M is for Mouse and Monsters

I was so very excited for the letter M. We had a lot to do in our hour!
I met the children at the door with one of my mouse puppets.

A puppet greeting is so much fun I have decided to do it every week if possible.

Today we started with our usual opening song- "If You're Happy & You Know It" and immediately followed that with "Show & Tell". Lots of creative thinking as we had a moose, magnet, milk jug, mug, monkey, McDonald's drink, My Little Pony and a picture of Mom (loved that!).
Each week I bring out a small box full of little items. This week my box held a mitten, monster and little gold mouse.

We did all of our Alphabet Phonics. Zoo Phonics letter M was Missy Mouse.
We talked about the weather.
And then we did our flannel board activity. It was difficult to choose activities as there are so many cool books, flannel board ideas, fingerplays and activities to choose from for this letter.
I finally decided on "The Polka Dot Monster" which I found at Storytime ABC's. I hand drew and cut out my own felt monster.
"Polka Dot Monster"
I'm a little monster friendly and bright.

I won't give anyone a fright.

I love polka dots but I have none.

So step right up and give me red ones.




I'm a little monster friendly and bright.

I won't give anyone a fright.

I love polka dots but I only have some.

So step right up and give me orange ones.




Continue until each color has been added.


then sing the last verse:
I'm a little monster friendly and bright.

I won't give anyone a fright.

I love polka dots and I have lots.

Thank you for my colorful spots.

Today's books were

Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly- If you aren't familiar with this book it is fun! The pages are diecut and as you turn the pages the monster's face appears and then disappears as you tell the features to go away. It's short and sweet. The kids love it.

Dining with Monsters was a backup and we didn't get time to read it, but the pages fold out of this counting book as you count how many bugs and things these monsters dine on. It's also short and fun.

Mice by Rose Fyleman is illustrated in Lois Ehlert's unique fashion and was a crowd pleaser. The moms especially loved it.

I Can Teach My Child came up with an adorable alphabet monster made from baby wipes. I found this idea a few years ago and immediately started collecting my milk and other bottle caps. A few weeks ago I started punching circles and cutting letters. I wanted each family to be able to take home a monster. I came up with several games to use with him.

Inside each monster is a set of 52 caps with upper case and lower case letters. I neglected to get a photo. Will have to add that later.
We used the alphabet monster for our first activity. I drew the caps out one by one and the kids colored in the letter to match the cap. I found this printable on ABC's of Literacy. I didn't use it for the intended purpose, but it worked.

Next we made our Alphabet Animal. This week was a mouse. The photo is a little dark. Sorry.

I found these monster stamps on Zulily and the printable on The Measured Mom.

With so much to do I ended up sending home the next printable along with a couple of snack size bags of M&Ms. I can't find the link at the moment...sorry.

Our free book was Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears which is A West African Tale written by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon.

That was all for today! M was magnificent!
See you for N!
~~Mrs. Angel

I officially changed the name of my blog to Storytime Angel! This is where I am in life right now. I am doing something I love and enjoy. When you love something you want to share it!
So this will be my place to share all things Storytime related!
Let me know you've been here by leaving a comment.
~Mrs. Angel

Pre-Reading Skills

Pre-Reading Skills are so important to a child in preparing him or her to learn to read. Since I began my storytime adventure 7 years ago I have earned a wealth of information that I wish I had known when my own children were growing up. The most important element of pre-reading skills? READ to your child. Read books, read signs, read everything you can and take every opportunity to read with your child in their early years- birth to school age. AND beyond. Nursery rhymes, finger plays and songs are important as well. There is a lot of great information out there on the web and I would like to share a little with you now so you can explore on your own. Give your child a head start.

Growing Like a Read
Our own library system has their own program called Growing Like a Read or GLAR for short. We hand out book bags with free materials to parents and caregivers to help them with literacy skills at home. It's a great program and the above link will give your a wealth of information.

Stay at Home Educator
SAHE is really on top of her game and has broken down early literacy into 4 components which she goes into great detail in her posts in The "Big Four" Preschool Literacy Instruction series. On her site "you will find fun and engaging preschool literacy activities that span all the components of preschool literacy instruction, from emergent literacy skills to learning how to read and write."

K-12 Reader
This link takes you to an article comparing the terms "phonemic awareness" and "phonological awareness"- a pre-reading skill.


ABC's of Literacy
In easy to understand language this blog breaks down the 5 pre-reading skills your child needs to be a successful reader.

This Reading Mama
In the above link, one of my favorite resource sites, THis Reading Mama, goes into detail on book and print awareness giving you lots of tips. Also check out her series on preparing your child for Kindergarten!

There is a wealth of information on the internet. I hope some of the above links are helpful to you!
Thanks for stopping by!
Mrs. Angel

L is for Lion

It's a windy day here in Oklahoma. A good day for storytime as our numbers show. We had sixteen children at Storytime today. We are growing. After our opening song and singing our ABC's, we had show and tell with a leaf, lincoln log, lion, legos, Loves a Lot carebear, lotion and more. I sent a Newsletter home today with an overview of our next several months. I shared how much I love show and tell. Getting these kids up on front of the "class" at such an early age has to be good, right? Primary Public Speaking!
We read 2 books today, neither of which were the perfect "L" storytime books in my opinion. I will be looking for other choices for next time. I read "How Does a Dinosaur Say I Love You" by Yolen and "Yoo Hoo Ladybug" by Mem Fox.

I like both books as I love the "How Does a Dinosaur" books and Yoo Hoo Ladybug is adorable, but the kids were itching to look more closely at the pages.
We also went through our Zoo Phonics adding Lizzy Lizard to the lineup.
I had lots of activities for us today including a Letter L Lion for our ABC book.

We used legos for a couple of activities including these Lego Alphabet Pages from Little Bins for Little Hands.

Sorry for the glare but I laminate everything. No sense in making it twice!
I also had some Lego activity cards for the older kids to try.

I love this idea for a portable activity! What a great project for long road trips. Thank you to the folks at Fun At Home with Kids for coming up with a free printable for this activity! They even have some cards you can color yourself to customize. All of the Legos came from our Lego League Junior kits which I was able to borrow from our service center.
Lastly for the younger kids I had some Ladybug clip cards for some great fine motor work.
(I can't seem to find the link at the moment for these printables.)

I gave each family a copy of Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora and a set of "L" worksheets- fun ones!
It was a little chaotic today. Next time I might just put some Legos out for the kids to enjoy. Sometimes I way overthink things!
Have a blessed week. See you for "M"!
Mrs. Angel