Make your library the center of your school
Happy New Year!! The new year at school brings a fresh start and can help energize your January library lessons. It’s time to help your elementary students get excited about reading again, for one thing. Since the holiday craziness is behind us, it’s a great time to dive deeper into learning without fear of interruption! Here are some topics that I like to cover in
December library lessons can be tricky. We want to keep our students engaged in fun library activities, but we need to keep things low-prep. Because schedules can change on a moment’s notice, we don’t want to become frustrated when our plans have to change. So, let’s try some December library lessons that are flexible, fun, and easy to implement! This post contains Amazon affiliate links
What to teach in your November library lessons? Since this month is usually the start of some crazy ever-changing schedules in my school, I like to use lessons that are engaging, flexible, and fun! Plan to use low-prep activities so you won’t feel so frustrated if (when!) classes are canceled, moved, or added. Your November library lessons can be fun and engaging, AND you CAN
Take advantage of fun seasonal themes when you plan your October library lessons. I use the first two lessons with my kindergarten, first grade, and second grade classes especially. But you can definitely stretch any of these elementary library lessons to fit your older classes too. Just ask the older kids to become experts in order to model or teach the younger children! The last
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
Although I always hate to see summer come to an end, I do find satisfaction and joy in the preparations I make in my school library each year. I love it when it’s time to get organized for back-to-school in the library, but I also want to have some time to squeeze a little more fun out of summer. Here are some organizational tricks to
Picture this: You teach different grade level library classes back to back without a break in between. Although you are working on the same topic with each grade level (maybe library catalog practice), the lesson materials and practice pages are slightly different. After a couple of classes, your teaching area is a mass of white worksheets and you can’t find the materials your need for
There has been a renewed focus on social and emotional learning (SEL), and with good reason. Long term research shows that social-emotional learning has a positive impact on academic achievement, classroom management, overall health, and the prevention of problematic behaviors. We are wise to place on emphasis on social and emotional learning in the school library. The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
Most students and educators have just completed the most challenging year in their educational lives. The Covid-19 pandemic has turned our regular school routines upside down, backwards, and on their heads! This has brought stress and anxiety to a myriad of students and the adults who care for them. So, now more than ever it is important to address SEL in the school library. What
Assessment in the school library can be tricky. In my opinion, it’s not strictly a paper-pencil thing. We see our students on a limited basis (for me it was once a week, now it’s once or twice per month). The skills we are teaching in our library classes support lifelong learning – they’re definitely important! Therefore it makes sense that we want to check that
