Cover Sheet For the Presenter

Transcription

1 Cover Sheet For the Presenter The following storyhour program is designed for preschoolers (primarily 3-4- year olds). You don t have to read the leader s comments word-for-word, but try to include the information in your own words especially the asides to any parents who are attending. This storytime emphasizes the skill Vocabulary, so be aware of unusual words in the stories and rhymes. Make sure that the children understand everything, but don t avoid new or difficult words. Some of these have been highlighted. The information that is just for you is in italics so don t read that text. The general outline of our storytime is: I. Opening Song II. Welcome/Introductory Comments III. Activity IV. Song/Rhyme (with options for Groundhog Day) V. Quieting rhyme VI. Book VII. Song VIII. Activity IX. Book with optional flannelboard activity X. Closing Song Feel free to substitute your own opening and closing rhymes as well as any rhymes with a similar theme that the children have heard before. Repetition of songs and action rhymes from previous storytimes is better than introducing all new ones. We have provided several props that we think will be helpful. *Flannel board cut-outs. *Some of the rhymes in large print to help the adults join in. * Craft ideas. *Take home materials. Other items you will need: *Lamp or large flashlight *White backdrop such as a white wall or large posterboard.

2 Me & My Shadow (With Groundhog s Day Option) Opening Song (to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb. ) Come on in it s storytime Come on in it s storytime We re happy that you re here. Sit right down for storytime Sit right down for storytime We ll have a lot of fun Settle in for storytime Settle in for storytime We re ready to begin. (Repeat the first two verses several times if necessary as children are settling in. Then add the third verse) To the caregivers: Welcome to storytime. I am glad you could all be here today. We are going to be sharing some rhymes and books. And we ll be learning a few new words as we go. A large vocabulary is important for a child who is learning to read. Reading to your child regularly is a good way to build vocabulary. [Point to your chart of the 6 early literacy skills if you have one.] -1-

3 Shadow Puppetry Activity *Be sure to test your set-up ahead of time. If the room can t be darkened, you may need to skip this activity. Set up a bright lamp in the back (behind the children). You will need a large white (or very light) area in front. Arrange things so that shadows of the children s waving hands and arms will be clear on the white surface. After welcoming the children, darken the room and turn on the lamp. Invite the whole group to hold up their hands and wave. Ask them if they can tell which hand is their own. Have only one child at a time hold up a hand, and so on. You might also change the angle of the light (raise and lower it) to show how the shadows get bigger and smaller. Be creative hold up a few simple objects to show interesting shadows, and so on. Ask the children to put their hands in their laps and demonstrate some shadow puppet animals. A good demonstration is found online at Practice so that you can do at least 3 animals. Have the children guess which animal you are making. Song/Rhyme: [You may substitute Shadows from p. 131 of 1001 Rhymes & Fingerplays or My Shadow Friend from the Kididdles website at if you prefer.] Have you noticed how your shadow follows you around on a sunny day? Do some of you know the song Mary Had a Little Lamb? Raise your hands. OK, let s try singing the same song about Mary s shadow! Mary had a little shadow, Little shadow, little shadow. Mary had a little shadow. It liked to shrink and grow. And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went, And everywhere that Mary went, Her shadow was sure to go. -2- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 Groundhog Day Option: Substitute the following for the Song/Rhyme above. Does anyone know what happens on Groundhog Day? [Discuss briefly the belief about the groundhog seeing his shadow.] Let s try saying a rhyme about the groundhog. Rhyme with Flannelboard: (Other rhymes to substitute: The Groundhog (a finger play) from 52 Programs for Preschoolers by Diane Briggs; My Shadow Friend from the Kididdles website at or one of the rhymes from pages of 1001 Rhymes & Fingerplays. ) Mr. Groundhog (You might make up a simple tune and use flannelboard pieces or simple gestures along with this rhyme.) Mr. Groundhog lives beneath the ground And sleeps under the snow. (put head on hands as if asleep) On Groundhog Day he wakes up (suddenly raise head and spread hands wide) And looks for his shadow. (put hand to brow as if searching) Repeat 2-3 times. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now it s time for a story about shadows. Let s get all of our wiggles out so that we can sit quietly: Quieting Rhyme I wiggle my fingers, I wiggle my toes. I wiggle my arms, I wiggle my nose. I think that the wiggles Are all out of me Now I can sit down And hear a story.

5 Book Read Shadow Night by Kay Chorao; Shadows and Reflections by Tana Hoban; Bear Shadow by Frank Asch or something similar from your collection. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Groundhog Day Option: Read Gregory s Shadow by Don Freeman; The Substitute Groundhog or something similar. Print the flannelboard pieces for The Substitute Groundhog from the website if you d like to tell the story that way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you ever wonder where your shadow goes when you can t see it? Song (Sing to the tune of Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone? Oh where, oh where has my shadow gone Oh where, oh where can it be? Sometimes it is short, sometimes it is long Oh where, oh where can it be? Repeat 2-3 times. Explain that shadows don t really go anywhere, we just see them when the light is bright. Activity (Skip this section if you are running short of time!) We ve been talking about shadows. But now we re going to talk about something that is a lot like a shadow it is called a silhouette (sil-oo-et). It is the shape of something the way something looks when it s dark all around but there is a light is behind the thing. It is like when the sun is going down and we see the silhouettes of trees or buildings. [Note: You can demonstrate this using your lamp or flashlight (if the room can be darkened enough) by holding up a doll, teddy bear or some other object just in front of the light. Or you can show some simple die cut shapes cut in black and ask the children to identify them.] See how easy it is to tell what things are just from their shape with no colors and so on!

6 Now let s clap and say the word silhouette together. Sil-oo-et. Sil-oo-et. Sil-oo-et. To the adults: Whenever you run across an unusual word, explain the meaning as simply as possible. If the word is several syllables, it is helpful to clap out the parts with your child as I just did. Identifying shapes also develops skills that will be useful in learning letters. Book Read It Looked Like Spilt Milk. Introduce the book by saying that you are going to read another story about the shape of things that are sort of like shadows. You might simply tell the story using the flannelboard pieces posted. [ Sometimes it looked like a, but it wasn t a. ] Be sure to show the white side first and then turn the shape over for more detail. Or use flannelboard pieces to re-tell the story after reading it. Closing Rhyme (Point to the clock as a sign that storytime is over.) Good-bye now, good-bye. The clock tells us we're done. I'll see you next storytime, Good-bye now everyone. -5-

7 To the caregivers: Feel free to stay a while and do a craft or check out some books to take home. (Point out any brochures or tip sheets that you have on display for parents, etc.) Crafts: We like the idea of providing a craft or optional activity at the end of storyhour.. This gives parents a chance to visit and it reinforces what the children learned. Following this storyhour, you might let the children practice making shadow puppets. Or, if time and weather permit, you might go outside for a game of shadow tag! Recent research* indicates that rapid automatic naming of objects is another literacy skill-building activity. In place of a craft, you might spend time using the shadow shapes or spilt milk shapes as you would flash cards having the children identify the objects as quickly as possible. For Groundhog Day: Reproduce the pictures of the groundhog provided on heavy paper and use them to make stick puppets. The children can have fun making the groundhog pop out of all sorts of places. Other groundhog crafts: Use the bulletin board pattern from the February 2005 issue of Library Sparks (p. 23) to make a stick puppet. *See Developing Early Literacy: Report of the Early Literacy Panel, at

8 Me & My Shadow Take-Home Sheet A large vocabulary is important to be able to learn to read after all, it is harder to sound out a word that you don t even know. Books have more unusual words than common speech, so reading to your child often will help. When you run across a new word, don t change it. Simply try to explain what it means from the context and the illustrations. If the word is longer, clap out the parts (syllables) as you say the word several times with your child. We talked about shadows at storytime. Make a point of noticing shadows and how they change whenever you venture out this week. Play shadow tag on a nice day! Sometime this week, take your child out at dusk to see how the sun creates silhouettes as it sets. You might also like to make some shadow puppets at bedtime. The websites and will help. Repeat these simple rhymes with your child, too! Where Has My Shadow Gone? (Sing to the tune of Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone? Oh where, oh where has my shadow gone Oh where, oh where can it be? Sometimes it is short, sometimes it is long Oh where, oh where can it be? Mary Had a Little Shadow Mary had a little shadow, Little shadow, little shadow. Mary had a little shadow. It liked to shrink and grow. And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went, And everywhere that Mary went, Her shadow was sure to go.

9 Have your child color these shapes the way they would usually see them. Then turn them into silhouettes (explain this concept and clap out the word sil oo et with the child) with a black crayon.