Mud Spanish and Bilingual StoryTime: October 18th and October 20th, 2012

I had to get a little more creative with my book selections for this story time program. While the English story telling collection has ample choices, the Spanish story telling collection is much smaller. It wasn't until our library ordered Marco Flamenco in the Jungle, a bilingual story, that I could feasibly do mud as a theme (Marco rolls in the mud with elephants). I checked out Tacos de Lodo from the circulating collection (there is also an English version, Mud Tacos), and while it's a longer story, summarizing bits and clipping back pages seemed to make it more story time friendly. However, I think it'd be better as a prop/flannelboard story. I don't think I will use this particular story if I decide to do another mud-themed program, though.

Typically, I read Yummy Yucky and have the kids call out yes/no or yummy/yucky, but I had the idea to make it a prop story. I used props/materials from other prop/flannel board stories available in the English story time collection (Sam's Sandwich, Rattletrap Car, etc.) Instead of blueberries and a blue crayon, I adapted the story and used a small apple puppet (with a worm that can poke out) and first asked the kids if an apple was good or bad to eat, and then I popped the little worm out and asked if an apple with a worm in it was good or bad to eat. For the spaghetti, I got a paper plate, wound some beige yarn, and threw some red pom-poms on top. For boogers, I used bright green yarn that fell out during my pretend sneeze (it was a hit!), and for ear wax, I used a goldenrod-colored yarn and "picked" it out of my ear. Because I also used pieces from other stories, I made a list of everything I used and where it came from, so that my colleagues could do Yummy Yucky as a prop story if desired. I definitely plan to do Yummy Yucky as a prop story again.

Here are a pictures of some of the items I used:

Yarn Spaghetti 

No cute apple puppet with a worm?  Make an apple out of felt! 

Hora de Cuentos Plan:
Theme: Mud
Literacy Skill: Print Motivation

Walk-in song: Yo Quiero/Rubén Rada (Putumayo: Latin Playground)

Welcoming comments

Literacy tip: Algunos niños tienen dificultad permanecer sentados el tiempo suficiente para disfrutar un libro entero. Si su niño disfruta de una sola pagina y luego sale corriendo para hacer otra cosa, esta bien. Lo importante es que su hijo tenga una experiencia positiva con los libros. Si le obliga a su hijo que se sienta por una lectura completa, tal vez tendra una mala experiencia.

Activity song:  El Baile de las Manos/Jorge Anaya (¡A Bailar! Let's Dance!) 

Fingerplay: La Familia

1st story: Las Aventuras de Marco Flamenco en la Jungla/Sheila Jenkins

Activity song: Las Hormiguitas/José-Luis Orozco (De Colores)

Fingerplay: Al Subir Una Montaña

2nd story: ¡Tacos de Lodo!/Mario López y Maria López Wong

Standing fingerplay: Dos Manitas, Diez Deditos

3-D story: ¿Es Bueno o Malo? (Yummy Yucky)/Leslie Patricelli *with props

4th story: ¡Lodo!/Charman Simon

Instrument song: Los Gusanos/Colibri (Papalóapan: River of Butterflies) *with rhythm sticks

Stamp hands and bubbles

Hand stamp song: Somos Como Las Flores/Charlotte Diamond (Soy Una Pizza)

Bilingual Story Time Plan:
Theme: Mud
Literacy Skill: Print Motivation

Walk-in song: If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked a Cake/Sharon, Lois, and Bram (Elephant Party)

Welcoming comments

Literacy tip: Algunos niños tienen dificultad permanecer sentados el tiempo suficiente para disfrutar un libro entero. Si su niño disfruta de una sola pagina y luego sale corriendo para hacer otra cosa, esta bien. Lo importante es que su hijo tenga una experiencia positiva con los libros. Si le obliga a su hijo que se sienta por una lectura completa, tal vez tendra una mala experiencia. Some children have difficulty staying seated for an entire book. If your child enjoys just one page and then runs off to do something else, it's okay. The important thing is that your child have a positive experience with books. If you force your child to sit through an entire reading, he or she may have a negative experience.

Activity song:  El Baile de las Manos/Jorge Anaya (¡A Bailar! Let's Dance!) 

Fingerplay: La Familia

1st story: Las Aventuras de Marco Flamenco en la Jungla/Sheila Jenkins

Activity song: Spaghetti Legs/Jim Gill (Jim Gill Sings the Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes)

Fingerplay: The Little Turtle

2nd story: Stuck in the Mud/Jane Clarke

Standing fingerplay: Dos Manitas, Diez Deditos

3-D story: ¿Es Bueno o Malo? (Yummy Yucky)/Leslie Patricelli *with props

4th story: Mud is Cake/Pam Muñoz Ryan

Instrument song: Los Gusanos/Colibri (Papalóapan: River of Butterflies) *with rhythm sticks

Stamp hands and bubbles

Hand stamp song: Mud/John McCutcheon (Summersongs) *check out for story time