Planning Storytime: a Beginners Guide

The beginner’s guide to story time

with a NCKLS Story Time Kit

• The Big Decisions:

• Selecting the Books

• Putting them in Order

• Songs and Rhymes

• Finger Plays and Activities

• The Not so Big Decisions:

• Introduction

• Conclusion

• Transitions

• Wait, there’s more:

• Should I add 6 by 6 or STEM?

• Bounce Doreen Cronin

• Hop! Phyllis Root

• Move! Steve Jenkins

• Jump! Scott M. Fischer

• Stretch Doreen Cronin

• Clip-Clop Nicola Smee

• Dance with Me Charles R. Smith Jr.

• Get Up and Go Nancy Carlson

• Hop, Hop, Jump! Lauren Thompson

• Hilda Must be Dancing Karma Wilson

• Clap Your Hands Lorinda Bryan Cauley

• 102 Children’s Songs: Volume 2

• 10 foot Parachute

• 5 Knubby balls

• 6 Traffic cones

• 27 Scarves

• Action Cube

• Tunnel

• Pick a broad theme

• Search my collection & NorCat

• Read each book for:

• Appropriate length

• Relevance to theme

• Usefulness in story time

• Are the illustrations big enough to see?

• Are the illustrations vivid?

• Is the book fun to read?

• Is the text cumbersome?

• Read the books

• Separate into stacks:

• Good

• Better

• Best

• Select the Theme

• What do the books I like best have in common?

• Some criteria for selecting final books:

• Subthemes

• Similar characters

• Similar tone

• Can I visualize how

they work together?

• How long are the stories?

• Two long stories, plus rhymes and songs, are

enough to fill a normal story time period.

• Three medium length stories, plus rhymes and

songs, can fit in the same length story time.

• What is the age range and size of the

audience?

• Younger children have a shorter attention

span.

• Larger groups have a shorter attention span.

• What else am I planning?

• I have a song, rhyme, or activity in between

each story that I read.

• I always have a story time introduction and

conclusion.

• Sometimes I have an early literacy skill or

STEM topic to discuss along with the books

and activities.

• Common Strategies:

• Start with the longest and progress to the

shortest.

• Medium first, Longest second, Shortest last.

• Read the book I like best first.

1. Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee

2. Move by Steve Jenkins

3. Hop by Phyllis Root

• There are a lot of options for additions to story time.

• Rhymes

• Songs

• Finger Plays

• Flannel Boards & Flannel Stories

• Prop Stories

• Interactive Story Telling

• Other

• Story Time introduction

• Welcome song

• Rhyme, song, or other activity in between

each story

• Good-bye song

• Story Time conclusion

• Should all my materials relate to the same

theme?

• Novelty is fun.

• Exposes children to more rhymes and songs.

• Multiple choices in the Story Time kits related

to the kit’s theme.

• Should all my materials relate to the

same theme?

•Time to learn the rhyme

•Favorites

•Extra work

• My Compromise

• Consistent welcome song

• Consistent good-bye song

• Themed filler interspersed

• During the 30 days that I have the Active

Play story time kit, I will do one consistent

filler activity that relates to the overall theme.

• Welcome Song: “We Clap and Sing Hello”

• Following Clip-Clop: “This is the Way the Ladies

Ride” with parachute

• Following Move: “Animal Dances”

• Following Hop: Reenactment with tunnel.

• Good-bye Song: “We Clap and Sing Good-bye”

• Turn off all cell phones;

• Parents need to participate with their children;

• It’s okay for kids to move around as long as they

aren’t disruptive;

• If your child needs to leave, that’s fine. Feel free

to come back when your child ready.

• Be sure to involve the children in the

introduction.

• Guessing Game Clues:

• Nametags or hand stamps given to the children

• Small toys, puppets, hats, or art displayed by the

librarian.

• Focus on one skill.

• Discuss the skill at least three times during

story time.

• Provide information about the skill in the

story time handout.

• What should the conclusion do?

• Provide encouragement to the children

• Wrap it up

• Remind everyone of upcoming events

• Mention the story time handout

• Short and sweet

• I always try to compliment the children and/or the

activity.

• Introduce the next activity.

• For example:

“That was a fun story. You really helped me out with

those rhymes. Are you ready to wiggle your fingers

now?”

• I write out longer transitions on my story time planning sheet.

• Sample longer transition:

“Thanks for helping me clean up the parachute. It’s funny that the duck, cat, pig, and dog ride Mr. Horse. Would a duck really ride a horse? How do ducks really move? What about a cat? In this next book, we’ll hear about ways that animals really move. It’s called Move by Steve Jenkins.”

Theme Animal Moves

Greeting & Song “Clap and Sing Hello”

Book Clip-Clop by Nicola Smee

Fingerplay /Rhyme/ Song

This Is the Way the Ladies Ride w/parachute

Transition

Horses really do run like that, but the other animals in that

story acted a lot like people. 1. Would a duck/cat/pig/dog really ride on a horse?2. How does a duck/cat/pig/dog actually move?

This next story tells us how some animals really move.

Book Move by Steven Jenkins

Fingerplay/ Rhyme/ Song

“Animal Dances” (big or little depending on energy level)

Book Hop by Phyllis Root

Final Activity Reenact Hop using the tunnel

Closing Song “Clap and Sing Goodbye”

Craft/Take Home Rocking Rabbit Craft

Hi everyone! Thank you for coming to story time today. I’m Melendra, and

today we’re reading some great books, singing songs, and doing a lot of

fun activities.

Before I begin, I want to remind all the adults to turn their cell phones to

silent or vibrate and if you need to take a call, you’ll have to go outside the

story time area.

I also want to invite you to participate along with your child. Sometimes

children are shy, and that’s okay, but if you participate, your child is more

likely to participate too.

Finally, if your child needs to move around during story time, that’s fine,

but if she becomes disruptive, please step out. When she’s ready, you can

always come back.

Let’s get started with our Welcome Song!

“Close your eyes tight. Count to three. 1, 2, 3. Open your eyes, and tell me what you see!”

(When their eyes are closed, I’ll pull out my movement cube.)

Do you know what this is? (Pause for answers.)

Right, it’s a box/cube/dice. Can you see what’s on it? (If they are having trouble, read some of the movements.)

Yes! Different animals and some of the movements they make. Can you guess what we might be reading stories about today? (Allow for a 2-3 guesses.)

We are talking about animals, and about the ways that different animals move!

Wow! That was fun. I’m so glad to see all of you today. You

were great listeners!

I can’t wait to see you at next week’s story time.

If you look at the back of the story time sheet, you’ll find all

the rhymes and songs that we used in story time today.

There is also a list of other animal and movement books

that are available in the library.

North Central Kansas Library System

nckls.mykansaslibrary.org