For the second week we jumped right into some good learnin'! With the Pre-K and Kindergarten learned about the parts of a book like the cover, the spine, the title, the author, the illustrator, etc. After this each student was given a book and we played a little Simon Says with the parts of books. "Simon Says touch the spine of your book." It made the lesson more fun and also gave some repetition. We then read (and went over all the parts of) two books that were very interactive which I LOVE with this age!My first week with kiddos was the second week in September. This was because of trying to work out the schedule and working around some standardized testing. BUT they finally made it! My school is Pre-K through 5th grade, so it takes a lot to plan for such a wide age range. This first week was an orientation so we did boring things like a seating chart (so I can learn names) and go over the library rules. I then did a read aloud with each grade level. Yes, even 5th grade. They were reluctant, but they enjoyed it by the end. Pre-K through 2nd grade did coloring sheets that covered how to take care of books, and I hung them in the hallway outside of the library. The older ones I let give name suggestions for our book drop monster. Some were far more creative than others. I heard everything from Jenny to Dr. Stufaluffakins. His name ended up being Sir Lancelot, but it was fun to hear all the ideas! I took over a school library that didn't even have a librarian last school year! It was a cute space with a lot of potential, but it definitely needed a face lift. From what I hear, I hadn't had new decor or bulletin boards or anything in quiet sometime! So that was the first thing I tackled! Signage was also very important! Making sure all sections were clearly labeled! We do Accelerated Reader at my school, so I (with the help of my mom and sweet friend) took every picture book off the shelves and rearranged them. They were alphabetical by author's last name, which of course is how fiction books should be, but since we push read on their AR level, we rearranged them into their reading levels (indicated by colored dots on the spine). This makes book selection go SO much faster, especially with the youngest ones. There were also piles of books everywhere! Some with notes saying they were to be discarded, some needing to be cataloged, some that didn't even have a note! I took a long time, but I boxed them all up and our kids are getting to take home some of our discard books. I work at a Title 1 school and many of our students cannot afford books of their own, so it makes my heart so full to know we are able to provide them with a few for their home libraries! Here is what I had completed by the start of school. |
About MeI am a first year elementary school librarian, and let me say it is QUITE the adventure! Although I've worked in public libraries on and off for 10 years, this is a horse of a different color. Bare with me as I brave the new struggles and pure joy that this career is bringing! Archives
March 2016
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