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
The month of December in elementary schools 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. How can we plan fun December school library activities while maintaining a healthy and safe space for our students? Hour of Code Computer Science in Education Week is the first full
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
In my opinion, the key to a great first week of school library lesson is a fun picture book to read aloud. You really need a selection of a few engaging back to school books to read aloud to your students! I’m here to help with some titles from my local public library – all opinions are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links
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
