Library Learning August-September

Last week students in the library worked on a variety of skills.  Even learning how to handle a shelf marker is key to their development as a student. 

Kindergarten: It was there first week of library and we talked about book care and library expectations.  For fun we read Manners in the Library by Carrie Finn and Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss.  Each kindergarten student checked out a book from the kinder bins.

First Grade: Our emphasize is on reading, reading, reading this first month or two.  I read Book! Book! Book! to them also and then in small groups we checked out from the easy reader section.  We worked hard to find a book that matches with their reading skills.  After all students have checked out Mrs. Wheeler and I have been reading individually with students to get a feel for their reading levels.

Second Grade: We read Stella Luella's Runaway Book by Lisa Campbell Ernst.  The challenge was to solve the mystery and NOT spill the beans before the end of the book!  Not one student blurted out the title of the missing book...Goldilocks and the 3 bears!  Yeah for 2nd grade!

Third Grade:  We also read the mystery book, Stella Louella's Runaway Book by Lisa Campbell Ernst.  At the end they all were able to tell me the title of Stella's missing book.  This is a perfect genre book that also had us talking about book care.  Students were excited to share the clues and connections they made to figure out the title.

Fourth Grade:  Students are taking a close look at the Dewey Decimal system.  This week they worked in pairs to find a section of the library that matched their index card topic.  Next week they will use Destiny to locate their topic.  They are just thrilled to get their fingers on the computers...

Fifth Grade:  Students will make videos to explore and explain Highland library expectations.  The first week they merged into a small group and picked the expectation they plan to focus on.  This next week they started to write out a script using informal speech outline of Introduction, body and Conclusion.  The week ahead will have them finish their script and practice together as a group.  Students will use the Asus tablets to film their final project.

I'm looking forward to more great projects here @highlandlibrary!

2nd Grade explores Alphabet Books

and a second one:

Fiction vs. Nonfiction

     I used two sets of great books this year to help 2nd students compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction books.  We read one of my favorites; Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel-we read the first chapter (oh, and they loved the idea that this was a CHAPTER BOOK!!)  and compared it to Frogs and Tadpoles by Anita Ganeri and Anni Axworthy and Toads by Julie Murphy.  I didn't read but a few pages of the nonfiction titles but we looked at all the photos and talked about how nonfiction is set up different. 

Because second grade had some prior owl knowledge we did the same with Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (hmm, another of my longtime favs) and looked at Owls; Flat-Faced Flyers by Adele D. Richardson and Owls by Wayne Lynch.  Owl Babies is a great choice to use as a comparison because it gives some accurate information about owls-making it harder to decide for students.  The key element making it a fiction choice is that the owls "tell" the story to us.