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Early Literacy Aside--Example: This is a favorite book of mine. It shows children enjoying planting seeds and also how children think, in interesting ways. Let your child know when you are reading a favorite book of yours. This helps develop print motivation.Read Flora's Surprise
Submitted by Marie Kupchinski, Buchanan Branch Library, Saskatchewan (Canada) Public Library
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
Say the rhyme together. Act out the lyrics.Five Little Kittens
Five little kittens sleeping on a chair
One rolled off, leaving four there.
Four little kittens, one climbed a tree
To look in a birds nest; then there were three.
Three little kittens wondered what to do.
One saw a mouse, and then there were two.
Two little kittens playing near a wall.
One little kitten chased a red ball.
One little kitten with fur soft as silk,
Left all alone to drink a dish of milk.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: We are acting out the lyrics. After we do it a few times, I will see if the children can help me recall the actions and say the rhyme themselves. This is a form of narrative skills, saying the rhyme in order and using the actions to help them recall it, a first step in later understanding what they read.
Submitted by Anna Hancock, Cincinnati (OH) Public Library
[New words in this book: activities, camera lens, grinning, waddle, amazing, developed]Listen to the interesting words in this book as I read it.
Read the book.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Hearing new words in books helps your child learn lots of words and the more vocabulary they learn the more they will understand what they will read.
Submitted by Lou Ann Studer, Lebanon (OH) Public Library
Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Our Early Literacy Tip of the Day is on print motivation or showing children how to love books. You know that kids love to read the same book over and over. This is how children learn, so go ahead and read Dora the Explorer or their favorite book one more time. Your kids will love you for it.Early Literacy Aside--Empower: As you leave, please pick up a book from the table and read it with your child. If for some reason your child is not interested, don't force it on her. Find something she is interested in or wait until your child is ready to listen. It's OK to not finish a book! Don't make it a chore that needs to be done.
Submitted by Kim Connett, Marion (OH) Public Library
Early Literacy Aside--Explain: Our early literacy tip today is on print motivation, ways to develop your children's interest and enjoyment of books and reading. Children who enjoy being read to are more likely to stick with learning to read even if it is hard for them. Early Literacy Aside--Example: Bear Feels Scared is one of my favorite books. It is part of the "Bear" series by Karma Wilson. A couple of weeks ago, we shared Bear Snores On which is by this same author. I also like the illustrations by Jane Chapman.
Early Literacy Aside--Empower: Reading your favorite books makes your home storytimes so much more enjoyable for both you and your kids. You are helping to develop their print motivation.
Submitted by Kim Connett, Marion (OH) Pubic Library
Early Literacy Aside--Explain: We are going to have fun playing with sounds today, reading stories with sound words. Playing with sounds helps develop phonological awareness which will help your child learn to hear the smaller sounds in words.Read book emphasizing sound words like crunch and munch. Then I go back to some pages and have the children say the words with me, again emphasizing different sounds.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Hearing and learning sound words like splish-splash is an enjoyable way of learning phonlogical awareness and will help your children later hear smaller sounds in words.
Early Literacy Aside--Empower: At home, play with sound words, like splish-splash in the bath, crunch-munch at snack, and exaggerate how you are saying words to practice hearing their parts.
Submitted by Carrie Burrier, Akron-Summit County (OH) Public Library
Book Introduction: Start with book upside down. Children will say to "turn it the right way". If not, look at the upside-down book and say, "Oh I can't read it like this, I have to turn it right side up. Read title and point out author/illustrator, running finger under the words.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Some of the words in this book are written in large type. I'll be pointing to these words as I read the book. This helps your child notice the print and develop print awareness.
Submitted by Jolene Roush, Muskingum County (OH) Public Library, Dresden Branch
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?"
Fingerplay: Ten Little CampersTen little campers putting up their tent. (Put finger tips of fingers together forming tent roof)
Ten little campers close the vents. (Intertwine fingers together to signify closure)
Ten little campers make a ring. (Form circle putting tips of fingers together and thumbs together)
Ten little campers start to sing. (Cup hands to mouth)
Ten little campers around the fire. (Form circle putting tips of fingers together again)
Ten little campers dance till they tire. (Put all ten fingers up in the air and dance them around)
Ten little campers say good-night. (Wave good-night with both hands)
Ten little campers close their tent up tight. (Intertwine fingers together again to signify closure)
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Rhymes are fun to sing and say with your child. Because they rhyme, they also help children develop phonological awareness, an important skill for later reading when they try to sound out words.
Submitted by Beth Grai, Independence (MI) Township Library
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Having your child say a repeated phrase with you throughout the book keeps him involved. This is a great way to keep your booksharing time fun and it supports print motivation--that enjoyment of reading. Participation keeps them interested.Read Bear Wants More and have the children chime in with the repeated phrase.
Submitted by Rhonda Butler, Public Libraries of Saginaw (MI)
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Print motivation is an interest in and enjoyment of books. Children need this skill prior to formal reading instruction. One way to develop this skill is to use pop-up books and other books that provide surprises. Let's see what surprises this book brings.Read Wide-Mouthed Frog.
Submitted by Lisa Watson, Flat River (MI) Community Library
Storytime Plan includes these books with suggested activities and relation to the early literacy skills.Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpiller by Clare Jarrett On the Farm by David Elliott A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker Tweedle Dee Dee by Charlotte Voake [Some activities are more for school-age children.] readtousstoryhourkit.pdf
Early Literacy Aside--Example: When you choose books for your children, they like the ones that have pictures of things that are familiar to them. So, here is one with a picture of an apple. You can talk about the apple in the picture, its color, its shape. Then get a real apple and show it to your child. Talk about how it tastes--sweet, how it feels--round and smooth, the sound it makes when you bite it--CRUNCH!By showing your child the real object, you are helping them realize that pictures represent real things. Later they will also understand that printed words represent real things as well. This develops print awareness. I'll read this story to you once, then we'll use the flannel board to tell it again!
Read Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett
Re-tell the story using flannel pieces with the children telling the story as you put the pieces on the board. As the whole story has four words the children learn it quickly. This book can also be used to demonstrate narrative skills.
Submitted by Leslee Farish Kuykendal, Chicago Public Library
Read the book Rain by Robert KalanEarly Literacy Aside--Example: It is really important for children to be able to tell and re-tell stories or ideas in chronological order. We are going to use this flannel board (Rain flannel board) to let the children re-tell the story we just read. Plus, they will see how each item affects the next one. This activity will help them develop their narrative skills which later helps them understand what they read.
Flannel Board: Place pieces on the flannel board as the children retell the story.
You can use some of the pieces from the flannel board pattern as a handout so that the children can retell the story at home.
Submitted by Jaime Duval and Whitney Whitaker, Radford (VA) Public Library
Book Introduction: Our next story is Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley. Notice the words on boxes and bottles as Mouse finds food to eat.
Read the book, saying the words on the boxes and bottles as you point to them.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: Pointing out the words we see on boxes and bottles is one way to help children develop one of the early literacy skills, print awareness, understanding that print has meaning.
Activity: At the end of storytime put out cereal boxes, bottles, any containers with writing on it and let the children "read" them.
Early Literacy Aside--Empower: Don't forget, when you go shopping or are just out and about, talk with your children about the signs and labels they see, just as we did with Mouse Mess. This is one simple way to develop your children's print awareness.
Fingerplay: Little Raindrops
This is the sun, high up in the sky. (Form large circle with arms up)
A dark cloud suddenly comes sailing by. (Move hands through the air in a parallel motion.)
These are the raindrops, pitter, pattering down. (Bring arms down, flutter fingers)
Watering the flowers, growing on the ground. (Cup hands to form flowers.)
Activity: Make a book based on this fingerplay. Use the pattern here (Little Raindrops Booklet pattern) to represent the items in the fingerplay. There are four pages for your book (one for each line of the fingerplay). The pattern is a Word document so you can change the size of the objects to save paper, if you wish. The children cut out the pictures. They can cut around them to make it easier. The adults write the words to the fingerplay on each page. For children too young for this craft, the adults make the book FOR their young children. The umbrella can be used on the cover of the book.
Early Literacy Aside--Empower: Making a book with or for your child is very special. By showing care in making them and including your child in the process you make this activity around a book enjoyable. Your child can memorize the words to the rhyme and can "pretend" read it to you. Praise your child. This helps develop print motivation, a child's interest and enjoyment of books and reading. OR Making a book with your child shows them how books work. This helps them with print awareness, how to handle a book, which will get them comfortable with using books as they learn to read. Submitted by Jaime Duval and Whitney Whitaker, Radford (VA) Public Library
Talk about spiders and how they spin their webs. Each web is different. They use their webs to catch their food.Read the book The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle.
Put up pieces on a flannel board, having the participants retell the story as you put up the pieces.
Early Literacy Aside--Example: This book has lots of repetition so it is a good one for retelling. I have a handout with the same figures that I used on the flannel board. I will also pass out some yarn to make the web. You can cut out the figures and use the yarn to retell the story. Helping your children to retell stories will help them understand what they read later in school.
Figures for flannel board and handout verybusyspiderpatterns.doc [For the flannel board, an alternative to using the cutout figure of the spider is to make a spider by stapling two small paper plates together. Cut strips of black construction paper and attach to paper plates for legs. Slip yarn between the stapled paper plates with a bit sticking out to start the web. Pull out the yarn as you make the web on the flannel board. If you need to you can use velcro or pins or tacks to hold the yarn to the flannel board. Tell the children that spiders don't need that--the web itself is sticky.]
Early Literacy Aside--Example: 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. Helping your children hear rhymes will help them later to sound out words when they learn to read!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
Read the book You Can Do Anything, Daddy by Michael Rex.Craft/Activity: In this book, the boy is thinking of bad things that might happen to him. His father is figuring out how to save his son. I am giving each of you [adults and children] a piece of paper. On one side I want you to draw something you think of that is scary for you. On the other side I want you to think of something your a grownup could do to help you. It is all pretend, make-believe. What can you think of?
Eary Literacy Aside: Having your children draw and then tell you about what they drew develops their narrative skills. It also gives us a window into their thoughts. You can also write down what your children say with the picture so that they make the connection between the written and the spoken word. This helps develop their print awareness, knowing that print has meaning.