Today at storytime we shared the following books :
Fall, Leaves, Fall! by Zoe Hall
Fall is not easy by Marty Kelley
Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
I purchased craft leaves at Michael's for our leaf fingerplay. I have used "real" leaves for this but find that by the time I get the leaves to storytime they've lost a lot of their brilliance. Fake ones do just fine.
We all learned the ASL sign for "tree" which was incorporated into this rhyme.
I held the leaves high aloft while my attendees provided the wind to blow them down ...
Five little leaves, so bright and gay
Were hanging on a tree one day,
The wind came blowing through the town ...
And one little leaf came tumbling down.
one by one I dropped the leaves
at the end, I "raked" them up into a pile
I included this Native American story which explains why some trees lose their leaves and some stay green all winter long (a big deal in the north). The story is titled "The Evergreens" and comes from the Vancouver Coast region. My only substitution here was I made a maple tree rather than a willow tree. I love this story and had a lot of fun making Jack Frost.
Beautiful! I love the details on your trees! Do you have a set of patterns that you wouldn't mind sharing? I would really appreciate a copy if you do.
ReplyDeleteI use ASL signs throughout my storytimes, too. My little ones loved doing "tree" and "wind" last week and then "pirate" and "ocean" this week.
I have started to notice that many children and adults will make signs while I am reading ~ even when I am not doing that particular sign. Keeps me on my twos! Pretty soon they will be signing the whole book as I read it. Lol
Sadly, I do not have a pattern ... the trees were done freehand. Not too hard to do, although the pine was a bit tricky (you should see the backside of the flannel piece, lol).
DeleteSheesh! I really dislike auto correct.
ReplyDeleteI was saying "keeps me on my toes", not "twos". :-{
Gorgeous trees!
ReplyDelete