A Good Day by Kevin Henkes. The kids liked the different animals but I don't think they were into the story. I followed with a version of "If You Are Happy and You Know It" with verses for sad, scared, sleepy, surprised, and angry. I tried incorporating the birthday notion and we did a finger play called "A Birthday" going through the motions of baking a cake. I tried another finger play "Mr. Turkey and Mr. Duck" but only a few kids seemed to be interested to meet these two friends. Our next book was
I Love My Best Friend by Laura Gates Galvin. I loved the photographs on this book and so did the kids. We really didn't got into the story but spent time looking and talking about the different pictures. Since the group was getting a bit restless I decided to use some songs so we tried dancing along to "Shake Your Sillies Out" and our favorite "Skinnamarink". I used yesterday's finger play about a girl coming to story time for the first time and knowing no one and how by the end of story time she had made friends. I used finger puppets to tell the story and the kids were really interested on touching and playing with them. My last book was going to be
How To Be by Lisa Brown. However, by this point we decided to listen to some songs and just play. It was a great opportunity to talk with the parents about a workshop I just attended on Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) and how all the little things we do each day help build the foundational skills for children to learn to read. From reading to singing, writing, playing, and just plain talking with our children. Every thing prepares them to be great readers one day.
