Early Literacy Tip: Ask your child to search for different characters or items in the illustrations of books, like finding the little mouse on each page of Good Night, Owl. This makes sharing the book a more interactive experience. It will also teach them to look for details in the illustrations, which can help them decipher unfamiliar words when they are learning to read later on.

This week we had fun with ghosts and the word “Go” as we focused on the letter G. As usual, I started by writing the letter G (both upper and lower- case) on my whiteboard and having the kids trace it in the air with me. Then we talked about the two different sounds that G makes. I asked the kids to think of words that start with G (adorably, the first one they suggested was “Grandma”) and then pulled some things starting with the letter G out of a paper bag (a glue stick, a glove, a toy giraffe, and a toy gorilla).

Here’s the rest of what we did:

Books:

There’s a Ghost in this House by Oliver Jeffers

A girl who lives in a big haunted house asks the reader for help finding the ghosts she has never seen. Each page features a translucent overlay that makes ghosts suddenly appear in the scene. This book is a hit with kids of all ages!

Go! Go! Go! Stop! by Charise Mericle Harper

Cute story about Little Green, who can only say the word “Go!” He uses this word to help some construction vehicles get their job done, but things quickly get out of control, until Little Red arrives to tell them when to “Stop!” The kids enjoyed joining in on the “Go’s” and “Stop’s.”

Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae & Guy Parker-Rees

An adorable giraffe named Gerald longs to dance but is impossibly clumsy, until a cricket helps him find his own music to dance to. A sweet, rhyming story with charming illustrations.

Good Night, Owl by Greg Pizzoli

Owl is all ready for bed, but keeps getting distracted by a “Squeek!” Trying to find the source of the noise leads him to empty his cupboards, pull up his floor, tear down his roof, and knock down his walls, until he finally spots the little mouse who is causing all of the commotion. The kids loved joining in on the “Squeek’s” and looking for the little mouse hiding on each page.

Songs:

We Are Spooky Ghosts

I wish I knew who wrote this song, which I learned many years ago from an Orff Music Curriculum. The original version was “We Are Scary Skeletons” and I often use it at Halloween, where I ask the kids to suggest different spooky things they would like to be. But my favorite way to sing it is with play scarves, where we all get to put the scarves on our heads and pretend to be ghosts. The video below is one I did during lockdown, when I was leading storytimes over Zoom from my house, and improvising with household items.

We are spooky ghosts
Floating down the street,
Floating down the street,
Floating down the street.
We are spooky ghosts
Floating down the street.
We’ll scare you!
BOO!

Going to the Zoo by Tom Paxton

We sang this song after reading Giraffes Can’t Dance. It’s such a catchy song, and the kids enjoy pretending to be elephants and monkeys.

[C] Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow.
[G7] Zoo tomorrow, Zoo tomorrow.
[C] Daddy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow,
And [G7] we can stay all [C] day.

CHORUS:
[F] We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!
[C] How about you, you, you?
[G7] You can come too, too, too! (G7)
We’re [C] going to the zoo, [G7] zoo, [C] zoo!

See the elephants with the long trunk swinging,
Great big ears and a long trunk swinging.
Snuffing up peanuts with the long trunk swinging,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

See all the monkeys, they’re scritch, scritch, scratchin’.
Jumping all around and scritch, scritch, scratchin’.
Hanging by the long tails scritch, scritch, scratchin’,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

Well, we stayed all day, and I’m getting sleepy,
Sitting in the car getting sleep, sleep, sleepy.
Home already and I’m sleep, sleep, sleepy,
‘Cause we have stayed all day!

We’ve been to the zoo, zoo, zoo!
So have you, you, you!
You came too, too, too!
We’ve been to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

But Mommy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow
Zoo tomorrow, Zoo tomorrow.
Mommy’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow,
And we can stay all day!

CHORUS

Go, Go, Go, Stop

I improvised this simple song to sing with the parachute for Outdoor Musical Storytime. We sang it a little faster each time.

To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star:

Go, go, go, go, go, go, STOP! (shake the parachute in time to the song, and freeze on the word STOP!”
Go, go, go, go, go, go, STOP!
Go, go, go, go, go, go, STOP!
Go, go, go, go, go, go, STOP!
Go, go, go, go, go, go, STOP!
Go, go, go, go, go, go, STOP!

So Glad I’m Here

This is a beautiful song (based, I believe, on a traditional African American gospel song). We used it as our instrument play-along at the end. I especially love this version by Elizabeth Mitchell. I added a final verse that says “I’m so glad you’re here.”

[C] I’m so glad I’m here,
So glad I’m here,
So glad I’m here, here to-[G7]day.
So [C] glad I’m here,
I’m [F] so glad I’m here,
So [G7] glad I’m here, here to-[C]day.

I’m gonna sing while I’m here,
Sing while I’m here,
Sing while I’m here, here today.
Sing while I’m here,
I’m gonna sing while I’m here,
Sing while I’m here, here today.

Love brought me here,
Love brought me here,
Love brought me here, here today.
Love brought me here,
Love brought me here,
Love brought me here, here today.

Joy brought me here,
Joy brought me here,
Joy brought me here, here today.
Joy brought me here,
You know joy brought me here,
Joy brought me here, here today.

I’m so glad you’re here,
So glad you’re here,
So glad you’re here, here today.
So glad you’re here,
You know, I’m so glad you’re here.
So glad you’re here, here today.

Stay & Play: Glue Ghosts

For the Stay & Play, I offered the kids two different ways to make ghosts.

For the first option, I put out black paper, ModPodge, some cardboard squares I cut out of cereal boxes, and googly eyes. I helped the kids pour a small amount of ModPodge on their paper, and gave them each a cardboard square to spread it into a ghost shape. I also provided scissors and white paper, in case they wanted to cut out a mouth. Most of them added lots of googly eyes. Unlike other kinds of white glue, the ModPodge dries into a thick, smooth layer, which makes it look like a transparent ghost.

For the second option, I put out black paper, glue sticks, googly eyes, white paper, and googly eyes, so the kids could cut out ghost shapes and glue them on the black paper.

Do you have any favorite books or songs featuring the letter G? Please share them in the comments below.