Session 6: Do You See What I See? Talking/Science (Fall 2015)

SAMPLE STORYTIME:

This is a suggested curriculum. You may choose different books if the suggested books are not available, or if you find a book you’d rather use as long as it is available in the BPL collection, and it stays true to the program/session goals.

*TIP: If you can’t get a copy of the book you want to use for your program before you start to plan your session, you can often find a read-aloud of a popular children’s book on YouTube, or view some of the pages on amazon.com.

Introductions:Introduce yourself and the program. If it is a small group, have everyone introduce themselves, including parents and caregivers. Let the children know we are going to be reading stories about the senses and exploration.

To the adults:Today we are going to look the important early literacy practiceof TALKING.Encouraging children to talk helps children develop the ability to describe things, and make predictions. Talking and observing is what scientists do, so your child is already a little scientist! Today we’ll read some books that help children to describe what they see, hear and feel!

"Hello Everyone" (Tune:Mary Had a Little Lamb)

Hello everyone, how are you? (Wave to everyone)

How are you? How are you?

Hello everyone, how are you?

How are you today?

Hello everyone, clap your hands! (Clap hands.)

Clap your hands! Clap your hands!

Hello everyone, clap your hands!

Clap your hands, today!

Hello everyone, stomp your feet! (Stomp feet.)

Stomp your feet! Stomp your feet!

Hello everyone, stomp your feet!

Stomp your fee, today!

Hello everyone, touch your nose. (Touch nose).

Touch your nose. Touch your nose.

Hello everyone, touch your nose.

Touch your nose, today.

Alternative Welcome Song: “Clap and Sing Hello”

Tune:Farmer in the Dell

We clap and sing hello,
We clap and sing hello,
With our friends at storytime,
We clap and sing hello!

(Wave and sing hello; stomp and sing hello.)

Picture Book:Green is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors, by Roseanne Thong

AlternateBook: It’s an Orange Aardvark! by Michael Hall

To the adults:Go on a color hunt. Searching for colors is a great way to get children talking about the world around them. Pick a color and hunt for it all day! Talk about the many shades, textures and forms that color comes in.

Observation Song: What Color are You Wearing?

Tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb

If you’re wearing red today, red today, red today,

If you’re wearing red today stand up and shout Hooray!

HOORAY!

(repeat for a few more colors)

Picture Book:Ask Me, by Bernard Waber

Alternate Book:Polar Bear,Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?by Bill Martin Jr. ; illustrated by Eric Carle

To the adults:Walk and Talk! There are so many scientific observations that can be made in everyday places like the park. Even though we live in the city, there is wildlife all around us. The change of seasons is a wonderful time to make observations about changes in our world.

Song: I See The Wind
Sung to: "Hush Little Baby"

I see the wind when the leaves dance by.

I see the wind when the clothes wave "Hi!"

I see the wind when the trees bend low.

I see the wind when the flags all blow.

I see the wind when the kites fly high.

I see the wind when the clouds float by.

I see the wind when it blows my hair.

I see the wind most everywhere!

*TIP: For shorter songs and rhymes, repeat! Kids learn through repetition and it’s a great way for parents to learn the songs.

Picture Book:Row, Row, Row Your Boat, by Jane Cabrera (giveaway book)*

Alternate book: Today is Monday, by Eric Carle

*TIP: Since you will all have a copy of this book, hand it out BEFORE your program so you can do a shared reading of it together. Encourage parents and caregivers to follow and sing or read along. Model ways of pointing to pictures, turning pages, and asking questions or prompting children to fill in words and sounds.

To the adults:Learn by singing! Children learn concepts by singing. Songs often use rhyming and repetition which helps children to remember new words and ideas. Check out an illustrated song book that teaches things like animal sounds, body parts, and more!

Picture Book:Wait, by Antoinette Portis

Alternate Book: If You Want to See a Whale, by Julie Fogliono

To the adults:Take the time to talk.Talk to your children about what they see…in books, in the sky, on the street, at the grocery store. This helps children expand their vocabulary, and communicate their ideas. You can go on an “I Spy” walk in your neighborhood and write down all the things you see together.

Song: Rainbow Colors
Tune: Hush, Little Baby
Rainbow purple, rainbow blue
Rainbow green and yellow, too
Rainbow orange, rainbow red
Rainbow smiling overhead.
Come and count the colors with me
How many colors can you see?
One, two, three, down to green,
Four, five, six can be seen
Rainbow purple, rainbow blue,
Rainbow green and yellow, too.
Rainbow orange, rainbow red,
Rainbow smiling overhead.

Session 6: I Spy! Make your own Binoculars

Materials:

  • Craft Rolls (2 per child)
  • Collage materials
  • Paste
  • Stickers
  • Foam shapes

Practices: Talking, Playing

Process: Talk to parents about some examples of toys and activities that can be made from everyday objects: cereal box blocks, oatmeal tin drum, water bottle maraca and more! These activities encourage language development and play. Today we are going to make binoculars from craft rolls!

●Staple the two craft rolls together (do this before the program, or have parents help)

●Have the children decorate their binoculars

●Model playing “I Spy” to encourage talking, and observing the world around you.

Activity 2:Science Kits

Each branch has science kits, some focus on insects, some on magnets, some on color. Take out the science kits and encourage families to play with them. These kits are always available at the branch for their use.

*TIP: There are Science Take Home Sheets in the WIKI. Encourage families to play with the kits.

Additional Optional Activities:

Here are some ideas for stations that you can set up around the room for science exploration. Some of these materials may be at the branch or around your home. If there are supplies that you need, you can be reimbursed for up to $15.00. You do not need to do all of these, these are simply ideas. Choose ones that you think your group will love.

No Mess Fingerpaint

What you’ll need:

  • Sturdy gallon-sized Ziploc bags
  • Washable tempera paint (in squeeze bottles), in primary colors

Put a little bit of a couple of different colors in the bag and seal it up. Two primary colors (yellow, red, blue) or black or white work well. Tape the bags to a table on all four sides. Ask the kids what will happen when we mix the colors together? Let them mix them up and talk about what happens together. Try more colors if you like.

Ramp Rolling

  • Triangular block, or ramp, with at least a 1.5” rolling surface
  • Blocks in various shapes, round and square, small toys
  • Surface coverings, such as wax paper, sandpaper

Build a small ramp out of some blocks or something similar. Then test various items to see whether they roll or do not roll down the ramp. Ask the children to make predictions, and to see if they are right! Use items of different weights and textures, and try them on different surfaces.

Paper Drop
This is a very simple activity that requires only two pieces of copy paper and a basic curiosity about air resistance. First, hold up two sheets of paper. Ask the kids to predict which one will fall faster. Drop both, discuss the results. Then, crumple up one of the sheets into a tight ball. Have a few other objects kids can test, like a feather, a scarf, a ball, etc. Which one do they think will hit the floor faster? Why?

Balloon Science

What you’ll need:

  • Balloons
  • Salt
  • Paper

Questions to ask: What do you think will happen when you rub your balloon on your head? What if you put the balloon close to the salt after you rub it? Do you think the balloon will stick to anything else? Encourage the children to make a prediction and explore it!Tip: Don’t blow up all the balloons beforehand—just do a few for the activity station, and then you can send home extras if families want to try at home. Remind them not to throw balloons all over the library! This activity works best on a dry day.

Does it Sink or Float?

What you’ll need:

  • A large pan, bin, or bowl filled with water
  • Heavy things and light things: such as foam bugs, pennies, paper clips, feathers, plastic blocks

What you’ll do: Ask the children to pick an object they would like to experiment with. Do you think it will sink or float? Why?

Mystery Bottles

What you’ll need:

  • Food coloring (optional)
  • Water
  • Oil (cooking or baby oil works well)
  • Tape

What you do:Take an empty, clear, plastic bottle and fill it half way up with water. Put in a little food coloring in whatever color you like. Fill the rest of the bottle up with vegetable oil or baby oil. Close the lid tightly and tape it closed. Give it to your child to play with. The oil and the water won’t mix, so your child will see some interesting things.

What you or parents can say: “What is happening in the bottle? What colors do you see? Can you shake the bottle? What happens? What do you think is inside the bottle?

The Floating Cheese Puff!

What you need:

  • Bendy straws
  • Cheese puffs

What you do:A picture says it all:

This activity works best with older kids or adults and younger kids working together. Ask the kids: What’s going on? How is the cheese puff staying in the air? Could we try it with any other objects?

Is it Magnetic?

What you need:

  • A strong magnet
  • Various objects, some magnetic some not
  • If you branch has a "Magnet Magic" Math and Science Kit this is a great time to pull it out!

What you do:Let the kids make predictions and then test out which things are magnetic and which are not. You can make a chart or set up a station like this:

You can find other fun magnet experiment ideas here:

Diluted Bubble Solutions:

What you need:

Bubble solution

Water

Containers

What you do:

Make several versions of bubble solution, each one with a larger proportion of water to soap. Blow bubbles with each solution in turn, and invite the kids to observe the difference as the solution grows more dilute.

More ideas!

  • FromPreschool Science:
  • Tin can phone
  • Autumn leaf sort
  • Spider vs. Insect snack(you can do this with marshmallows)
  • Marble Obstacle course
  • Mirror Fun
  • Healthy Food Hunt
  • Shadow Puppets(These are a little complicated.You can make simple ones with just simple shapes.)
  • Activities from Child Care Lounge

Clean-up:Encourage everyone to help with clean-up.

Give parents their take home book andTake Home Sheetor use the blanktakehome sheet templateto create your own.

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To the adults:Today we focused onTALKING, an important early literacy practice. Find fun ways to talk with your child or get your child talking during the day. Make any activity into a conversation, and encourage their observations.If English isn't your first language, make sure to talk to your child in the language you know best. Have fun!

Throughout the Ready, Set, Kindergarten! program, we have explored ways to read and learn with your child that will help get them ready for school. Even though the program is ending, you can continue these best practices at home with your child.* Read with them often, engage them in conversation and exploration, ask them questions and listen to the answers, and encourage them to scribble, sing, and investigate to their hearts’ content. Above all, have fun!

*Also, you can let the parents know that we have learning links and materials on our website—on the First Five Years page.

Closing song or rhyme: "The More We Get Together"

The more we get together

Together, together

The more we get together

The happier we'll be

Cause your friends are my friends

And my friends are your friends

The more we get together

The happier we'll be

Alternate closing song:

Tickle the Clouds (source:Miss Meg’s Storytime)

Tickle the clouds
Tickle your toes
Turn around
Tickle your nose
Reach down low
Reach up high
The stories are over,
Wave bye-bye!

Summary:

Practice: TALKING

Theme: Science

Program goals:

Introduce parents to the benefits of TALKING, which can help children articulate thoughts and tell what they observe.Help parents realize that children are very observant naturally and they are already are doing science when they talk about how things look, sound like, feel like and taste like.

Suggested Books:

Picture Book:Green is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors, by Roseanne Thong

Picture Book:Ask Me, by Bernard Waber

Picture Book:Row, Row, Row Your Boat, by Jane Cabrera

Picture Book:Wait, by Antoinette Portis

Alternate Titles:(see booklist for this session)

I Spy in the Sky by Edward Gibbs

Tuesdayby David Weisner

A Color of HisOwn by Leo Lionni

Leavesby David Ezra Stein

A Busy Year by Leo Lionni

Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bonesby Byron Barton

Waiting for Wingsby Lois Ehlert

My Five Sensesby Aliki

My Carby Byron Barton
Dinosaurs, Dinosaursby Byron Barton

The Little Red Henby Byron Barton

The Curious Gardenby Peter Brown (be sure to mention it's inspired by the High Line!)

Red Eyed TreeFrogby Joy Cowley

Eating the Alpby Lois Ehlert

And Then It's Springby Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Dogsby Emily Gravett

My Gardenby Kevin Henkes

Stuckby Oliver Jeffers

Moveby Steve Jenkins

The Carrot Seed,by Ruth Krauss

Animal Snackersby Betsy Lewin (read selections)

Brown, Brown Bear, What do You See?by Bill Martin Jr. ; illustrated by Eric Carle

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?by Bill Martin Jr. ; illustrated by Eric Carle

Ten Little Caterpillarsby Bill Martin Jr. ; illustrated by Lois Ehlert

Bring on the Birdsby Susan Stockdale

Little Red Hen Makes a Pizzaby Philemon Sturges, illustrated by Amy Walrod

Seven Blind Miceby Ed Young

Rah Rah RadishesbyApril PulleySayre

Go Go Grapesby April PulleySayre

I Spy on the Farm by Edward Gibbs

I Spy Under the Sea by Edward Gibbs