L is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket: lobster

Song: Be my echo (6 syllables x 2) lemonade and lizard, lightening and light bulb

Sign Language: Letter

Flannel Board: Lemons in a bowl
Five big lemons in the bowl. One fell out and started to roll.
It bumped the table and hit my toe
How many lemons in the bowl? 1-2-3-4
~ Continue to count down ~

Book: What the ladybug heard

Song: Laundry song
(Sung To: "Old McDonald had a Farm") --props—laundry basket with different articles of clothing

Old McDonald did the laundry e-i-e-i-o
And in his basket he had a shirt e-i-e-i-o
With a wash, wash here And a wash, wash there
Here a wash, there a wash Everywhere a wash, wash
Old McDonald did the laundry e-i-e-i-o

More verses: Socks, pair of pants, jacket, towel, etc.
This song didn't go over very well on Wednesday, so we sang Jingle Bells on Thursday instead.

Nursery Rhyme: Mary had a little lamb

Book: Mary had a little lamb by Mary Ann Hoberman

ABC Chant

Good bye Chant

Enrichment: ABC dot-to-dot, lion (cut mane), ladybug spot match, lacing cards

I copied a "bear face" onto yellow papers and cut them out. I used the AccuCut circle and cut out yellow and brown circles. At storytime the children glued the face into the center of the circle then cut snips all the way around the circle to form a mane.

K is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket: Kleenex

Sign Language: Letter

Song: Be my echo (6 syllables x 2) kindergarten and key, kangaroo and king

Sign Language: kangaroo

Flannel Board: Kitten song

Book: No more kissing!
On Wednesday the children asked to read it a 2nd time, since I had a small group I was able to.

Song: Koala, koala turn around

Koala, koala,Turn around,
Koala, koala, Touch the ground.
Koala, koala, Dance on your toes,
Koala, koala, Touch your nose.
Koala, koala, Give a little clap,
Koala, koala, Take a nap.
(The children can follow the koala's actions.)

Nursery Rhyme: Old King Cole

Book: Koalas (Valerie Bodden) and/or A Kitten Tale
On Wednesday I read A Kitten Tale and on Thursday I read Koalas. (A Kitten Tale went over better.)

ABC Chant

Good bye Chant

Enrichment: K page, kitchen pictures, puzzles, sort kittens (put right number of kittens with mother cat (print number from 1-5 on each mother cat)
I brought stuffed kittens from home. Wednesday the children had a great time sorting and playing with them. On Thursday the children (especially the boys) started throwing them around, etc.

I used this picture of a kitchen http://www.edupics.com/coloring-page-kitchen-i8787.html I used an Exacto knife and cut along the sides of the oven, etc. so they would "open". I glued these on a larger piece of construction paper. I also cut out lots of little "food" items (and a few silly items) from an old cooking magazine. At storytime the children selected different pictures and glue them "inside" the fridge, drawers, etc.

J is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket: Juice box

Sign Language: Letter

Song: Be my echo (6 syllables x 2) juggler and jam; jellyfish and jacket

Sign Language: Juice (use your pinky finger to draw the letter “J” at the corner of your mouth)

Flannel Board: Jelly beans countdown
5 little jelly beans, I wish I had more!
I'll eat the (color) one. Now there are four!
4 little jelly beans, Tasty as can be
I'll eat the (color) one. Now there are 3!
3 little jelly beans, Only a few.
I'll eat the (color) one. Now there are 2.
2 little jelly beans, Eating them is fun!
I'll eat the (color) one. Now there is one.
1 little jelly bean, The last one for me!
I'll eat the (color) one. I'm as happy as can be!

Book: If I were a jungle animals

Song: Jingle Bells

Nursery Rhyme: Jack and Jill

Book: Jump!

ABC Chant

Good bye Chant

Enrichment: painting with Jell-o, dot-to-dot, jingle bells, beads
Mix Jell-o powder with a warm water to make scented water colors. If it gets too thick warm in the microwave for a few seconds.

I is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket: water in a small baggie (used to be ice!)

Sign Language: Letter

Song: Be my echo (6 syllables x 2) insect and infant, iguana and instrument

Sign Language: I Love You

Flannel Board: 1 Icy Igloo
One icy igloo, near the snow that blew
A neighbor built another, and then there were 2.
2 icy igloos, round as round can be
A neighbor built another, and then there were 3.
3 icy igloos, heard the windy roar
A neighbor built another, and then there were 4.
4 icy igloos keeping friends alive
a neighbor built another, and then there were 5.

Book: What’s the big idea, Molly?

Song: Icy Toes, chilly nose
(sung to Jingle Bells)
Icy toes, chilly nose wintertime is here.
My teeth chatter, what's the matter?
Wintertime is here, Oh!
Icy toes, chilly nose wintertime is here.
My teeth chatter, what's the matter?
Wintertime is here!

Nursery Rhyme: Ichabod inchworm started to twitch, because he had an itch, itch, itch.

Book: Rhino’s great big itch

ABC Chant

Good bye Chant

Enrichment: Ice Cream Match, insect sorting/patterning, dot-to-dot, make an ice cream cone with triangle and circle, eat real ice cream!

H is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket: Hedgehog puppet

Song: Be my echo (6 syllables x 2) heart and hospital; hammer and house

Sign Language: Letter

Flannel Board: Carl the Clown (hats)
My name, boys and girls, is Carl the Clown
I wear my hats all over town.
Each one has its own color name,
Which you can learn if you play my game.
On, here's a hat, and it is red
It fits so nicely on my head.
Now when I wear my hat of yellow,
I'm told I'm quite a dandy fellow.
I hope you like my hat of blue.
I'll put it on now, just for you.
My purple hat is just for good.
I'd wear it always if I could.
I wear a white hat on a sunny day.
It looks quite nice, my friends all say.
I put on my green hat to visit the park,
But I take it off when it gets dark.
And when it's dark, I put on brown
This hat is for a sleepy clown.

Book: Hilda must be dancing

Song: If you’re happy and you know it…

Nursery Rhyme: Ho! Ho! Ho! I’m a hairy bear. Try to catch me, if you dare!

Book: The handiest things in the world

ABC Chant

Good bye Chant

Enrichment:
Hand puppets; handprint turkeys; hola hoops and bean bags; dot-to-dot

Poem to go with handprint turkey
This isn't just a turkey as you can plainly see.
I made it with my hand which is part of me.
It comes with lots of love especially to say,
I hope you have a very, Happy Thanksgiving Day!

G is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket: glove

Song: Be my echo (6 syllables x 2) goose and grandparents; gift and girl

Sign Language: Letter G

Flannel Board: 5 Green Grasshoppers
5 green grasshoppers playing near my door
1 saw a honey bee, then there were 4
4 green grasshoppers playing near a tree
1 chased a busy fly, then there were 3
3 green grasshoppers looked for something new
1 met a cricket, then there were 2
2 green grasshoppers sitting in the sun
A ladybug called, “come play with me”, then there was 1.
1 green grasshopper said, “I’ll have some fun!”
She went to find her brothers, then there were none!

Book: The Tale of Two Goats

Song: G-R-E-E-N
(Sung to the tune of Bingo)
I have some yellow
I have some blue
I mix them them together to make something new
G-R-E-E-N
And green is that color!

Nursery Rhyme: Goosey, goosey gander

Book: Good Night Gorilla
(I was kind of worried about using a nearly wordless picture book, but my groups were small enough that all children could easily see the pictures. They talked about what was happening and thoroughly enjoyed it!)
ABC Chant

Good bye Chant

Enrichment: Play with the guitar and other musical instruments, decorate “G” with glue and gold glitter! Dot-to-dot, Good Night, Gorilla read together

Good Night, Gorilla Read Together
Dear Families - Young children learn a lot about reading by watching other people read to them. To play this game with your child, paste the pictures on top of the bold type word they describe. Then, with your child "reading" the pictures, read this summary of Good Night, Gorilla.

Idea taken from Adopted from http://curry.virginia.edu/go/wil/Good_Night_Gorilla_Activity_Card.pdf

I found different clip art of animals because I "expanded" the story by having the children add pictures of each animal going back to the zoo.

F is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket: Flag

Song: Be my echo (6 syllables x 2) Forest and farm, football and family

Sign Language: Letter F; friend

Flannel Board: Five Funny Frogs

5 funny frogs on lily pads galore; 1 swam away and that left 4
4 funny frogs, floating near a tree; 1 swam away and that left 3
3 funny frogs, wondering what to do; 1 swam away and that left 2
2 funny frogs, laughing and having fun; 1 swam away and that left 1
1 funny frog, playing in the sun; hopped off his lily pad and that left NONE!

Book: My Lucky Day

Stand-up Song: My Two Feet

I can walk with two feet, two feet, two feet.
I can walk with two feet, two feet, all day long.
Replace "walk" with skip, jump, hop, march, run, spin, tap

Nursery Rhyme: I had a little frog (his name is Tiny Tim)

Book: Barry, the fish with fingers

ABC Chant

Good bye Chant

Enrichment: F-page, fishing (magnet on the end of a pole, cut out fish with paper clips), puzzles, tissue paper flowers (5 flowers)
I made a simple sheet on the computer labeled Five Flowers. Along the bottom I put 1 2 3 4 5. The kids drew five stems for the flowers then added a crumpled up piece of tissue paper for each flower.

E is for...

ABC Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket:

Sign Language: Letter E

Song: Be my echo (6 syllables x 2) engine and Elmo, eat and elevator

Flannel Board: THREE ENORMOUS ELEPHANTS

One enormous elephant
Marching down the street,
With 2 large ears and 4 big feet.
He passed a friend
Who wasn't afraid
To join his friend
And form a parade.

Two enormous elephants
Marching down the street,
With 4 large ears and 8 big feet.
They passed a friend
Who wasn't afraid
To join the group
And form a parade.

Three enormous elephants
Marching down the street,
With 6 large ears and 12 big feet

Book: The Elves and the shoemaker (LaMarche)

Song: One little elephant went out to play

Rhyme/Sign Language: Excuse Me

If I bump into someone I say "excuse me".
If I need to interrupt I say "excuse me".
I can see it makes people happy when I say it so politely
Yes, good manners mean to always say "excuse me"!

Announcements

Book: The cow that laid an egg (CUT)

ABC Chant/Good bye Chant

Enrichment: Puzzles, E-e paper, egg carton sort, eyedropper art

Eyedropper Painting
Fill an ice cube tray with water and then put a few drops of food coloring in each of the sections. Make each section a different color. Flatten out a basket type coffee filter. Use a eyedropper to make designs on the coffee filter. Each color will spread and run into the other colors. Let the filters dry completely and don't forget to put down some newspaper or your table will likely be stained.

D is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta's Basket: "Diamond"

Echo song: "Dragon and ; Dream and Dessert"

Flannel Board/Sign Language: Five Little Dogs (sign for dog)

5 little dogs were playing in the sun.

This little dog saw a rabbit, and he began to run.

This little dog saw a butterfly, and he began to race.

This little dog saw a cat, and he began to chase.

This little dog tried to catch his tail, and he went round and round.

This little dog was so quiet, he never made a sound.

Each time "dog" was said we made the sign for "dog"

First Book: That Pesky Dragon

Stand-up Song: 5 little ducks

Rhyme Time Song

Nursery Rhyme: Diddle, diddle dumpling

Second Book: Drum City

Enrichment Activities: Dot-to-dot letter "D, d", Matching game (dogs), glue dots on a dinosaur, play with plastic dinosaurs, dance to music (with bandannas)--CD I used was Dancin' Music by Joanie Bartels

C is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket: Crayons

Echo Song/Sign Language:
candy cane and cookies, corn and caterpillar

Flannel Board:
Five Little Cows

5 little cows ate grass all day.
Grazing in the fields of hay.
They ate and ate and ate and STILL
They ate and ate and ate until
One little cow had had enough that day…
And slowly, slowly walked away.
~ continue counting down ~

Book: Bunny Cakes

Song: If you’re happy and you know it CLAP your hands!

Rhyme Time Song

Nursery Rhyme and Sign Language (Cat)
Kitty-cat, Kitty-cat, where have you been?
"I've been to London to look at the queen."
Kitty-cat, Kitty-cat, what did you there?
"I frightened a little mouse under the chair."

Book: I don’t want a cool cat

ABC Chant

Good bye Chant

Enrichment: crayons (and coloring page), ABC dot-to-dot, counting candy corn, cupcake file folder—size, sewing cards

B is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta's Basket: Blue Balloon (that I blew up then let go and it "flew" around the room)

Echo Song/Sign Language Letter: Bicycle and Bus; Button and Bumblebee

Flannel Board: 5 Little Brown Bears

This little brown bear was playing peek-a-boo
Here is another. Now there are two.
Two little brown bears said let's climb a tree.
Up came another. Now there are three.
Three little brown bears said I wish there were some more.
Along came another. Now there are four.
Four little brown bears said let's find a beehive.
Here comes another. Now there are five.

Story: Blueberries for Sal

Stand-up Song: The Beanbag Song

(tune: If you're happy and you know it)

Put your beanbag on your hair, on your hair.

Put your beanbag on your hair, on your hair.

Put your beanbag on your hair and leave it right up there.

Put your beanbag on your hair, on your hair.

*Ground--step and step around

*Toe--lift it high and lift it low

*Hand--toss it up and watch it land

Rhyme Time Song

Rhyme (with sign language):

A banana for you,

A banana for me,

A banana for monkey up in the tree.

Story: Jackson's Blanket

Enrichment: B dot-to-dot, Beads (large wooden ones), Bugs (plastic counter bugs), Blue Bubble Prints (see:

A is for...

Sorry I'm a week behind...what a way to start!

See my "basic outline" posted on July 7.

Welcome Song

Henrietta's Basket: Ant puppet

Echo Sound Song/sign language letter:

Flannel Board: 5 Little Astronauts
5 little astronauts floating in space,
Looking at the stars with a smile on their face.
When along came a space ship to beam one out
And the 4 little astronauts gave a little shout-- " HEY "
Continue counting down 4-3 3-2 2-1
(from http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/preschool_themes/space/space.htm)

Sign Language: Apple

Book: An Apple Pie for Dinner

Stand-up song: 5 Little Monkeys swinging in the tree

Rhyme Time Song

Rhyme: An apple a day keep the doctor away; An apple a day that's what they say.

Book: Snip, Snap What's That?

Goodbyes

Enrichment: Apple dot-to-dot, Alphabit cereal (glue pieces onto construction paper--could make name or just use random letters), apple cut-outs counting, autumn mini-book (from http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/autumn-day-mini-book-coloring-page/ )

Soon...

Just two weeks before preschool storytime starts again at the Bellevue Public Library. It has been a nice break since summer reading. I have been busy writing a grant proposal, brainstorming for SRP 2011(!!!), and preparing for our annual Eastern Library System's Youth Services Retreat , but I am anxious to begin storytime again later this month.

Since this is my 2nd year of doing an ABC themed storytime I will be "tweaking" a few things and trying some new things.

"A" Day will be September 22 and 23.

Basic Outline

My basic outline for all preschool storytimes is as follows:

Welcome Song (words by Miss Tammy)
(sung to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)
Welcome all to storytime
We will sing and we will rhyme
Read a book and then we'll play
Time for storytime, hip, hip, hooray!
Now we'll sing our ABCs
We'll do them all just wait and see

(As the children sing the alphabet I use a pointer to point to each letter on a laminated chart)

Now I've sung my ABCs
Let's start storytime, yes, siree!

Puppet
I have a raccoon puppet from Folkmanis named Henrietta. Each week she "hides" in her basket, but I always look in her treehouse first. Each week Henrietta brings an object to show the children that begins with the "letter of the day". First I just let the kids guess random things (cookie, dinosaur, etc.) They often guess what she had brought the week before. Henrietta then gives "clues" about the object--the first being the letter it starts with and the sound of the letter. Other clues include it's color, shape, size, how you use it, etc. After a child guesses Henrietta takes it of her basket to show the children then Henrietta gets in her treehouse to watch storytime.

Flannel Board
Next I do a flannel board, often counting up or counting down rhymes, but also colors and animals and so forth. One book that I've found that has many counting rhymes is ABC Read to Me:Teaching Letter of the Week in the Library and Classroom by Toni Buzzeo. I usually just print out pictures of the object from Word, cut it out and use tape on the flannel board since I don't have the time or the patience to make real flannel board pieces.

First Book
The first book is usually a longer, more complex story

Stand-up Song
Sometimes this song goes with the letter of the day, sometimes it's just a fun song like Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Rhyme Time Chant
I do this chant right after the song before the children sit down (adapted from a chant in Totline)
I'm so happy that you've come to storytime
Now listen very carefully to my rhyme
Stand up straight and stomp your feet
Clap twice and take your seat
We'll begin when I ring the rhyme chime.

Nursery Rhyme
I then bring out the bell, ring it, then begin to recite a Nursery Rhyme or short poem. I repeat it again, explaining words if needed, then have the children say it with me and I let the children fill in the words they know or the last word of the line.

Second Book
This book is usually a shorter, rhyming book.

Good-byes
See ya later, Alligator
Blow a kiss, Goldfish
Be sweet, Parakeet
Take care, Polar Bear
Give a hug, Ladybug
Tootaloo, Kangaroo
See you soon, Raccoon
Bye-bye, Butterfly
Out the door, Dinosaur!

Enrichment
I try to have 3 or 4 different activities the children can do. They may choose to do any or all of them. There is one activity that is physical (like throwing beanbags or playing musical instruments), a coloring or craft activity, and a connect the dot page or practice writing letter page. More on this aspect later.

Introductions

I am "Miss Tammy", the Children's Librarian Assistant at the Bellevue Public Library in Bellevue, Nebraska. I have a degree in Elementary Education from Idaho State University and I am currently working on my MLS from Univeristy of Missouri-Columbia. I develop all the preschool storytimes at our library and I wanted a place to keep my ideas online, as well as share ideas with others.

Last school year I developed 26 storytimes for preschoolers--one for each letter of the alphabet. I felt this was very successful in introducing many early literacy skills to the children and it gave me the opportunity to model for and share ideas with parents regarding the importance of early literacy.

One thing about me is that I can never have the same storytime twice...so even the storytimes that go really well I will still "tweak" it before I use it again. There are always new books, different finger plays or rhymes, or activities that target a different literacy area. So I will be updating often with different ideas. I will, however, only post ideas that I have actually used in storytime...if it didn't turn out I will confess and probably explain how I would do it different in the future.

I hope you enjoy some of the ideas I have put together.