A Book for a Week

The library area can be the most popular area in a classroom AND story time can be the favorite time of day. A fun way to use a favorite book is to make it a book for a week. So instead of just reading it one time and putting it on the library shelf, use that book everyday for 5 days!

Whatever book you choose, practice reading the book aloud several times before presenting it to the child(ren). One day 1, introduce the book to the children. Talk about the author who is the adult who wrote the story so we can read them, the illustrator who draws or takes the pictures and the parts of the book: the front, the back, the spine, the pages, and the words.

Plan ahead for including the book into each day’s activities and routines. A few examples:

Art:

children could draw a picture of the main character in the book
decorate a paper bag to look like a character or a part of the story
fingerpaint a collage using the main colors in the book
design a mural to retell the story on paper

Dramatic Play:

include props that are in the story so children can pretend with them during the day/week
turn the Dramatic Play area into a representation of the story
paper sacks, sale signs, and baskets for recreating markets, harvest, and stores in the story
to role play clerks, cashiers and customers have shopping bags, note pads, pens, sales flyers, cash register

Blocks:

add a steering wheel when the story has a main vehicle in it
bring in empty boxes so children can create buildings and cars from the story

Manipulatives:

real or pretend money for stories that have money exchange in them
real tickets or paper to create tickets to show the amount for a bus ride or purchase
have sets of threes or fours to match the story: number of bowls, people, colors, mats, bears
alphabet letters or numbers to count and sequence

Writing:

as a group or in small groups, write a new ending to the story

Cooking/Snack:

for stories with foods have a tasting event so children can taste a coconut, etc
make a food in the story: fruit salad, muffins

Music:

for stories that have lyrics, write the words and children can follow the words as they sing
make up a song for the book and write the words on a paper large enough for the group to see
march around the room like the character in the story

Water Table: