June 27 - B is for Bird

Stories:

Home for Bird by Philip C. Stead
Something Extraordinary by Ben Clanton

App activity:

Magnetic Alphabet - Listen for today's letter and word of the day. Spell your name. Switch with your neighbor and learn what letters are in their name!
SmartBoard by Greengar Studios - Practice writing the letter B. Draw a Bird! 

Music: 

"Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes"  My variation for this week... "Beak, Wings, Tail and Feet"

"Dancing Bear" by Bari Koral

Closing song: "I Am a Mountain" (artist unknown)

Additional activities:

Look at an image of a real bird and review parts of the bird. Additionally, remark on the names of the different parts of your family pet. Do the "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" body parts naming song and my variation of the song, "Beak, Wings, Tail and Feet". 

Additional Read:

Petites Choses by C'est Magnifique (iOS only, $1.99)
This is a wordless story app--at least that is how I would describe. Part puzzle and part story, your child goes on an adventure foraging for 6 matching colored keys to unlock the trapped bird in the cage when you first open the app.  There are no instructions so, experimentation is the key, (no pun intended) to collect each key. There is no specific order either. This app is great for an adult and a child to sit together and discuss colors and plan what to do together. It also gives a child plenty of opportunity to discover and explain (narrate) what he or she thinks is going on. If unsure of what to do next, a hand periodically helps by pointing at something. And, if you can't figure it out the first time, there is always tomorrow to try again at how to approach the problem in a different way. And, isn't that a great lesson!
Petites Choses by C'est Magnifique (iOS only, $1.99) Link to app in iTunes

Did you enjoy today's story time? Tell us using "Today's Storyapptations Poll". 

Have you signed up for the Summer Reading Program (June 11th - July 30th)? Provide incentives to make your child a life long reader! For more information click here.

June 13 - M is for Make (and Magnificent)

Stories:

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

App activity:

Magnetic Alphabet - Learn your letters. (Consonants and vowels).  Listen for today's letter and word. Spell your name, count the letters in your name. Count the letters in words. How many letters are in your name?
MarcoPolo's Ocean  app- we build our submersible and we explore the ocean! 

Music: 

"The Construction Worker Song" 
"Dancing Bear" by Bari Koral
Closing song: "I Am a Mountain" (artist unknown)

Additional Activities for home:

1. Word awareness activities. 

Download the Ocean app by MarcoPolo (click on Ocean to learn more) and continue the journey of exploring the sea. Observe and talk about the differences of what you find at deeper levels in the ocean. (Don't forget to rebuild your submersible and name the parts, like "porthole" and "periscope" and materials like "metal".  Don't forget to mention how "magnificent" an invention such as a submersible is.

2. Build something at home. Use some of the tools we learned about: wrench, hammer, sand paper...

Here are some ideas from: Intstructables.com

http://www.instructables.com/id/Wind-Up-Plastic-Bottle-Submarine/

and for the more ambitious: http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Baking-Powder-Submarine/

3. Use your library card to download ebooks and read on the go (for free) with the OverDrive App and your library card. For more information click here.

Summer Reading Program now online! Collect virtual badges, and earn tangible prizes by visiting the library during our Summer Reading Program! If you attend a story time, count it towards a book read! For Children 5 and under, set the books to count by "how many read". For children older than 5, set to "how many minutes" read. Sign up now for the free online program here! Happy reading!