Language

I decided to do something a little outside the box for this week's theme. I wanted to focus on language and, honestly, it has been one of my favorite themes of all time. We used sign language as one of the languages, but learned other simple words in a few other languages.

The concept of languages, especially the fact that people speak different languages, may be completely over the head of most toddlers HOWEVER language is a huge part of early literacy. Since storytime is only partially for the children, and mostly for the caregivers, I wanted to encourage caregivers to feel comfortable exposing their children to different languages. 

Books:

Toddler Books:

Fiesta! - Ginger Foglesong Guy

Uno, Dos, Tres = One, Two, Three - Pat Mora

How Gator Says Good-bye! - Abigail Samoun

Preschool Books:

Oh No, Gotta Go! - Susan Middleton Elya

Ribbit! - Rodrigo Folguiera

Hands & Hearts: With 15 Words in American Sign Language - Donna Jo Napoli

Froodle - Antoinette Portis

Quackers - Liz Wong

Rhymes/Fingerplays/Songs:

Come Under My Umbrella (Sign Language Song):

Come under my umbrella, umbrella, umbrella,

Come under my umbrella, it's starting to rain.

With thunder and lightning and thunder and lightning,

Come under my umbrella, it's starting to rain.

Source: Jbrary

*All of the words in BOLD are also in sign language. The kids loved this and we did it several times!

Can We Find? (Tune: "Muffin Man")

Can we find the little cat? 

The little cat? The little cat?

Can we find the little cat?

We want to say hello!

Repeat with: Dog (Hola), Mouse (Bonjour), Etc.

Source: Storytime Katie

*I borrowed a version of the song that Storytime Katie came up with, made some adjustments, and added a few different ways to say hello in other languages.

Peace Like a River:

I've got peace like a river,
I've got peace like a river,
I've got peace like a river, in my heart.
I've got peace like a river,
I've got peace like a river,
I've got peace like a river, in my heart.
Repeat with:
I've got joy like a fountain
I've got love like an ocean

Source: Jbrary

*It's a traditional, somewhat religious, folk song. I did replace "soul" with "heart", since I felt more comfortable considering the word "soul"'s potential for religious connotations. 
*The words in bold were in sign language.