Life Lately
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Thursday, September 27, 2012
Pirate Storytime
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Yo, ho, ho ya scurvy dogs! International Talk Like a Pirate Day is tomorrow, September 19th! To celebrate, the Sunday Storytime was everything pirates! We talked like pirates, read books about pirates, sang pirate sea shantys, and dressed up like pirates-- eye patch and all! ARRR!!!!
Pirate Storytime Line-Up:
How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long, illustrated by David Shannon
A favorite book among children and pirates alike! It was also a great introduction into how to talk like a pirate. After the story was over I introduced a few phrases listed below and we practiced aloud as a group. All phrases and definitions were found and modified from Talk Like A Pirate.
Avast!-- Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise.
Aye-- "Why yes, I agree most heartly with everything you just said or did."
Aye, aye!-- "I'll get right on that sir!"
Arrr!-- Can mean, variously, "yes", "I agree", "I'm happy", "My team is going to win it all", "I enjoy reading this book", and "That was a clever remark you or I just made".
Jolly Roger-- a pirate's flag including white skull and crossbones over a black field
Seadog-- old pirate or sailor
Thar she blows!-- whale sighting
Yo, Ho, Ho!-- cheerful exhortation to demand attention
Port Side Pirates by Debbie Harter, illustrated by Oscar Seaworthy
I thought I would try to sing a couple pirate sea shanties with the kids, but when I started to look a few up they were... er... not quite appropriate for storytime. Even this Disney version- yikes! But this book sung to the tune above work out extremely well.
I came across this flannel board from the blog In The Children's Room and was so happy I did! It was the perfect addition to Sunday's Pirate Storytime! It goes like this...
Pirate Song (Sung to "This Old Man") via Work of Heart
This old pirate, has a hatWhere a skull and crossbones sat.With an Ar, Ar, Ar, and an Ay Matey!This old pirate sailed the sea. This old pirate had a patchSailed the sea without a scratch.With an Ar, Ar, Ar and an Ay Matey!This old pirate sailed the sea.Additonal Verses:
This old pirate has a hook, uses it to hold a book.This old pirate has a map, keeps it handy in his lap.This old pirate has a bird, barely knows a single word.This old pirate has a ship, travels the world in a single trip.This old pirate looking for treasure, more than anyone can measure!Started out with this old pirate decorated with only a few mere pirate accessories...
...And then continued to add on items with each verse.
This flannel was so fun. It was stressful creating it at the last minute (Sunday morning), but it all came together in the end. All of these flannel pieces are my own except the ship. I used this ship template from Rovingfiddlehead Kid Lit.
Pajama Pirates by Andrew Kramer, illustrated by Leslie Lammle
For our last Pirate Storytime book, I read a new picture book with lovely illustrations about three siblings and their fantastic pre-bedtime pirate adventure.
Pirate Craft: EYE PATCHES AND PARROTS! ARRR!
You ain't a pirate if you don't have an eye patch and a trusty parrot!
I pre-made eyepatches for each storytimer to tie around their head after storytime and then they made their very own parrots to perch on their shoulders.
Materials used: Black foam sheets, black yarn, colored cardstock, feathers, glue, scissors, googly eyes, and tape.
For the eye patch, I used these instructions found on About.com as a general guideline. Since I wanted a slightly larger patch, I drew one free hand on the foam, cut it out, and then used that as a stencil for the remaining eye patches.
Cut out your patch/patches. After they are cut, carefully using scissors or an exacto knife, make small slits on each side.
Cut a piece of black yarn slightly bigger than the eye patch wearer's head. For the storytime kids, I cut 16 in. strands.
Thread the strand through the slit.
Fit by placing the patch on the eye and then tying the ends to the back of the wearer's head.
AVAST! Now... for the parrot!
Using this template I found on Family Fun, I printed out parrot figures on red and green cardstock.
And cut them out. That was all the prep. ARRR!
After storytime and after the kids afixed their eye patches to their faces, they went on to decorating their very own pirate parrot using crayons...
...and feathers. Lots of feathers!
"Polly wanna cracker?"
Bend the tab on the line marked "A" and tape to child's shoulder.
Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen! It's a pirate's life for ME!
Miss Becca's Storytime Mixer
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Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I've been waiting for a few books to come in that I've inter-library loaned specifically for storytime, so I decided this week would be a good time to have another storytime mixer. A storytime mixer is when I read some of my favorite books and also a few brand new books that I think the storytime kids would enjoy. It has also been a very busy couple weeks with the start of Read Across Lawrence for Kids, so a mixer and a simple craft were the perfect remedy.
Miss Becca's Storytime Mixer:
My No, No, No Day! by Rebecca Patterson
I decided to share a recent favorite in our house. The kids and parents were rolling with laughter.
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood
I remember this book being read to me in grade school. It's rhythmic tone and hilarious pictures continue to capture the imagination of kids today.
Olivia and the Fairy Princesses by Ian Falconer
Love me some Olivia! Other than the first Olivia book, this newest addition to the series is by far my favorite to date!
Press Here by Herve Tullet
After writing about Press Here here, I made a note that it might make a nice read for a future storytime. Press Here is an interactive book that encourages children to be apart of the story by pressing, rubbing, tapping, shaking, and blowing on the book. I stood up to read aloud and had all the kids sitting close to me help with the prompts. I've added pictures of the first few pages, so you'd get the idea. It was a hit!
Press Here Book Craft:
I came across this wonderful dot collage idea inspired from the Press Here book featured on Share & Remember and thought it was so creative! Using Stacy's idea of a dot collage with color coding labels, the storytime kids made their very own mini interactive dot books.Materials used: colored cardstock/construction paper, white printing paper, color coding labels, scissors, stapler, and a sharpie.
Before storytime, I halved a stack of white printing paper. Enough for 4 sheets per book for 35 kids.
I halved red, green, yellow, and blue cardstock and construction paper for the covers.
If you want to write on the covers with sharpie, I recommend you do so before you staple them together so that the sharpie doesn't bleed through. I ended up not writing on them and leaving the covers blank.
Take two halves of colored paper and sandwich four halves of white paper.
Staple together to make books! That was the extent of my prep for storytime. 10 minutes tops! Love a quick craft prep.
Using colored label dots we already had on hand from our library's craft supplies, the kids used the sticker dots to make their own interactive Press Here book. If you'd like to do this craft at home or in your library or classroom, you can purchase color coded labels here or at your local office supply store.
Below is the example I made for the kids... Of course they did a much better job than I was able to do.
Since September 19th is "Talk Like a Pirate Day", next week is Pirate Storytime! Aye aye!
68 Tiny Distractions
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Monday, September 3, 2012
Those rooms you breezed through just now... they're miniature.
Go ahead, scroll up, and take another looksie.
Incredible, right?
These pictures above are only a sampling of a permanent gallery of miniature rooms called The Thorne Rooms in the Art Institute of Chicago. A few weeks ago, I read The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone, a children's middle grade fiction book about two friends, who discover they can shrink themselves to the size of the miniature Thorne Rooms. It isn't long before they also learn the Thorne Rooms are even more real than they appear.
Have you ever heard of the Thorne Rooms? I never had until reading this book. After I finished The Sixty-Eight Rooms, I immediately loaned Miniature Rooms: The Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago, a large book about the rooms and how they came to be, to put their reality to what I had envisioned while reading. Per The Art Institute of Chicago:
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