Early Literacy Project--Print Awareness

Silly Little Goose by Nancy Tafuri

Simple text is ¾ inch tall which makes pointing to words very easy.  On every other double page spread there is the repeating phrase, “Silly little goose!”  As children say the repeating phrase parent or librarian can point to each word.

Tafuri, N. (2001). Silly little goose.New York: Scholastic Press.

There are Cats in this Book and There are No Cats in this Book by Viviane Schwarz

Both of these books are told mostly in the “speech bubbles” of the cats who are “talking” to the reader.  While reading this book the adult can point to the words in the speech bubble and also point to the cat that is saying these words.  Book books are simple stories that children will really get in to!  (You could also talk about print motivation while sharing this book because the reader is part of the story!)

Schwarz, V. (2008).There are cats in this book. Cambridge, MA:  Candlewick Press.

Schwarz, V. (2010).There are no cats in this book.  Cambridge, MA:  Candlewick Press.

I Wanna Iguanaand I Wanna New Room by Karen Kaufman Orloff; illustrated by David Catrow

Both of these books are told in “letter writing” format.  Alex writes notes to his mom trying to convince her he needs an iguana for a pet.  Mom writes notes back telling Alex why an iguana would not be a good idea.  In the second book Alex and Dad write notes to each other because Alex feels he needs his own room, now that a new baby has joined the family.  The repetition of “Dear Mom” and “Dear Alex” helps children recognize those word written on the page.

Orloff, K. K. (2004). I wanna iguana (D. Catrow, Illus.).  New York: G. P. Putman’s Sons.

Orloff, K. K. (2010). I wanna new room (D. Catrow, Illus.).  New York: G. P. Putman’s Sons.

Aaaarrgghh! Spider! By Lydia Monks

This book is a fun way to show children the importance of print because the first page is from the spider’s point of view…who is upside down on the ceiling.  Children of course will want to turn the book around so the picture is right side up, but the adult can point out that then the print is upside down so it can’t be read!  The rest of the book is “right side up” with large print of “Aaaarrgghh! Spider! Out you go!” that is easy to point to while reading.

Monks, L. (2004). Aaaarrgghh! Spider! Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Literacy Centers and Activities for Nursery Rhymes

Using sentence strips is a good way to promote print awareness to a large group of children.  The words themselves are larger than in a book (even a book book) so all children can see.  Although they are not “reading” the words, you point to them as you say them, thus helping children learn that the words we say can be written down and then read.

Wislon, B., Brown, K., Guckian, M., &Dodds, D. (2004). Literacy centers and activities for nursery rhymes. Westminster, CA:  Teacher Created Resources.

Early Literacy Project--Print Motivation

Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

This book invites participation!  Much of the book is repeated phrases such as “dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy Town”  “Is the trash truck full yet?  No.  Mr. Gilly drives on.”  And after you turn the page, “Stop!”  The repetition allows children to participate and watch the kids as they dump and smash the “garbage” and “drive” around town!

Zimmerman, A. &Clemesha, D. (1999).Trashy town (D. Yaccarino, Illus.).New York:  HarperCollins

Publishers.

Can You Make a Scary Face?by Jan Thomas

The ladybug talks directly to you in this book and asks the reader to do things, such as stand up, then sit down, then stand up again, finally asking you to make a scary face to scare away a hungry frog!  Children will love to do the actions the ladybug asks them to do and they will learn that books are fun!

Thomas, J. (2009).  Can you make a scary face? New York: Beach Lane Books.

Shout! Shout It Out!by Denise Fleming

Expect a loud storytime when you share this book that invites children not only to participate, but to shout out!  Multi-ethical children shout out numbers one through 10, the alphabet, colors, animals, and forms of transportation.  This is a fun book to remind adults that children need to participate with the book and asking them to shout is a fun way to do it!

Fleming, D. (2011).  Shout! Shout it out!  New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Baby Bear’s Books by Jane Yolen; illustrated by Melissa Sweet

What better way to motivate children to read than to read a book about reading books!  Baby Bear loves to hear stories and his family reads to him throughout the day.  Some books are wild; others are silly;and others are quiet and calming.  Baby Bear hears stories in the yard, in a hammock, at the table, and of course in bed.  Every page shows Baby Bear with a pile of books that he loves!

Yolen, J. (2006). Baby Bear’s books (M. Sweet, Illus.). New York:  Harcourt, Inc.

Who has these feet?  by Laura Hulbert; illustrated by Erik Brooks

Simple text asks, “Who has these feet?” with a close up illustration of a pair of feet belonging to an animal.  The following two-page spread shows the entire animal in its natural habitat and the text gives basic information about the animal’s feet, such as, “A desert lizard had special scales around its toes so it won’t sink down into the sand.”  A great book non-fiction book about animals for preschool children.

Hulbert, L. (2011). Who has these feet? (E. Brooks, Illus.).  New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Early Literacy Project--Narrative Skills

Mr. Tuggle’s Troubles by LeeAnn Blankenship; illustrated by Karen Dugan

Mr. Tuggle’s house is a mess!  Each day of the week Mr. Tuggle can’t find an article of clothing he needs before he leaves for work…so he goes without it, only to decide later that he really needs it.  He then makes his own out of newspaper, curtains, and other things he finds.  By Thursday Mr. Tuggle is quite a sight!  Children will remember the order of things he forgets and how he makes his own by looking at the pictures.  As children relate the story days of weeks can also be emphasized by the adult.

Blankenship, L. (2005). Mr. Tuggle’s troubles (K. Dugan, Illus.).  Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.

We’re going on a bear hunt!

For each verse, replace the underlined words with the words for the following verses. There is an echo after each line. The leader sings the line first and then the kids copy it.

We’re going on a bear hunt

We’re going to catch a big one

I’m not afraid

What a beautiful day!

Oh grass

Tall wavy grass

We can’t get over it

We can’t get under it

We can’t get around it

We’ll have to go through it!

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish

Grass, tall wavy grass (swish)

Mud, icky sticky mud (squish, squash)

A river, a very cold river (splash)

A forest, a deep, dark forest (stumble-trip)

A cave, a very dark cave (tippy-toe)

ROAR!

Oh no! A bear! A very big bear!

Through the cave, tippy toe, tippy toe

Through the forest, stumble-trip, stumble-trip

Through the river splash, splash, splash, splash

Through the mud squish, squash, squish, squash

Through the grass swish, swish, swish, swish

In the house,

Up the stairs.

Forgot the door!

Oh-ho

Down the stairs,

Close the door,

Up the stairs

Jump on the bed,

Pull the covers over your head…

I’m never going on a bear hunt again!

This well-known action rhyme actually tells a story and by repeating the words and doing actions children begin to remember the sequence of events leading up seeing the bear!

Retrieved from http://kidsministryresources.pbworks.com/w/page/11561766/We're%20Going%20On%20A%20Bear%20Hunt%20words

Not a Box and Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis

An resourceful bunny uses a box to take him on many adventures using his imagination.  The print does not tell what the bunny has turned the box into, the child will look at the illustrations to find out.  The box is always outlined in black, but the rest of the picture is drawn in red.  An example of the text: “Why are you sitting in a box?” (picture of bunny in a box); the next page the bunny answers, “It’s not a box” (picture of bunny in a racecar).  Children will have an enjoyable time talking about what the bunny might be doing with box on the following pages.  Similarly, a pig uses a stick for great imaginative play too.

Portis, A. (2006).  Not a box.  New York:  HarperCollins Publishers.

Portis, A. (2008).  Not a stick. New York:  HarperCollins Publishers.

Hug by Jez Alborough

This nearly wordless picture book has expressive illustrations that children will be able to “read” and tell the story of the cute little chimpanzee looking for a hug. This book can also help children identify and talk about feelings.

Alborough, J. (2000).  Hug.  Cambridge, MA:  Candlewick Press.

Peter’s Picture by Valeri Gobachev

Peter paints a wonderful picture of a flower at school and on his walk home he stops to show several of his neighbors.  Each one thinks the picture is so life-life they want to treat it like a real flower, but each time Peter replies “Oh, no!  That’s not right!”  Peter’s father knows exactly what to do with the picture though!  Children will be able to tell the story about what each neighbor wants to do with the picture from the illustrations.

Gobachev, V. (2000).Peter’s picture. New York:  North-South Books.

Early Literacy Project--Letter Recognition

Your Name

(Tune: Do you know the Muffin Man?)

If your name begins with ____,

Begins with ____, begins with ____,
If your name begins with ____,
Stand up, please.

Variations: Sit down, please; jump up, please

Schiller, P., Lara-Alecio, R., and Irby, B. J. (2004).The bilingual book of rhymes, songs, stories and fingerplays. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, Inc.

Fun with Old McDonald

When singing “Old MacDonald had a Farm”, change “E-I-E-I-O” to“A-U-A-U-O”. Try other letters. For older children point to the letters on chart paper so they can see the letters when they are singing. (p. 133)

Schiller, P. and Moore, T. (2006).And the cow jumped over the moon!Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, Inc.

Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth; illustrated by Stephen Gammell

Not only does this book go through the whole alphabet highlighting each letter, but there is a story to it.  “Old black fly been buzzin’ around” causing all kinds of trouble in the house!  From dancing on the edge of the garbage sack and getting sweet honey on his dirty back it’s no wonder that after every two letters it says, “Shoo fly! Shoo fly! Shoo!”  But the fly gets what’s coming to him in the end!

Aylesworth, J. (1992). Old black fly (S. Gammell, Illus.). New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Poor Puppy by Nick Bruel

Poor Puppy just wants to play with his best friend, Kitty, but Kitty refuses.  So Puppy has to have fun on his own.  He proceeds to play with objects around the house that start with each letter of the alphabet, in ever increasing amounts.  He plays with one airplane, two balls, three cars, ending with 26 zoo animals!  And what a mess Poor Puppy makes!  After all that playing Puppy is ready for nap and he dreams about his adventures with Kitty around the world in alphabetical order!  First they are “apple bobbing in Antarctica” and playing “baseball in Brazil” ending in Zimbabwe where they “run zig-zag with a zebra, a zebu and a zorilla”.    Each letter that is being highlighted is larger and printed in bright red.

Bruel, N. (2007). Poor puppy. New Milford, CT: Roaring Book Press.

A Isn’t for Fox:  An Isn’t Alphabet by Wendy Ulmer; illustrated by Laura Knorr

Instead of a traditional alphabet book this book first tells the reader what the letter of the alphabet isn’t for, “A isn’t for box, it isn’t for fox” but the illustrations give a clue to the child about what the letter is for, “A is for ants that crawl over your socks”.  The book is filled with rhyming phrases that adds to the fun of the story.  “O isn’t for docks, it isn’t for rocks.  O is for octopus knitting four pairs of socks.”

Ulmer, W. (2008).A isn’t for fox: An isn’t alphabet (L. Knorr, Illus.).  Chelsea, MI:  Sleeping Bear Press.

Early Literacy Project--Phonological Awareness

Phonological Awareness--the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in words.

Willoughby Wallaby Woo Willoughby wallaby wee, an elephant sat on me Willoughby wallaby woo, an elephant sat on you. Willoughby wallaby wammy, an elephant sat on Tammy. Willoughby wallaby wessica, an elephant sat on Jessica. …and so on using the children’s names (changing the initial sound to /w/)

This song could also be adapted to different initial sounds such as /d/, /f/, /h/ to practice other beginning sounds.

 Lee, D. (1974). Willoughby wallaby woo [Recorded by Raffi].On Singable songs for the very young [CD].Shoreline Records. (1996)

Time for Rhymes

(Tune:  The Addams Family)

Time for rhymes (clap, clap) Time for rhymes (clap, clap) Time for rhymes, time for rhymes, time for rhymes

There’s cat and there’s pat,

There’s fat and there’s rat.

There’s mat and there’s hat.

The “-at” family.

 

Additional Verses:

Sad, mad, had, fad, pad, dad

Set, met, let, pet, get, vet

Bike, hike, Mike, pike, trike, like

Schiller, P., Lara-Alecio, R., and Irby, B. J. (2004).The bilingual book of rhymes, songs, stories and fingerplays. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, Inc.

Say What? by Angela DiTerlizzi, illustrated by Joey Chou

This book’s simple text and pictures help children to identify the sound animals make, then to change beginning sound of the word and ask if that is really what the animal might be saying.  For example: “When a horse says neigh, does she really mean hay?”  The illustrations give a clue about what the word will be changed to.

DiTerlizzi, A. (2011).  Say what? (J. Chou, Illus.). New York: Beach Lane Books.

Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep!by Maureen Wright; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand

This book has a fun time playing with words, especially with the beginning sound.  Winter is approaching and Old Man Wind whispers to bear, “Sleep, Big Bear, sleep”.  But bear is a little hard of hearing and mistakes this message for several others—such as “sweep”, “leap”, and “dive deep”.  Children will love the silly things Big Bear does!  Discussing how much words change when the beginning sound changes is a great lesson for children.

Wright, M. (2009).Sleep, Big Bear, sleep (W. Hillenbrand, Illus.). Terrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendsish Children.

Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emma Garcia

Tools make all kinds of sounds, even though they don’t talk!  This simple book shows tools working to build something.  Each tool has its own sounds, and children will enjoy making the sounds with the reader.  “We can cree craw cree craw cut with the saw and chippety chip with the chisel.”  Near the end of the book a double page spread shows all the tools and the sounds they make, and then asks, “What did we make with all these tools?”  Can you guess?

Garcia, E. (2010). Tap tap bang bang.  New York: Boxer Books.

Early Literacy Project--Vocabulary

Vocabulary is knowing the name of things (also emotions, concepts, ideas).

How Things Move
A plane flies in the air.
A boat floats on the water.
The car rides on the road.
A train runs on the tracks.
A truck travels on the highway.
My dog and I walk on the ground.

When you use this flannelboard you will put up simple pictures of each of the forms of transportation.  This is a good vocabulary builder because the object is not just being identifying, it expands on what it is doing and where.

Carlson, A. and Carlson, M. (2005).Flannelboard stories for infant and toddlers. Chicago: American Library Association.

 

Sing a Song of Opposites

(Tune:  Mary had a little lamb)
This is big and this is small,
This is big; this is small,
This is big and this is small,
Sing along with me.

Additional Verses:

This is tall and this is short…
This is up and this is down…
This is in and this is out…
This is happy and this is sad…
This is soft and this is hard…
This is fast and this is slow…
This is here and this is there…

This song builds vocabulary as children identify, sing, and act out opposites.

Schiller, P., Lara-Alecio, R., and Irby, B. J. (2004). The bilingual book of rhymes, songs, stories and fingerplays. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, Inc.

Sleep, Black Bear, Sleep  by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple; illustrated by Brooke Dyer

This story introduces many words that are synonyms for “sleep” such as dream, nap, and snooze.  Each page has large illustrations with things to talk about on the page that is not in the text, such as snakes napping with a firefighter helmets on.

Yolen, J. and Stemple, H. E. Y. (2007). Sleep, black bear, sleep (B. Dyer, Illus.).New York: HarperCollins.

Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A book of changing seasons  by Il Sung Na

This book’s illustrations are rich in color and the text is simple by not “saying it all”.  Each page shows animals in the winter and tells what they do, but the text does not identify the animal, the child gets to.  For example, the text says, “Some fly away from the cold” and the two page spread picture shows ducks flying.  The child can also find the rabbit on each page and tell what it is doing.

Na, I. S. (2010).Snow rabbit, spring rabbit. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

The Cutest Critter by Marion Dane Bauer; photos by Stan Tekiela

This book gently teaches the names of animals and baby animals as children see a full page photo of the animal(s) with a simple question on the opposite page as the reader decides who the cutest critter is.  “Maybe it’s a fox kit in black mitts?”  “What about a gosling, learning to hiss?”  There are pictures at the end of the book that allows the child to identify the animals again along with additional information the adult may choose to share with the child.

Bauer, M. D. (2010). The cutest critter (S. Tekiela, Photographer).Cambridge, MN: Adventure Publications, Inc.

T is for Turkey

An outreach storytime

Book:  This First Thanksgiving Day: A Counting Story (Laura Krauss Melmed)

Five Little Turkeys
5 little turkeys by the barn door,
1 waddled off, then there were 4.

4 little turkeys out under the tree,
3 little turkeys with nothing to do...
2 little turkeys in the noonday sun...

1 little turkey--better run away!
Soon will come Thanksgiving Day.

Book:  One is a Feast for a Mouse:  A Thanksgiving Tale (Judy Cox)

Stand and Stretch [Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes]

Thanksgiving Dinner
(tune: Frere Jacques)

We eat turkey, we eat turkey
Oh, so good, oh, so good.
Always on Thanksgiving, always on Thanksgiving
Yum-yum-yum!  Yum-yum-yum!

Additional verses:
Mashed Potatoes
Homemade biscuits
Turkey stuffing
Pie and ice cream (or pumpkin pie)

Book:  Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep (Maureen Wright)

I/J if for...

With holidays and special puppet performances we are going to be behind, so I decided to pair up I and J.

Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket:  Juice box

Sign Language

Echo song x 2 
inch and infant, iguana and insect
jellyfish and jam, jacket and juggler

Flannel Board:  I Went to the Jungle One Day
(Can be sung to: "London Bridge")

I went to the jungle one-day, jungle one day, jungle one-day
I saw a monkey on the way and this is what he said, "oh-oh-oh-oh"
I went to the jungle one-day, jungle one day, jungle one-day
I saw a tiger on the way and this is what he said, "roar"
I went to the jungle one-day, jungle one day, jungle one-day
I saw a snake on the way and this is what he said, "hiss"

Book: Just the Thing (Damian Harvey)

Stand up song: Jingle Bells

Rhyme Time song

Nursery Rhyme: Jack and Jill

Announcements/Calendar

Book: Ten Monkey Jamboree (Dianne Ochiltree)

ABC Chant

Animals Good-byes

Enrichment Activities: I and J dot-to-dots, insects, ice cream cone matching, jiggle bells, jellyfish (idea from http://family.go.com/crafts/craft-852442-jazzy-jellyfish-decorations-t/ )

H is for...

Welcome Song

Henrietta’s Basket: hat
Sign Language: Letter

Song: Be my echo (6 syllables x 2) hospital and helicopter; hair and house

Flannel Board: 5 little horses

5 little horses in a field of hay
5 little horses calling, “neigh, neigh, neigh”
A boy came by with a saddle one day,
He saddled up a horse and they galloped right away.
(repeat for 4, 3, 2, 1)
(Marilyn Lohnes from ABC Literacy Storytimes, p. 83)

Book: Hungry Hen (Richard Waring)

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

Nursery Rhyme: Hot cross buns

Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns!
One a penny two a penny - Hot cross buns
If you have no daughters, give them to your sons
One a penny two a penny - Hot cross buns

Book: Hidden Hippo (Joan Gannij)

ABC Chant

Good bye Chant

Enrichment:   Hand puppets; hopscotch, Match the hearts, H page