November 7: Preschool Storytime: Introduction to Nocturnal Animals: Spiders

(Reminder note: When it is time to read a story, I read the titles of three books and then display them. The children pick which one we read. The three fictional ones listed below are the ones they picked. The main exception to this is when I use an information text to teach about a concept such as a type of animal.)

Opening song:                                 (Tune: "The Farmer in the Dell")

                         We tap hola like this

                         We tap hola like this

                          Hi-ho cherry

                          We tap hola like this

                          Continue with other verses:

                          We drop hola like this...

                          We circle hola like this...

                          We spin hola like this...

                          We toss hola like this...

                           We roll hola like this...

Letter Ss and its sound
Found it on the Alphabet chart
Talked about things that start with Ss
Made lowercase s in the air

I explained that some animals sleep during the day and are awake at night. We call animals that do this nocturnal. Most spiders are nocturnal.
I taught the kids a little bit about spiders using this great reader by Carolyn Otto.

Book: "Aaaarrgghh! Spider" by Lydia Monks

Shaker song using plastic spiders: We sing the whole song in English and then change a few words to Spanish.  (I gave each child and parent a plastic spider to act out the song with.)

“There’s A Spider on the Floor”
(Tune: If You’re Happy, and You Know it)

There’s a spider/araña on the floor, on the floorThere’s a spider/ araña on the floor, on the floor
Who could ask for anything more than a spider/araña on the floor,
There’s a spider/araña on the floor, on the floor

Now the spider’s/ araña’s on my leg, on my leg
Now the spider’s/ araña on my leg, on my leg
Oh, he’s really big, this old spider/araña
on my leg
There’s a spider araña on my leg, on my leg

Now the spider’s/araña’s on my stomach, on my stomach
Now the spider’s/araña’s on my stomach, on my stomach
This old spider’s/araña’s on my stomach, Oh, he’s just an old lummoxThis old spider/araña on my stomach, on my stomach

Now the spider’s/ araña’s on my neck on my neck
Now the spider’s/ araña’s on my neck on my neck
Oh, I’m gonna be a wreck; I’ve got a spider/araña on my neck.There’s a spider/araña on my neck, on my neck

Now the spider’s/araña on my face, on my faceNow the spider’s/araña’s on my face, on my face
Oh, what a big disgrace, I’ve got a spider/ araña on my face
There’s a spider/ araña on my face, on my face

Now the spider’s/ araña on my head, on my head
Now the spider’s/ araña on my head, on my headOh, the spider’s/ araña on my head; I want to hide up in my bed.

There’s a spider on my head, on my head
“Look, he jumped off.”

There’s a spider/ araña on the floor, on the floorThere’s a spider/ araña on the floor, on the floor(repeat first verse)





Book: "Sophie's Masterpiece" by Eileen Spinelli

Action song using shakers and pictures: 

We sing the whole song in English and then change a few words to Spanish. 

(I had children take turns holding up clip art of a drum, two shoes, a tree, and a door. I also printed off four copies of some clip art of a spider web.

“Busy Spider”
(Tune: "This Old Man")

Busy spider/ araña, he made one/uno
Great big web on a drum,
With a spin, spin, spin
'Round and 'round he goes.
He puts on, quite a show.

Busy spider/ araña, he made two/dos
Great big webs on some shoes.
With a spin, spin, spin
'Round and 'round he goes.
He puts on, quite a show.

Busy spider/ araña, he made three/tres
Great big webs on a tree.
With a spin, spin, spin,
'Round and 'round he goes.
He puts on quite a show.

Busy spider/araña, he made four/cuatro
Great big webs on the door.
With a spin, spin, spin,
'Round and 'round he goes.
When he sleeps, no one knows!

Book:  "Pete the Cat and the Itsy Bitsy Spider" by James Dean

Goodbye song:                               (Tune: "The Farmer in the Dell") 

                         We tap adios like this

                         We tap adios like this

                          Hi-ho cherry

                          We tap adios like this

                          Continue with other verses:

                          We drop adios like this...

                          We circle adios like this...

                          We spin adios like this...

                          We toss adios like this...

                           We roll adios like this...

Craft Time:  

Modeled both the Ss  page and the craft before the children starting working on them

The children each completed a dot page for letter Ss. You can find these dot pages here. 

Craft: Spider web with spider on it
          Materials: Yarn
                           Paper plate
                           Hole punch
                           Pom poms
                           Googly eyes
                           Glue
                           Pipe cleaners
                       
  

Modified from a craft found here.

I always let the children pick which three books I read from the ones I bring with me. These are some additional suggested books that the children didn't pick:

1. "Diary of a Spider" by Doreen Cronin

2. "The Eensy Weensy Spider" by Mary Ann Hoberman
3. "The Eensy Weensy Spider Freaks Out!" by Troy Cummings