Getting Into the Swing Of Things

The second week of Library has rapidly come and gone, it's hard to believe we're already finishing our third week of school and I've now taught each class twice!  This week was a continuation of learning the self-checkout, library procedures, author study and much more.  Read below for more in depth detail about each grade levels experience in our library this week!

4th/5th Grade
Students this week were thrilled to be practicing the self-checkout routine.  I worked with both 4th and 5th grade classes to ensure that students were up to date on the steps for checkout.  Having large color themed check out cards with student ID and bar code, helps students independently checkout. This year I added a second checkout station in hopes that the process would expedite and make the transition smooth.  5th graders are also very excited about a new volunteer leadership opportunity that is happening this year!  I've been reflecting a great deal on how we can make the Library more of an inclusive space and help all students, families and community feel welcome.  This year I'm implementing a new program called "Library Clerks".  This program is completely voluntary for 5th graders who are interested in spending time in the library during one - two recess' per week.  My hope is to encourage students to come together in a leadership capacity, including those who are kiddos that might avoid recess, struggle to fit in or feel part of something.  Applications will be available next week and I'm excited to share our experience.

2nd/3rd Grade
Not wanting to waste any time, I chose to introduce the amazing OTTER Award to my 2nd and 3rd grade friends.  The OTTER Award stands for Our Time To Enjoy Reading, books that are designed for K-5.  These nominations and winners are perfect transitional text for our readers; recognized by the Washington Library Association and voted on by students across the state!  I shared the background of the award, the nominations for 2018 and past titles.  In the Library (and classroom), we've observed that many students in the 1st - 3rd grade range struggle to find just right books that satisfy the need to be reading "a big kid book".  So many of our students are craving the next step but finding appropriate text to satisfy the need was a challenge.  Many of the kids were excited to see a favorite, "The Princess In Black" as well as a few other titles.  I was also proud to share about a great and amazing Librarian and former colleague of mine, who was a part of the very firsts beginnings of creating this (now state recognized) WA Book Award, Arika Dikens!  Thank you Ms. Arika and the other librarians who were so brilliant to dream up this much needed category of awards!

1st Grade:
This week we focused on choosing just right books and practicing our checkout procedures.  For many years I taught a lesson about just right text using the "just right SHOE" analogy.  For running I'd want a good running shoe to help me get through the 13.1 miles of a half marathon, not a pair of slippers I'd wear Sunday morning.  For teaching, I'd want to wear the just right shoe to help me teach, not a sparkly sequining strap sandal that I wore for our wedding day.  Kids love making the connection between just right text and how we each read at a different pace and finding a just right book is very important.  Next week we'll dive deeper in the WCCPBA books!

Kindergarten
This was the second time Kindergarten visited the library and we are continuing to model behaviors and expectations for our young students.  Historically, Kindergartners haven't checked out books until January, however wanting to instill the love of Library, reading and the joy of taking a special book home...I decided to begin our checkout this week.  We touched briefly on our author study of Mo Willems, his many hilarious books and then focused on how to check out books.  The week prior I sent letters home to each grade level sharing objectives for the year, library information and the number of books students will be able to checkout each week.  For Kindergarten I send an additional informational half-sheet home so parents would know that students bring home books from the library and can return the next week.  For September (only one week left now), Kindergartners may checkout 1 book each time, for October, students may check out up to 2 books and beginning in the month of November, students may check out 3 books each Library visit!

Updates:
This week we are hosting the Scholastic Book Fair in our gymnasium on the stage!  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during lunch and Thursday after school!  There's a great APP that's fun and easy to utilize to watch book trailers, check it out! -Mrs. Bethel





*Image credit goes to Pinterest, Scholastic, Mo Willems and clipart