I just can’t get enough of reading Bathe the Cat in storytime! On this two-fer Tuesday, here’s another fun plan featuring my new favorite picture book:
Sing: Now It’s Time to Say Hello*
Welcome/Intro
Sing: If You’re Happy…*
Sing: If You’re Ready…*
Set Expectations
Read: Bathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty & David Roberts
Sing: The Goldfish by Laurie Berkner
The family in Bathe the Cat has two pets: a cat and some goldfish. You know what that means… THE GOLDFISH SONG!
Read: Cats are Cats by Valeri Gorbachev
After reading another book about pets, we did some shared writing:
Whiteboard: Pet list which includes cats; fish; dogs; chickens; lizards; spiders; sharks; walruses; horses and turtles.
Write: Pet List
Some kids didn’t think a walrus or a shark should be on our list, but hey, to each their own! For the rest of storytime, we went with the flow and did activities around the animals on our list.
Lit Tip: Everyday Opportunities to Raise Writers
Grown-ups, when you make lists together, you help your child get ready for writing! The next time you’re going to the grocery store or making a to-do list, I encourage you to involve your little one. Explain what you’re doing and why! A big part of learning how to write is understanding that people write for many different purposes.
Sing: Tiny Turtle
I had a little turtle, his name was Tiny Tim.
I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim.
He drank up all the water, he ate up all the soap.
And now he’s sick in bed with bubbles in his throat!
Bubble bubble bubble, bubble bubble bubble.
Bubble bubble bubble, bubble bubble… POP!
Play: Bubbles
You can’t sing the Tiny Turtle song without bringing out the bubbles!
Sing: I Know a Chicken by Laurie Berkner
There was no coming back after bubbles. I passed out shakers and we did some shaker songs instead of reading a third book!
Sing: Can You Shake Along With Me?
Tune: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Can you shake along with me?
Along with me, along with me,
Can you shake along with?
Put your shaker on your… knee!(repeat with other body parts)
CREDIT: JBRARY
Sing: Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye*
*Please visit this page to learn more about my regular storytime songs and routines.
Storytime in the Stacks 
Hi Jessica. I absolutely love your posts. They are so helpful and creative. I especially love your EL tips and how your website lists the components and how to use them!
Question about how you use Laurie Berkner’s song (another of my favorites!) – do you have the music playing and sing along? Do you use video? Do you just sing? Curious how you incorporate her awesome songs.
Thanks for sharing all of your hard work.
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Hi Elizabeth, thank you for the kind words! We have a Bluetooth speaker that connects to our iPad. In the past I have sung along to recorded music, but storytiming in a mask is so hot that now I usually use recorded music as a time to catch my breath. 🙂 I still act out the song with the kids and join in with the “Wait a minute, we’re fish! We don’t… LET’S GO SWIMMING!” I have played some of Laurie Berkner’s music videos in storytime before, but stopped because I noticed the kids would just watch the video instead of singing and dancing.
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