Super Sonic Storytime

Books, songs and games around a ‘sound of the week’ for preschoolers.

Super Sonic Storytime has been specifically designed bearing in mind that the next step after preschool is prep! So, the program aims to help prepare your child for that transition, and for you to pick up helpful ideas to support them when they bring home readers. But most of all, it’s super fun and play-based, providing the right motivational conditions for early childhood learning.

Each session begins with an introduction to the ‘sound of the week’. It’s a bit like Sesame Street’s ‘letter of the day’, but instead of focusing on the letter name, we talk about the sound the letter makes!

After we’ve explored the sound, we sing the Pencil Grip Hokey Pokey, and practice writing the letter (or ‘picture of’ the sound) in the air and on the ground.

Then, we tuck into the first book of session, which is chosen as much for its interesting story and fun engagement potential as it is for us to notice and play with the sound of the week.

This is followed by classic and new songs and rhymes, plus a listening/reading game. These games are designed to build phonemic awareness (the ability to hear the smaller sounds that make up whole words) or to build letter recognition:

• We might play “I Spy”, but with letter sounds rather than letter names.
• We might play “Simon Says”, but segment the words for the children to figure out, as in: j-u-m-p.
• Or, we might play “Memory”, with the children trying to beat the librarian in collecting the most pairs of sound-pictures!

The sessions involve reading 2 to 3 books, depending on the length, broken up by songs and games. These read-alouds combine techniques from the earlier programs, as well as introducing new ones that stimulate your preschoolers’ growing brains and language skills:

• Choral reading, where each family gets a copy of the same book.
• “Active literacy”, where the children follow the actions in the book.
• Dramatic presentations of the book with costumes, props or puppets.
• And even group storytelling, where the children help to play characters!

At the end of the session, we recap the sound of the week, and then undertake a craft activity that explores the week’s themes and/or sound.

At Wimmera Libraries, we strive to make this craft developmentally appropriate (so the parent isn’t doing all the work!). Or, where the project is a bit more complex, and requires lots of parent help, we like the project to be something the child can play and engage with once constructed. For example, a cardboard tube and plastic spoon catapult, where children try to hop their pom pom “frogs” onto a paper plate “lily pad”.

Each week, families are provided with resources about the ideas in the session, and invited to keep a folder of them at home, to help them support their child’s reading journey once they begin school.