Z is for Zoo: Storytime Plan

Opening Song: "If You're Happy and You Know It" [standing up] with whispered added verse "If it's storytime and you know it, say Shhhh..."

Letter of the Day

Activity: Tell me, tell me, tell me true--would we find THIS at the zoo?

[use iPad to show images of unicorn, zebra, dragon, puppy, gorilla, etc--or physical figurines if have them]

Book: The Baby BeeBee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie [have group be the beebee bird: "For our first book, I need you to be really annoying. I need you to be a baby beebee bird.'" (Sing "Beebee Bobbi" to tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
] OR Zoo Ah-Choooo! by Peter Mandel

Song [a cappella] "I Went to Visit the Zoo One Day" [tune: "Rig-a-Jig-Jig." Clap and have group clap to the beat]

I went to visit the zoo one day, zoo one day, zoo one day--
Saw some monkeys along the way, and this is what they said: ["Ooh Ooh, Ahh Ahh!"]

I went to visit the zoo one day, zoo one day, zoo one day--

Saw some snakes along the way, and this is what they said: ["Sssssss!"]

I went to visit the zoo one day, zoo one day, zoo one day--
Saw a lion along the way, and this is what he said: [ROAR!!!]

OR

with book Life-Size Zoo [tune: "We're Going to Kentucky"]

We're going to the zoo today; we're going to the zoo--
I think we'll see a __________ [have kids supply animal name while I show picture] there,
and this is what he'll do [roar, beat chest, chew eucalyptus leaves, etc]

App/Sound identification: Zoo Sounds Free: "When we imitate animal noises, we're doing our best to sound like real animals, but real animals usually sound a little different than our approximations. [Perhaps mention how different languages have some up with different sounds for animals: "Cheep, cheep; piu, piu" etc]. I have some real animal sounds here on my iPad that I'm going to play. Can you guess which animal sounds like this?" [etc] 

Song: Dance, Freeze, Melt by The Learning Groove from their album Rockin' Red

Book: Gladys Goes Out to Lunch by Derek Anderson

Book (standing): From Head to Toe by Eric Carle or Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

Closing Song: Laurie Berkner's "These Are My Glasses" a cappella. "Today, everything we find in our book will begin with "Z". Possibles before opening to kids for suggestions: Zebra! Zipper! The whole ZOO!


-----------------------------------------
Alernatives to swap in:

Book: Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
Book: The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort

Action Rhyme: "Two Little [any zoo animal, a la "Two Little Blackbirds"]

Action Rhyme: "Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree"
Action Rhyme: "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed"
Action Rhyme: "Elephants in the Bathtub"

One elephant in the bathtub
Going for a swim.
Knock, knock,
[clap twice]
Splash, splash,
[slap knees]
Come on in! 
[motion with both hands to come in]

[Add an elephant for two elephants in the bathtub, three, four, then…]

Five elephants in the bathtub

Going for a swim.

Knock, knock,

Splash, splash,

Oh no!  It ALL fell in!    

[knock all magnet pieces off of board]                 

Action Song: "I Came to the Zoo"

[Raise and lower hands/sit and and stand every other animal--do nothing if noun is NOT an animal]

I came to the zoo to see lions,

Elephants, tigers, and bears.

I came to the zoo to see zebras.

I love all the animals there!

I came to the zoo to see the gift shop.

Giraffes, ice cream, and bears.

I came to the zoo to see monkeys.

I love all the animals there! 

Action Song: "The Elephants at the Zoo" (tune: "Farmer in the Dell")

From Kendra:

The elephants at the zoo
The elephants at the zoo
They stomp and stomp and stomp and stomp,
the elephants at the zoo

Giraffes...stretch
Monkeys...jump
Lions...roar

(Possibly end with "People...look" wearing glasses formed with hands) 

N is for Nocturnal (and Night): Storytime Plan

Opening Song: "If You're Happy and You Know It" [standing up] with whispered added verse "If it's storytime and you know it, say Shhhh..."

Letter of the Day

Clap out sylllables and say "nocturnal" together. Explain meaning of "nocturnal" ["most active at night"] and suggest it can be remembered by knowing that "night" has the same "n" sound at the beginning. "Are we nocturnal? No. There's a word for what we are, too: diurnal." Show images of several animals [raccoon--mostly nocturnal; elephant--diurnal; deer--diurnal; cat--mostly nocturnal!--firefly--nocturnal];  and ask kids whether they think they're nocturnal or diurnal. 


Book: Little Wolf's First Howling by Kvasnosky and McGee [Have group be father wolf--"Aaaa-roooo!" and join in scat-singing at the end]

OR

Book: The Great Aaa-ooo! by Jonny Lambert

Action Rhyme: "Two Little Hoot Owls" (or Porcupettes, grass/far from the crowd)

Two little hoot owls
sitting on a cloud--
one named Quiet,
the other named Loud.
Fly away, Quiet!
Fly away, Loud!
Come back, Quiet!
Come back, Loud!

Two little hoot owls 
sitting in the snow--
one named Fast, 
the other named Slow...


Song: “Dance, Freeze, Melt” by The Learning Groove from Rockin’ Red


Book: A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na

OR

Book: Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton

Song with Shakers: "Wake Up!"

[Song by Kendra at READ SING PLAY. Have kids pet eggs during the quiet verses, then throw them up in the air/wave them around during the loud verses. Vocabulary: "Names for baby nocturnal animals may be less familiar, so we'll use those and learn some new things. Does anyone know what a baby bat is called?" [a pup] ]

Owlet's sleeping, don’t wake it up.

Owlet's sleeping, don’t wake it up.

Owlet's sleeping, don’t wake it up.

Now we’re very quiet. Shhhhh...

WAKE UP owlet, it’s time to play!

WAKE UP owlet, it’s time to play!

WAKE UP owlet, it’s time to play!

Now we’re very LOUD!

Pup [baby bat] is sleeping....
Joey's [baby possum]
Porcupette's [baby porcupine!]
Kit [skunk] (end with skunk spraying)

Action Song with Scarves: "Bat/Owl Freeze Game" [modified from Jim Gill's "Silly Dance Contest" by Scott at  SLC Book Boy--who has since moved to WallsBecametheWorld.com--or play Hap Palmer's recorded song "Freeze Dance" with scarves instead]

Scott writes: "I made a 2-sided sun/moon visual and explained to the kids that we were going to be [bats. That means if the sun is out we have to be asleep! Then I'd flip it around to the moon for us to be [bats] flapping our wings. I used a freeze game format" 

Fly as high as you want to; fly as high as you please [encourage tiptoes]
Fly as high as you want to, but stop when I say SLEEP! [2x]

Fly as low as you want to; fly as low as you please 
Fly as low as you want to, but stop when I say SLEEP! [1 time]

Fly as slow as you want to; fly as slow as you please [1 time]

Fly as high as you want to [1 time]

Book [if time--selections]: Daylight Starlight Wildlife by Wendell Minor

Closing Song: Laurie Berkner's "These Are My Glasses" a cappella. "Today, everything we find in our book will begin with "N". Possibles before opening to kids for suggestions: necklace [Ooh, it's a beautiful necklace! Let's take it out and put it on]; nose [Ooh, it's a NOSE, a great big giant nose that's about to sneeze right on us! Ahhh-choo! Close the book! We don't want to spread any germs].

---------------------------

Alternate book: Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise; Night Animals

Action Song: [seated, calmer] "The Animals in in the Night"
The owls in the night go whoo, whoo, whoo (etc)
all night long.
The fireflies in the night go blink, blink, blink... [splay and close fingers on each hand]
The bears in the night go grr grr grr
The wolves in the night go [HOWL]
The people in the night go snore, snore, snore [rest head on hands as if sleeping]
all night long.

Wake Up (Now we're very quiet/Now we're very loud)

Love this, via Kendra

Wake Up!
"You can use any animal, person, or thing for this song. Ask the kids and grownups for ideas. My co-worker uses body parts even! Tap gently on the ground while you’re being quiet and pound the ground to wake everyone up."--Kendra

Dog is sleeping, don’t wake it up.
Dog is sleeping, don’t wake it up.
Dog is sleeping, don’t wake it up.
Now we’re very quiet. Shhhhh.

WAKE UP dog, it’s time to play!
WAKE UP dog, it’s time to play!
WAKE UP dog, it’s time to play!
Now we’re very LOUD!

Cat is sleeping, don’t wake it up.
Cat is sleeping, don’t wake it up.
Cat is sleeping, don’t wake it up.
Now we’re very quiet. Shhhhh.

WAKE UP kitty, it’s time to play!
WAKE UP kitty, it’s time to play!
WAKE UP kitty, it’s time to play!
Now we’re very LOUD!

We're Looking for an Animal That Starts With...

Wanting a "hiding game" similar to Little Mouse, Little Mouse that could be adapted to feature any animal that starts with the letter of the day, I made up this set of doors and a simple chant:

We're looking for an animal that starts with ["P"]
and we won't stop 'til we find it!
Now, let's give the [RED] door three sharp knocks
and see who hides behind it!
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!


The doors (and animals) are laminated cardstock with magnets on the back--I use a 13 x 13 black magnet board I picked up during back-to-school-magnet-boards-everywhere season (I glued black felt on the back, so this portable board can double as a small flannel board). Size reference: two doors fit on an 8 x 11" page in landscape orientation.

When an animal's revealed, I ask what kind of animal it is. "That's right; it's a koala! K-k-koala: does 'koala' start with 'P'? No? Okay, which door should we knock on next?"

When possible, I try to use slightly less "obvious" animals--a leopard instead of a lion, a hedgehog instead of a horse--to build vocabulary. Once you've made a set of doors, lots of variations are possible (For ex, "We're looking for a JOB that starts with 'P'" with images of different workers. "What's her job? That's right; she's a veterinarian. Does 'veterinarian' start with 'P'?")

Here's a .pdf of the doors if you'd like to reuse them. Most found via Google Image Search under free to use and modify, but I can't guarantee all of them (or remember which, if any, weren't).

The Elephants at the Zoo (tune: "Farmer in the Dell")

From Kendra:

The elephants at the zoo
The elephants at the zoo
They stomp and stomp and stomp and stomp,
the elephants at the zoo

Giraffes...stretch
Monkeys...jump
Lions...roar

(Possibly end with "People...look" wearing glasses formed with hands)


Other ideas:
The cement mixers on the road (site?)
the cement mixers on the road
They mix and mix and mix and mix
the cement mixers on the road