Dear Friend, 

When I was a little girl, I had two favorite pastimes- reading books and dancing in my living room to Broadway show scores on vinyl recordings. Books were my escape, and I would read for hours just for fun while clever lyrics and movement (that the show tunes inspired) made me feel invincible whenever I leaped, spun, and jumped around my living room.  I grew keenly aware of the rhythm and rhyme of language.  The quicker the patter, accentuated by taps, snaps, claps, and stomps, made it even more fun!     

Both pastimes were pure enjoyment. I am certain my early fascination with words and rhythm fueled creativity that served me well in many classrooms -  first as a student and then, educator. These early passions set the stage for a career as an author, playwright, lyricist, children’s television writer, music producer, and educator.   

Certainly, my fifteen years of teaching youngsters  at the beloved Academy Montessori Internationale of Kansas City confirmed my own childhood discovery.   Musical scenes, with funny lyrics, catchy melodies, and perky movement, never fail to delight and capture a child’s imagination and eagerness for more.   Recently, I thought, “what better way to inspire a love for reading, than to merge my two favorite childhood pastimes.”  Voila!  The digital picture book musical series ( free and accessible to all on the internet)  that educates through short, animated, musical stories with lots of rhythmic pizzazz. Please note that lyric sheets can be found in the top menu. 

These picture book musicals, created by multi-award-winning actors, recording artists, musicians, engineers, and graphic designers stand on their own, and should be joyfully read, sung, and danced to over and over, again….just for fun!.  Indeed, that’s the primary purpose. Still, the educator in me feels obliged to suggest several classroom activities. I even include the lyric sheets in the top menu, as an easy reference. My ideas are merely suggestions that hopefully ignite your own creative juices. After all, imagination has no boundaries.   

Enjoy! 

Eileen  (aka Leenie)  

SPELLING LISTS 

Below are four different  activities where students  play games inspired by the lyrics (from Leenie’s Library)  while practicing their reading and  spelling skills.  Please note that lyric sheets can be found in the top menu.

shopping spree

Watch At Mr. Weintraub’s Grocery Store two times with students… just for fun!   Then divide students into teams.  Each team huddles for three minutes and writes down all the items they remember found at Weintraub’s. Then each team takes a turn offering one item.   No item can ever be repeated twice.  The team remembering the most  items wins the game. That list of words becomes the weekly spelling list. 

wild kingdom

All sorts of animals pop up throughout the picture book musical, It’s a Bore to Be Me.  Ask students to find all the  names of animals in the lyric to create an “animal spelling list.”  Discuss their natural habitat, if they are domesticated or wild, and the sounds they make.  Create an improv exercise where students choose an animal, first spell it aloud, and then become that animal through physical movement and sound. 

rhythm and rhyme

Discuss what rhyming means and how songs and poems use this clever application. Choose any one of the songs and together, look for words that rhyme, discussing that sometimes, it’s just a matter of changing the first letter of the word, but sometimes not!    Make a spelling list of rhyming words from the song.  Read the list to a clapping beat and, then together, with students up on their feet,  create an aerobic combination to the words.  

 tongue twisters

Introduce the concept of alliteration and how the repetition of sound in a list of words can be fun and funny to say as quickly as possible.   Use the example from Rotten Apples and make a short spelling list  ( REEKING, RUINED, RANCID, RAUNCHY, REALLY  ROTTEN).   Discuss how their meanings are similar, and their pronunciation makes them sound like they belong together.  Then, have some fun, and practice saying the line together several times.  Each time quicken the pace.  Afterward, have a contest to see who can say the line quickest and not get tongue-tied.  Use the stop clock on your iPhone, and give each student his/her clocked time.  The student with the fastest time is the WINNER!                                     

VOCABULARY

Below are four activities that allow students to have fun creatively while learning new vocabulary based on the lyrics in the five songs. Remember:  Lyric sheets can be found in the top menu.

flashcard madness

Have students make colorful flash cards using the vocabulary from the spelling lists. Each student chooses his/her favorite words and makes a packet of a dozen flashcards.    On one side, the student writes the word; on the other side, the student  draws the picture of the object or simply creates an abstract drawing.    Once their packet of cards is completed, students work in teams of two.  They practice reading each other’s packet of cards.   Then the teams compete with one another, reciting the cards as quickly as they can with the referee timing each team.  The team that has the best combined time wins the game. 

kooky comics

Using the words in their flashcard packet, students create an eight square comic strip.  They write an original story with colorful graphics in each square.  The dialogue in each square contains one of the flashcard words. 

short and silly 

The  leader (teacher/tutor, parent, etc.) must cover her/his eyes and choose a card from the student’s pack of cards.  (No peeking!).  The student reads the card and holds it up for everyone to see.  Then, each student at his/her desk must write a short and silly sentence of no more than 5 words with that word in it. The class votes on the silliest sentence. 

puzzle world 

The students each choose two of their flash cards and together on a large table or floor create a puzzle of an object, sometimes, using the word; sometime using the “design side.”   After the puzzle is completed, ask students to read the puzzle in any order they prefer.     

LET’S PRETEND

These three activities will allow youngsters to “playact” and use their imaginations while expressing their own critical analysis.   There are no right or wrong answers, but be sure to explain to students that all opinions must make sense. 

the debate

Divide the class into two teams, and explain to the children that they are now the teachers. The teachers are having a “teacher’s meeting,” discussing where to take the school for their big school trip at the end of the year.   Some of the teachers want to hop on a train and go to the County Fair.  Others want to take the students to this new futuristic television show called  The Big Win. Allow any “teacher” to stand up and make the argument why he/she thinks one trip would be much more fun for the students than the other.  After the debate, take a vote (among all the “teachers at the meeting”) to see which idea wins. 

the old woman who lived in a shoe

The old woman “who lived in a show had so many children, she didn’t know what to do” (and was ready to tear out her hair!!!!)  For some reason, these children are always calling each other names. Each one thinks that he/she is better than the other.     No matter how often she tries to teach her children that being mean only makes them into ugly people,  she can’t get her message understood……until she plays them the picture book musical Rotten Apples.  Ask the students to pretend that they are one of the old woman’s children and have them explain why after seeing those apples go rotten, why  they are ready to change their behavior forever! 

the critics’ corner

Explain to students that in the adult world there are professionals who write and talk about the newest movies and tell the public (often on tv and the internet) what they think of the new movies….if they like them or don’t like them and why.  Now let the students pretend to be film critics on a television show called The Critics’ Corner.   Divide the students into teams of two.  Ask each critic to pick out one of the picture book musicals and tell everyone “listening at home” why he or she loved it and why no one should miss it. Don’t forget to talk about the music, the funny rhymes, or silly characters.   OR, pick out one of the picture book musicals and tell everyone at home why she or he hated it, and why no one should spend time watching it. Remind them they are on television and want to be funny and entertaining for the audience, but very helpful.  After all, the critic must offer the listener good advice.  

DIGGING DEEPER                      

thought questions

While our five picture book musicals are all rather silly, they can also lend themselves to some interesting classroom discussions. Sometimes the simplest tales teach us the best lessons.     Explain to students that everyone’s opinion counts, and that we all get smarter by listening to each other. Plus, we get to know others better by hearing their reactions.  Be sure to  give everyone a chance to express an opinion.   

places

1. Each picture book musical  places us in a different location.  If you could only choose one of the locations to visit , which one would you choose and why?

people

2.  In the story of Rotten Apples we are reminded that once apples “go bad,” there’s no turning back.  It’s true that in real life,  all fresh fruits and vegetables have a limited amount of time to be fresh and healthy and then spoil and are not safe to eat.     But what about people? Do you think people are like apples and if they make one mistake, they must be “bad” forever?   Or, can people make a mistake, regret their actions, and change?   What do you think?  

time

3.  Let’s talk about Past, Present, and Future.  The frog in It’s a Bore to Be Me begins grown-up, but then she remembers her childhood and is thinking about the past.   Meanwhile, in They’re on Their Way to the Fair,   everyone on the train is imagining about what will happen at the fair and thinking ahead into the future.  Still, in Mr. Weintraub’s Grocery Store, all the action is happening in “real time, “ meaning it’s happening right there and then…in the present.    Why do you think all stories must have a time period?   Do you think one time period is more important than the other?    Do you have any real life stories that fall into one of these times? 

role playing

4.  These picture book musicals all feel like a little movie musical.   If you were a movie star, which of these movies would you like to be in and which character would you like to play?     In real life, are you like that character or is that character completely opposite of how you think and behave?   Do you think we can learn more about how others feel when we tell their stories? Do you think stories make us understand more about the people in our own lives?