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.

September Newsletter

A Brief Introduction

Welcome Back to School!

It's Coming Together!

I spent the week working in my library, specifically, genrefying the library.  With some help, I was able to get all of the Fiction section arranged by genre.  Here are some pics:

The signage indicates which genre you are looking at.  

This is the beginning of the Adventure section.

This is the beginning of Animal Stories.

This is the beginning of the Humor books.

     Sorting the Fiction books by genre has been a great way for me to get to know the collection in my library and to see some gaps in the collection that I need to start filling.  

     I think that genrefying the Fiction section will empower students.  They can now walk into the library and have a better idea of what kind of book to check out.  This also helps me guide them toward a genre (if you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, you might like Timmy Failure).  It's a way for students to feel like they are part of the library--no longer will they walk in, look at all the books, and ask, "What should I read?" or "Where are the scary books?"  I can now point to the Scary section.

I have worked in other libraries that have genrefied and it has been a huge success.  The students prefer the library laid out this way and they are quick to recommend books to other students, "I just finished Dragon Slayers Academy.  You should try that one."

I also started decorating the Reading Area:

I'm hoping that this will be a comfortable, relaxing space in the library where students and teachers can hang out and enjoy a book.  

Getting the library ready

Spending some time this week getting the library organized.  

My girls helped today!