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

October 1, 2014 Story Time - Monkeys

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

*marks the books we read


Monkey Colors  by Darrin Lunde*
A Trip to the Zoo  by Karen Wallace
Two Little Monkeys  by Mem Fox*
Banana!  by Ed Vere
Monkey and Me  by Emily Gravett*
Naughty Little Monkeys  by Jim Aylesworth
What Do You Do At The Zoo?  by Susan E. Goodman*

For our craft we made paper bag monkeys. I used the pattern found here:
http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/mpapermonkey.htm


Extra activities:

We talked about the letters "Z" and "M" the sound they make and words that begin with "Z" and "M"

Five Little Monkeys
Five little monkeys swinging in a tree
teasing Mr. Crocodile, you can't catch me
along comes Mr. Crocodile....quiet as can be
and he snaps (clap hands) that monkey right out of that tree.
Repeat with four, three, two and one. After the last monkey, say no more monkeys swinging in the tree!

Five Little Monkeys
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed
one fell off and bumped his head
momma called the doctor and the doctor said
no more monkeys jumping on the bed!
Repeat with four, three, two, one little monkey, then....
no little monkeys jumping on the bed
none fell off and bumped his head
momma called the doctor and the doctor said
put those monkeys back in bed!

September 24, 2014 Story Time - Elephants

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

*marks the books we read


What To Do If An Elephant Stands On Your Foot  by Michelle Robinson*
How Much Does the Gray in an Elephant Weigh?  by Elle Van Lieshout & Erik Van Os
'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day  by Catherine Ipcizade*
Feeding Time  by Lee Davis
I Dream of an Elephant  by Ami Rubinger*
The Biggest Animal On Land  by Allan Fowler*

For our craft we made a CD elephant I found on:

http://www.first-school.ws/activities/shapes/animals/elephantcd.htm


Extra Activities:

We talked about the letters "Z" & "E" the sounds they make and other words that begin with "Z" & "E"

The Elephants Are Here!
(sung to the tune "The Farmer in the Dell")
The elephants are here! (look excited)
the elephants are here!
look at all the elephants! (shade eyes as if looking)
the elephants are here!

They're exercising now. (march in place)
they're exercising now
look at all the elephants!
they're exercising now.

They're jumping up and down!
they're jumping up and down!
look at all the elephants!
they're jumping up and down!

They're touching all their toes
they're touching all their toes
look at all the elephants!
they're touching all their toes

They're spinning 'round and 'round
they're spinning 'round and 'round
look at all the elephants!
they're spinning 'round and 'round.

They're all tired now
they're all tired now
Look at all the elephants
they're all tired now
ZZZZZZZ (lots of snoring)

September 17, 2014 Story Time - Giraffes

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

*marks the books we read


Giraffes  by Kari Schuetz*
Zoo Animals 1 2 3  by Rebecca Fjelland Davis*
When Lulu went to the Zoo  by Andy Ellis
Giraffe  by Anders Hanson*
Stay Close to Mama  by Toni Buzzeo

For our craft we colored paper giraffes and used clothes pins for their legs

Extra activities:

We talked about the letters "Z" & "G" the sounds they make and words that begin with "Z" & "G"

Giraffes
(tune: "Wheels on the Bus")
This giraffe has green spots, green spots, green spots
this giraffe has green spots
count them for me now
Repeat with other colors like; purple, red, blue, etc
(I made small giraffes and colored dots on them. The children had to guess what color the dots were and then counted how many dots were on each giraffe).

We used a tape measure to measure how tall a giraffe is and how long it's tongue is using a non-fiction book we read during story time.