LOL Librarian

As a former classroom teacher, I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that one of the things to get bumped out of our schedule during a hectic week was the read aloud. I know, it's the last thing that should go but in the rush to complete, reflect, post, it was often done. I'm not alone in this and that's why having a good old 'Drop, Everything, And Read' session to celebrate International Litearcy Day worked.  It was heartening to see the number of classes who participated, and enjoyed doing it. Teachers and students alike kicked back, relaxed and read. DEAR sessions have their place in the world, and this is the 5th country in which I've tried it. An important component for teachers participating is to model, either by reading aloud or reading along side the students.  The students need freedom to enjoy as well, and should be able to read whatever genre or format they wish. Too much structure destroys the joy of these sessions. The video below shows us loving l...

Award winning books are a treat to read and share with the students. With my younger students we've been focusing on the Caldecott winners . For the past few weeks we looked at the criteria, and I 'borrowed' a list from a fellow 'Busy' librarian Matthew Winner . The criteria can be simplified and is: books kids like, excellent illustrations, illustrations help explain the story and a really good plot. During lessons I shared the 'Three Pigs' by David Weisner and 'Creepy Carrots' by Aaron Reynolds. We used the criteria checklist to see if we could figure out why the books had one. Students had an opportunity to talk about plot and illustrations while sitting knee to knee. Then they put the criteria into practice, they used small checklists and selected their own books that they thought should be winners. I made the checklists into little bookmarks with a blurb at the bottom telling parents about the award in the hopes that they would discuss it a...

I'd give this week a thumbs up too. This week was all about talking. Across the grade levels, students worked on sharing what they know about books. Talking about books happens all around the school and in many different ways. In the library, younger elementary students sit 'knee-to-knee' to discuss question I ask during a read aloud and then they have to decide how to take turns sharing. The Danish folk tale 'Fat Cat' was a great way to have the students interact and read by chiming in to repetitive text. They thoroughly enjoyed their knee-to-knee chats and deciding what crazy thing the cat would eat next, and some students thought it would be a dog and others the entire universe. Chatting about prediction helps support our ESL students since other students help them out. With the older students I have the joy of sitting in on a couple of literature circles. They enjoy this time to take charge in discussions as a director or a story mapper and so on. Students are ...