Storytime Share

 Aside: As I read this story, I am going to pause and have the children fill in the rhyming word. This is something you can easily do with rhyming books. Start off by using rhyming books that your child has read with you before.
Read the book: As you read the book, let the children chime in with some of the rhyming words, like head to follow red.
After the book activity: Everyone stand up! What’s a word that rhymes with head? Children give suggestions. Pick one–bed. OK, take your hand and dip it in red paint on the floor (pretend). Now take your hand and draw a bed. Good! What’s a word that rhymes with green? Perhaps the children say bean. OK, dip your foot in some green paint on the floor, and draw a bean. We all laugh together.
Submitted by Katie Ross, Kanawha County (WV) Public Library System

Aside: Separating a word into sound parts is called segmentation. Playing with words this way when they are little will help your children later when they learn to break words into syllables to decode words. Clapping or tapping helps them hear parts of words.
[for 3 - 5’s you can use rhythm sticks]
Submitted by Di Gagnier, Roanoke County (VA) Public Library

Talk about how what is special to one person might not be special to another. People see things and use things differently. Read the book. Then, pull out a cardboard box and have the children act out the story. You are the bear. There can be as many monkeys, owls, elephants, etc. as there are children who want to be that animal. Then talk together about the many things you can do with a box.
Aside: Acting out stories and having children say parts helps develop their narrative skills, the expressive part of language. Retelling stories is one way that children will later more easily understand what they read. If your child did not get a chance to talk about how they might use a box, listen to their ideas on the way home.
Submitted by Saroj Ghoting

I read it once through even though many are already familiar with the book. Then we stand up, put on our imaginary wolf suits, and have them act it out and tell it back to me.
Aside: Narrative skills is the ability to describe things and talk about or tell stories. It is an important skill for early literacy. Acting out stories, or parts of them, using their bodies, helps children internalize and understand what is happening in the story. Encourage your children to practice telling and retelling stories to improve your children’s narrative skills.
Submitted by Alison Towles, Middlesex County (VA) Public Library