CLEL'S new site, www.StoryBlocks.org, has videos of several songs that would be wonderful shared between parent and child, or in a library storytime. Young children LOVE to sing, so why not include several songs in your storytime? Singing is a perfect way to reinforce phonological awareness and introduce new vocabulary. Why not have an all-song storytime: SING your books rather than reading them, to encourage print motivation! Some of the books I enjoy singing aloud are:
Hort, Lenny. The Seals on the Bus. Ask the kids which animals they'd find on the bus and make those sounds too!- Diaz, David. De Colores. Great song, great illustrations. I sing the Spanish and read the English.
- Aylesworth, Jim. Old Black Fly. Years ago, a librarian I worked with in NYC sang this book. Now I do it the same way, with a bluesy tune. The kids help out, singing and waving their hands, on "Shoo fly, shoo fly, shoo!"
- Ward, Jennifer. Over in the Garden or Way Up in the Arctic. To the traditional tune "Over in the Meadow". The music is included if you're not sure of the tune.
- Trapani, Iza. Itsy Bitsy Spider, I'm a Little Teapot, and others.
What are some of your favorite books to sing?
Comments
A couple more
Teddy Bear's Picnic is odd and in a minor key -- but it transfixes a preschool crowd. Also, I like to sing Barnyard Banter to the tune of "Skip to my Lou." Superfun!
singable books
What about Pete the Cat: I love my white shoes by Eric Litwin?
Sing a Story
You can sing Bill Martin's Brown Bear to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
I clap as we "read" I Went Walking by Sue Williams
There is always the Five Little Ducks, Five Little Monkeys, The Wheels on the Bus,The Bear Went Over the Mountain and such traditonal favorites
Linda Pannuto
Sing a Story
I've enjoyed singing the book Down by the Station by Will Hillenbrand. I see there's a newer version too. It's Down by the Station by Jennifer Riggs Vetter. I'll have to look at that. It looks like a fun book too.
Favorite songbooks
For Baby times, I loved singing to the Jim Prater "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" board book. It's big enough to use with a small group and the moms had such fun making the babies be the mountain and their fingers be the bear.
Another one I've loved is "Little White Duck" by Walt Whippo as sung by Burl Ives. I made a flannel board and it was always a hit.
The sad thing is both of these seem to be out of print. Boo, Bah, humbug.