Caps for Sale

One of my favorite parts of the day is story time and lately, it seems to be one of the children's favorite parts too. Every Saturday, I go to the library to seek out the story time book of the week. Some weeks, I have a clear idea in my head of what I want to read, and other weeks, I can browse around for an hour or so looking at my options. Two weeks ago, I chose the book, "Caps for Sale: A tale of a peddler, some monkeys, and their monkey business," by Esphyr Slobodkina.

Some important things to remember when reading to children include:

• Read slowly. Children need time to process what is being read to them.
• Allow time for the children to ask questions about the pictures and expect some interruptions.
• Make sure all the children can actually see the book.
• Have an objective in mind when reading the book. Sure its great to read the story to the children, but their is so much more you can do during story time if you plan it out.

What does a typical week of story time look like at my child development home?
Day One
Have the children look at the cover of the book and discuss the illustration. Tell the children the title of the story, the author, and the illustrator. After discussing the cover page, read the book for fun.
Day Two
Today, I asked questions about pictures in the book, in particular the page where the peddler is sleeping and he only has one hat on his head, to see if they were able to recall the events for the reading yesterday. I asked, "oh no, look at the peddler, something is missing." Annabelle (age 2) replied, "oh no, his hats!" This was followed by Leia saying, "his hats are gone momma, the monkeys took them."
Day Three
The children became the monkeys today by saying, "tsk, tsk, tsk" at me. This was a preview of what we would be doing the next day, retelling the story, without using the book.
Day Four
Today we acted out the story. I was the peddler and the children were the monkeys.
Day Five
Typically, we do a small group literacy project based on the story, however, this week we took a trip to the zoo to visit the monkeys.  

The "monkeys" are shaking their fist at me saying "tsk, tsk, tsk"

A bonus with this story, is that it invites children to get up and move when doing a retell.

The "monkeys" threw their hats on the ground, just like the peddler. 

 

Now the children are the peddler. Leia, "caps for sale, fifty cents a cap."