Stars 2017

This week storytime was surprisingly captivating!  Turns out, kids love thinking both scientifically & imaginatively about the night sky.

Welcome Song & Library Rules

Mystery Bag: A stuffed (plush) star

Word of the Day:  STARS

ASL sign for stars: http://www.handspeak.com/word/list/index.php?abc=st&id=2066Spanish : Estrella (Es TRAY YAH)

Books: 
   *Waiting Is Not Easy by Mo Willems (emergent readers help you find sight words)       Draw Me A Star by Eric Carle (notice how the artist ages through the book: one

                   child commented this book  was "sad but good")

        Stars by Mary Lyn Ray (illus. Marla Frazee)

  

     * There are hundreds of great nonfiction books for beginning readers: we didn't have time to read a print book but Thomas Adamson's Stars: Las Estrellas (2008, Pebble Plus) is a really easy, quality, beginning book.

Electronic Resources:
    *PebbleGo's "STARS" article (Science> Earth & Space Science > Stars)
    (This is a great opportunity to show kids how to access PebbleGo so they can explore independently the topics that interest them.) 

 Ready Jet Go Star Mindy's Constellation Exploration 
      (http://pbskids.org/readyjetgo/games/mindy/index.html)

Activity: 

*  A trip to NASA online should receive top billing. (https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/index.html)
*  Little minds also LOVED this memory game @ http://www.kidsastronomy.com/fun/memory.htm.
  There are many starry crafts online, too, including constellation creation.

For Even More Fun:

I passed out some flyers to the university planetarium, to try to encourage home connections to our story topics.  There are lots of handouts about constellations for kids, and the NASA website & app are both of the highest quality.  Any of these activities make a great addition to the experience.