Children’s librarians tirelessly go through the shelves day in and day out to reorganize the books kids carelessly pull out and shove back in at some other totally random spot. I cannot imagine how frustrating it must be! The school gives kids paint sticks to mark where they removed the book so it can be returned to the same spot if necessary, but not every kid grabs one and sooner or later they’ll all have to be able to figure out the books’ rightful place – including my son. Before he got started with the library-inspired activity I made, we read a sweet book about library puppets (used during story time) that come to life when the lights go out. It put us in the mood for our own imaginary trip to the library. When the story was finished, I gave my son some laminated “books” I’d made. On several were written the author’s names with a fine-tip dry-erase marker; the rest had card catalog numbers. Download a 2-page PDF of these book spines here. I asked my son which were fiction and which were non-fiction books. He wasn’t sure. I explained that at the library, fiction books were shelved alphabetically by the author's last name. Non-fiction books were shelved by card catalog numbers. He promptly sorted the books into two piles – those with authors (fiction) and those with numbers (non-fiction). Now I told him to put them in order. He looked at the card catalog numbers on the non-fiction books, and put the book with the smallest numbers first and the largest numbers at the end of our imaginary shelf. He alphabetized the fiction books by the first (and sometimes second) letter of the author’s last name. Books with numbers like 145.21 and 110.4 tripped him up a bit. I explained that you focus first on the digits in front of the decimal. “Which number is smaller: 145 or 110?” That was easy for him. My son beamed with pride when all the books were reshelved in the right order! Maybe he’s a future librarian.

I don’t know about you, but some years, books will sit on my shelves collecting dust unless I push them out for my students to see. However, sometimes even highlighting titles doesn’t help, because the book covers are outdated, or the books are worn. What’s a teacher to do? BOOK RECOMMENDATION BEGINNINGS This year I […]

Printable Coloring bookmarks for kids offer a creative and practical way to encourage both reading and artistic skills..

Learn to make quick and easy fabric bookmarks using fabrics scraps. This tutorial walks all level of quilters through the steps to make a fabric bookmark.

Everything you need to set up Reader's Notebook for grades 3-5. **AND EDITABLE! ~Take Home Book Contract-1 ~My Identity as a Reader- 3 to a page with frame ~Reading is Thinking- Explains characteristics of a good reader ~What Genres Am I Reading? on this page students keep record of what genres they are reading/choosing by keeping track with tally marks. ~Guidelines for Reading Workshop - 2 to a page ~Reading Interest Page ~Reading Goals (nine weeks and six weeks) ~Shopping Cart page for your classroom library. On this page, students write down the titles of books they would like to see in your classroom library ~Books We Have Read- I print this on a plotter to place on classroom wall. Or, give students a copy to glue in their notebooks and we keep track of books that I read aloud to class ~Genre Characteristics Chart - 2 choices ~Reading Log ~Genre Quiz ~Reading Survey ~Interest Survey ~Library checkout page ~Genre Quiz Personalize each page to fit the students in your classroom! *Guidelines for Reading Workshop page is also available on a full page (choice of red, yellow, (2) black, blue and white) **The ONLY page that isn't editable is: "Genre Characteristics" chart **each page is saved as a high resolution png 300 dpi

Not long ago I posted a beautiful book page bracelet on my FB page by the artists Lyske Gais and Lia Duinker. People went a NUTSO-BANANAS a...

Add some fun to the old-fashioned placeholder with this bookmark! Your child answers a few questions and makes the bookmark, and the experience, all her own!

Learn how to make a DIY fabric bookmark with this free, quick, and easy tutorial. What a great and easy accessory to make for reading.

Use these free printable Parts of a Book Poster & Worksheet to teach your pre-readers about book awareness and concepts of print.

Every day, it continues to spread and develop by putting on amigurumi art. As a pioneer of this process, we c

Elementary Art Blog

Get ready for the next Harry Potter book! You still have time to make yourself or your favorite Harry Potter fan this cute and functional house scarf bookmark.

Once again Paola Stacchetti from Scuola Primaria Marano Lagunare (UD) celebrated Dot Day with students in UD, Italy! Check out how they’re connecting the dots and making their mark this International Dot Day!

🤍A must-have for any book lover- our NEW Reading Log Bookmark features both a Book Tracker and a Reading Log! 🤍SIDE 1: Our original Reading Log Bookmark with space for up to 20 book titles & reviews. 🤍SIDE 2: A stack of 20 black & white books to be filled in upon completion of each book. 🤍Our Reading Log's measure approximately 3.25"x7.75" each and are printed on high quality 130lb card stock to ensure durability. 🤍Bookmarks will be securely packed inside a 9"x7" Envelopes. IMPORTANT: Please note the sizing of these bookmarks- They are LARGE; It was important to me to design something that had a large enough area of space to write down book titles. If you are looking for a more average size bookmark, please check out my “Mini” Reading Logs! 🌟Feedback is greatly appreciated!!🌟

Create This Super Cool Library Mouse Knit Bookmark

Amazing things can happen with just one dot.

Just recently, as I observed ALuv {my 3rd grade son} writing, I noticed that he was including commas in his writing {Yay!}. As I looked closer, I noticed that his commas were not in the conventional places and sometimes they even took the place of periods. Was I upset? Nope. I was actually super excited, and here’s ... Read More about Using Pasta to Learn about Commas {FREE Printable}

Here are six free printable oversize book page wall art quotations in two sizes and with three different background colors!

Make a shark bookmark! Celebrate Shark Week or use any time you're diving into a particularly delicious book. PDF template AND electronic cutter SVG files.

Learn how to make a witch out of book page. Fun Fall Halloween book page diy. Fall paper crafting idea. Witch diy Just That Perfect Piece

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in 1884.

Translation by Heike: En skärskild lärd och beläst typ av råttor är en läsråtta. Den finns alltid att hitta i biblioteker och/eller i privata bokhyllor och brukar vara fördjupade i en aller annan bok, att

" International Dot Day ", a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration, began when teacher Terry Shay introduced his cl...

MAKERSPACES … I tried to ignore them! I tried to deny their growing momentum. I skipped over articles and blogposts where makerspaces were the headline. I averted my eyes when newsletters about them crossed my mailbox. Not that I didn’t find value in them! I ABSOLUTELY did. Honestly, I was just so overwhelmed with the […]

Bookmarks are avid companions of readers. Whether you want to use it to take a pause in your reading journey or simply want to have it as an eye-catching tool within the pages of your books, it fits the bill! Our collection of Printable Bookmark Templates is free. You can also customize them as you want to, which is why they are also blank!

Emma Yartlett has a very nibbly craft project for you! All you need is a felt tip pen, a sharp pencil, paper, scissors, white card and a glue stick

We probably ALL have books laying around that we don't want anymore. Now you can turn those books into custom works of art for any occasion or holiday.All you n…

Free International Dot Day Activity (Creativity Challenges) Teachers, are you looking for some free resources for International Dot Day? Dot Day takes place on September 15th. The inspiration for the day comes from the book, The Dot , by Peter H. Reynolds. In the story, the main charac

About a year ago or more I saw some chatter about StoryWalks on Facebook. I thought - "How cool is THAT?" but could not figure out how to get one at my current location. Since then, I became a Head Librarian of a different location, one directly on the bike trail, and knew it was time to give it a try. StoryWalk® is a trademarked program, and belongs to the folks at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Vermont. This idea is *NOT* Library Village's idea nor do we take any credit or money for our Story Walks. If you would like to learn about this amazing program's roots, Click HERE. If you want to see some FAQ's on the program which will help you make your own, Click HERE. Essentially, if you credit the creator properly, you are free to use the idea in a not-for-profit setting like a library. Here's what the credit would look like: The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. OK, essentially a StoryWalk® is a way for families to read together outside, promoting literacy and fitness. The pages of a book are laminated and mounted on stakes and presented one at a time down a trail or throughout a park. They can be spaced as close or as far apart as needed. Families can stroll from one page to the next, or you can encourage movement from one to the next like hopping or skipping. For our first StoryWalk®, I laminated the pages of Duck on a Bike by David Shannon, mounted them on foam core with velcro, and then mounted those on wooden stakes. We did not make the sets as sturdy as the ones listed on the Kellogg-Hubbard library but this is because our StoryWalk® is designed for use near the library and for only hours, so weather is not a factor. With a little help from our Friends group, we have now done 3 StoryWalk®s and can easily make more. I try to use books that are about the same size each time - and reuse the rest of the materials. The approximate cost breaks down like this for us: Two books from the used book store - $6 Velcro - $10 Wooden Stakes - 8 foot long cut in two - $15 Foam Core cut in half - $15 The response has been wonderful! Families have said they love the books we choose, and love the idea. We keep the library copies of the books on display and families like to take them home. Our library has been asked to continue the program at all events, and other branches have asked to borrow our StoryWalk®s for their events as well. We have done three StoryWalk®s in 2014 in three different ways. Duck on a Bike was at our Summer Reading Kickoff party with the story pages about 15-20 feet apart down our bike trail. Next, at the end of the summer, we used The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear at a festival in town. We placed the pages around the perimeter of the festival. Finally we did an indoor StoryWalk® at Christmas Time! We used T'was the Night Before Christmas at an in-house and after hours event. No stakes or boards were necessary for this event. Besides, our Duck on a Bike set was on loan to another library event at the time. Once you have the first kit, adding books to your collection is a breeze. Things we learned from our StoryWalk® program were: know your soil - the soil nearby struggled to hold the stakes, so we modified this by using buckets with the stakes secured inside. Also, our lamination is standard for indoor use so rain will ruin the pages. You can see below how one of our arrows had gotten wet over the summer. I'll be making more arrows soon. Finally, Velcro is great for making the StoryWalk® reusable, but not great on a windy day. Keep your weather and the direction of your stakes in mind. For more information on StoryWalk® please visit the Kellogg-Hubbard Library Page. I'd be happy to answer any questions as well. They are only limited by your imagination. Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Come, Follow Me Daily Study Guide geared towards families with teenagers, singles, empty nesters, newlyweds or for your own personal study.