Story Time Reads Oct. 22-26

VOCABULARY: the stock of words used by or known to a particular people or group of persons.  It also includes understanding the meaning of the words. 

Why Is It Important?
It is much easier to decode the words on a page when it is a word you already know or have heard before.  Children with bigger vocabularies have an easier time when they start to read because they are able to put the content of reading into context. 

Children who understand what they are reading are more motivated to keep reading.

What Can You Do to Help Build This Skill?
• Talk with children in positive and conversational ways.
• Carry on lots of conversations with children.  When my daughter was 2, she talked a lot about Elmo when the only word she could say was "Elmo." We talked about color, texture, voice, actions ("Elmo is jumping on the bed" OR "Elmo is learning about the mail carrier on his computer. How can we use our computer to learn about the mail carrier? Can we go to the post office and watch the mail carrier?")
• Explain the meanings of new words. Don't be afraid to pull out the dictionary. 
• Take the time - define!
• Read books! Picture books use a different vocabulary than casual spoken conversation.

Books We Read:
Toddler Story Time

The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson	Hush Little Digger by Ellen Olson-Brown	A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
	Wave: noun. A disturbance on the surface of a liquid body, as the sea or a lake, in the form of a moving ridge or swell. verb (used without object). To move freely and gently back and forth or up and down, as by the action of air currents, sea swells, etc.: The flags were waving in the wind. verb (used with an object). To cause to bend or sway up and down or to and fro: The storm waved the heavy branches of the elm.
Waving: A Counting Book by Peter Sis

Baby/Toddler Story Time

	Intermission: noun. A short interval between the acts of a play or parts of a public performance, usually a period of approximately 10 or 15 minutes, allowing the performers and audience a rest.
Circus by Lois Ehlert
Hunky Dory Ate It by Katie Evans	One Cow Coughs: A Counting Book for the Sick and Miserable by Leonid Goreby Christine Loomis	Worms for Lunch? by Leonid Gore

Pre-School Story Time

The Great Kapok Tree: A tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry	Let's Save the Animals: A Lift-the-Flap Book by Francis Berry
	Ecosystem: noun. A system made up of an ecological community of living things interacting with their environment, especially under natural conditions.
If I Ran the Rain Forest: All About Tropical Rain Forests by Bonnie Worth