DOOR 2 DOOR STORYTIME

EARLY CHILDHOOD LITERACY SKILL: Narrative Skill

BOOKS TO DISPLAY

Bugs Galore by Peter Stein
The Ant and the Grasshopper by Rebecca Emberley and Ed Emberley
Roly-Polies  by Monica Carretero
Very Little Venus and the Very Little Fly by Dawn Williams
Ladybugs by Gail Gibbons 
Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
Bugs! by David T. Greenberg
Maybelle in the Soup by Katie Speck
Horsefly and Honeybee by Randy Cecil
Bug and Bear by Ann Bonwill

BASIC TIMELINE

1. Intro
2. Read-a-Loud Book
3. Rhyme
4. Flannelboard
5. Music & Movement
6. Read-a-Loud Book
7. Music & Movement
8. Read-a-Loud Book
9. Craft

READ-A-LOUD BOOKS

Beetle Bop by Denise Fleming
Ten Little Sleepyheads by Elizabeth Provost  
The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle

ACTIVITIES

Flannelboard: The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Music & Movement: The Ants Go Marching (w/ Shakers & Eggs)

Music & Movement: Shoo, Fly, Don’t Bother Me (w/ Pom-Poms)

Rhyme: Itsy Bitsy Spider (via MotherGooseClub.com)

 The itsy bitsy spider
Went up the waterspout.
Down came the rain and
Washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and
Dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider
Went up the spout again.

CRAFT: Paper Plate Ladybugs!

I decided to keep this craft as cheap and simple as possible. I bought a set of red paper plates and circle labels from The Dollar Tree for $1 a piece. I used a bowl to make a template, which I then used to cut the paper plates down to an appropriate size. I used a black permanent marker to color the yellow, pink and blue circle labels black (buy black circle labels if you can afford them). I used left over black card stock to fashion the head and abdomen (which peeks out from the bottom). Left over black pipe-cleaners were used to fashion the antennae (which were inserted into holes punched in the head).

REVIEW

This was a fairly busy week as far as storytimes go. I presented two back-to-back Door 2 Door Storytimes for preschoolers at the MCL (main branch) on Friday, and one storytime session for GBL on Saturday. I opted to do different themes for each library. I’m not sure how prudent this will be over the course of the next few weeks, especially since I’ll be filling in for the MCL Children’s Librarian for the next 3 weeks, and I am set to begin weekly storytime sessions at GBL2 on Thursday.  It’s likely I’ll decide to present one theme per week.

Anyhoo. There were approximately 10 children that attended each storytime session at MCL. There were a lot of new faces, and I was able to chat with some of the parents and children before storytime began. I’m starting to memorize names, and I’m beginning to feel like less of an interloper when I substitute there.

Due to the wet weather, I thought it might be nice to have an indoor picnic complete with creepy crawly bug props, tablecloth and picnic basket. Turns out my planning paid off. All of my props created a nice backdrop for the photos a local reporter took during a surprise visit to the library.

The read-a-loud books were fine, but the children LOVED the opportunity to use flannelboard pieces to co-storytell Eric Carle’s The Hungry Caterpillar (I adore the way children’s faces light up with pleasure when it is their turn to walk up and place their pieces on the flannelboard).   Everyone enthusiastically participated in singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the songs: The Ants Go Marching and Shoo Fly! were big hits. During the second session, I went into the audience with my Fly hand puppet and let the children “shoo” me away with their pom-poms (sold as pairs at The Dollar Tree for $1…I bought ten packs!).

Overall, I like conducting two identical, back-to-back storytime sessions. It affords me an opportunity to tweak the presentation, and correct mistakes. Plus, it is always interesting to see how the mood differs from one session to the next. During the first session, the children were less inhibited and did not hesitate shout out types of insects when promoted throughout the session. During the second storytime session, the children were more reluctant to speak up.

BTW…I’ve been using my iPhone + iHome + remote to play music during storytime. I find that I prefer the freedom and fluidity this combination of devices offer over CDs, Tapes and old school boom boxes.

Storytime bugs crafts Door 2 Door Storytime early childhood literacy flannelboard home school ladybug library narrative skill paper plate crafts