Summer Reading School Visits: Books

Going out to the schools to talk about summer reading can be a lot of fun, but boy is it busy!  For the students in grades K-3, I like to read books to them.  It is always a challenge to find books that will entertain, make them laugh, and have it be one they haven't seen before.

 

For the second and third graders I went with one my stand by favorites and a new book:
I Will Chomp You by Jory John, illustrated by Bob Shea
Dirty Joe the Pirate: A True Story by Bill Harley, illustrated by Jack E. Davis

 

For the Kindergartners and first graders I went with two fun books:
Don't Push the Button! by Bill Cotter
The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli

All four books were a lot of fun to share with the children.  Who knew that a little red circle on a page could make a whole room of first graders go crazy?

Wheels On the Bus Preschool Storytime

Storytime for 3 to 5 year olds:

• Opening - "A Tooty Ta" from Dance Like This by Mr. Al

• Number literacy activity flannelboard - People At the Bus Stop (a counting and number literacy flannelboard written by Carol Hopkins)

Directions: Hand out a numbered person to each child. The children come place their person on the board when the bus stop called out matches the number on the person. If you have a large group, there can be multiple people at each bus stop.  After each bus stop count the number of people on the bus. 

Here comes the bus,

Driving down the street.

Stopping at bus stop number ______. 

How many people are on the bus now?

• Book #1 - Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

• Stand-up activity - "Wheels On the Bus" action song from Six Little Ducks by Kimbo

• Activity - Twinkle, Twinkle Traffic Light (action fingerplay song to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star")

Twinkle, twinkle traffic light

Round the corner shining bright

Red means stop,

Green means go,

And yellow means go very slow.

Twinkle, twinkle traffic light

Round the corner shining bright.

  

 

  

• Book #2 - The Little School Bus by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Bob Kolar

• Book #3 - The Bus for Us by Suzanne Bloom 

• Closing - Dance with scarves to the song "Silly Dance Contest" from Jim Gill Sings the Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes by Jim Gill

  

 

 

• Art experience - Cut and glue black circle wheels and blue rectangle windows onto a yellow paper bus outline

Summer Reading School Visits: Books

I just completed my last summer reading school visit today.  Unlike the other children's librarian at my library, I am not a Master Storyteller.  Therefore, I rely on using books to entertain the lower grades.

This year I could not get excited about any of the picture books that related to the "Every Hero has a Story" theme.  I usually look for books that has humor enough to make a kindergartner laugh as well as make a third grader laugh.  During the last couple of weeks, I used these books as my three main reads when visiting with classes:

• The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
• Peter Spit a Seed at Sue by Jackie French Koller, illustrated by John Manders
• I Ain't Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by David Catrow

I had a great time sharing these books with the students.  You know you have winning books when there is a hippo named Boo Boo Butt, watermelon seeds in underwear, and a kid covered in paint.  

Lego My Library - School

A fun Lego building block storytime intended for children 4 to 9 years old.

Book:  Mr. President Goes to School by Rick Walton, illustrated by Brad Sneed

Lego challenge: Create something you would see at school