In general, I hate to repeat themes at the Children's Library, but this one was a no-brainer and lends itself to lots of variation. PLUS there's no way we would be able to beat last year's numbers without doing another Little Library LEGO Checkout Club (not that I'm a slave to numbers, but these numbers
In spring, we are wild about our new early literacy spots. These displays help promote language and learning, and transform the library into a learning environment. One of our more popular spots is a column that acts as a giant ruler. This spot encourages children to use a tool of measurement and to evaluate relative…
My April Evening Family Story Time program focused on an Earth Day-friendly theme: exploring your own backyard. This monthly evening story time is still a relatively new program for my library, so the attendance isn't consistent yet and I'm never quite sure what ages of kids will show up. I've found that I always over-prepare materials--having plenty of stories and songs that can run the gamut of ages--and that strategy has so far proved successful. It always helps, too, to have a theme that will appeal to a variety of ages. And what kids don't want to explore the nature around them? Opening Song: "Open, Shut Them" Story: A Walk in the Park by Jo Waters This is a great, simple text with clear photographs of the different sorts of creatures most anyone will find in their yard, local park, etc. Kids of all ages enjoy discovering the myriad of animals--geese, worms, ladybugs--that are often very close by when they're outside. My library has this book catalogued in picture books, but it could easily pass for early non-fiction. Song: "Grey Squirrel" This song is a classic for a reason. It's simple, quick, interactive, and great for pretty much any age group. Grey Squirrel Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, Swish your bushy tail. Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, Swish your bushy tail. Crinkle up your funny nose, Put a nut between your toes. Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, Swish your bushy tail. Story: Tweedle Dee Dee by Charlotte Voake This picture book is a classic example of the cumulative story. This lyrical book explores a single tree with green leaves all around it: the birds in the nest on the branch on the tree in the hole in the ground... When I used this story, kids really enjoyed chiming in as they remembered what came next in the text. The book has lovely illustrations, too. Song/Dance Break: "The Green Grass Grew All Around" from Phil Rosenthal and Family's The Green Grass Grew All Around: Family Folk Songs This song is a children's and camp classic. I like to do some motions to go along with it: standing rigid for the tree, sticking out an arm for the branch, cupping my hands for the nest, and so on. As the song goes on, it gets more and more confusing--in a fun way!--as everyone tries to remember the order of the motions. Also lots of fun: everyone gets the chance to spin around at the end, as the green grass grows all around. Story: Birds by Kevin Henkes Birds was nominated for a Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award this past year, and every outreach group I read it to really engaged with the simple premise. Author/illustrator Henkes delves into everything about birds; I have found that young kids appreciate this intense focus on one subject. We look at different colors of birds, different sizes of birds, different bird behaviors... Kids really get into all of the bird information, and they enjoy the simple, beautiful artwork that accompanies the minimal text. Story: The Busy Tree by Jennifer Ward Who knew just how bustling with life your average tree is? This book explores all of the animals who live in and interact with a single tree: owls, squirrels, birds, chipmunks, and more. The story is a great vocabulary refresher for lots of animals that even younger kids have come to know, and it has a distinctive nature explorer feel to it. Ending my story time with this book definitely allowed us to conclude with a desire to explore the busy-ness of the nature around us. Craft: Binoculars What better way to be a nature explorer than to use your very own hand-crafted binoculars for spying animals and the like? Prior to the program, I had glued toilet paper tubes together to form the binoculars, and I had also tied string to each pair so they could be worn around kids' necks. Our actual crafting after the story time consisted of decorating our binoculars. I had stickers and markers available to satisfy a variety of creative urges, and several kids walked out of the library that evening with their eyes peering through their brightly-decorated binoculars. Other books I had on hand in case they were needed: The Growing-Up Tree by Vera Rosenberry A Grand Old Tree by Mary Newell DePalma The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
I don't teach the Dewey Decimal Classification System and you don't have to either. There's a better way to teach students how to find a book in our School Libraries and it supports Math! Read on to find out how I don't and do, do Dewey...
I've been doing a little searching about ideas for passive programming -- where I set something up and then the program essentially runs its...
Learn how to create a book menu for school-age kids at your library. Over 35+ list templates included.
January is kind of a quiet time at the library, so I thought it would be a great time for a contest! I had the Where's Waldo idea for a whil...
The other day I (literally) woke up thinking about the next plan for the library window display. I want it to be fun. I want students to care. I want to get students into the library. So I will bribe them with candy. We have put up a Puzzle It Out display. There are 5…
Scavenger hunts are always an easy win. But cutting out all your Waldos or whatever, and placing them around the library can be a pain. That's why setting up a "permanent" scavenger hunt can be a huge time-saver. It's great for rainy days or large groups too!! I got this idea from the Milwaukee Art…
Roald Dahl Day is celebrated on September 13th each year to honor the beloved British author Roald Dahl. It marks the anniversary of his birth, and fans of all ages come together to celebrate his imaginative stories and unforgettable characters. Schools, libraries, and fans often participate in special events, such as reading his books, dressing up as characters from his stories, and engaging in creative activities inspired by his work. It’s a great day to revisit classics
22 free printable library activities for kids, including answer keys.
MakerCare: Service Projects As part of our MakerCare program, we use our school makerspace to create items to be donated to a variety of community agencies. In the Fall we made plarn sleep mats for the homeless. It’s a great project, but for some this may be too time consuming. We had to cut up…
The new year brought new members to our after school Robotics & Coding club. We had 30 students in the library for the first meeting of 2015...
Bluebonnet books reading v bulletin board. Too cute!
Are you looking for library centers to engage your students in December? Check out these low-cost and no-cost December library centers!
By nature, I'm not someone who seeks out help from others. I'd rather find information myself than ask someone for suggestions or assistance when browsing for books. It's maybe a little ironic, since I love helping people and chatting about books when asked even though I would never be one of those patrons myself. Perhaps…
To succeed as a first-time School Librarian—or as a veteran in a new library position—we need to learn everything about our library and school, listen to everyone and ask questions, and leave everything alone until we're sure what needs to change to meet student needs!
Library bookends look so much better when kids paint them. It was a Bookend Bonanza today! @CWEOFFICE #tlchat
As I write this there are countless souls right now in Las Vegas attending the American Library Association Annual Conference. I watch your tweets with envy, my friends. Would that I were there. Some of the first timers have asked me what they shouldn’t miss, but since I haven’t seen the official schedule of events […]
Squishy Circuits in the Classroom: This is part of a series of Instructables intended for teachers about educating students in the classroom around making and tinkering. For more about the details of this project, check out this video on YouTube. Squishy Circuits is an award-winning …
