November 19, 2014 Story Time - Building Block Award Books 2014

For the next two months we will be reading and voting on the 2014 Missouri Building Block award nominee books.

*marks the books we read


Count the Monkeys  by Mac Barnett*
Little Nelly's Big Book  by Pippa Goodhart*

For our craft we made a monkey mask like the one here:
http://goo.gl/h887oO

Extra activities:
We sang "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" and "Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree"

November 12, 2014 Story Time - Turkeys & Thanksgiving

If you missed this weeks story time here is what we did:

*marks the books we read


Gobble Gobble  by Cathryn Falwell*
I'm A Turkey  by Jim Arnosky
Turkey Day  by Grace Maccarone
Thanksgiving at Our House  by P.K. Hallinan*
Thanksgiving is For Giving Thanks  by Margaret Sutherland
The Best Thanksgiving Ever!  by Teddy Slater

For our craft we made a leaf turkey like the one pictured here:
http://goo.gl/tYTS0U

Extra Activities
We talked about the letter "T" the sound it makes and words that start with "T"

Mr. Turkey
Mr. Turkey's tail is big and wide (spread fingers)
He swings it when he walks (swing hands)
His neck is long (stretch neck or pull hands apart)
His chin is red (stroke chin)
And he gobbles when he talks (open and close hands and gobble)

Turkey Wore His Red Feather (sung to Mary Wore Her Red Dress)
Turkey wore his red feather, red feather, red feather
turkey wore his red feather, all day long!

Turkey wore his orange feather, orange feather, orange feather
turkey works his orange feather, all day long!

We repeated the song with yellow and brown feathers

Last line: Turkey wore his rainbow feathers, rainbow feathers, rainbow feathers
turkey wore his rainbow feathers, all Thanksgiving long!

I handed out several feathers of each color and had the children wave their feather when their color was sung about. Then all of the feathers were waved at the end to make a rainbow of feathers

November 5, 2014 Story Time - Building Block Award Books 2014

For the next two months we will be reading and voting on the 2014 Missouri Building Block Award Nominee books.

*marks the books we read


The two nominees we read this week were:
That is Not a Good Idea!  by Mo Willems*
Moo!  by David LaRochelle*
Extra books:
The Cow Who Clucked  by Denise Fleming*
Blue Goose  by Nancy Tafuri*
Out Foxed  by Mike Twohy*
Cock-a-doodle-doo, Creak, Pop-pop, Moo  by Jim Aylesworth

For our craft we made a simple origami fox like the one found here:
http://goo.gl/BfMbi2

Extra activities:
We played a color guessing game with the information found here:
http://goo.gl/V61okd
I made a copy of the coloring sheets with the poem for everyone

October 29, 2014 Story Time - Halloween

If you missed this weeks story time here is what we did:

*marks the books we read


Click, Clack, Boo!  by Doreen Cronin*
Ollie's Halloween  by Olivier Dunrea
Little Goblins Ten  by Pamela Jane
Where's My Mummy?  by Carolyn Crimi*
Halloween Good Night  by Doug Cushman*
Jack-o'-Lanterns  by Megan Cooley Peterson
Mouse's First Halloween  by Lauren Thompson*
Celebrate Halloween  by Megan Cooley Peterson*

For our craft we covered a Tootsie Pop sucker with a tissue to make a ghost

Children came dressed in costume and trick or treated around the library for goodies, then we had a contest to see who could get a soft disc through the ghost's mouth!!

October 22, 2014 Story Time - Pumpkins

If you missed this weeks story time here is what we did:

*marks the books we read


Ten Orange Pumpkins  by Stephen Savage*
We Harvest Pumpkins in Fall  by Rebecca Felix
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?  by Margaret McNamara
I like Pumpkins  by Jerry Smath*
Pumpkin Trouble  by Jan Thomas
Fall Pumpkins Orange and Plump  by Martha W.H. Rustad
Five Little Pumpkins  by Dan Yaccarino*

For our craft we made a pumpkin book similar to this:
http://goo.gl/gVIxyN

Extra activities:

We cut open a pumpkin so we could explore what was inside

Five Little Jack-O'Lanterns
Five little jack-o'lanterns glowing by the door
Father took one and that left four
Four little jack-o'lanterns, a sight to see
Mother took one and that left three
Three little jack-o'lanterns lit through and through
Brother took one and that left two
Two little jack-o'lanterns greeting everyone
Sister took one and that left one
One little jack-o'lantern with a great big grin
I picked him up and took him in!

October 15, 2014 Story Time - Apples

If you missed this weeks story time here is what we did:

*marks the books we read


Johnny Appleseed  by Jodie Shepherd*
Apples  by Ann L. Burckhardt
We Harvest Apples in the Fall  by Rebecca Felix*
Apples, Apples Everywhere!  by Robin Koontz
A Visit to the Apple Orchard  by Patricia J. Murphy*

For our craft we glued a basket and apples on paper, then wrote down how many apples were in our baskets

Extra activities:

We talked about the letter "A" the sound it makes and words that begin with "A"

Apple Roll Chant
Five little apples in the bowl (hold up five fingers)
One fell out and started to roll (rotate fists)
It bumped the table & hit my feet (clap hands)
How many apples left to eat? (shrug shoulders)

Big Juicy Apple
There's a big red juicy apple on the tree, yumee! (repeat two times)
Oh it's gotten nice and ripe
So I can take a great big bite
There's a big red juicy apple on the tree, yumee!
(Repeat using green & yellow verses)
There's a big brown squishy apple on the tree, yuckee! (repeat two times)
Oh it's gotten way too ripe
There's no way I'm taking a bite
There's a big brown squishy apple on the tree, yuckee!

October 8, 2014 Story Time - Fall/Leaves

If you missed this weeks story time here is what we did:

*marks the books we read


Leaf Jumpers  by Carole Gerber*
Fall Mixed Up  by Bob Raczka
What Happens to Leaves in Fall?  by Rebecca Felix
Animals in Fall  by Martha E.H. Rustad*
Counting on Fall  by Lizann Flatt
We're Going on a Leaf Hunt  by Steve Metzger
The Little Yellow Leaf  by Carin Berger*
I See Fall  by Charles Ghigna
Tap the Magic Tree  by Christie Matheson*
Footballs and Falling Leaves  by Rebecca Fjelland Davis

The craft we made can be found here:
http://goo.gl/w1CyyB

EXTRA ACTIVITIES:

We talked about the letters "F" & "L" the sounds they make and words that begin with "F" & "L"

FALL
Autumn winds begin to blow (sway like a tree)
colored leaves fall fast and slow (wiggle fingers fast & slow)
twirling, whirling all around (turn around)
until at last they touch the ground (touch ground)

FALL/LEAVES
Five little leaves so bright and gay (hold up 5 fingers)
were dancing on a tree one day (wiggle fingers)
the wind came blowing through the town (hold hands around mouth and blow)
one leaf came tumbling down (make a sound 'wheeee' or 'aaaaaah")
Repeat the rhyme with 4 leaves, 3 leaves, 2 leaves, 1 leaf