Because I've been so busy, I haven't even had time to post my internship updates! I'm really disappointed about that, because it would have been nice to have them all on here to go back and look at, but oh well, at least I can try to be more consistent with them from here on out!

 

Today I covered storytime for my supervisor, who was at a workshop. When she asked me to cover it last week, I decided to do a rainy day theme. It worked out perfectly, because today has been pretty rainy all day! 

 

We started as usual with our "Wiggle Fingers" rhyme. We always start with this rhyme because it adds consistency to storytime if there are a few things that are the same every week, and this rhyme in particular signals to the kids that it's time to settle down and pay attention. Here's how it goes: 

 

Wiggle wiggle fingers
Way up in the sky
Wiggle wiggle fingers

Wave them all bye-bye

Wiggle wiggle fingers

Fold them in a ball

Wiggle wiggle fingers

Do not let them fall. 

 

Then, we read Cloudette by Tom Lichtenheld. This is a cute story about a cloud who's too small to do things like cause a big snowstorm or replenish the Mississippi River, but she learns that even little clouds can do important things. Picking this one was kind of a gamble - it is right on target for preschoolers (age 4-5), but even though our storytime is advertised for that age group, we frequently get babies and toddlers, and this story is a bit lengthy for that age group. As it turns out, today was really toddler-heavy, but they did pretty well with it, though I do think most of the story went over their heads. 

 

We then sang and danced to "Bean Bag Rock." This is an action song that we use at every storytime, it's from Georgiana Stewart's Action Songs for Preschoolers and the kids love it. We give them bean bags so they can shake them during the song and it helps them get any jitters out of their system before we move on to the next story. 

 

Next was Drip Drop by Sarah Weeks. This is an easy reader and I usually don't use them during storytime, but it was a really cute story and wasn't too long, so I decided to go for it. The kids loved it! It's about a mouse who has a leaky roof and can't contain all the water. 

 

Next we did a flannel board activity with umbrellas. The kids identified the colors of the umbrellas that I put on the flannel board, and then we talked about what colors their umbrellas at home were. 

 

The last story that we read together was Rainy Day! by Patricia Lakin. It was about 4 alligators who decide they want to go outside even though it's raining, and ended with them reading books at the library, which was perfect! The kids liked this, but it was a bit long for the end of storytime. It gave us a good segue to the end of storytime, but I think it would have been more successful if I'd read it at the beginning, since the kids would've had a longer attention span then. 

 

We ended with "The Wheels on the Bus," and then the kids made an R for Rainy Day craft: 

 

I think the kids had a good time - some got really into decorating their R! One boy made a whole bunch of different colored "umbrellas" around the R and was super proud of himself when he showed them off to me and named each color correctly. Definitely a success! 

Cloudette is a little itty-bitty cloud. Generally, Cloudette saw the advantages of being small, like everyone calling her cute names and always being able to find a good spot to watch fireworks.But she wanted to do something important, something important like the big clouds got to do.One day, Cloudette got her chance.This little book about the power of a little cloud to make a little part of the world better made me very happy to read.“This gave Cloudette an idea…She held her breath until she started to puff up all over.Then she turned a nice blue-gray color.She kept growing until it looked like she was ready to burst.She shook her behind until it made a little rumbling sound---not quite what you’d call thunder, but enough to let people know they might want to grab an umbrella.Then she did what she’d wanted to do for ages.She let it pour.”

I bet there doesn't exist a better book about clouds. Cloudette is a precious little cloud who is seemingly content in her small size and finds plenty of positive advantages in being so but also has big dreams of making a difference in the world alongside her fellow cloud mates. I was completely taken with her charm and I imagine Cloudette is inspiring to those little ones whose dreams of making a difference in the world overcasts their stature.

Every time I read this, I love it a little more - the art, Cloudette's expressions, and the subtle message (which I do believe my 5-year-olds get). They love it too. Their favorite part is where they get to join in with the frogs to say "Ribbit" together.

The little cloud that could.