Great Stories About Friends At the beginning of the school year, all our students are nervous to some degree about making friends. Some are feeling shy, or left out of groups of friends that may have formed last year, Others may feel confident, but lack the social skills needed to be friends – they haven’t […]
Category Archives: Stories
That time of year is almost here – September! It’s when early childhood teachers welcome new students – always an exciting and challenging time. It’s also when many of us start units on apples. They’re in season, and conveniently, they help children learn shapes (circles), colors (red, but sometimes green and yellow too), healthy eating, […]
“I’m the Best!” by Lucy Cousins “I’m the Best” is a wonderful story for music time or any time – young children LOVE it! No one can be the best at everything! Not even Dog. His confidence is great, but it goes a little too far. Because he can swim better than Donkey, dig better than […]
This article originally appeared in Teachers Net Gazette in May 2012. Using Puppets to Improve Reading Comprehension Have you ever heard anyone argue with a puppet? I have. I recently read “Henny Penny” to a class of four-year-olds. After the story, Henny Penny herself (in puppet form) came out of my bag, and she was […]
“Bear Flies High” by Michael Rosen There are two reasons I love “Bear Flies High”: first of all, it’s a gorgeous vision of summertime, with beach, ocean, seagulls, carnival rides, sunshine. and fun with friends. Secondly, as a music teacher, I love the lilting, rhythmic writing (which was also a feature of Rosen’s earlier book, […]
“Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum” by Lisa Wheeler How would you like a sure-fire, always successful read-aloud story for the young children you teach? Well, here it is. One of my students’ top favorites. Here’s the plot: Uh oh! A toad is just walking down the road when he accidentally steps in bubble gum. Ooey, gooey […]
“Where’s My Mom?” by Julia Donaldson Don’t you love the cover of this book? All of the illustrations are just as cute and original. The story is wonderful, and the musical possibilities make it a perfect choice for a Mother’s Day read-along. At first I worried that the plot of the story, about a little monkey who […]
“Ruben’s Jungle/La Selva de Ruben” by Carlos Harrison This very sweet story is great for any day, but if you’re looking for an accessible, developmentally appropriate book for young children to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, this is a fun one. It’s written in English, with the Spanish version underneath the English words on each page. […]
“Bob” by Tracey Campbell Pearson Yes, I know there are farmyards-full of children’s stories about roosters, and even a subgenre of books about roosters who, for some reason, can’t crow. Either they lost their crow in some mysterious mixup, have a sore throat, were raised by parents of another species or just never learned how. […]
Perros! Perros! Dogs! Dogs! by Ginger Foglesong Guy Here’s a story I’d absolutely love even if it didn’t teach several Spanish words in a natural, almost imperceptable, developmentally appropriate way – but it does. If you’re looking for a plot, you’re not going to find one, but most young children aren’t too picky about that. […]
Music (and Science) For Young Children 