I got the idea for this storytime from the great librarian at Confessions of a Real Librarian. Boing! (I'm really happy to report that all these books came from the MNW Elementary collection. So often I go to a large library nearby and am frustrated that books that are ostensibly on the shelf are impossible to find. This time, I relied on what was at hand, and I'm thrilled with the results. I see we need to get a few titles - Bounce by Doreen Cronin would have been good - but still, a success all around.)
We started by singing our good morning song, and then we read:
Boing! by Sean Taylor. Trampolines bounce.
Then we sang, "Hop, hop, hop kangaroo," to the tune of "Skip to My Lou."
Next we read:
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? by Eric Carle. Kangaroos bounce. The kids did a great job of "reading" this one. We'll have to do this again in May for Mother's Day.
Then we did the fingerplay, "Little Easter Rabbit":
Little Easter rabbit goes hop hop hop
See how his ears go flop flop flop
See how his eyes go blink blink blink
See how his nose goes twink twink twink
Pet his white coat so soft and furry,
Hop, hop, hop! He's off in a hurry!
Then we read:
Bunnies on the Go: Getting from Place to Place by Rick Walton. Rabbits bounce. What a fun rhyming book about different modes of transportation. Kids were able to show off what they knew - from tractors to even taxis!
Then we sang, "The Balls at Storytime":
The balls at storytime bounce up and down,
Up and down, up and down…
The balls at storytime bounce up and down all through the day
The balls at storytime bounce way up high…
The balls at storytime bounce way down low…
The balls at storytime bounce all around…
And we read:
Balls by Melanie Davis Jones. This is a simple book, but perfect for preschoolers to be able to show their knowledge. Because, of course, balls bounce, too.
Then, I had the fun of doing a bit of charades with the students. I told them I was a type of food that bounces when it cooks. So then I knelt down in a ball, and said the stove is turned on, and . . . ouch! It's getting hot! Pop! Pop! Pop! and started jumping up and down. Of course, at first the students looked at me like a crazy woman. Donna later pointed out that kids today will think popcorn is made in the microwave. How sad is that? But after me telling them what I was, kids got it too and had fun with it. Someone else told me they'd seen a storytime where the librarian brought a hot air popper and showed the students what popcorn does. That seems fun but maybe not very safe - all those little faces around this hot appliance???
In any event, then we read:
Popcorn by Frank Asch. Depending on your definition of the word, popcorn bounces. What a delightful book! Sam's parents leave him home alone so of course he throws a party. The guests bring lots of popcorn seeds and Sam pops it - and it fills the entire house! Not to be dismayed, he implores his friends to help him eat it. And they do. "I don't care if I ever see another piece of popcorn in all my life," one says. I'd say!
Of course we did a round of, "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed," too.
We closed of course with our goodbye song, "The More We Get Together." What delightful preschoolers!
