Sunday, August 26, 2012

Getting to Know...the rules!

Week 1 & 2
Grade 2 girls in a castle PreK built

This week we focused on being clear about library expectations so that everyone knows how to use our space and resources. Stay tuned to our blog to see how well students understood what they learned this week: videos coming soon!

Our Early Childhood students will begin library sessions next week. Their teachers like to keep them all day to establish routines and have a sense of a home base at school.


Guiding/Essential Questions for all

What is the library used for? 
What is our responsibility when using the library space and materials? 
Who can help us in the library, and how do we ask for help?



Grades 1 & 2
Welcome Back to School stories. We talked about how fun it is to be back at school: seeing friends, meeting new classmates, and getting to know our new teacher. 

Before settling in to read back-to-school stories, we learned some signs to use to make story time pleasant for everyone. Next, we practiced the signs as we read some picture books!

Story Time Signs:
Thumbs-up = I've read this story before!
Me too = I'm having a connection with something in the story
Brain Match = I thought the same thing!
Coyote = mouth closed, ears listening



Don't Be Silly, Mrs. Millie! by Judy Cox, illustrated by Joe Mathieu
Mrs. Millie keeps her class giggling by mis-speaking throughout the school day. She tells them to hang up their "goats", wash their hands with soap and "walrus", and take out their pencils and "penguins". The kiddos in the story (and the ones in the story time) love to correct her. Cartoony colorful illustrations show us all the silliness: goats hanging on hooks, and a walrus at the sink. 
This is well-suited for grades 1 and up.



Billy and the Bad Teacher, by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Elivia Savadier
Billy is a major rule-follower and it really irritates him when his teacher does things he's not supposed to do. So Billy decides to make a list of all of his teacher's transgressions and send the lists to some Very important people! On the list? Chewing bubble gum, running in the halls, and falling asleep in a teachers' meeting, to name a few. But when it's time to send off the list, Billy has some doubts. What SHOULD the perfect teacher be like? His own answers surprise him! A good match for grade 1 and up.



Get Out of Bed! by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Alan and Lea Daniel
Amy won't wake up on the first day of school. Everyone in her family tries to shout and rustle her up, but it's just not working. How will they get her to school? Move her bed into the classroom, that's how! And so the events of the school day carry on around her, as she dozes through. What will happen on day two? Her classmates have the last laugh - that's for sure! Cartoony watercolor illustrations and a repetitive story pattern make this fun for kindergarten through grade 2.



I Hate School, by Jeanne Willis, illustrated by Tony Ross
This funny story-in-rhyme is similar to the popular "Black Lagoon" series. Our main character hates school for the wildest possible reasons; for example, the teacher is a "warty toad"  and children are fed "rabbit poo" at lunch. It has a great bouncing beat, and expressive line-drawn watercolors add to the hilarity. 
A good fit for grades 1 through 3.



Jake Starts School, by Michael Wright
Jake is anxious about starting school - anxious?  No, terrified!  He's so scared, he won't let go of his parents, and so all day he opts out of the fun activities. It's beyond ridiculous watching him try to climb a jungle gym with this parents attached to him, for example. If any kiddos had been thinking of clinging to their parents like Jake does, this story shows them how un-fun that would be. Happily, Jake's teacher turns out to be a natural with children and discovers a way to make him comfortable enough to let go! This is good for Kindergarten - 1st graders.


Grades 3, 4, 5 library lessons are scheduled on a flexible basis. This week and next week we've scheduled several blocks for a library skills "Boot Camp".

Grade 3: Manners and Mapping

Free Quiz-Maker
Session 1: YOU in the Library quiz
We talked over some expectations, and it was fantastic to see how much students remembered from last year. Returning students taught our new students so much about how we behave in the library. Afterward, students completed an online quiz to see how much they remembered from our talk. (passcode: aisblibrary)

Session 2: Mapping activity 

Small groups got a blank map of the library to color-code. They looked at the sections in the library according to the call numbers and chose a color for each area. They made a key to match the colors to the types of books.

Grades 4 and 5: Manners!
Session 1: YOU in the Library quiz
As with grade 3, we hit the rules pretty hard and followed with a quiz. With grade 4 and 5, we went over computer rules in more detail, including zero tolerance for changing computer settings, vandalizing keyboards, and using websites not linked on the library website.


All of this fits in perfectly with our year-long theme:
Respect Ourselves, Respect Others, Respect the Environment.

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