“At the mountain’s base sits a cabin under an old hickory tree. And in that cabin lives a family — loving, weaving, cooking, and singing. The strength in their song sustains them through trials on the ground and in the sky, as they wait for their loved one, a pilot, to return from war.”
Perfect for a story time during Native American Heritage Month
Books:
It’s Time For Bed by #OwnVoices Ceporah Mearns, Jeremy Debicki and Tim Mack.
Cornelius P. Mud Are You Ready For Bed by Barney Saltzberg
In a Blue Room by Jim Averbeck and Tricia Tusa
Inclusion:
It’s Time For Bed –It’s time for Siasi to go to bed, but she prefers to play with the animals of the Arctic. Written by indigenous Canadian Ceporah Mearns.
Game:
Simon Says (Sleepy Version)
I plan on wearing pajamas and a sleeping cap, so Simon decided to go the sleeping cap route as well. 🙂
Simon is going to lead the kids through relaxing yoga poses and breathing exercises.
We’ll be using these free yoga cards and posters to show the poses to the kids. Get them here.
Flannel Rhyme:
Five Shiny Stars
Five shiny stars were twinkling at the cat,
Looking very pretty in the sky like that.
One of the stars found the perfect place to hide…
Leaving four shiny stars and a cloud outside.
____
Four shiny stars were twinkling at the cat,
Looking very pretty in the sky like that.
One of the stars found the perfect place to hide…
Leaving three shiny stars and some clouds outside.
____
Three shiny stars were twinkling at the cat,
Looking very pretty in the sky like that.
One of the stars found the perfect place to hide…
Leaving two shiny stars and some clouds outside.
____
Two shiny stars were twinkling at the cat,
Looking very pretty in the sky like that.
One of the stars found the perfect place to hide…
Leaving one shiny star and some clouds outside.
____
One shiny star was twinkling at the cat,
Feeling very lonely in the sky like that.
____
All the other stars came out to shine so bright…
So there were five shiny stars to wish the cat good night!
Credit: Read Rabbit Reads
Poem:
Sometimes i’m a cloud.
Sometimes a mountain or a stone.
Sometimes I’m a river,
a small seed or a great tree.
But I am always me.
Some days I bark and snap
like a little dog. Instead
I will be a tree.
Leaves, branches, roots–patient
in summer, in fall, winter spring.
Music:
My assistant Travis who plays the guitar for our story times will be singing traditional lullabies.
A lot of the parents who have been watching my video story times have mentioned that they watch my story times as bed time stories. One of my colleagues suggested that I do a series of bedtime stories. What a great idea!
Books:
In the Night Garden by Barbara Joose and Elizabeth Sayles
Sleepy Book by Charlotte Zolotov and Stefano Vitale
Sleepy River by Hanna Bandeas and Jeanette Winter
Inclusion:
In In the Night Garden by Barbara Joose and Elizabeth Sayles three girls of differing ethnicities play outside pretending to be different animals until bedtime.
In Sleepy River by Hanna Bandes and Jeanette Winter a Native American mother takes her sleepy child on a canoe ride on the river at night.
Game:
Simon Says (Sleepy Version)
I plan on wearing pajamas and a sleeping cap, so Simon decided to go the sleeping cap route as well. 🙂
Simon is going to lead the kids through relaxing yoga poses and breathing exercises.
We’ll be using these free yoga cards and posters to show the poses to the kids. Get them here.
Flannel Rhyme:
Five little stars shine and shine some more,
One fell to the earth and then there were four.
Four little stars, happy as can be,
One fell to the earth and then there were three.
Three little stars in a sky so blue,
One fell to the earth and then there were two.
Two little stars, having lots of fun,
One fell to the earth and then there was one.
One little star left left all alone,
That one fell to earth and then there were none.
The moon came out- what a pretty sight!
He waved to the stars and he said goodnight.
Music:
My assistant Travis, who plays the guitar is in charge of the music, and I honestly don’t know what he’s picked out yet. I asked to to lean toward lullabies.
Jenna’s decided she wants to jingle dance at the next pow wow like her Grandmother does. But there isn’t enough time to order the tin to make the bells for her dress. She visits the women of her tribe and borrows just one row from each of their dresses so they can still jingle and so can she.
AR Book Level: 3.7
AR points 0.5
Books:
Egg Shaker Song II:
Where is Shaker? Where is shaker? (begin with shaker held behind your back)
Here I am! Here I am (bring the shaker out and shake it)
How are you today friend? Very well, I thank you (pretend to talk to the shaker and hve it answer you)
Run away, run away. (hide the shaker behind your back again).
Where is Shaker? Where is shaker? (begin with shaker held behind your back)
Here I am! Here I am (bring the shaker out and shake it)
Rolling on the floor, rolling on the floor. (roll shaker on the floor)
Run away, run away. (hide the shaker behind your back again).
Where is Shaker? Where is shaker? (begin with shaker held behind your back)
Here I am! Here I am (bring the shaker out and shake it)
Tapping on your hand, tapping on your hand (tap shaker on palm of opposite hand)
Run away, run away. (hide the shaker behind your back again).
Where is Shaker? Where is shaker? (begin with shaker held behind your back)
Here I am! Here I am (bring the shaker out and shake it)
Shaking on your tummy, shaking on your tummy (roll shaker gently on your tummy)
Run away, run away. (hide the shaker behind your back again).
Where is Shaker? Where is shaker? (begin with shaker held behind your back)
Here I am! Here I am (bring the shaker out and shake it)
Jumping up and down, jumping up and down (hold shaker upright and make it “jump” on the floor)
Credit: 101 Rhythm Instrument Activities for Young Children by Abigail Flesch Connors
Movement Song:
Here We Go Round the Days of the Week
This is the way we twirl around,
Twirl around, twirl around.
This is the way we twirl around so early Sunday morning.
This is the way we jump up and and down,
Jump up and down, jump up and down,
This is the way we jump up and down so early Monday morning.
This is the way we swim around,
Swim around, swim around,
This is the way we swim around so early Tuesday morning.
This is the way we run around,
Run around, run around,
This is the way we run around so early Wednesday morning.
This is the way we hop up and down,
Hop up and down, hop up and down,
This is the way we hop up and down, so early Thursday morning.
This is the way we dance around,
Dance around, dance around.
This is the way we dance around so early Friday morning.
This is the way we sit right down,
Sit right down, sit right down,
This is the way we sit right down, so early Saturday morning.
Credit: Transition tips and tricks for Teachers by Jean Feldman
Handout:
Visit Natural Beach Living for a kindness calendar for preschoolers.
Literacy Tip:
Repetition
” . . . for young children, repetition isn’t boring at all. In fact, when they repeat songs or books they are experiencing it in a new way each time. The first time a child hears a song or reads a book, for example, they are often just taking in the experience. With books, most of their attention will be on the pictures. When they experience it again they build on their knowledge – they will start to notice different things and begin to learn from it. Concepts and words become part of their memory and they are able to recall it later.”
Read the whole article at Jbrary.
So, it is ok to read your kiddo that same book over and over again. The more they hear it the more they learn! This is also one of the reasons why I usually sing a song twice in story time, and that I sing the same songs for an entire month.
Craft:
I’ll be giving the kids cardstock folded into a card and let them decorate with crayons, and sparklies, pompoms, stickers, etc. They will be encouraged to make cards for someone they love as an act of kindness.
Books:
Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by #OwnVoices Chief Jake Swamp, perfect for those of us wanting to read a Native American book without stereo typical pilgrims and Indians. While it is not about the traditional Thanksgiving day, it is certainly about giving thanks from very first page. Beautifully animistic, this verse reminds us to be thankful for the very basic things in life, the sun, the moon, thunder, and brings a sense of renewed wonder of the world around us.
The Thank You Book by Mary Lyn Ray, pages filled with adorable animals and cute children of all ethnicities. This is another book about being grateful for the simple things in life, this time from a child’s perspective. Swings, and slides, and puddles, birthdays and glue and glitter, these are the things that children are grateful for.
Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival by Grace Lin teaches us about a Thanksgiving holiday from the other side of the world, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Much is the same: food, family and thankfulness. And much is different. The family gathers outside under the moon and eat mooncakes and tea.
Salaam Alaikum: A Message of Peace by #OwnVoices Harris J is about kindness and people gathering together. The story starts with a boy who gives an umbrella to a woman without one, starting a chain of (kindness) events! I read this last year during my Thanksgiving story time and it was well received even though it is not your typical Thanksgiving book.
Last Stop on Market Street by #Own Voices Matt de La Pena isn’t a Thanksgiving book, but it is about looking on the bright side and being thankful for what you have. The book starts out with a grandma and grandson leaving church for the bus stop and ends at a soup kitchen. At every corner Nana finds something to be grateful for. A reminder to the audience that not everyone may be as lucky as they are, and to be happy for what we do have. And it ends with people gathering together around tables of food.
Thank You, Omu! by #OwnVoices Oge Mora. Omu makes a wonderfully scented stew that wafts through the neighborhood. Neighbor after neighbor stops by hinting for a taste. At the end of the day there is none left for Omu’s dinner! Her neighbors surprise her with their own potluck feast and they all gather together round the table.
The 12 Days of Thanksgiving by Jenna Lettice. This book riffs off the popular song the 12 Days of Christmas producing a cute counting book filled with pies and turkeys, squashes and apples. The cast of characters is multi-ethnic.
How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton is silly fun, starring a turkey with stage fright running from students at the school. It has a fun rhythmic text for a read aloud and the pages are filled with kids of all ethnicities.
This is the Turkey by Abby Levine plays off the nursery rhyme, This is the House that Jack Built. Another book with fantastic rhythm and rhymes for a read aloud and a cast of multi-ethnic characters.
