M is for Monsters: 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..."

Book: Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems

Action Rhyme: "Five Little Monsters Jumping on the Bed" 

OR 

Action Song with Magnet Board: "It's Almost Time for Lunch"

[tune: B-I-N-G-O]

It's almost time for lunch, but there's a monster on my sandwich!

Monster, you get off!

Monster, you get off!

Monster, you get off! 

Get off of my sandwich!

...broccoli...apple...ice cream

Song: "We Are Monsters" by The Learning Groove

Action Rhyme with Magnet Board: "Five Hairy Monsters"
[tune: "5 Little Ducks"--adapted from version at Mel's Desk]

Two hairy monsters went out to play
near a haunted house one day.
They had such fantastic fun,
they called for another hairy monster to come.

[Raise hands to cup mouth, and call all together] "Oh, Hairy Monsterrrr!"
[Slap hands on thighs to make sound of monster running to join]

[Count down...ending]
They had such fantastic fun, they played and played 'til the day was done.

Book with Puppet: Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley

Book: Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere

Closing Song: Laurie Berkner's "These Are My Glasses" a cappella. "Today, everything we find in our book will begin with M." Possibles before opening to children...Motorcycle! [VROOM!] Monkey [ee ee, ahh ahh, ee ee ahh ahh]

Dancing with scarves: "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr.

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Alternates to swap in: 

Book: Eat Pete by Michael Rex

Action Song: "If You Ever See A Monster"

(Tune: "Did You Ever See a Lassie?")
If you ever see a monster,
a monster, a monster--
if you ever see a monster,
then here's what to do!
Make this face......
and this face.....
and this face.....
and this face.....
and if you ever see a monster,
be sure to shout BOO!

H is for Hat: 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

Talk/Act Out: Before we go further, let's do some things that start with the letter "H." We can HIDE our faces. We can HEFT something HEAVY. We can HUM [hum first bit of "Twinkle Twinkle"]. We can HISS like a snake. We can HUG ourselves.

Activity/Guessing Game with Magnet Board: "Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Behind the _______Hat? 

Book: Finders Keepers by Keiko Kasza [Tell group in advance that when I say "finders," I want them to throw their arms up gleefully and say keepers!" Say: "What do you do if you find something like a hat at the library? Do you keep it? No, you take it to the Lost and Found. But there’s no Lost and Found in the forest…"]

Action Song: "Silly Hat Song" 
[Tune: "This Old Man". With silly hat prop. Kids stand, wear pretend hats] "Imagine the silliest hat you can think of. It could have feathers sticking out all over it. It could be made entirely out of LEGO. It could be made entirely out of JELLO!. Now put it on your head so we can sing about it!"

On my head, I wear my hat.
It is such a silly hat
that my head goes wiggle waggle to and fro.
Where else can my silly hat go?
[Repeat using foot, elbow, knee, and/or kids' suggestions]

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

Talk with Magnet Board: "One of the things I LOVE about the word "HAT" is that so many other words rhyme with it. [Use magnet board with letters, switching out to show quickly HAT can become RAT or BAT, etc]

Book: I Want My Hat Back by Jonathan Klassen (or This Is Not My Hat by same)

Song: [if time. No theme tie-in] "Body Part Song" by Greg and Steve from Shake, Rattle, and Rock or Jim Gill's "Silly Dance Contest," etc

Book: [if time] A Good Day for a Hat by Sean Bryan

Closing Song: Laurie Berkner's "These Are My Glasses" a cappella. "Today, everything we find in our book will begin with "H". Possibles before opening to kids for suggestions: helicopter [whup whup whup whup]; hungry hippopotamus; hug [hug self warmly]

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Alternates to swap in:

Book: Harold Loves His Woolly Hat by Vern Kousky
Book: Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won (a little long if audience skews young) 

Song [a cappella] "Old McDonald Had a Hat"

Old MacDonald had a hat

He wore it on his head

And on his hat he had a cat--

A cat is what I said!

That cat went here, that cat went there,

That silly cat went everywhere!

Old MacDonald had a hat

He wore it on his head

[Repeat with rat and bat.]

Action Rhyme "I'm A Little Snowman"

(tune: I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little snowman
short and fat--
here are my buttons;
here is my hat.
When the sun comes out, then
you will see
I melt...til there's...no...more...of...me. 

[do standing up, melt down to floor at end]

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].

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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.

A is for Alligator (with a Crocodile or Two Thrown in): 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 [Add: "A is the letter of the day, and can sound two ways: Aa, aa, like apple and astronaut, or aayyy, aayyy, like alien and acorn"]

Syllable Clapping: "Alligator and crocodile are some pretty long words, and they're also fun to say. Parents and caregivers, clapping while sounding out long or unfamiliar words together is a great way to help children recognize that words are made up of smaller sounds, a skill that will help them when they start to learn to read." [Clap and say "AL-LI-GA-TOR" slowly to beat, then say it again and again clapping with group, speeding up. If it starts to sound like applause, bow and say 'Thank you.' Do same for "CROC-O-DI-LE."]

Talk: "Crocodiles have the strongest bite of any animal--much stronger than sharks and tigers! Alligators are in 2nd place. Crocodiles have around 60 teeth [sources differ]. Can you imagine having to brush that many teeth every morning and night?"

Book: Clarabella's Teeth by An Vrombaut 



OR

Book: I'd Really Like to Eat a Child by Silviane Sonnio

Action Rhyme: "One Little Alligator"  

One little alligator swimming through the SWAMP, [swimming action]
looking around for something he can CHOMP ["looking around" action, clap on CHOMP]
He SNAPS at a frog,
but the frog gets away [hold hands out, palms up, shrug]
and the alligator goes home hungry that day. [rub belly to indicate hunger]

He SNAPS at a turtle...he SNAPS at a fish...

One little alligator out in the SWAMP,
looking around to see what he can CHOMP,
he SNAPS and he SNAPS but he doesn't catch a thing,
so he has to get his dinner from Burger King.

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

Book: Snip! Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman

                                                                

Action Rhyme: "Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree"

Action song: "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"--"First, we'll sing the familiar verse together, then, I'll sing a new verse you might not have heard, then we'll sing the new verse all together! [New verse ending: "If you see an alligator, don't forget to scream. Aah!"]

Talk: Alligators and crocodiles are reptiles. Can you name some other reptiles? All reptiles are born from eggs [segue to shaker eggs]...

Song with Shaker Eggs: "Twist and Shout" by Rob Newhouse from Songs for Wiggleworms                                                                                                                      

Book: The Wide-Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner

Closing Song: Laurie Berkner's "These Are My Glasses" a cappella. "Today, everything we find in our book will begin with A." Possibles before opening to kids for suggestions: Astronaut! [blast-off] Alien! Avalanche!

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Alternate Book: There's an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer

B is for Baking: 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

Book: All for Pie, Pie for All! by David Martin

Question: "What kind of foods would we find in a bakery? Can you name some?"

Action rhyme w/magnet board: "Four Cupcakes in a Bakery Shop" (adapted from "Five Brown Buns"]

Four cupcakes in a bakery shop,
[show 4 fingers]
four cupcakes with lots of sprinkles on the top.
[have kids make sprinkly motions]
Along came a girl with a dollar in her hand,
bought one cupcake and away she ran--
YUM yum, YUM yum, YUM YUM YUM! [rub belly and have kids rub their bellies]
YUM yum, YUM yum, YUM YUM YUM!

3 cupcakes...a boy...
a woman...
a man...

No cupcakes in the bakery shop.
No cupcakes with lots of sprinkles on the top.
Along came a librarian with a dollar in her hand,
but there were none, so away she ran
[crying motion] BOO hoo, BOO hoo, BOO HOO HOO!
BOO hoo, BOO hoo, BOO HOO HOO!

[cupcake graphics here]

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

Book: The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins 
[press imaginary doorbell and have kids "Ding-dong!" every time the doorbell rings]

Activity: "Is This Something We Would Bake?"

[Have box/grocery basket/grocery bag of different items one would or would not bake: bread, shoe, etc]

Warm up the oven!
What should we make?
Is this something we would bake?

Song with Beanbags [B is for Beanbag]: "The Bean Bag Song" by Hap Palmer

Book: Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony

Closing Song: Laurie Berkner's "These Are My Glasses" a cappella. "Today, everything we find in our book will begin with B." Possibles before opening to kids for suggestions: Buffalo! Baby! ("Let’s close it quietly. Baby’s napping"). Butterfly.

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Alternative Books to Swap in:

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff

I Will Chomp You! by Jory John [if needing something raucous. Longish]

The Duckling Wants a Cookie by Mo Willems

A Birthday for Cow by Jan Thomas

Alternative Action Rhyme: "Making Cookies"I am making cookie dough. (hold out arms in a circle, like a bowl)
Round and round the beaters go. (roll hands)
Add some flour from a cup. (shake a pretend cup)
Stir and stir the batter up. (stirring motion)
Roll them, cut them nice and neat. (rolling pin motion)
Put them on a cookie sheet. (place pretend cookies)
Bake them, count them 1-2-3. (counting motion)
Serve them to my friends for tea. (take a bite!)