Sign Language Storytime: Numbers and Counting 2

My Sign Language Storytime format is:
Intro and hello
Felt story
Movement song or video
Book
Movement song
Goodbye

This storytime has a laid back atmosphere and is always a great forum for me to try out my new ideas. When it began I tried introducing an AV element, and that went over very well. I also usually include a handout for parents so that they can follow along with the signs (although I didn't make a handout this month). The people who come to this storytime are open to new ideas and don't expect anything from month to month, so they go with the flow if I decide to mix it up! This month instead of a felt story, I did two interactive books and a YouTube video.

Intro and hello:
Hello: "Hello Friends"
Before turning on the music, I teach the kids (and grownups) the American Sign Language sign for "friends." Then we boogie, wave, and sing hello to all our friends!

Warming Up Motor Skills: "Open, Shut Them"

On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

Stretch: "Tall/Small"

This is a short, easy stretch the kids get a kick out of. While we're stretching, I like to encourage them to reach for the ceiling, touch their toes, then make themselves into a tiny ball.

Story

I Know Numbers! by Taro Gomi
Taro Gomi is one of my favorite children's authors. He is sparing in his use of words, and the art in his books look almost like very intentional collages. I have several Gomi standbys that I use often, and I think I Know Numbers! has just joined that list. It explains locations where you might find numbers and math in everyday life, which starts children noticing numbers as they move about their day.

Video

"One From the Left" by Jim Gill

During the video, I encouraged everyone to practice along. This is just a fingerplay, not traditional sign language, but I went over the differences with the group before the video to make sure there was no confusion. 

Story

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean

I like asking the kids to sing along with me each time we sing the button song.

Movement Song
"Jumping and Counting"
This song gives a great opportunity to get all the wiggles out, and sneaks in some counting as well.

Goodbye

"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box

When we sing this song, I help them recall the sign for friends from the hello song, and teach them a couple others as we sing: meet, time, and say.

Friends

Meet

Goodbye

This is the only storytime that I don't close with bubbles, because directly following is another program called Stay and Play where I set out 4-5 bins of toys for a 30 minute free play. Adding bubbles to that seems to be too much stimulation.

Sign Language Storytime: Things That Go

My Sign Language Storytime format is:
Intro and hello
Felt story
Movement song or video
Book
Movement song
Goodbye

This storytime is special for a couple of reasons. First, it's the only one that I give a handout with pictures of the signs on it, so that the kids and grownups can refer to it during storytime and then practice at home. Second, I'm experimenting with adding an AV component to storytime by showing videos to follow along with instead of just listening to songs.

Handout:

Intro and hello:

Hello: "Hello Friends"
Before turning on the music, I teach the kids (and grownups) the American Sign Language sign for "friends." Then we boogie, wave, and sing hello to all our friends!

Warming Up Motor Skills: "Open, Shut Them"
On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

Stretch: "Tall/Small"
This is a short, easy stretch the kids get a kick out of. While we're stretching, I like to encourage them to reach for the ceiling, touch their toes, then make themselves into a tiny ball.

Felt Story
"This Little Train"
To the tune of "This Old Man." Bolded text is where I encourage storytimers to sing along.
Start out with just the tracks on the board, add each train car with their verses.

This little train, painted black (add black engine)
It comes chugging down the track
With a choo-coo, toot-toot, hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

This little car, painted blue (add blue train car)
It has seats for me and you
With a choo-coo, toot-toot, hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

This little car, painted yellow (add yellow train car)
It shimmies and shakes like a bowl of jello
With a choo-coo, toot-toot, hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

This little car, painted green (add green train car)
It's the fanciest train car you've ever seen
With a choo-coo, toot-toot, hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

These train tracks, metal and gray (point to tracks)
They take you places far away
With a choo-coo, toot-toot, hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

This caboose, painted red (add caboose)
It will take you home to bed
With a choo-coo, toot-toot, hear the whistle blow
This little train goes chugging home.

Movement Song
"Five Little Monkeys"

I decided not to use a video this month, because I once again could not find one with signs relating to our theme that presented a good amount of signs in an accessible way. So, we learned the signs for "boat" and "bus," then rocked out to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "Wheels on the Bus."

Book

Trashy Town by Andrea Zimmerman

This book is one of the few that is great for toddlers and preschoolers alike. Even if you don't want to use the official signs for "truck" and "town," it still has a great opportunity for repetition and directed movement. The kids love being included when it's time to "Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the trashy town!" An added bonus is, the universal sign everyone uses when pretending to drive a car is actually the official sign for car or truck! 

Movement Song
"Hurry, Hurry, Drive That Firetruck"

Since we already learned the sign for truck (on the handout above), I gave a bonus sign, "fire," and then we practiced our sign for "firetruck" between the usual movements in this song. A lot of the older kiddos seemed delighted to know the sign for firetruck, which was really fun to watch.

Fire

Goodbye
"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
When we sing this song, I help them recall the sign for friends from the hello song, and teach them a couple others as we sing: meet, time, and say.

Friends

Meet

Goodbye

This is the only storytime that I don't close with bubbles, because directly following is another program called Stay and Play where I set out 4-5 bins of toys for a 30 minute free play. Adding bubbles to that seems to be too much stimulation.

Sign Language Storytime: Families

My Sign Language Storytime format is:
Intro and hello
Felt story
Movement song or video
Book
Movement song
Goodbye

This storytime is special for a couple of reasons. First, it's the only one that I give a handout with pictures of the signs on it, so that the kids and grownups can refer to it during storytime and then practice at home. Second, I'm experimenting with adding an AV component to storytime by showing videos to follow along with instead of just listening to songs.

Handout: 

Intro and hello:
Hello: "Hello Friends"
Before turning on the music, I teach the kids (and grownups) the American Sign Language sign for "friends." Then we boogie, wave, and sing hello to all our friends!

Warming Up Motor Skills: "Open, Shut Them"
On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

Stretch: "Tall/Small"
This is a short, easy stretch the kids get a kick out of. While we're stretching, I like to encourage them to reach for the ceiling, touch their toes, then make themselves into a tiny ball.

Felt Story
"With My Family"
I am proud to announce that I made this felt story myself, and came up with the rhyme mostly on my own with some suggestions from various internet sites made my preschool teachers and other librarians.

If you have a group of younger or wigglier kiddos, it's not necessary to do every verse. They might not sit through them all.

I usually just use the family signs and "like," but I sometimes like to throw in "play" and "sing" for an older or more focused group:

Like

Play

Sing

Before each verse, I hold up the family member and have the kids guess which family member it could be. I'm disappointed in the heteronormativity of this family, but this family looks like the majority of the ones who regularly attend my storytimes.

To the tune of "The Muffin Man"
Add each family member as you sing about them.

Tell me when you like to do, like to do, like to do
Tell me what you like to do with your family.

I like to play with my toys, with my toys, with my toys
I like to play with my toys with my daddy.

I like to sing silly songs, silly songs, silly songs
I like to sing silly songs with my mommy.

I like to play at the park, at the park, at the park
I like to ply at the park with my sister.

I like to eat yummy food, yummy food, yummy food
I like to eat yummy food with my brother.

I like to take fun trips, take fun trips, take fun trips
I like to take fun trips with Grandma and Grandpa.

I like to play fetch outside, fetch outside, fetch outside
I like to play fetch outside with my puppy.

Tell me what you like to do, like to do, like to do
Tell me what you like to do with your family!

Movement Song
"Five Little Monkeys"
I decided not to use a video this month, because I couldn't find one with family signs that I loved. So, we did Five Little Monkeys because it talks about a monkey family and helps us practice the sign for "mom," as well as some others that might come up in daily conversation like "all done."

Number signs

Monkey

Jumping

Fall off

Hurt head

Mom

No more/All done

Book
Families, Families, Families by Suzanne Lang
I love this book! It doesn't have a lot of words, but it does the important job of showing all kinds of families. Single parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, same-sex parents, only children, and kids with lots of siblings are all celebrated through the accessible language of "some children have..."

Movement Song
"You're Wonderful" by Debbie Clements
It's not necessarily about families, but this is one of my favorite storytime songs because it's all about celebrating yourself and your loved ones. It's also a slow, mellow song to sign to.

Wonderful/Marvelous

Beautiful

Magical

Filled

Curiosity

Dreams

Goodbye
"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
When we sing this song, I help them recall the sign for friends from the hello song, and teach them a couple others as we sing: meet, time, and say.

Friends

Meet

Goodbye

This is the only storytime that I don't close with bubbles, because directly following is another program called Stay and Play where I set out 4-5 bins of toys for a 30 minute free play. Adding bubbles to that seems to be too much stimulation.

Sign Language Storytime: Bed Time

My Sign Language Storytime format is:
Intro and hello
Felt story
Movement song or video
Book
Movement song
Goodbye

This storytime is special for a couple of reasons. First, it's the only one that I give a handout with pictures of the signs on it, so that the kids and grownups can refer to it during storytime and then practice at home. Second, I'm experimenting with adding an AV component to storytime by showing videos to follow along with instead of just listening to songs.


Handout:

Intro and hello:
Hello: "Hello Friends"
Before turning on the music, I teach the kids (and grownups) the American Sign Language sign for "friends." Then we boogie, wave, and sing hello to all our friends!

Warming Up Motor Skills: "Open, Shut Them"
On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

Stretch: "Tall/Small"
This is a short, easy stretch the kids get a kick out of. While we're stretching, I like to encourage them to reach for the ceiling, touch their toes, then make themselves into a tiny ball.

Felt Story
"The Moon Up Above"
To the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus"
Bolded words correspond to signs from the handout

The moon up above is big and bright (put moon on board)

Big and bright, big and bright

The moon up above is big and bright

In the sky

The moon up above is near the stars (put stars on board)

Near the stars, near the stars

The moon up above is near the stars

In the sky

The moon up above helps me to sleep (put bed on board)

Me to sleep, me to sleep

The moon up above helps me to sleep

In my bed

Video
"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" by My Smart Hands
During the video, I encouraged everyone to practice along. Using videos in storytime is still something I'm trying out, but it's going well so far.

Book
It's Not Time for Sleeping (A Bedtime Story) by Lisa Graff
This book repeats the line "It's not time for sleeping," which I encouraged the kids and their grownups to repeat with me every time, along with practicing the sign for "sleep."

Movement Song
"Hush Little Baby"

A short and simple sign song. I usually play it twice through so everyone has a couple chances to learn the signs.

Goodbye
"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
When we sing this song, I help them recall the sign for friends from the hello song, and teach them a couple others as we sing: meet, time, and say.

Friends

Meet

Goodbye

This is the only storytime that I don't close with bubbles, because directly following is another program called Stay and Play where I set out 4-5 bins of toys for a 30 minute free play. Adding bubbles to that seems to be too much stimulation.

Sign Language Storytime: Animals

My Sign Language Storytime format is:
Intro and hello
Felt story
Movement song or video
Book
Movement song
Goodbye

This storytime is special for a couple of reasons. First, it's the only one that I give a handout with pictures of the signs on it, so that the kids and grownups can refer to it during storytime and then practice at home. Second, I'm experimenting with adding an AV component to storytime by showing videos to follow along with instead of just listening to songs.


Handout:

Intro and hello:
Hello: "Hello Friends"
Before turning on the music, I teach the kids (and grownups) the American Sign Language sign for "friends." Then we boogie, wave, and sing hello to all our friends!

Warming Up Motor Skills: "Open, Shut Them"

On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

Stretch: "Tall/Small"

This is a short, easy stretch the kids get a kick out of. While we're stretching, I like to encourage them to reach for the ceiling, touch their toes, then make themselves into a tiny ball.

Felt Story
"I Went to the Rescue Shelter"
This story was made by my coworker Sarah of Miss Sarah's Storytime.

I went to the rescue shelter and made a special wish.
The pet that I wanted was a very special...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "wish." When they guess right, put fish on the board)

I went to the rescue shelter while out for a jog.
I wanted a pet with a wagging talk. I found a little...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "jog." When they guess right, put dog on the board)

I went to the rescue shelter, I went there just like that.
Because I heard a little purr. It was a little...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "that." When they guess right, put cat on the board)

I went to the rescue shelter. It had become a habit.
The pet I wanted now was a soft and fluffy...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "habit." When they guess right, put rabbit on the board)

I went to the rescue shelter. I'm sure this sounds absurd,
But the pet that I wanted was a colorful flying...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "absurd." When they guess right, put bird on the board)

I went to the rescue shelter and it was no mistake.
The pet I really wanted now was a green and hissing...
(Have kids guess what animal rhymes with "mistake." When they guess right, put snake on the board)

Video
"ASL Animals Song" by My Smart Hands
During the video, I encouraged everyone to practice along. Using videos in storytime is still something I'm trying out, but it's going well so far.

Book
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carl
It's a classic, and a great book for practicing animal and color signs.

Movement Song
"Five Little Monkeys"

Numbers 1-5

Monkey

Jumping

Fall off

Hurt head

Mom

Call

No more/All done

Goodbye
"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box

When we sing this song, I help them recall the sign for friends from the hello song, and teach them a couple others as we sing: meet, time, and say.

Friends

Meet

Goodbye

This is the only storytime that I don't close with bubbles, because directly following is another program called Stay and Play where I set out 4-5 bins of toys for a 30 minute free play. Adding bubbles to that seems to be too much stimulation.