Library Programming for
Pre-K
Pre-Kindergarten Guidelines
During library time, children are given the opportunity to …
*Use books and other written materials to engage in pre-reading behaviors.
*Allow for opportunities to learn and use new vocabulary and grammar in speech.
*Distinguish and produce rhyming words in and out of context.
*Retell and/or reenact a story after it has been read aloud.
*Use information from books to categorize, compare and contrast.
*Ask and answer appropriate questions about books.
*Count objects and recognize one digit numbers.
*Use concrete models to make word problems.
*Recognize and identify shapes.
*Demonstrate location words.
*Sort objects that are the same and different into groups and use language to
discuss the groups.
*Collect data organize it in a graphic representation.
*Recognize and create patterns.
*Demonstrate increasing control of tasks that require eye-hand coordination.
Library Rules and Procedures
The Library Rules
The Rules in the Library Song
Tune: The Wheels on the Bus
The children in the library…
Use walking feet
Come sit on the rug
Use quiet voices
Listening ears
Are gentle with the books
Choose a really great book
Find their library card
Checkout their book
Hug their book
Smile and wave goodbye
Sorting
This is a science and math lesson. After the story, I put the kids in small groups. I give
each group a handful of different nuts and acorns. They get to explore the nuts using
four of their five senses. We talk about their observations. Upon completion of the
activity, we “feed” my squirrels. Each squirrel likes a particular type of nut. The children
must sort the nuts and “feed” them to the correct squirrel. At the end of the activity we
count the nuts each squirrel ate and find out who ate the least and most. BE CAUTIOS
OF ANY NUT ALLERGIES YOUR STUDENTS MIGHT HAVE!
Upon completion of the story, we pretend that we got invited to Moira’s birthday party.
We have to take a present to the party. I have a storyboard with different birthday
packages on it. Each student is given a bow. They have to match the bow to one of the
corresponding packages in order to “go to the party.” I also use this activity to practice
color words and sentence structure. After the child makes the match, he/she must tell
me about their present in a complete sentence. (i.e. – “I am taking a red present to the
party.”)
I have colored coded paper plates and added a picture of the main character
from the story to each plate. Each child is given a picture of a food item. They
have to put their food on the correct plate and “feed the mouse.” After the
activity, we count the food on each plate. Then each child tells the class about
his/her favorite food.
After we listen to the story and act it
out, it’s time to get out the race
cars. Each child is given a race car.
All the cars are different colors. I
usually give them a few minutes to
play with the cars before starting
the activity. I lay out the parking
garage in the middle of our circle.
Each child gets to take a turn driving
his or her race car into the parking
garage of the corresponding color. I
encourage the kids to make race car
sounds while driving. When the car
reaches the appropriate location,
the child has to formulate a
sentence about their car. The
sentence must include a phrase
about the car’s color. (i.e. – My blue
race car goes really fast.) The boys
ask to read this book every week!
Language Development
We do a lot of movement activities in the library for language development. I highly
recommend the songs “Can’t Sit Still” and “Bop ‘Til You Drop” off Greg and Steve’s
Kids in Action CD to accompany these two books.
After we read a spider story, I
give each of the children a clip
art spider and we sing the
song, “There’s a Spider on the
Floor”. We act out the song as
we sing. Then I choose a
volunteer and we take turns
reviewing the body parts by
resting the spider on different
parts of the volunteer’s body.
This activity gets the giggles
going… so beware! This is a
great activity for ELL students.
It is also a favorite with my
special education classes.
Dino Hokey Pokey
You put the dino up, you put your dino down,
You put your dino up and you shake him all around
You do the dino hokey pokey and you turn yourself around
And that’s what it’s all about!
You put your dino in the front
You put your dino in the back
You put your dino in the front
And you give your knee a whack
You do the dino hokey pokey and you turn yourself around
And that’s what it’s all about!
You put your dino to your head
You put your dino to your toe
You put your dino to your head
And you wobble to and fro
You do the dino hokey pokey and you turn yourself around
And that’s what it’s all about!!
Adapted from: http://www.circleofideas.net
Each child is given a penguin card and three goldfish crackers. This is a listening and
following directions activity. I give step by step directions using directional and
positional words. The child’s job is to manipulate the goldfish accordingly. that tell
For example, I might say, put two goldfish on penguin number 1. Put one fish above
penguin number two’s head. Upon completion of the activity, the children get to
have a little snack.
Parts of a Book
Retelling and Recall
I do two activities with this book. I have story cards depicting the characters from
the book. First we use the cards and sequence and retell the story, focusing on the
pattern of the text. Upon completion of this activity, we play Concentration as a
class. This is a great opportunity to reinforce the animal names and vocabulary from
the story. I have the children name the animals as they turned their cards over
during the game.
This is a winter favorite. The
language in this book is lovely, and
the story has such a wonderful
message that little ones can really
absorb. During the read aloud, we
act out the parts that each animal
plays as the snowman is being built.
The pattern in the story is very
distinct and the children pick up on it
quickly. Upon completion of the
story, we build our own two
dimensional snowman in the library,
using the props mentioned in the
story. As we put the snowman
together we recall the parts of the
story, beginning, middle, and end.
When the snowman is finished, we
retell the story in its entirety.
Following Directions
This is a directed drawing activity I do with all of the classes each holiday season.
Each child is given a sheet of paper and a “magic library pen”. We draw the picture
together. I talk and model the steps on the easel as they draw at the tables. They
are SO proud when they finish! The picture on the left was drawn by a four year old.
The picture on the right was drawn by a three year old.
Math Activities
Each child is given a cutout of a pocket on which to write their name. We construct
the Venn Diagram in the middle of the floor. I use hula hoops to build the diagram.
I place picture clues in each area of the Venn Diagram. In this instance we are
sorting for pockets on your shirt, pockets on your pants, pockets on your shirt and
pants, or no pockets at all. Each child comes to the front of the class. We help
him/her look for pockets and decide where to place the pocket on the diagram.
I spend the month of March
doing Math activities with the
kids in the library. My lessons
cover counting, patterning,
graphing, and predicting. We
even do a lesson on Venn
Diagrams. I want the students to
see the importance of reading in
all the content areas. This is the
classic M&M graph. It’s an oldie
but a goodie for this age group.
After we graph our favorite
colors, I make patterns with the
manipulatives. I start a pattern
and the kids have to try and finish
it.
This is our Clifford Sports graph. The kids choose a favorite sport they have
tried or would like to try. This idea was adapted from Scholastic’s teacher
resource book entitled, Teaching with Favorite Clifford Books.
Pre-Reading Skills
This game is called “Kick It Out!” You will need a pocket chart to play. There are
four cards on each pocket chart row. Each child comes to the front of the room
and takes a turn. As a class, we read each picture card from left to right. Then we
shout “KICK IT OUT.” The child then must take the kick it out card and cover the
picture that does not rhyme with the others in the series. This is a widely tested
objective in Pre-K, so my teachers love this game. When the child masters the
objective, he gets a golden tennis foot award.
We have a life-sized coconut tree
that lives in our library. Towards the
end of the school year, we do
numerous alphabet review activities.
After reading this alphabet classic, I
call the children up to the front of
the room one by one and have them
find a particular letter to put on the
coconut tree. After the letter
review, we play Chicka Chicka Boom
Boom alphabet bingo. We use
chocolate cocoa puffs or “coconuts”
for the bingo markers. The Chicka
Chicka Boom Boom Bingo cards can
be downloaded from the Virtual Vine
website.
Organizational Strategies
and Management of
Library Materials
Favorite Lesson Planning Websites
The Virtual Vine -- http://www.thevirtualvine.com/
Kelly’s Kindergarten -- http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/
PreKinders -- http://prekinders.com/
Smart Exchange -- http://exchange.smarttech.com/