Get Out the Vote Library Style!

Our 2013 ballots were sent to the schools today! Children K-12 should drop their ballots off at the Library by 6pm on November 5th. Let your voice be heard and earn a free pizza and ice cream party for your whole entire grade!

The ballot box is located near the Children DVDs and Jenna's desk, in the back of the Library. Be sure to pick up your treat (only when Jenna is in the Library) or free bookmark just for dropping off that ballot of yours!

Questions on this year's ballot differ by age group and may include:
-Vote for one favorite pizza topping.
-What is your favorite thing about Fall Creek Public Library?
-Circle two things you wish the Fall Creek Public Library offered.
-Vote for two items you would like to see available at the Fall Creek Public Library.
-What is your favorite children's book?
-What is your favorite movie that came out in 2013?
-What is your favorite animal?
-If you could, how often would you come to the Fall Creek Public Library.

Happy Voting!

Pizza Storytime October 16, 2013

Thank you to Pizza Hut, Pizza Plus, Toppers, Mancinos, and Pizza del Ray for donating pizza boxes. We used them so every child could go home with their very own "I am a Pizza" storyboard.

Welcome song: Hello, How are You? by Dr. Jean. Again, because of flu and cold season, instead of shaking hands, we wave hands.

Fingerplay: Little Pizzas
1 little 2 little 3 little pizzas
4 little 5 little 6 little pizzas
7 little 8 little 9 little pizzas.
10 pizzas in the oven.
10 little 9 little 8 little pizza
7 little 6 little 5 little pizzas
4 little 3 little 2 little pizzas
1 pizza in my stomach.

Book: Secret Pizza Party by Adam Rubin















Feltboard and Song: I am a Pizza by Charlotte Diamond
Instead of listening to the CD, we sang is as a repeat and answer song. We did it twice so each child had an opportunity to bring a piece of the pizza up front to the feltboard. Also, Jenna's French is very fuzzy so we did not sing the French lyrics.

Book: Pete's a Pizza by William Steig














Song: Pepperoni Pizza by Dr. Jean
Before the song, I held up each letter card and we practiced the sound that letter makes. During the song, I held up the appropriate letter card. The letters are: P, B, M, L, R, Z, Y.

Book: Hi, Pizza Man by Virgina Walter
During the story, the children took turns dinging a bell while everyone else sang out "Ding, dong" like a doorbell. It worked out perfectly; we had the exact number of children this day as there are times to ring the doorbell in the story.

Goodbye songs

Then I passed out the pizza boxes. Each pizza box included the words to "I am a Pizza" by Charlotte Diamond, pictures of the pizza ingredients for them to cut out, and they got to choose which color brown they liked their crust (construction paper).

Moldy Cheese Day Storytime

Today is National Moldy Cheese Day! FYI - we focused on the cheese, not the moldy, part!

Hello, How are You? by Dr. Jean

Cheese Please - i had a print out with the words and ASL for "cheese," "please," and "love" for the adults. The song goes like this:
Cheese, cheese, cheese, we love cheese
Please, please, please, give us cheese.
We love white cheese, yes we do.
Orange cheese tastes wonderful, too.
Yellow cheese for me and you
Oh, we love cheese.

We went through the signs then did the song twice.

Thanks, Mom! by Ed Emberly

Activity: Farmer in the Dell
I made character necklaces - one for each child and adult - and when we reached their character, they stood up and got to dance around.








Chorale Reading: I Went Walking

Taste Testing Chart
We tasted three different cheeses: sharp cheddar cheese, string cheese, and mozzarella cheese. While they ate their cheeses, I read "The Stinky Cheese Man." After they were done eating, they came up and marked a line under their favorite cheese. Then we counted out how many people liked each cheese, which had more likes, and which had the least.

Poem: "My Mouse is Rather Fond of Cheese" in My Hippo Has the Hiccups by Kenn Nesbitt

Goodbye Songs

After Storytime, I brought out some playdough mats and fun foam for the kids and adults to play with. BIG HIT!


Next week: PIZZA!! (Sorry, no taste testing!)

Library Camp: Insect Week

We tried a new program in September: Library Camp. Children K-7th grade were invited and had to be pre-registered for each day they were going to attend. We had 4-9 kids attend Monday-Thursday. Unfortunately, we had to cancel Friday due to low registration.

Here is what we did each day.

MONDAY:

Snack: maggots and ants on a log

Completed snails

Playing "SLUG" (a version of SPUD but with hula hoops and frisbees instead of basketball)

Playing SLUG

Free play: Some chose to put on a puppet show!

Some children chose to make another snail or "create your own insect" during Free Play

Create your own insects and snails

We started Monday with expectations, two stories, and a get to know you game. Then we made snails out of paper scraps, google eyes, paper plates, glue, and tape. Then we had snack. We made maggots (yogurt covered raisins) and ants (raisins) on a log. Then we went outside to play SLUG, which is like basketball SPUD but with homemade frisbees and a hula hoop. Then we came back inside for Free Play. The children could choose to make their own insect, quiet reading, or a puppet show.

TUESDAY: 

Ladybug snack - apples, green cake frosting, craisins, peanut butter

Fingerprint insects

Library Scavenger Hunt

Learning about Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches with Toby Jacobson

Magnolia with a cockroach

On Tuesday, we again went through expectations and read two stories. Then we made our Ladybug snack. Then we made insect creatures with our fingerprints and went on a Library Scavenger Hunt. Then we learned about Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches and even got to hold and touch some! Then we had free play in the Library where children could choose a quiet activity to do alone or with a friend.

WEDNESDAY: 

Beaver Creek Reserve visited with their Dress a Butterfly program

Snack - build a spider web out of chips (the spider) string cheese (the web OR legs) and animal crackers (stuck in the web)

Wednesday started out with Dress a Butterfly with Beaver Creek Reserve. We learned all about monarchs, including an interactive walk through their life cycle. Then we made a spider web snack, which the kiddos REALLY enjoyed. They took quite a bit of time making their webs that we only had time for a story and then free play - no art activity that day!

THURSDAY:

Getting supplies together at Randall Park

Footbridge on the walking trail at Keller Park

Drawing and writing what is in his small circle at Randall Park

Investigating the ground on the walking trail at Keller Park

Keller Park 

drawing what she sees in her large circle at Keller Park

On Thursday, we walked to Randall Park and had a snack at the picnic table: graham crackers and granola bars. We spent about 20 minutes exploring the ground. Each child had paper, coloring pencils, a footlong string, and a 4 footlong string. First they made circles with their strings and examined everything they could find in those circles. They could draw pictures and/or write down what they saw. Then they could dig under the soil and move things around to see if they could find any evidence that insects had been there. Then, we walked the trail in Keller Park and did the same thing. I also had a few magnifying glasses they could use. When we got back to the Library, we shared and discussed what we found in our circles. We also discussed the differences between the parks and how the ground would look different during the different seasons.

What a great week!