Library Time for 1st-3rd Grade

Introduction to the Library (1st, 2nd, & 3rd grades, September 2011)

Library Rules/Procedures

Inside Voices
No Running or Horseplay

Tour of the Children’s Section & Library

Easy Books (Picture Books)
Easy Readers
Juvenile Fiction
Juvenile Nonfiction
Magazines
Videos/DVDs
Young Explorer Computer
Circulation Desk (introduce to library employees)
The Fish
Book Return (at the desk & outside)
Card Catalog Computer
Water Fountain
Restrooms
Meeting Room

Library Cards

Show library card application
Show library card
Tell them that I’m sending parent letters home that tell their parents about how to apply for a library card.

Story Program (Library Behavior & Book Care)

The Shelf Elf by Jackie Hopkins
Read It, Don’t Eat It! By Ian Schoenherr

Choosing Books

The Five Finger Rule
Look for books
Read
Checkout Books!

Sending Home

Parent Letters
Library Schedule of Events
Connect with Your Kids Bookmarks
Connect with Your Kids @ Your Library Guide from ALA
Bookmarks (2 each) for the kids

Fiction vs. Nonfiction (1st, 2nd, & 3rd graders, October 2011)

Easy Shelf Order

This was suggested by a Lesson Plan from Information Literacy
Flower nametags (have the children write the 1st 3 letters of their last names on the nametags)
Have the students put themselves in order

Fiction vs. Nonfiction

Definitions of fiction and nonfiction (from worksheet)
Use worksheet so students can decide fiction or nonfiction
Show the following books and ask students to decide fiction or nonfiction
- Diary of a Spider by Doreen Cronin (E CRO)
- Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin (E CRO)
- The Tarantula Scientist by Sy Montgomery (J 595.44 MON)
- Worms by Graham Coleman (J 595.1 COL)
- Insectlopedia by Douglas Florian (J 811.54 FLO)

Getting to Know the Dewey Decimal Classification System

Use posters to introduce the 10 classes of Dewey
Send the students on Missions (scavenger hunt cards from LMNET)

Parts of a Book (1st, 2nd, & 3rd graders, November 2011)

Using the list found here, introduce the children to the parts of a book using Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming as an example. This is a shorter lesson so the children will have time for free reading before they have to return to school.

Biographies (1st, 2nd, & 3rd graders, December 2011)

Sources Used to Help Plan this Library Lesson:

Share Definitions

Biography
Autobiography
Memoir

(all definitions came from Word Central)

Display various juvenile biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs with special attention to the new books received through grant.

Have children pick a book to look at and read. Give them the Biography Research Form to fill out.

Also display How to Write Your Life Story by Ralph Fletcher for those children interested in writing their own biography (aka autobiography).

Caldecott Award Introduction (1st, 2nd, & 3rd graders, January 2012)

Share information about the Radolph Caledcott Medal from the ALA's ALSC website
How the Caldecott Medal Came to Be
Terms & Criteria (paying special attention to the definition of distinguished and criteria #1)

I also show a picture of Randolph Caldecott to the children.

As many winners of the Caldecott Medal (1938-present) will be displayed for the children to look at. I encourage the children to just look at the illustrations, but they can read the books if they want to. I also tell them they can find information about how the illustrations were executed on the copyright page or in the About the illustrator section. I have a list of all the winners. After the children have looked at several or all of the books, I ask them to pick their favorite and then I let them know when the book won the Caldecott Medal.

Beverly Cleary Author Study (3rd graders, February 2012)

Share biography from Scholastic's website (here)

Read interview from Beverly Cleary's website (here)

Show pictures of the author from her two memoirs A Girl from Yamhill and My Own Two Feet

Have a display of Beverly Cleary books for the students to look at and read after I share the information about the author.

Jan Brett Author Study (1st & 2nd graders, February 2012)

Share biography from Scholastic (here)

Share selections from interview on Scholastic website (here)

Share selections of interview on PBS's website (here)

Show photos of the author from her website (here)

Read February blog post from author's blog (here)

Have a display of Jan Brett's books and let the children read them after I share the information about the author.

Jack Tales & Appalachian Heritage (1st, 2nd, & 3rd graders , March 2012)

Agenda:

Share PowerPoint Presentation on Jack Tales & Appalachian Heritage prepared by myself.
Read a tale of the students choosing from The Jack Tales: Folktales from the Southern Appalachians collected and retold by Richard Chase.
Finally, let the students browse the book display.
Another possible idea would be to share episodes of The Heartland Series that deal with Jack Tales.

Book Display:

Mountain Jack Tales told & illustrated by Gail E. Haley
Jack & the Fire Dragon retold & illustrated by Gail E. Haley
Jack & the Bean Tree retold & illustrated by Gail E. Haley
The Pig Who Went Home on Sunday: An Appalachian Folktale by Donald Davis
The Three Little Pigs and the Fox by William H. Hooks
My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston
Soap! Soap! Don’t Forget the Soap! An Appalachian Folktale retold by Tom Birdseye
Snowbear Whittington: An Appalachian Beauty & the Beast by William H. Hooks
Dovey Coe by Frances O’Roark Dowell
Ashpet: An Appalachian Tale retold by Joanne Compton
Waiting to Waltz: A Childhood, poems by Cynthia Rylant
A Regular Rolling Noah by George Ella Lyon
Appalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds by Cynthia Rylant
Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile by Gloria Houston
Granny Will Your Dog Bite and Other Mountain Rhymes by Gerald Milnes
A is for Appalachia! The Alphabet Book of Appalachian Heritage by Linda Hager Pack

Give teachers a copy of “Activities for Teaching Appalachian Folktakes and Dramatizations by the Jack Tale Players” prepared by Tina L. Hanlon and R. Rex Stephenson.

Poetry Introduction (1st, 2nd, & 3rd graders, April 2012)

Preliminaries

Ask students what poetry is (remind them of nursery rhymes…but also that poetry doesn’t have to rhyme…show them the difference bwteen poetry and prose…I’m still looking for kid-friendly definition of poetry)
Ask them where to find poetry in the library
Share “Keep a Poem in Your Pocket” by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers.

Poetry Tag

Inspired by Sylvia Vardell’s column Everyday Poetry in Book Links magazine (“Poetry Tag, March 2011), I created 11 poetry tag games for the students to play/read. They divided into groups and picked which Poetry Tag Game they wanted to play.
In retrospect, I should have walked them through a Poetry Tag Game as an example. Also, the 11 games use some of the poetry books, so the groups had to keep borrowing from one another. If I do this again, I may just make copies of the poems to expediate things.
Games 1 & 7 have overall connections/themes. Games 10 & 11 are just for fun. The others have connections between each poem.

Writing an Acrostic Poem using your name

Avis Harley’s “More About Acrostics” from her book African Acrostics
pp.36-37 from A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms selected by Paul B. Janeczko
Teacher’s Guide for A Kick in the Head provides a defintioin of “poetic form”

Supplies needed:

Printouts of Poetry Tag Games
Notebook Paper
Pencils

Google Sites

Report abuse