s/, there a /s/, everywhere a /s/, /s/ /S/ is the sound that these words share. We can hear the sound!

Try other words and sounds. It is easier for the children to join in with the sounds if you talk about the words before singing the song.

A Tisket a Tasket

Early Literacy Aside--Example: We just read a book with rhyming words and then went back to a page and talked about the rhyming words. In order to emphasize rhyming words, here is a song you can sing after you and your child have talked about two rhyming words. So let's say you have noticed that ball and tall rhyme. Here's the song.This helps develop your child's phonological awareness, being able to hear the smaller sounds in words.A tisket a tasket Let's make a rhyming basket Boy and toy share an ending sound. Rhyming words are all around!

Alphabet Song

Early Literacy Aside--Example: Singing the alphabet song is one way to introduce children to letters. Part of letter knowledge, one of the early literacy skills that helps children be ready to read in school, is knowing the names of letters. At first your child may not relate the letters they sing to the written letter. That's ok; this is a first step.The alphabet song is to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
Sing Alphabet Song. Now let's sing it again to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb. The letters come out in a different rhythm. They are less likely to lump l m n o together. Sing Alphabet Song again to new tune.

Opening Song for Adult Introduction

Here's a song to encourage parents/caregivers to participate in the storytime.Storytime Announcement (Tune: Yankee Doodle)
Please turn down your cell phones now,
So they will not distract us.
Please join along and sing the songs,
It always helps to practice.
Storytime can help us read.
Storytime is what we need.
Storytime is lots of fun!
Storytime's for everyone.

Early Literacy Aside: Explain: When you participate in our storytime activities, you help to show your children the joy of books, reading, and other language-building activities. They recognize that YOU, the important person in their lives, thinks storytime is important. You help support print motivation, your child's enjoyment of reading, which will later help them stick with learning to read even if it is hard for them.
Submitted by Mary Binda, Augusta County (VA) Public Library

Spider on the Floor by Raffi

Read Spider on the Floor by Raffi or use the Raffi recording on Singable Songs for the Very Young.You can add verses with less familiar parts of the body.
Activity: Give each child a plastic or rubbery spider. As the song progresses have them put their spiders on the correct body part until it jumps back on the floor. (Shopping for spiders around Halloween is the best time for getting creepy rubbery spiders.)
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Using props during a song or story that prompts children to act out the meaning of the words, provides children with a fun and active way to learn new words and to practice their vocabulary skills.
Submitted by Kathleen Moore, Dayton (OH) Metro Library System

Song for Introduction

Storytime Announcement (tune: Yankee Doodle)
Please turn down your cell phones now,
So they will not distract us.
Please join along and sing the songs,
It always helps to practice.
Storytime can help us read.
Storytime is what we need.
Storytime is lots of fun!
Storytime’s for everyone.

EarlyLiteracy Aside--Explain: When you participate in storytime with your children you send them the message that what we do in storytime is important. You let them know that reading is important and enjoyable, worth doing. They love to do things with you. By being present you help to support their print motivation, their enjoyment of books and reading. This will later help them stick with learning to read even if it is difficult for them.
Submitted by Mary Binda, Augusta County (VA) Public Library

Pigeon books by Mo Willems

Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Print motivation is an interest in and enjoyment of books and reading. It is one of the early literacy skills that researchers say are important for children to have before they learn to read. Choose books that you enjoy. Your child picks up on your feelings and understands the enjoyment of books and reading.Read several of the "pigeon" books during the storytime, having fun with them in different ways: acting them out, predicting outcomes, singing "The Pigeon on the Bus" to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus", drawing a pigeon, etc. Early Literacy Aside--Example: Parents, you can see we are building on the book to add to the enjoyment of sharing the book itself. You know your child best and you can use your child's interests to build on the books you read together. Early Literacy Aside--Empower: You may not realize it but by sharing books you and your child enjoy, you are helping to develop your child's print motivation. So, every day continue to share books that you enjoy with your child.

Submitted by Susan Blombert, Sugar Creek Branch, Public Library of Charlotte and Mechlenburg County (NC)

Itsy Bitsy Spider Rhyme

Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Talking with children as you read books and share rhymes can add to the words they know and to their knowledge if YOU use words they are not familiar with or add information they may not yet know. Both adding to their vocabulary and to their knowledge will help them understand what they read when they learn to read. Say/sing the rhyme with actions: The itsy bitsy spider went up the waterspout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out.                                        Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.                                       And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again. Early Literacy Aside--Example: Here are some examples of the kinds of questions you can ask your children. Then add to what they say to introduce new words and information. [Then you ask the children a couple of questions. Some possibilities are below. Be careful to keep it fun and engaging, not like a test of knowledge.] Where was the spider going? What happened when the rain started? Where do you think spiders live? Have you seen a spider? Where? What was it doing? What do you know about spiders? Early Literacy Aside--Empower: Sometimes we do not know much about some of the topics our children are interested in. We have lots of factual books on a variety of topics like spiders, snakes, dinosaurs, trains, and more. Just let us know what you and your children would like to read about. These books not only  make reading enjoyable because yuou are building on your child's interest, you are also setting a good foundation for helping them learn new words and knowledge.

Submitted by a library staff person at Public Library of Charlotte and Mechlenburg County (NC)

Old Macdonald Had a Farm Flannel Board

Pass out flannel board pieces of fam animals. Play or sing "Old Macdonald Had a Farm" .   When a child hears the animal he/she is holding, that child comes up to place the animal piece on the flannel board.Early Literacy Aside--Example:  Having your children hear and make the sounds of the animals is one enjoyable way to help them develop phonological awareness, to eventually be able to hear the smaller sounds in words. Take-Home Activity: Hand out shapes of animals for families to take home. Early Literacy Aside--Empower:  Parents, you can use these animal shapes to make animal sounds with your children and home and sing the song with them to practice the skill of phonological awareness.

Submitted by Helen Patzer, Dayton (OH) Metro Library, Northtown-Shiloh Branch.

Fiddle I Fee Song

Sing the song Fiddle I Fee[If you like you can do it as a "clothesline song". Put string or a rope across the room. As each animal is added, hang it on the clothesline (from left ot right as the children see it). This helps them remember the sequence.

Bought me a cat and the cat pleased me, I fed my cat under yonder tree. Cat goes fiddle-i-fee. Bought me a duck and the duck pleased me, I fed my duck under yonder tree. Duck goes quack, quack, Cat goes fiddle-i-fee. Keep adding verses one-by-one: Bought me a dog and the dog pleased me, I fed my dog under yonder tree. Dog goes bow-wow, bow-wow, Horse goes neigh, neigh, Cow goes moo, moo, Pig goes oink, oink, Sheep goes baa, baa, Goose goes hissy, hissy, Duck goes quack, quack, Cat goes fiddle-i-fee. Early Literacy Aside--Example: This song includes some silly animal sounds which is the beginning of making the child aware of the sounds within words.

Submitted by Carol Miller, Dayton (OH) Metro Library System

Bop 'Til You Drop Song by Mr. Al

Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Research shows that there are early literacy skills that influence a child's ability to learn to read. Today, you will probably notice several places where I demonstrate examples of narrative skills, which is the ability to describe things and events and to tell stories. When you develop this skill, it will help your children understand what they reads later.Song: Bop 'Til You Drop Go through the sequence of motions that are in the song, Bop 'Til You Drop Early Literacy Aside--Example: Singing songs that have a certain order is one great way for children to remember the sequence or order of things. They will use the same skill when they retell a story. They learn how stories work. Early Literacy Aside--Empower: One thing that you can do at home to develop narrative skills is to describe regular activities such as taking a bath--"first we'll get out the towel, then we'll put the water in the tub and add the bubbles/toys, then we'll take off your clothes, and get in the water. We can scrub our toes, our ears . . . " With older kids, let THEM describe the sequence of events with prompts like, "What do we have to do before we put the bubbles in? or "What do we do next?"

Any Rhyming Song

Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Rhyming is one of the things that children learn that lets them hear that words are made of smaller parts. By doing rhyming songs and fingerplays with your child, you are supporting phonlogical awareness. It's fun for you and your child and will help them when it comes time for them to sound out words when they learn to read. Submitted by Molly Beedon, Ypsilanti (MI) District Library

Who's There on Halloween? by Pamela Beall

Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Rhyming is one way that children learn to hear that words are made up of smaller parts. By doing rhymes with them you are supporting phonological awareness. This skill helps them when they later try to sound out words. And it's fun, too!Read Who's There on Halloween? by Pamela Beall

Song: Do a rhyming song to the tune of Are You Sleeping? We are rhyming; we are rhyming. Rhyme with me; rhyme with me. Nose rhymes with toes; nose rhymes with toes. (substitute other words from story) Rhyme with me; rhyme with me. Early Literacy Aside--Empower: Take advantage of lots of opportunities to play rhyming games with your children. Simple activities like this will help your child be able to sound out words when they learn to read.

Submitted by participants in Saskatchewan Library Association Conference

Songs

Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Singing songs is  one good way for children to become aware of the different sounds that make up words. We call this phonological awareness. Singng helps them get a feel for the rhythm of language and how words are divided into syllables because there is a different note for each syllable. This will help them sound out words when they learn to read. Submitted by Cindy Christin, Bozeman (MT) Public Library

Mortimer by Robert Munsch

Mortimer's song is repeated:Clang, clang, rattle-bing-bang Gonna make my noise all day. Clang, clang, rattle-bing-bang Gonna make my noise all day. You pass out musical instruments and have them play to the rhythm of the song. Early Literaacy Aside--Example: As the children are saying the words of the sounds, they are developing phonological awareness. Having them play to the rhythm of the words also helps develop this skill which will later help them sound out words when they learn to read.

Submitted by Barbara Slough, Glasgow Library, Rockbridge Regional Library (VA)