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You are here: Home / School Library / Library Lesson Plans: Practical Tips for Elementary Librarians

February 8, 2024 by: Laura

Library Lesson Plans: Practical Tips for Elementary Librarians

Last Updated on February 9, 2024 by Laura

Library Lesson Planning for Elementary Librarians

We all know that creating engaging and effective library lesson plans can feel like a never-ending challenge, but fear not! I’ve got some game-changing tips to help you transform your lesson planning routine! By following these tips, you’ll not only survive but thrive in your elementary library.

Tip 1: Plan in Batches

Let’s kick things off with a game-changer โ€“ planning in batches. Say goodbye to the last-minute panic and hello to feeling prepared! Set aside some time at the end of the month to plan for the next. Trust me; this will save you from unnecessary stress and ensure your library lessons are well-thought-out and organized. Once you have your plans in place for the upcoming month, you’ll be able to avoid working on the weekends and you’ll have plenty of time to gather materials, make copies, etc.

Tip 2: Chunk Your Lesson Plans

Every grade level is unique, and addressing their specific needs is crucial. By chunking your library lesson plans into grade bands like K-1, 2-3, or 4-5, you can keep the basic plan intact while making minor adjustments as needed for individual grade levels. Consider combining K-2 or 3-5 lesson plans when appropriate, and this can help with continuity across grade levels as well.

Free Download Library Lessons Calendar

Tip 3: Scaffold Your Library Lessons

Building a solid foundation is key, and that’s where scaffolding comes in. Concepts like location and access (library catalog practice), research, digital citizenship, and ethics can seamlessly build upon prior learning from year to year. Scaffolding your library lessons is one way to make the most of your limited time with classes. This not only reinforces knowledge but also helps students grow as independent learners over time.

Tip 4: Collaborate with Other Specialists

Teamwork makes the dream work! Collaborate with other specialists in your school. Is there a seasonal theme that everyone can get behind? Join forces to create cross-disciplinary lessons that provide enthusiasm and engagement throughout the school. We’ve had great success with units on Native American Culture, Harry Potter, Winter Olympics and more! A united front in education is a win for everyone!

Tip 5: Focus on Books

Ah, the power of books! Of course, every library lesson could very well be planned around a book! Don’t forget that picture books aren’t just for your youngest learners โ€“ they work well with all ages. Pair a captivating story with a simple activity to keep the magic of reading alive. You can also use book trailers, blurbs, and excerpts to promote chapter books to your older students. This is a great time to teach them how to put books on hold, too!

Tip 6: Go for Active Engagement

Want to make learning stick? Get your students moving! Hands-on, active learning experiences not only enhance engagement but also help with classroom management. Give your students a purposeful reason to get their wiggles out! Whether it’s a scavenger hunt, a role-playing activity, or a creative project, active engagement ensures that your library lessons leave a lasting impact. And your students will look forward to their next library class with eager anticipation!

Be Strategic with your Library Lesson Plans

I think you’ll find that if you follow my tips, you’ll be able to master the art of library lesson planning in no time! Plan in batches, cater to different grade levels, scaffold your lessons, collaborate with other specialists, focus on the magic of books, and keep your students actively engaged. Then you’ll not only survive, you’ll shine as the fantastic elementary school librarian that I know you are! Happy Planning!

Pin this lesson planning post for later!

Creating engaging and effective library lesson plans can feel like a never-ending challenge! Try these game-changing tips from the Trapped Librarian to make the most of lesson planning for your elementary library classes. Download the free library lessons calendar while youโ€™re there and take back your nights and weekends today!

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    thetrappedlibrarian

    ๐Ÿ“š Elementary School Librarian
    ๐ŸŒŸ NBCT 2011
    ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿซ Teacher Author
    Blog: trappedlibrarian.org

    โ˜€๏ธ This summer, Iโ€™m updating my professional โ˜€๏ธ This summer, Iโ€™m updating my professional development series just for school librarians. Whether youโ€™re ready to recharge, reflect, or get inspired for next year, these self-paced trainings are made with YOU in mindโ€”and theyโ€™re coming soon!

โœ… Starting June 1
โœ… Free updates if you already own the bundle
โœ… New modules released weekly

Visit the blog to learn more and join the list so you donโ€™t miss the launch (and the discounts!).
>>>>> https://trappedlibrarian.org/professional-development-school-librarians/
    ๐Ÿ˜Ž Add some fun to your end of the year library ๐Ÿ˜Ž Add some fun to your end of the year library lessons with these Summer Bookmarks! Your students will love the summer jokes, summer greetings, and cute characters. Encourage summer reading and spread some end of the year fun in your elementary library or classroom.

โœ… 12 Summer Jokes
โœ… 8 Summer Slogans
โญ๏ธ All in full color
โญ๏ธ All in black and white

๐Ÿ™Œ Use in a coloring center or print the colored versions for an end of the year gift! 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Summer-Bookmarks-Summer-Reading-Bookmarks-9514093?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=TL%20Summer%20Bookmarks%20FB
    Still in school?? โ˜€๏ธ Grab these fun Summer Boo Still in school??
โ˜€๏ธ
Grab these fun Summer Bookmarks to send home with your students!

โญ๏ธ 12 jokes
โญ๏ธ 8 greetings

Full color and black & white options included - great for early finishers or a coloring center! OR print the color version for an end of the year gift!

https://bit.ly/3pvncvB
    National Scavenger Hunt Day is May 24.... It's tim National Scavenger Hunt Day is May 24.... It's time to add some adventure to your library or classroom! ๐Ÿ•ต๏ธโ€โ™‚๏ธ
My FREE School Supplies Scavenger Hunt gets little learners exploring with a purpose.
Perfect after book checkout or anytime you need a quick, meaningful activity!

โžก๏ธ Get it now at the SmartBio link! 

#ElementaryLibrary #LibraryLessons #LibraryActivities #SchoolLibrarian #KindergartenTeacher #FirstGradeTeacher #TeacherFreebies #ActiveLearning #MovementInTheClassroom #ScavengerHuntFun
    โ˜€๏ธ ๐—˜๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ โ˜€๏ธ ๐—˜๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฎ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒโ€”and keep kids reading all summer long! ๐Ÿ“– The latest ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„๐˜€๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ has tips, freebies, booklists, and resources to make it happen.

๐——๐—ผ๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€: 
 โœ… Scavenger Hunt Day ideas
 โœ… LOTS of recommended books
 โœ… Summer-themed activities
 โœ… PD resources to grow your library game

๐ŸŒž ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ผ to read it all! 
 #libraryhelpersnewsletter #schoollibrarians #librariansofig #librariansofinstagram #librarymediaspecialist #schoollibrary #schoollibrarian #elementarylibrary #teacherlibrarian #elementarylibrarian
    ๐Ÿ“š Do your library books get lonely sitting on t ๐Ÿ“š Do your library books get lonely sitting on the shelves during the summer break?โฃโฃ

๐Ÿ˜ƒ Why not let your students check out a few to read while school's out?โฃโฃ

โœ… This Summer Book Checkout Contract is part of my Summer Reading Kit. โฃโฃ

โžก Grab it here >>>> https://bit.ly/3GKoK9x
    โญ๏ธ NEW PRODUCT!! โญ๏ธ Half price for 48 hour โญ๏ธ NEW PRODUCT!! โญ๏ธ Half price for 48 hours!
This new Summer Storytime Kit has fun activities for your K-2 classes. Perfect for end of the year library lessons or your summer library program!

โœ… Grab it at the lowest price today - link in SmartBio!

#summerreading #elementarylibrary #librarymediaspecialist #elementarylibrarian #schoollibrary #schoollibrarian #tpt #elementarylibraryfun #schoollibrarians #teacherspayteachers
    ๐—•๐—œ๐—ก๐—š๐—ข!! ๐ŸŒŸ This fun Summer BINGO ๐—•๐—œ๐—ก๐—š๐—ข!!

๐ŸŒŸ This fun Summer BINGO challenge is included in my Summer Reading Bulletin Board Activity Kit.

๐Ÿคฉ Grab it and promote summer reading in your classes next week!

โžก๏ธ https://bit.ly/3GKoK9x

 #summerreading #elementarylibrary #librariansofinstagram #teacherlibrarian #librarymediaspecialist #elementarylibrarian #schoollibrary #tpt #schoollibrarian #librariansofig #teacherspayteachers #schoollibrarians
    โ˜€๏ธ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„๐˜€๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ is a double issue for May AND June, so we've added some ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ to see you through to the end, and give you a head start on summer!

๐Ÿ’› You'll find lots of ideas for summer reading, end of the year games, motivating ideas for book returns, and more. ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—จ๐—ฆ 20 โ€œ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†โ€ ideas and a yummy recipe for Lunch Lady Brownies! 

This month I'm sharing some of my best ideas for May and June:
โ˜€๏ธ A value-packed ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—น๐—ฒ
โ˜€๏ธ A fun ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป-๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ Library Catalog Practice
โ˜€๏ธ My new ๐—™๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—˜ School Supplies Scavenger Hunt
โ˜€๏ธ 3 forthcoming books to add to your purchase list for next year
โ˜€๏ธ AND a sneak peak into my summer project (๐—•๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚'๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฃ๐—— ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ!)

๐——๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ >>>>> click โ€œ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„๐˜€๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟโ€ at the link in bio.

 #schoollibrarians #librariansofig #schoollibrarian #schoollibrary #librariansofinstagram #libraryhelpersnewsletter #elementarylibrary #teacherlibrarian #librarymediaspecialist #elementarylibrarian
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