look whooo loves books!

PLEASE NOTE: I have a backlog of storytime themes and activities from my first month on the job that I would like to document here; please pardon the dust as I try to catch up. :)


Owls are pretty popular these days and I was excited about this storytime because I dig them, too. :)


Here's the Setlist*:


Song: 'Hello Song'
Hello, everybody! So glad to see you...
Hello, everybody! So glad to see you.
Hello to _____, so glad to see you!
Hello to _____, so glad to see you!
I first heard this when I attended a Music Together class with some friends of mine and our children (of course). It's catchy and repetitive so parents and children learn it fast. Plus, it welcomes every child by name (we wear nametags) and we even welcome baby siblings, moms, dads, and grandparents when they're with us.


Welcome/Theme Intro
I used this time to sort of prepare my younger kids for some of the action in the stories we were reading that day. We talked about how owls are different from other birds (they sleep all day, they eat mice, they don't 'sing')... and we practiced saying what they did say... a LOT. 


Wiggles
Can you wiggle your finger bones like this? (out in front of our bodies)
And can you wiggle your toes bones inside your shoes where no one can see? 
(they always look) :)
And can you wiggle your shoulders? How about your nose? What about your knees? 
(we look hilarious)
And can you keep wiggling like that in a circle?
Now, let's reach up HIGH... (high voice) and down LOW... (low voice) 
And let's tuck in our bottoms and sit right down... for a story.


Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

I wasn't sure about this story just looking at the cover, but man! was it good. I think the kids could totally identify with the feeling of not knowing where Mother was. The illustrations added to the story as I think we felt enveloped in the darkness of the owl's night world. 




Flannel: Five Little Owls
My first flannel project turned out great and the kids were pretty thrilled with our little owls!
Five little owls sitting in a tree.
One flew away... how many do you see?
1...2...3...4
Four little owls sitting in a tree.
One flew away... how many do you see?
1...2...3 
etc.


Song: 'Be Like an Owl'
(tune: 'London Bridge'; lyrics by Joe Stover)
Flap your wings and fly around, fly around, fly around.
Flap your wings and fly around - be like an owl.
Open your eyes big and wide, big and wide, big and wide.
Open your eyes big and wide - be like an owl.
Land on the ground and hop around, hop around, hop around.
Land on the ground and hop around - be like an owl.
Turn your head and say "Hoo! Hoo!"
Say "Hoo! Hoo!"
Say "Hoo! Hoo!"
Turn your head and say "Hoo! Hoo!"
Be like an owl.


Cock-a-doodle-hooooooo! by Mick Manning

We'd really enjoyed Manning's Cock-a-doodle-Quack! Quack! during our Farm themed storytime, so when I saw that he had a book for owls, I ILL'd that puppy right away. It was a little bit of a disappointment compared to Quack! Quack!, but still a cute book. I was sure to mention that owls eat mice and rats before getting into this one... and I skipped some of the insults that the hens hurled at the poor owl because they just didn't seem appropriate.


Song: 'Owls in a Tree'
(tune: 'Skip to My Lou'; source Sunflower Storytime)
Owls in a tree go hoo-hoo-hoo!
Owls in a tree go hoo-hoo-hoo!
Owls in a tree go hoo-hoo-hoo!
Skip to my lou, my darling.


Robins in a nest go tweet-tweet-tweet...
Ducks in a pond go quack-quack-quack...
Rooster in the yard goes cock-a-doodle-doo...


WOW! Said the Owl by Tom Hopgood

Such a cute book... I should have emphasized that this was the first time a little owl would have seen all these things, but my group was getting pretty restless and I wanted to get them to the craft (which was a little more complicated than I should get with these kinds of programs. :)


Craft: Circle Owls & Nightscenes
We have a plethora of construction paper circles (large and small) in a basket that I have been trying to incorporate into as many craft projects as possible because hey! they're already cut! :D I designed an owl using one large circle, 1/2 of one large circle, 2-1/4s of one large circle, and two small circles. Add googly eyes, half a sheet of blue construction paper and some chalk and you have an awesome (albeit pretty involved) owl nighscene! 


Song: 'The More We Get Together'
I didn't realize that this is a Raffi song... I love the tune and the sentiment, and we sing it at the end of every storytime. I ask the kids to bring whatever craft we worked on to the carpet to share with the other kids and we use it as a prop for the song.


The more we get together, together, together...
The more we get together the happier we'll be.
'Cause your friends are my friends and
My friends are your friends and
The more we get together the happier we'll be. 


* I call my storytime plans "Setlists" because I actually carry a half sheet of paper into the Story Room with me to remind me what I'm doing. It's all keyword/notes, so that's what it looks like to me - a setlist. And, "setlist" cracks me up. We're rockstars! :D