Tag Archives: ukulele

Ukulele in Storytime: “You’ll Sing a Song”

27 Jan

It’s time for another edition of Ukulele in Storytime! This Ella Jenkins’ classic has become my new closing song and I’m loving it. It contains the G, Am, F and G7 chords. It’s pretty simple, though – you can learn it! I think it’s a nice quiet song to share with families and you can do any kind of action you want. In Ella’s version she has the kids pick the actions, which would be a nice option!

Shoutout to Storytime Ukulele for including the chords (two options!) so I could learn to play this!

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The Alphabet For Us: New Alphabet Song for Storytime!

23 Apr

Hey guys, I wrote a thing! This melody magically formed itself in my head one morning, and soon alphabet lyrics started joining it. I had the good sense to record it on a voice recorder, and later I fleshed out the lyrics. I tried to use words that don’t appear in lots of alphabet songs but might be somewhat familiar (except for the Xantus, of course. I had to google that one).

Here’s the tune and ukulele chords! The lyrics are written below. As I say in the video, the fun part is that you can substitute any words you want for each of the letters – except maybe for the last two verses, as those are the ones that rhyme. Put in silly words, vocabulary words, new words, whatever! (Thanks Julie for the suggestion!)

Alphabet For Us from Mary K on Vimeo.

A is for Airplane, and B is for Bug,

C is for Cupcake, and D is for Dog,

E is for Eggplant, and F is for Fun,

And that’s the way the alphabet’s done.

G is for Gumdrop, and H is for House,

I is for Ice Cube, and J is for Jump,

K is for Kitchen, and L is for Land,

And that’s what makes the alphabet grand.

M is for Mushroom, and N is for Nose,

O is for Octopus, and P is for Pants,

Q is for Quiet, and R is for Run,

And that’s the way the alphabet’s done.

S is for Sandbox, and T is for Toes,

U is for Underwear, and V is for Vine,

W is for Walrus, and X is for Xantus (a kind of hummingbird),

And Y and Z end the alphabet for us.

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Ukulele in Storytime: 5 Green and Speckled Frogs

9 Aug

Like most people, I think I sound weird when listening to or watching myself. But maybe it won’t sound weird to you. The latest, seriously overdue, edition of ukulele in storytime features “5 Green and Speckled Frogs” which is, in my world, a storytime staple. So get out your ukes, friends, and learn the D chord with me if you don’t already know it!

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Photo Friday?

2 Aug

Alas, I have no Flannel Friday post today. Just haven’t made any new flannels lately, and we’ve been busy ’round these parts with lots of (good) changes. I have several storytime plans I need to write up for y’all, and will get to those ASAP.

However, in the meantime, I give you….

Cat. Napping on Ukulele.

Image

 

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Ukulele in Storytime: Sleeping Bunnies

10 Mar

Hi! Welcome to another installment of watch Mary make a fool of herself ukulele in storytime! Today we’re learning “Sleeping Bunnies,” a song I first heard on Kathy Reid-Naiman’s cd “Tickles and Tunes.”  It’s super easy to play on uke, and SUPER fun for the kids! When they start hopping, the storytime rug becomes a preschool mosh pit!

Happy playing!

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Ukulele in Storytime: BINGO!

5 Feb

Hi all! Because I love you, I decided to make a fool of myself share what I’ve learned about playing ukulele in storytime in a series of videos. I know lots of folks who are seasoned uke-ists (not a word) and some who are new to the instrument.  I’m somewhere in between, and I hope this will help those newbies gain some confidence in their skills and ROCK OUT in storytime – the kids love it and we all know how important singing is to early literacy skills development!

Here’s the first installment: BINGO! Kids, librarians and teachers alike all know and love this song, and it’s pretty easy to play on the ukulele. In the video I’ll share the chord fingering**, demonstrate playing the song, and show you my fun flannelboard.  I learned which chords to use at this awesome site.

Please excuse the poor lighting and the video quality. I’m no videographer – remember, I did this because I LOVE YOU and want your storytime to be the best it can be!

**What I call an A major chord in the video is actually an A MINOR. Whoops!

 

Bingo was his name-o.

Look for Flip Flap Jack (Aiken Drum) next – the chords I found on the site above were strange, so I figured out my own!

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Flannel Friday: Hickory Dickory Dock

1 Feb

Hickory, dickory, dock. The mouse ran up the clock. The clocks struck one, the mouse ran down. Hickory, dickory, dock!

I’m sure you’re all familiar with this nursery rhyme. But how many KIDS are? Nursery rhymes are not as commonly recited as they once were, but they can be an important tool for learning early literacy skills so it’s fun to break them out in storytime every now and then!

I found the ukulele chords for this one, so I decided I had to use it and we could all sing along. The clock was created in MS Word shape drawing, and the mouse is clipart. He’s perfect, though, don’t you think? The clock hands are held on with a pin so that they’re moveable; I cut an eraser off a pencil to stick on back.

That mouse is ready to RUN!

That mouse is ready to RUN!

My greatest achievement was making the mouse moveable up the clock. He’s got part of a hanging file folder tab (those plastic thingees you stick a piece of paper in to label your files) attached to his back. It allows him to clip on the side of the clock and you can slide him up and down by holding the tab.

The mouse's (and clock's) backside

The mouse’s (and clock’s) backside

It worked really well. I had the teachers move the clock hands and mouse as I played and we all enjoyed it! The rhyme I used had something for (almost) every hour:

Clock struck 2…away he flew.

3…and he did flee.

4…he hit the door.

5…he took a dive.

6…that mouse, he split [yes, I KNOW it doesn’t rhyme!].

7…8,9,10,11.

As 12 bells rang, the mousie sprang.

Enjoy!

Today’s roundup will be hosted by the lovely and talented Anne at So Tomorrow. As always, if you want to see ALL the flannelboards of months (years, even!) past, click the icon to the right. DON’T FORGET to answer Anne’s survey about where you are – we want to know where all our peeps are at!

Happy flanneling!

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Flannel Friday! If You Should Meet an Elephant

28 Oct

It all started when I found this song while hunting for flannelboard resources. I knew RIGHT AWAY I wanted to make it into a flannelboard!:

If you should meet an elephant on a summer’s day

What would you do? What would you say?

I’d say “Good Morning Elephant, how do you do?”

I’m glad to meet you elephant, I’d like to dance with you.”

The song continues with different animals for each of the 4 seasons. So I created this (not the same animals as on the original song, but I don’t think the kind of animal is that important):

The patterns of the animals came from OpenClipArt.  I then created these backgrounds for the seasons (which I freehanded and am EXTREMELY proud of) with some iconic images to help the kids figure out which season it is if they can’t yet read the words:

Put them together, and you have this!:

DTLK has also included SHEET MUSIC, which means I can probably learn this for the ukulele. Also there are activities and craft suggestions! This flannel would be great for an animals or seasons storytime, obviously. Or a music storytime?

Visit Tracey’s blog later today for the full Flannel Friday compilation, and click on the FF icon to the right to go to our Pinterest page, where you can see a visual organization of all the flannels from this week and past weeks! Follow the hashtag #flannelfriday on twitter so catch all the flannelly goodness (although twitter can be occasionally wonky, so be sure to check the compilation to make sure you’ve seen them all).

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C’mon, Spring, Start Springing! A Bug and Flower Storytime

4 Apr

It’s the time of year in the school schedule when we start celebrating all things spring: flowers, plants, bugs, rain and (oh please) SUNSHINE. Here’s my bug and flower storytime plan, heavy on the bugs.:

I have an awesome watering can puppet (will add a picture later) that I picked up at the Illinois Museum of Natural History several years ago. Your thumb is the spigot, and your fingers are green stems attached to a butterfly, ladybug, bee, and flower, respectively. I start with my fingers scrunched down in the watering can and ask the kids about it. Then I lift my fingers one by one and the kids identify each creature as it comes out.

  • Rosen, Michael. Tiny Little Fly. This is a new title, and the kids have enjoyed it. Tiny little fly flies from elephant to hippo

    Is it a bug? Is it a flower?

    to tiger, and each animal in turn winks his eye and tries to catch the fly. But fly is too tiny, and too fast! There’s a wonderful 4 page spread of all the animals (and fly).

  • Foley, Greg. Don’t Worry, Bear. Bear meets caterpillar as he’s making a cocoon. Once caterpillar is inside, Bear worries about him and so checks on him regularly in the rain, wind, night and snow. Each time caterpillar reassures him, saying “Don’t worry, bear.” This is a sweet story, and although the kids can predict the ending, it’s well-loved. Plus, being able to predict the ending of a story is a good feeling for a kid!
  • Flannelboard: 5 Spring Flowers
  • Carle, Eric. Very Quiet Cricket. This is my favorite of Carle’s bug books (next to the Very Hungry Caterpillar which I use in my Food-themed storytime), but it’s often difficult to find a copy in which the cricket’s noise is still working. Library books wear out. And the kids really love the surprise at the end, so I try to find one that makes the noise. This year I’m using a copy of The Very Clumsy Click Beetle because that’s the one I had that worked. I would also have accepted The Very Lonely Firefly.
  • Song “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”. We end with several rousing choruses of this, with me on ukulele (which means the kids have to promise to help, because I can’t do the hand movements and play at the same time, obviously). First, we sing the “normal” version. Then, a version of the “Great Big Spider” (in very deep voices) and the “Teeny Tiny Spider” (very quietly). We end with a rockin’ version, which is just the regular song but I attempt to play a more energetic and “rock and roll” version. I’ll let you judge for yourself if I succeed:

Other stories I might use:

Buzz Buzz! What are your favorite bug books?

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We like to Rhyme! All the Time!

6 Mar

The past couple of years I’ve done a “rhyming books” storytime in the spring with my preschoolers. By spring, I figure, they’ve been in school long enough that some of the younger kids are starting to grasp the idea of a rhyme and the kindergarten-bound have a pretty good handle on rhymes. Either way, it’s a ton of fun, and there are so many great books to choose from. I posted on this a little over a year ago, and those books are still great choices, but lots of great new stories have come out since then and so it’s time to revisit!

I start with any puppet I haven’t yet used in storytime this year, and he introduces him/herself and says that he “likes to rhyme, all the time!” He will say another couple of rhyming phrases and then settle down to listen to the stories with us.

  • Wood, Audrey. Piggie Pie Po. This is a new title that I really like. There are lots of picture clues the kids get (they figured out the “can’t tie his shoes” in the second story) and the rhymes are silly and fun.
  • Flannelboard: “Oh me, oh my…” Words can be found on my previous rhyme storytime post.
  • Dewdney, Anna. Llama Llama Mad At Mama. Really, any Llama Llama title. I love the way Dewdney draws little Llama – so expressive. The kids can easily tell how he’s feeling!
  • Song: “Down By the Bay” by Raffi. I created a set of pages with the rhyming pairs in the story, using clipart images found online. I put the word for each underneath, to increase print awareness. We go over these picture/words once, without singing, so that we’re ready when they come up in the song. I found the chords for the song here, and it was an easy one to learn to play on the ukulele! The result:

<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/20717458″>Down By The Bay</a>

  • Thomas, Jan. Rhyming Dust Bunnies. I mean, OF COURSE! One of these days I’m going to pack some of my proliferate dust bunnies in a bag so I can show the kids what they are. Then they will not say “NO” when I ask if they have any in their houses!

Other rhyming titles I like:

Now it’s your turn. I want to learn!

What do you read, when rhyming books you need?

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