New Display: National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month

I love the challenge of coming up with new and different book displays for the library. I remembered that October was National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month, and thought this would be a great way to showcase books about this important and relevant cause.

I did a mix of chapter books and picture books and added in some books about acceptance in addition to stories specifically about bullies. I incorporated books from this section into my K and 1 classes (Llama Llama and the Bully Goat and One), and mentioned them to the other grades in advance of their checkout time.

It's probably not likely that students would have come in specifically asking about a book about bullying but by having them presented to them in an easy-to-browse way, they flew off the shelf. It was a very powerful reminder for me about the importance of providing students with meaningful, relevant, timely displays of library resources.

October!

I've made it through my first month, phew! I'm getting into the groove, though I wish I were learning names more quickly. I keep thinking how much easier it will be next year when I only have to learn one grade's names!

I had a few challenges this week with some particularly chatty/active classes and it made me so grateful to have seasoned librarians in my district to lean on for support/ideas. I met with both of them, who offered me excellent advice on structuring my lessons and managing my classes.

One of the biggest pieces of advice was to keep it simple, which I don't think I have totally been doing. Some of my classes earlier in the week didn't flow as well as they could have, and I think simplifying the activities and my expectations might be wise, especially until I have more experience working with each class. But like my blog title suggests, becoming the LMS I want to be is very much a work in progress - what would the challenge be if everything was easy peasy right off the bat?

On to the week's activities...

Getting a baseline

Being new to the school and to the profession is doubly challenging - I am both figuring out what students have learned in previous years in library class, while also trying to figure out what works for me in teaching library skills (and what each age level is ready for).

This week, my lessons centered on getting a baseline of some library skills that I think students should know by the end of the year, except for kindergarten, who had one.last.book care lesson before finally getting to check out a book. 

Kindergartners heard We are Going on a Book Hunt and then received a practice library book to complete and take care of. If the majority of students bring their book back next week, the whole class will get to have their first check out. Exciting stuff! 

One of the tasks in the practice book was to draw a picture of me. These are a few of my favorites!

1st graders heard Abuela by Arthur Dorros, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Before beginning the book, we reviewed key parts of book in preparation for end-of-class library activity, a matching exercise. 

2nd and 3rd graders heard Biblioburro by Jeanette Winter and then watched a short YouTube clip of the real-life Luis Soriano. 2nd graders located the author and illustrator for 3 books that were on their table, and 3rd grade did a call number ordering activity

4th graders heard Our Librarian Doesn't Tell Us Anything by librarian-turned-bestselling author Toni Buzzeo. They had a chance to show off their Destiny searching skills through a number of task cards that they brainstormed in pairs and shared with the class. I hope all our 4th graders will be library success stories by the end of the year! 

I switched up the format for 5th grade and introduced a short research project utilizing Biography in Context, a database that our students have free access to through via multiple Massachusetts agencies. We did a sample search for an author and then students paired up and chose an author to research on their own. My hope is that the fun facts that they uncover about their authors will help populate my author displays over the course of the year.  

Lessons on Library Rules

In week 1, I tried to think of a fun vehicle for delivering the rules message, but in week 2, I wanted to actually make sure that the message had gotten across.

Regardless of which video students watched (Pigeon for K-1, Despicable Me for 2-5), we started off class reviewing some of the rules that had been featured. Students did a great job remembering what we had talked about, even a week later.

But how to really reinforce the message? I devised games for the older classes, and continued with read-alouds for the younger grades.

Kindergartners heard an adorable book, Read it, Don't Eat It, by Ian Schoenherr. It's a simple story, but offers lots of natural pauses for students to understand the rule and talk about why it is important in the library. Bonus: HarperCollins provided several reproducible extension activities. We worked on the matching worksheet together, using my document scanner.

1st Grade heard Shelf Elf, a library classic by Jackie Mims Hopkins. We practiced using shelf markers, and being good library helpers when we are browsing for books. 1st graders got their first chance to check out books, which they were very excited about.

2nd and 3rd Grades demonstrated their knowledge of library rules and book care with a game of library bingo (loved this site for helping me create customized bingo sheets for free!)

4th and 5th Grades played Library Jeopardy! Each class was grouped in 4 teams and they were able to work through all the clues to show that they had paid attention last week. Some students were a smidge more competitive than others, but everyone seemed to get into it. Was grateful to the folks over at Elementary Librarian (this has certainly been a useful subscription thus far) for the idea, which I was able to tweak to fit my library's needs.

Play at home and test your knowledge!

FALL into a good book

It's not feeling too much like fall yet in New England, but I still love looking at the display my 4th and 5th grade students helped create during their first week of library class this year. I supplied the tree, and they added leaves with their book recommendations on them. Students often head to this area after they've checked out their books, so hopefully some of the suggestions will inspire a new book check out!

A New School Year Begins...

It was a busy first week in the Loker Library!

Kindergartners visited with a familiar feathered friend and watched a funny spoof on a favorite story. The video helped open up discussions on how we should take care of our library books.

1st Grade read Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen. This story helped introduce some of our library rules (and let them have a ROARING good time).

2nd - 5th Grades had some despicable help remembering our library rules. We brainstormed what they liked about library class year and what they hope to do in library this year. Younger grades played Library Rules Bingo to reinforce what they saw in the video, and older grades visited a number of stations to get them back into the library state of mind. 

Drumroll, please...

It's been a while since my I updated my blog, but the big news is that I am now a certified school librarian! After finishing my practicum last fall, and then my LAST class in the spring, I began my search for jobs, and ended up landing an awesome role at the Loker School in Wayland.

As part of my new role, I wanted to create a blog to share what's happening in my library and wrestled with whether or not to resurrect this one, or start anew.

Ultimately, I think the blog title still holds. Being a school librarian (or any type of teacher, for that matter), is a constant work in progress. There is always some element of "becoming" as you hone your craft and find new ways to reach your students. Especially through my experience of being an older student, I hope that I'll always aspire to keep on learning and becoming the best LMS I can be.