Having Fun in the Library

The past two weeks have been a lot of fun in my library (but really, everyday is fun when you work in a library!). 

We celebrated National Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19) with a visit from some pirates via Google Hangout; we also connected with the other two elementary schools in my district so all the kids could participate.

After some pirate poetry, the students participated in an extension activity such as drawing themselves as a pirate:

 

This week, I received my books from DonorsChoose.   I asked for high interest, popular books for my library because I have over 800 students come through my library in a week.  I just can't keep these popular books on the shelves and I want my students to have every opportunity to read.  I am humbled that people have donated to my "cause" (encouraging my students to read) and very thankful.  This week my students and I will be writing thank you notes to our donors and I will take pictures of them reading our new books!

Why This Shelf Looks Good to Me!

This is one of the 

display shelves in my library.  

Looks good, doesn't it?!  

Let me tell you about this shelf.  

Steve is in charge of this shelf. 

For the uninitiated, Steve is the good guy from the game Minecraft.  (see Steve to the right).  

Steve likes to read and he wrote a quick, 3 sentence review of the book, The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman.  He gave it 4 out of 5 stars.  He then placed the review and the book on this shelf.  Soon, 4th and 5th grade students noticed and asked if they could write their own reviews.  Of course!!  Once the review and the book go on display, the books are quickly checked out by other students who want to see if they agree with the book review.

That's why I'm happy this shelf is empty.  My students are taking the initiative to write a short book review and post it on the Steve Shelf.  Other students see that the book is interesting and they check it out! *doin my happy dance*

Fun in the Library This Week!

Here are two videos I used with students 

to remind them of library procedures.

I used this one with the 4th and 5th graders. After the video, we discussed some of the rules, especially the one about letting a friend borrow your library book.





 I shared this one with 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades. We discussed good library behavior. They loved being able to choose which picture was the one with the right library behavior.


 



Steve (the library helper) has also started writing book reviews on index cards and posting them on a special "Steve Shelf".  Fourth and fifth graders are encouraged to write a quick review of a book they liked.  They give the book "hearts" based on how much they liked the book.  The most hearts a book can receive is 5 hearts.