Make your library the center of your school
The beginning of a new school year is always full of excitement! It’s important to start with engaging activities and lessons that will set the stage for a year full of active learning for all students. I choose September library lessons that are fun, foundational, and differentiated/scaffolded. I teach all 4 of these topics with all of my grade levels K-5, so that the concepts
When I think of Spring, I think of Earth Day. April brings us outside to enjoy all that our earth has to offer. Earth Day falls at the perfect time to motivate our students to take care of our beloved planet. It’s a great time for a fun school wide event, some engaging lessons, or a special library storytime. These fun Earth Day activities will
April is National Poetry Month, so of course it’s a great time for some poetry activities in your school library. I really love to take advantage of these types of themes to create fun events in the library. Many classroom teachers do poetry units in April, so that makes it a collaboration opportunity too. Using Poetry Month activities in your school library is a win-win
You probably know that I LOVE to create special storytime sessions for my primary grade library lessons. Leprechaun Storytime is always a big hit! Engaging picture books, music, movement and fun lead to high levels of engagement. Since we’re coming up on the one year anniversary of school closures due to the pandemic, I’ve been reflecting on how I was unable to do my traditional
December is not the time for a full-blown research project. But if you want to teach or review research skills with your students, a mini-unit for holiday research is just what you need. Students will still get practice on important research skills. But if a lesson is missed, it isn’t a problem (unlike when you’re doing those long, multi-week research projects). Stay Flexible in December
December is a challenging time to keep our students actively learning. I’ve shared several ways to keep the fun in our libraries this month. There is so much excitement about upcoming holidays in the air that it’s difficult to maintain a focus on academics. Time to pull out your tricks! I’ve found that my lessons are always more engaging if I make a game out
In a normal school year, December brings changing schedules and lots of fun activities for our students. School librarians are always working at being flexible and maintaining that happy place in our libraries. But December 2020 is bringing unique challenges to schools as we face a holiday season unlike any other we’ve seen. It seems like the fun has been taken out of so many
Seasonal book displays are a great way to brighten up your school library. Eye-catching book arrangements will draw the interest of your students and might just hook your readers on a new book. I’ve got some school library book display ideas for you! Create Monthly Displays The easiest way to get started with book displays in your school library is to start with a monthly
It’s true that Back to School 2020 is starting off like no other year in education. Regardless of our return to school scenario – distance learning, in person, hybrid – at least one thing remains the same. We need great back to school books to read aloud to our students! I recently visited my local public library to check out these titles – all opinions
Educators across the country (and the world) are getting ready to go back to school. However, many of us still don’t know how to plan for a successful start to the school year. If we want to be successful in getting back to school in the library, it’s time to start planning. Even if your school or district has not yet released plans for the
