We had an exciting Book Club Hour with the foundation phase students at Thorntree Prep today. With the intermediates on camp, the little ones somehow had a lot of extra energy, so we started the session with Shake my sillies out – a Raffi Song to Read (ISBN: 9780517566473), which is a great resource for an energy break!
This story-song (the book) has “rollicking pictures of a moonlit night in the woods of Camp Mariposa, where both animals and campers are struck by the urge to shake, clap, jump, waggle, and eventually yawn”.
The kids caught on with the song and movements real quick and was ready to listen to the scheduled story afterwards. Needless to say that anybody who’d like to loose a kilo or two can definitely do it using this song!
“These are two of the essential ways parents can stimulate the development of a child’s brain during the earliest years. The rhythm, rhyme, and repetition of singing support and encourage speech and listening skills, and lay the foundations for later reading.
Raffi Songs to Read® are recognized as natural bridges between singing and reading. Your child will love to follow both the song and the delightful illustrations as you sing and look and read together.
Whether you have a baby, a toddler, or a preschooler, sharing Raffi Songs to Read® will provide you both with many cherished moments.”
This paperback edition includes sheet music for singing and moving along!
The story we read then was Wordy Birdy by Tammi Sauer (ISBN: 9780593118986), which teaches a valuable characteristic – balancing talking with listening skills.
Wordy Birdy is a very chatty bird, and her chatting starts when she opens her eyes in the morning, carrying on throughout the day until she goes to sleep. She greets every single thing she sees (including her reflection in the mirror), she talks about things she likes and things she dislikes, she asks a lot of questions “but never stops talking long enough to get the answers”. One day her absentmindedness because of all her chattering ends her in a troublesome situation, and it is up to her loyal friends, Racoon, Squirrel and Rabbit, to save her skin! Wordy Birdy’s chattering doesn’t just end, but she learns, and sometimes “she likes to listen too”!
The illustrations in the book are just as busy as Wordy Birdy’s mouth, but there is a certain underlying attraction that makes the reader want to spend a lot of time on each double-spread page. It is a fast-paced, interactive story that engages reader (and listeners).
This book can also be used to address self-centeredness.
