Posts Tagged ‘reading’
Start the Week With Words!
Posted on: April 4, 2011
- In: authors | books | early literacy | elementary | emergent literacy | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | preschool | read alouds | toddler | Uncategorized | west palm beach public library
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Here is a Spring-y poem for young and old!
The alliteration and repetition build important early literacy skills such as phonetic awareness and vocabulary. Read this to your babies, or help your older children recite this playful poem!
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Nibble Nibble Nibble
~By Margaret Wise Brown
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Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
And the mouse in my heart is
You.
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Lippity Lippity Clip
Goes the rabbit in my heart
Lippity Lippity Clip
Goes the rabbit in my heart
Lippity Lippity Clip
Goes the rabbit in my heart
And the rabbit in my heart is
You.
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Flippity Flippity Flop
Goes the fish in my heart
Flippity Flippity Flop
Goes the fish in my heart
Flippity Flippity Flop
Goes the fish in my heart
And the fish in my heart is
You.
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Biff Bang Bang
Goes the hammer in my heart
Biff Bang Bang
Goes the hammer in my heart
Biff Bang Bang
Goes the hammer in my heart
And the hammer in my heart is
You.
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Drum Drum Drum
Goes the drum in my heart
Drum Drum Drum
Goes the drum in my heart
Drum Drum Drum
Goes the drum in my heart
And the drum in my heart is
You.
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Softly now beats the beat of my heart
Softly now beats the beat of my heart
Softly now beats the beat of my heart
All for the love of you.
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From the book Nibble Nibble by Margaret Wise Brown. Paintings by Wendell Minor. HarperCollins. 1987.
Check this out to view the beautiful illustrations!
Whether you are heading to the stadium, watching on TV, or signing up to play, baseball season is here! The game of baseball has evolved over time, catching on and becoming uniquely American in the 1850s! Now a national pastime, the game is part of our culture in the form of family traditions, movies, heroes, and even poems! One of the most famous baseball poems is Casey at the Bat. It was written in 1888 by Ernest L. Thayer. This poem tells a gripping tale about a fictional baseball team, the ‘Mudville nine’ and star player, Casey.
Please enjoy this excerpt of Casey at the Bat. Visit the library to check out the complete poem!
Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888.
The out look wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day’
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
[...]
Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
[...]
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.
- In: authors | books | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | read alouds | reading | Uncategorized | west palm beach public library
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A few weeks ago, a NASA spacecraft took some pictures of a passing comet!
Click here to see the pictures!
Read this poem about comets and space!
Comet
Ice, rock, dirt,
Metal and gas -
Around the sun
A comet may pass.
A dirty snowball
Of space debris.
The biggest snowball
That you’ll ever see.
BABIES…BABIES…BABIES
Posted on: February 22, 2011
- In: authors | baby | books | child development | early literacy | emergent literacy | kids events | Literacy | newborn | parenting | read alouds | reading | storytime | Uncategorized | west palm beach public library
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Reading books to babies just sounds like a crazy idea, doesn’t it?
Think again!
Some mothers-to-be even read to their baby before it’s even born! If that sounds silly to you, think again. There are many reasons to read to a baby. For one thing, hearing words helps to build a big network of words in a baby’s brain. By reading to a baby, we can increase their language as they grow and develop.
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When we hold a baby close to us and read, it creates a special bond between the baby and the adult. Not only does he learn the sound of words and see new pictures of the world, he becomes a good listener in the process. It’s especially nice if you read some stories to your baby before bedtime. It’s a very calming experience once they get used to the idea. It also helps create a routine, which is so important when it’s time to get the baby to bed and to sleep for the night.
Babies watch everything we do. When you read to a baby, he watches you turn the pages. It’s a basic concept that he is learning about a book. Then he’s old enough, he can begin to turn the pages as you read. You will also catch him playing with a book and turning the pages as he pretends to read.
Babies learn by touching, too. Babies like to teethe on books to find out what they’re all about. Cloth and vinyl books are great for babies. Vinyl ones can even go in the bathtub. Who says you have to sit in a chair to read a book?
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There are wonderful board books at our library for you to enjoy with your baby. We even have Bumbo seats to hold up the babies that can’t sit up by themselves yet.
Babies are not born loving books. It’s something we teach them. Bring your baby to the library for a new experience. Sit in a Bumbo seat and read a board book together.
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Visit a baby storytime on Fridays at 10:30 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. You’ll experience singing, dancing, books, and lots of movement. It’s fun for babies and you! Call 868-7703 to reserve a spot for you and your baby today.
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Judy
Have you heard about Flat Stanley?
He’s the boy who was flattened by a bulletin board! You’d think that being flattened by a bulletin board would have put an end to all his adventures, but Stanley went on even more amazing adventures after becoming flat. He’s traveled by mail to and from all sorts of exotic locations, like Africa, Egypt, Japan, Mexico and Mount Rushmore. Once he even went into space!
Last week we, the Saturday Kids’ Club, celebrated Flat Stanley and his journeys to far off places! After reading The Mount Rushmore Calamity we got together, talked about out the story and then each of us made a Flat Stanley of our own.
Next we had to decide where to mail Flat Stanley. We wrote letters to our friends and family asking them to take a picture with Flat Stanley and then mail him back to us (with a picture of his adventure too)!
Click HERE for more Flat Stanley books!
Also, if you have a child in second or third grade, check out the Saturday Kids’ Club! We’re reading Dinosaurs BeforeDark before we come together again on March 12th @ 2!
Stay tuned! We’ll write more about Flat Stanley’s future fun!
Ms. Kathy
- In: authors | books | early literacy | educational | elementary | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | read alouds | reading | Uncategorized | west palm beach | west palm beach public library
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Poetry can be read for beauty, emotion, action, and to learn! The rhythm and rhyme transform the words from vocabulary and fact to meaningful pieces that stick in your mind. Music too has a great effect on memory.
The following poem is from the book Count me a rhyme: Animal poems by the numbers by Jane Yolen. As children go through the pages, new animals are featured for them to count along with reading or listening to the poem.
To count the rest of your way through the book, check it out today! See below for more poetry that include a lesson.
Six Spiders Spinning
by Jane Yolen
Six spiders spinning
A long and glittering strand;
Six spiders shinnying
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
Six spiders throwing
Out a glistering strand;
Six spiders going
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
Six spiders hurrying
Down a glistening strand;
Six spiders scurrying
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
Six spiders creeping
Upon a glimmering strand;
Six spiders sleeping
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
From the book: Count me a rhyme: Animal poems by the numbers. By Jane Yolen. Photographs by Jason Stemple.
Black History Month begins in a few days. There is so much wonderful poetry out there celebrating African American culture. I have listed a number of our books full of poetry.
Check one out today!
Here is one of my favorite children’s poems by Nikki Giovanni.
The Reason I Like Chocolate
By Nikki Giovanni
The reason I like chocolate
is I can lick my fingers
and nobody tells me I’m not polite
I especially like scary movies
’cause I can snuggle with Mommy
or my big sister and they don’t laugh
I like to cry sometimes ’cause
everybody says “what’s the matter
don’t cry”
and I like books
for all those reasons
but mostly ’cause they just make me
happy
and I really like
to be happy
From the book:
The Block. Poems by Langston Hughes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Viking. 1995.
(includes 1 audio cd. *hear Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Queen Latifa, and more…)
Results are tallied and winners are in for the most prominent children’s book awards! The American Library Association has announced the youth media award winners, something that makes us in the library profession very excited!
The John Newberry Medal for “the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature goes to Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.
The Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished picture book for children goes to A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and Illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Check out the link for these and other awards here:
Have you met Sam yet?
Posted on: January 12, 2011
Hey…have you met Sam yet? I was introduced to Sam quite a few years ago, but my grandson is just getting to know him and his friends, Mat and Cat. My 4 year old grandson was so excited last week when we met for dinner at a restaurant that his mother had to write words on a paper dinner napkin so he could read them to me. These are the first words he has learned to sound out all by himself and he is ecstatic about reading them! He read his first book last week about Sam all by himself.
In case you haven’t met up with Sam yet, you can find whole sets of Bob Books in our library. You will not only meet Sam, but other characters like Jig the Pig, and Dot and Mit. They all have a story to tell. I have to warn you if you haven’t read any of these books before, some of them are pretty silly.
If you’re just learning to sound out words and need some practice, bring your mom or dad down to the library and check out a Play Pak. There’s one called “Make-A-Word” that is awesome. Look inside for “Flip-It”. I want to challenge you to read the whole book, nonsense words and all. I can’t wait to show that one to my grandson. Be sure to ask a librarian to help you find the Bob Books and the Play Paks next time you come to visit!
Happy New Year!
Posted on: January 5, 2011
Happy New Year!
There’s always something exciting about this time of year! It’s more than a slight chill in the air; the sense of possibilities for the upcoming year is palpable. It’s a great time to think about all the ways we want to grow this year. Here are a few of my resolutions for the upcoming year:
1. Learn about the world
My husband and I just took our honeymoon and rang in the New Year in France, but it’s easy to travel the world from the comfort of West Palm Beach. We loved looking through the book This is Paris by M. Sasek before we left!
2. Learn to Crochet
I’ve wanted to learn to knit or crochet for years, and this year I’m taking lessons at a local knitting shop! The library has lots of books full of super cute things I can make once I the hang of this! I love these flowers:
Do you want to learn how to knit? Stop by KidSpace every Wednesday between 3 and 4:30 for the knitting club!
3. Practice cooking and share what I know:
I get a kick out of Julia Child. This year I want to learn more about the ins and outs of why cooking works. There are even rumblings of a series of kids cooking classes here in KidSpace…stay tuned! In the meantime, check out these super fun books that inspire me to make new things:
and Cake Pops
Who else has New Years resolutions they’d like to share? We’d love to hear them here!
See you soon!
Ms. Kathy
