The Centered School Library

Library Freebie Friday Summer Reading Goal

2013-05-17T21:07:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

This library freebie is coming to you late in the day...and what a day it has been! Fifth grade and kindergarten research projects are going on at the same time that I'm promoting summer reading. It's been crazy busy, but I'm hanging in there, knowing that summer is right around the corner.

I already told you about the summer reading challenge I've posted in Teachers Pay Teachers. I'll present that to my students after Memorial Day.

Today the children's librarian from the public library came to our school and talked to a fifth grade class about the summer reading fun at the nearby public library. I recorded her on my iPad, and I'll edit the video and post it on our shared drive at school so that the rest of our teachers can show it in their classrooms.

I created a center to allow students to reflect back on a book they enjoyed this year and to set a goal for books they'll read this summer.

Just click on the picture to download the PDF file from Google.

My plan is to have students complete these pages (adding color and embellishments, of course) and give them to me. I will make a copy to send home with them, and keep the colorful original in a binder for them to see next year when they come back!

Are you ready for summer reading? How are you encouraging your students to plan for summer reading?

Motivational Monday: Education's Death Valley

2013-05-13T11:53:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

I just watched an awesome TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson that I want to share with you.

Do your days at school feel like you are sailing into a headwind? Are you successful IN SPITE OF the dominant culture at your school?

If so, then you will be able to relate to this talk about how our education systems are designed to ignore three principles on which human life flourishes.

Differences, curiosity, and creativity.

If you are already creating library centers, then you are providing your students with a break from the low-grade, standardized clerical work that is dominating our classrooms.

Kudos to you! Keep on sailing into that headwind! Encourage curiosity, the engine of achievement! Cultivate a climate of possibilities in your school library!

Keep on being awesome...for your students!

Library freebie Friday

2013-05-10T18:36:00.004-05:00

Hi friends!

As we wind down the school year, it's time to get our kids fired up for summer reading. I will be using this Summer Reading Challenge with our students. It has 10 relaxed reading objectives on the front, like "read a book in your pajamas." On the back, it has a grade-appropriate list of reading suggestions.

Here's a library freebie to go with whatever summer reading program you are encouraging. Free, printable summer reading bookmarks to color!

You can download and print these for your students to color at a library center or to take home with their summer reading challenge.

Happy Friday! And happy summer reading!

Teacher Appreciation Sale

2013-05-06T20:45:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

I am loading up my wish list tonight for the Teacher Appreciation Sale on TPT starting tomorrow, May 7.

When you enter the code TAD13 at checkout, you can save up to 28% during the Teacher Appreciation Sale, May 7th and 8th.

Here's what I've added to my wish list.

1. Dewey Display Signs from Ms. O Reads Books. These signs are so cute and colorful! They will really jazz up our nonfiction section.

2. Under the Sea Library Displays from Ms. O Reads Books. More cute and colorful displays! I am running out of decorating steam, and I think these bright beach-y signs will be just what I need to make the library seem decorated while I am busy working on research projects!

3. Elementary Book Tasting from Carolyn at Risking Failure. I may not get to this until next year, but it looks like a fun activity to get students acquainted with a variety of books.

4. Penguin Measuring & Research Station from Carolyn at Risking Failure. I think these animal measuring and research stations sound like incredibly engaging library centers. I can't wait to try them with our students!

5. iReader Punch Card Sampler from The Book Bug. Our students will think these are really cool, and they'll like getting 5 punches for reading 5 books.

6. Adopt-A-Shelf Library Program Bundle from Mrs. Lodge's Library. Do your library shelves look as messy as mine do? I would love to have students take ownership of our library shelves!

7. Did You Know? Library Center from Mrs. Lodge's Library. This library center has students look up fun facts on the library databases and write them on cards to share with others. This will be a good activity at the start of next year when we are introducing some new databases!

8. Frog and Toad Clip Art from Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs. Our first grade spends a lot of time with the Frog and Toad books every year. We love them! This clip art will help me to create some cute frog and toad centers.

9. Mo Willems' Pigeon Backpack Travel Journal. This product is not rated, but I would love to try this with first grade next year! You send home a Mo Willems' pigeon (the little stuffed animal) with a student, and they draw and write about what they did with the pigeon. You put the pages together to create Pigeon's travel journal!

10. Borderz Bundle from Krista Walden. I stumbled upon this product, but I like the creative black borders that I can use for my library center signs. I can print them on colored cardstock and not have to use the color printer. They will add a little pizzazz without distracting or overwhelming my students.

What have you added to YOUR wish list? I'm sure I've missed a few things that I really need!

Summer Reading

2013-05-05T20:06:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

Have you thought about how you'll encourage your students to read this summer? I know you want them to read, so they don't fall behind in their reading skills over the next few months. Plus it's fun to read in the summer when you have so much more spare time!

Here's what I am doing. I've created a reading challenge that's flexible enough to be the same for every grade. There are 10 steps to the challenge, like "read a book in your pajamas." Students can choose whatever book they can find or borrow and read it in their pajamas. They'll write down the author and title. If they complete the whole challenge, they will have read ten books!

On the back of the challenge, I have a suggested reading list for the grade level, with lots of series to get them hooked on a character they'll love. Some parents need a little help in finding "just right" books for their children.

After many weeks of work, I've just finished this summer reading challenge today and added it to my TPT store here. I'm selling the individual grade level challenges for $1.50 each, but the K-5 librarian bundle (a $9 value) is just $5. And it will be even less during the upcoming Teacher Appreciation sale!

Here's a sneak peek.

Every student who completes this reading log will get a summer reading spirit stick from me when we go back to school in August.

These are cute little embroidered sticks that we order from Spirit Monkey. Our students collect them for different achievements and wear them on a lanyard.

The friendly neighborhood public librarian has also offered to visit our school and talk to our students about the summer reading program at our nearby public library. I was going to gather grade levels together and have her talk to all of them. But then I remembered how hard it is to hold the attention of 120 students when you aren't used to it. I think I'll have her present to one group, then make a video for the rest of the classes.

Our district librarians also collaborate to create a list of the free stuff kids can earn by reading over the summer. Many local businesses give prizes like T-shirts or free books to summer readers, and we want our students to enjoy those, too.

I spend a lot of time in the last few weeks trying to get our students motivated to READ, READ, READ during the summer. How about you? Do you have any summer reading ideas to add?

Library Freebie Friday Book Hospital

2013-05-03T13:30:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

I don't know about you, but my library books are falling apart faster every day. Teachers are letting students take their library books into the lunch room, dogs are chewing covers, and backpack accidents are happening constantly.

And then there's the mystery...who did the damage? We check in several hundred books a day, and we don't have time to inspect each one as we check it in.

And book repair? Not my favorite librarian activity!

Today's Friday Freebie is a cute book hospital sign for you to print.

This graphic is a free download from The Imaginative Teacher.

I will print this, laminate it, and put it on a plastic tub at the check-out desk. I'll add some little sticky notes to mark the damaged spot.

I hope that if students have an easy way to show me which books are damaged (without waiting in the long checkout line), maybe we can get these books back in shape. It could happen!

If you have any nifty ideas for keeping your library books in good repair, please share them in a comment!

Screencast-O-Matic for Librarians

2013-04-29T19:52:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

I learned about a cool, new (to me) tool at my state library conference last weekend. It's called Screencast-o-Matic, and it's FREE!

You can create an account, but you don't have to. You can pay $15 a year, but you don't have to. Here is the video I created, just to show you how it works.

This video is a preview, not a tutorial, really. I can see lots of possibilities for creating videos for students and colleagues, explaining how to do things on the computer, like search for a book, or download an ebook.

Oh, yeah, and one more cool thing. I got to meet Shannon Miller from the Van Meter Library Voice at the Mackin booth. So fun!

Back to our topic, have any of you used Screencast-O-Matic (or a similar tool) before? Do you have any more great ideas for videos you'd like to make? What kind of videos could students make, to show their understanding of search strategies or database use?

Library Freebie Friday Musical Chairs

2013-04-26T14:30:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

For today's library freebie Friday, we have a fun library version of musical chairs.

The student document is a free download from TPT.

Of course in the library, everybody wins! No chairs are taken away in this game! Here's how to play.

Put chairs in a circle (1 chair per student), and a book or magazine on each chair. Students start in one chair, then move around the circle when you start the music. When you stop the music, they sit down and look at whatever reading material is on the chair. Repeat until everyone has had time to look at several items.

Older students can use this "notes" page to record titles they're interested in and save the page in their library folders for future reference.

At the very least your students will have a chance to move around and look at a variety of reading selections.

(Thanks to Illinois fifth grade teacher Jenni Yingling for creating this freebie!)

Sounds like a great day in the library! Happy Friday!

More Elementary Magazines

2013-04-23T20:20:00.002-05:00

Hi friends!

I had a few questions and suggestions after my last post about elementary magazine subscriptions. I want to share those with you.

First of all, our district's vendor for magazine subscriptions is:
Magazine Subscriptions PTP
2707 Princeton Drive
Austin TX 78741
1-800-733-5470
mag.subscript.ptp@att.net

We've used this individual for the 3 years I've been with the district, and I haven't had a problem with any of our subscriptions. We just send one check to her for all of the subscriptions, and I can ignore those pesky renewal notices for each individual magazine.

Second, to check out the magazines to students, I put barcodes on poly project folders like these. They are a bit sturdier than sheet protectors, and they have 2 sides open so that it's easy to slide a magazine inside.

The plastic gives the magazine some protection as it travels with the student. In our system, we create a temporary catalog record (magazine title, date, and barcode) each time we check out a magazine. The record disappears after the magazine is checked in, and we re-use the cover with the barcode on it.

We charge $2 for a lost magazine and $1 for a lost cover. And we spend the first few weeks of school saying, "now, remember that you need to turn in the magazine AND the cover," each time a student checks out a magazine. It works for us!

Third, I had some more magazines suggested:

Kiki: This girl magazine is ad-free and focuses on creativity. I haven't seen this one before. Now I want it for our students!

Zoobooks: I have lots of back issues of Zoobooks. I use them for animal research projects, and I circulate them. If I didn't have these, I would definitely subscribe. It's an inexpensive way to add more animal non-fiction to your collection.

Thanks for your questions and suggestions. Keep 'em coming! Together, we're all better!

Top Twelve Magazines for Elementary Students

2013-04-22T20:06:00.003-05:00

Hi friends!

Do you have magazine subscriptions in your elementary library? We LOVE to read magazines! In our library, third, fourth, and fifth graders may check out one magazine at a time. Even though libraries have traditionally had a shorter check-out period for magazines than books, I let students keep the magazine for a week, so they have time to read it.

Here are our favorites, not necessarily in order.

Phineas and Ferb, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, and Sonic the Hedgehog are fun comic books.

Everyone loves National Geographic for Kids. Sometimes I'll use back issues as a source for a research project.

Boys are more likely to check out Sports Illustrated for Kids, while the girls choose American Girl and Discovery Girl.

Cat Fancy and Dog Fancy are not children's magazines. I'm pretty sure our students mainly look at the pictures of the cute dogs and cats, rather than reading the articles.

Two that I'm trying next year, because other librarians recommended them to me, are Yum for Kids (cooking, crafts, and fun) and Bop (celebrity magazine). It's too hard to buy biographies to keep up with the latest "hot" celebrities. By the time the book arrives, my students are talking about someone new. I think this magazine will fill that gap more inexpensively.

I only allow third, fourth, and fifth graders to check out magazines. Sometimes I set up magazines as a library center to allow the younger students to read them during their library visit.

Are the other magazines that your students love? Please share in a comment!

Poetry Centers in Action

2013-04-20T22:15:00.001-05:00

Hi friends!

I blogged about my Top Ten Poetry Centers a few days ago. I tried out the butcher paper poetry center from Mrs. Lodge's Library. Wow! My students amazed me!

My center looked like this. Super easy.

Butcher paper, markers, a printed map of our San Antonio Zoo, animal poetry books, and a sign: "Write a poem or draw a picture or both about the zoo."

I had no idea what to expect. Here's what I got. (I blurred out the student names for privacy. Steve is the name of the bird, not the poet. :)

Sensory details, rhymes, delightful!

Not an original poem, but a useful poem that we memorize to tell the difference between a coral snake and a non-venomous one. Do you see the peer editing that happened with the spelling of the word "friend?"

As each sheet of butcher paper filled up, I put it on the wall for display and replaced it with another.

I HEART this poem!

The Ibex
They turn their necks
standing on mountain treks
try not to fall, so stand with skill complex
or you will be an ex-ibex.

(All I can figure is that this student saw the ibex on the zoo map and went off on a rhyming extravaganza.)

I LOVE POETRY and I LOVE giving our students the chance to express themselves, outside of the little round bubbles that dominate our day.

I hope you are giving poetry centers a chance in your library!

Freebie Friday Poetry Review

2013-04-19T12:30:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

Our Freebie Friday continues with another poetry activity for April. I found a great little teacher-created freebie to allow students to write simple poetry reviews. You know how I love to have student book reviews all over our library. I think it would be great to add poetry reviews, too!

Here is what this free Google Doc looks like.

This Poem Review form was created by Creative Classroom (aka Michelle Walker in South Africa), and you can see the original post here.

Students draw a picture, copy a favorite line and a pair of rhyming words (if any). It's short and simple, but I think students would enjoy choosing a favorite poem and reviewing it for other students. I think that interacting with poetry books would encourage them to select one for their check-out time, too.

I hope your National Poetry Month is delightful! Happy freebie Friday!

KidLit Speaks Into the Darkness

2013-04-15T20:57:00.000-05:00

(copyright Peter Reynolds, author and illustrator, shared on his Facebook page)

Friends, we have the words and the pictures to make this happen. Let's make more light.

Every day.

Freebie Friday with Scaredy Squirrel

2013-04-12T15:39:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

It's time for Freebie Friday, featuring the one and only Scaredy Squirrel!

We love Scaredy Squirrel's books! What a fun character to read about! This furry little fellow is so timid that he makes every student feel incredibly brave by comparison.

I think I've mentioned to you how art-starved my students are, so I like to include simple drawing instructions at a center whenever I can. I was delighted to see these printable Scaredy Squirrel drawing instructions here.

Copyright Melanie Watt, of course! With these instructions at a library center, your students can draw their own bookmarks.

You can find more printable Scaredy Squirrel activities here.

We watch the Scaredy Squirrel book on BookFlix, that I purchase every year for our campus with book fair money (Scholastic dollars). This is a trailer for the Bookflix version of Scaredy Squirrel.

You could also introduce one of Scaredy's books with a book trailer.

And, of course, you could show this super-cute librarian-made video called "Scaredy Squirrel Goes to the Library!"

And, if you are as silly as I am, you might enjoy Scaredy Squirrel's version of "Call Me Maybe." Apparently SS has a show on CN.

He doesn't look quite so timid in his music video, does he?

Do you have any favorite Scaredy Squirrel activities?

Googly Eye Fun

2013-04-10T20:25:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

Wow! Does Lori June at The View From Here know how to have FUN or what?

Check out this googly-eyed video she made for her students!

Would your students go crazy over this like mine would? We (heart) googly eyes!

And Lori June says she didn't even stick the eyes to the books--just laid the books down on a table, set the eyes on top, and snapped the photos!

Don't let the BIG TEST get you down! Get googly!

(And thank you Lori June, for allowing me to share this!)

Top Ten Poetry Centers

2013-04-09T20:11:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

I'm sure you all know that April is National Poetry Month. I want to share with you my favorite fun poetry center ideas that you might want to add to your April library centers.

1) I love Mrs. Lodge's super easy poetry center! Look at all that colorful student poetry! Follow the link to see how she did it.

2) Copy some short poems, put out pencils and colors and let students draw a picture of what they see in their imagination when they read the poem (mental images--a reading strategy!) They can glue the poem to the page and take it with them, if you make enough copies. Or make a big mural on butcher paper.

3) Copy some shape poems from a book like Doodle Dandies. Let students write their own shape poems on individual pages or butcher paper.

4) Copy poems that rhyme, put out the smelly highlighters, and let students highlight the rhyming words. (According to the Scentos website, Walmart and Michael's carry the Scentos scented highlighters. I must find these!)

5) Put the parts of a wonderful poem on sentence strips, and have students put them in order in a pocket chart.

6) Magnetic poetry--you can buy a kit at the store, or make your own with this free download.

7) Display great poetry books with the whisper phone and let students read the poems quietly to themselves. Or display the poetry books with stuffed animals for students to read the poems to. Or create special "Poetry Glasses" (decorate dollar store sunglasses in some special way) for students to read poems with.

8) April 18, 2013 is Poem in Your Pocket Day. Let students copy short poems onto special (fancy) paper to carry with them, or to use as a bookmark.

9) Set up a Poetry Listening Center. Have you ever heard Jack Prelutsky read his own poems? Hilarious! Your students will love them and gain a new appreciation for poetry.

10) Display examples of acrostic poetry. Encourage students to write their own name down the side of the page, then fill in each line, describing themselves.

Do you have more poetry center ideas? Please share them in the comments!

Peek at my week

2013-04-07T21:24:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

I hope you are enjoying sunny spring weather in your part of the world! Here in San Antonio we are getting ready to celebrate Fiesta!

My library centers will all be spring-y this week.

At one center, students will be drawing birds on bookmarks.

Are your students as art-starved as mine? My students love to draw, and appreciate simple instructions they can follow.

Another center will have the spring cards from my Four Seasons Would You Rather set. The students and teachers have fun talking about these choices together.

The spring cards are laminated on card stock, and put into a bucket for the students to draw from. It's a great conversation starter, and a way to work on reasoning skills by asking them to explain their choice.

(By the way, I just uploaded Would You Rather cards for 5 fiction genres. It took me two months to make them, but I know I'll use them every year as we study historical fiction, realistic, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. Check them out if you'd like!)

And we are having lots of fun with our CHICKS! I am so lucky to have a first grade teacher who helps me with the equipment, the know-how, the eggs, and the farm for the chicks to go to after they've grown too big for the cage!

Here's what we get to see during the day.

That's just a video I took on my iPhone, to give you a peek into our library. In case you're wondering, the feed is on a piece of printer paper so it doesn't fall through the gaps in the cage, and so the chicks can scratch at it. The clear plastic is wrapped around the cage so that the little rascals don't try to escape through the gaps. Usually we hear the peaceful peeps, but occasionally they panic over something and start screeching.

I don't have to tell you that all of our chicken books are checked out, do I? We are all entertained by these lively chicks.

And I'll be reading The Perfect Nest to kindergarten this week. I love to do the accents of the different birds!

How about you? What engaging activities are planned for YOUR library this week?

Freebie Friday for your blog or website

2013-04-05T15:07:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

It's Freebie Friday again!

Do you have a blog or website? Either yours personally or one for your school library?

Today I'll show you three widgets that will help your readers AND keep your content fresh and updated.

The first is the Scholastic Book Wizard. This widget allows you to enter the title of any book (from any publisher, not just Scholastic) and get the reading level by one of 4 different measures. If you add this to your website or blog, parents can help their children choose "just right" books!

Here is the link to the Scholastic Book Wizard widget. It will give you html code to copy and paste.

Second are the Reading Rockets widgets. They have several widgets to choose from, including a Reading Tip of the Day, Children's Books & Authors, Picture Books of the Day, and more. After you install the widget, the content updates automatically. Your librarian blog or website will have new content, without you writing anything!

Here is the link to get the Reading Rockets widgets.

Third, just for fun, you can get a joke of the day widget from Brain Pop. You don't even have to be a subscriber to Brain Pop to get this!

This one also updates with hundreds of clean, kid-friendly jokes. If you have a school blog, this makes it more fun for visitors!

Here is the link to the Brain Pop joke widget.

I hope these Friday freebies make your librarian blog or website even more fabulous!

I would love for you to share a link to YOUR librarian blog or website here. I've started a state-by-state index so that we can find our teacher-librarian neighbors!

April Fool's Day in the library

2013-04-01T19:18:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

I wasn't planning to pull an April Fool's prank on my students today. But the opportunity presented itself, and I could not resist. Here's what happened...

I had set up an empty cage with water and food for some chicks I was planning to get later in the day. I put the empty cage on the table where we normally have a live animal center.

A fifth grade class came in, and the students began to ask, "what's in there?" I gasped and said, "you mean, it's not in there any more? Be careful where you step!" They began to search the library, under the book shelves, all wanting to be the first to find the escaped animal.

I could hardly control my giggles. After a few minutes, we did tell them it was an April Fool's joke.

Before the next class came in, my fun library assistant had the idea to add a bright pink warning sign to the display, like this.

A few minutes later, a fourth grade class was convinced that our snake had escaped and was slithering around the library. I can't believe the big kids fell for it! We laughed SO HARD!

An empty cage and a warning sign. And a straight face. That's all it took.

Later in the day, our visitors did arrive.

The chicks are all set up in their new home. They will be lonely for the next two days while I am out of the library, administering THE BIG TEST.

All I have to say about them so far is that for all their chick-y cuteness, they do NOT know how to whisper. Peep! Peep!

Did any of YOU pull a great prank in YOUR library? Please share!

April Fool's Day

2013-03-31T21:09:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

I know you're as excited as I am that April Fool's Day falls on a school day this year!

I have to share this video with you. It is either an excellent April Fool's prank, played by a teacher on his fifth grade students, OR the most memorable website evaluation lesson ever. Possibly both.

You be the judge!

Happy April Fool's Day!

Library Freebie Friday

2013-03-29T11:58:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

Stacey from Holly Ridge Elementary Media Center in North Carolina shared some fabulous free ideas. Thank you Stacey!

For all of the details, her original blog post is here. She taught an engaging Punk Farm lesson with her kindergarten students. I think it could work with first or second grade, too. We all love author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka!

They watched book trailers from Jarrett Krosoczka's website, and a video from his website showing him creating an illustration. (Stacey warns us that the videos won't work in every browser, so test them first, like you always do!)

She downloaded printable Punk Farm masks from Korsoczka's website, and had the students act out the story. For first or second, you could do this as a reader's theatre.

She also extended the story with the activity suggested on the author's website, having students design another member of the band. I know that my students would have a blast designing a musical farm animal!

Wouldn't your students love this, too? Don't you adore fun (free) activities like this to help your students fall in LOVE with books? Happy freebie Friday!

Fantastic List of Library Centers!

2013-03-25T16:30:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

Lori June, in Sumter, South Carolina, has compiled an incredible list of library centers here!

If you are looking for ideas, check out this page!

Wow! Thanks for gathering and sorting everything, Lori June! What a great resource for the rest of us!

A Peek at My Week

2013-03-24T12:42:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

We have a short week at school this week, no school on Friday, but it's packed with activity! In classrooms they are preparing for the BIG TEST the first week in April. Me? I'll be reading Boy and Bot to kindergarten classes who are learning about living and non-living, getting fourth graders started on their Animoto book trailers, continuing our non-fiction scavenger hunts and creating Incredible Kid thinglinks with first grade students. And, of course, reading my test administrator manual in my spare time.

Here's what's happening in our library centers this week.

I've got the Popcorn Words discovery bottles out at one table. Students write the popcorn words that they find in the bottle filled with un-popped (a little noisy) popcorn kernels. I'm always surprised by how much the "big kids" enjoy this. Is it because they like to be successful, or because they like to shake the bottle and make noise?

When I read the book Opening Minds, I was intrigued by the idea of showing students our comfort with uncertainty. On page 61, the teacher says to the students, "If you have any other thoughts about this really interesting picture, would you put it on a Post-It and leave it here for us?" The little light bulb in the cartoon bubble above my head lit up with the thought of a library center!

I've shared the center sign with you in my Google drive. Just click here to download the PDF. I copied the picture of the girl falling asleep on an open book, with a plant beginning to grow out of it. I glued the caption on top of the page, too, then glued that to colored card stock and then to the poster board.

You could use Post-It notes with this center. I just drew bubbles and lines from the picture, and wrote "The air smelled bitter, like poison" to give an example of a sensory detail to further the story. We'll see how it goes!

I've also got an egg symmetry center from our Spring Library Centers page. This free printable shows half of an egg with a design. The students are challenged to complete the design on the other side of the egg, and to color it with symmetry, too. I know that teachers are working on symmetry in class because they've checked out all of our symmetry books!

I cut the pages in half because our students are only in the library for 20 minutes, including checkout. They won't have time to complete two eggs.

It will be a busy, fun week. Sometime during the week, my next live animals will appear in the library. What new library center is hatching? You won't get a peep out of me!

Library Freebie Friday

2013-03-22T14:00:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

Freebie Friday is here! I want to feature a free resource for librarians here every Friday. I'll start with things I've created or found. But if YOU have created a free printable, I'd love to share it here with other "centered" librarians.

Please use the "contact me" button on the right side of this blog to send me the link to the blog post or product listing so that I can share YOUR great free ideas with other librarians. Together, we're better!

This Friday, I'm sharing a freebie I created that is simple but powerful.

This sign is a free download from my TPT store. I put it in an acrylic sign holder at my desk, and place a book I've actually read next to it, standing up so students can see the cover. It's a GREAT way to start a book talk!

Students want to hear what YOU thought about a book. Even if they don't check out that specific book, it's a good conversation starter. It's important that you have read the book, not just the blurb. They can tell the difference.

Fortunately, you can read picture books and most non-fiction books pretty quickly and keep this spot stocked with super selections. Without much effort, this simple sign can encourage your young readers, and let you share your love of reading.

I was delighted this week when I read Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust by April Pulley Sayre. Wow! I really liked that book! It amazed me! If you were here at my checkout desk, I could show you the page that surprised me the most! Did you know that the dust on your computer screen could be from a dinosaur? Really!

Happy Freebie Friday!

Non-Fiction Scavenger Hunt

2013-03-18T19:14:00.001-05:00

Hi friends!

Today was our first day back from Spring Break. We started the day off with a fun Non-Fiction Scavenger Hunt in first grade!

I created this set of 24 Non-Fiction Scavenger Hunt cards with Dewey numbers (whole numbers only, no decimals) for popular categories, with word descriptions and pictures.

I copied two sets of these onto colored card stock and laminated them (of course). Then I put one set on the non-fiction shelves, in the correct spot for that Dewey number. I handed the other set out to our first graders who worked in groups of four to find the matching cards on the shelves.

(I think that next time I'll have them work in pairs. Groups of four were a bit unwieldy. But I knew some of our firsties would struggle if they had to work alone.)

I had students bring the matching cards back to their group's table. Instead, you could have them find a matching book and bring it back to the table. We didn't have time for that today.

After they completed the scavenger hunt, each student checked out a non-fiction book as one of their two check-outs for the week. They were enthusiastic about the books that they saw as they were searching for their cards during the scavenger hunt!

It took me hours to decide on the most popular and well-stocked Dewey categories, find cute graphics, and create the cards. So I put this card set in my TPT shop so that you can save yourself the trouble, if you decide to do this activity.

I think it would be a good project for second or third grade as well.

I hope your week is off to a GREAT start!