4th Grade Library Orientation #Fliphunt
By 4th grade, our students know the library routines so I'm always looking for new, engaging ways to kick off the year but still reinforce library expectations with these older students. Flipgrid is an easy-to-use tool where students can record short videos to demonstrate learning. Last year, we used Flipgrid to record book talks, book trailers, reading responses, and more. This summer, I was so excited to learn about Fliphunts and decided to give it a try for library orientation. It was a hit!
A Fliphunt is similar to a scavenger hunt and there are many ways that it can be used in the classroom. Here is a great blog post about how Fliphunts can be used. For our library orientation Fliphunt, I "hid" three Fliphunt stations around the library. The stations that I chose were: book care, shelf marker use, and our new genrefied fiction section. At each station, students read the sign and then recorded a video demonstrating their knowledge of the topic.
Students had about 25 minutes to complete the tasks. Not every group finished, but most came close. The students enjoyed working in groups, moving around the library, using the iPads, and recording videos. It was such an engaging activity and it gave me a chance to see what they know and which skills could use more practice.
I will definitely be looking for more opportunities to use Fliphunts in the library. What ideas do you have? Send them my way!
Happy reading!
This week, most of our students heard the funny book We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins!
In this book, Penelope, the dinosaur, is headed to school for the very first time and she has a difficult time adjusting. She discovers that eating her classmates is not the best way to make friends and she is lonely. Through a surprising twist, Penelope learns what it feels like to be eaten and she finally changes her ways!
The students loved the book and after reading the story, we had some great discussions about what it means to be a good friend and that we should treat others the way we want to be treated.
Exciting News!
We have partnered with the McHenry Public Library to make it easier for students to get library cards! Forms went home this week. Once the forms are returned, it will take a few weeks for us to get the library cards to send home. Students can use their library card number at school to access the public library's amazing selection of online resources. Also, the Harrison school library is now a drop-off location for public library books (checked out by our families). Please contact me with any questions!
Happy Reading!
Welcome back!
Here we are at the start of a shiny new school year and I'm so excited to see our students when they visit the library for the first time this year! I can't wait to hear what they read this summer and to help them find new books to start off the school year.
New this year, the fiction section of our library has been "Genrefied". What this means is that books are grouped together according to what genre they are (i.e. realistic fiction, fantasy, mystery, etc). Many school libraries are rearranging the books in a similar way because it makes it easier for students to find the types of books that they are looking for. Here is an interesting article that talks about library genrefication:
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/51336/how-genrefication-makes-school-libraries-more-like-bookstores
WHY did I do this in our school library? Students are always asking "Where are the scary books?" or "Where are the funny books?". Most of us have certain genres that we prefer to read but it can be very difficult to weed through all of the books on the shelves to find them. Last spring, I had discussions in our library with students about if grouping the books by genre would make it easier for the students and they said definitely! So, I decided to take the plunge!
Here is how I did it (solo librarian):
I started by deciding on the sections that I wanted and placing genre stickers on the spines of the books. The genres that I chose were: realistic fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, mystery, humor, sports fiction, action & adventure, science fiction, scary, animal fiction, and verse novels (not really a genre, but something students ask for). I purchased genre labels from Demco and started placing them on during the school year but did the majority of it after the year ended. I decided to use genre stickers instead of colored label protectors because some of the tinted label protectors are not the easiest to see (the lighter colored ones are hard to see and the darker colored ones make it difficult to read the label underneath). To help determine which genre each book belongs in, I used the curricular tags in Follett's Titlewave. Of course, many books fall into more than one category so I had to think about where students would be most likely to look for them. This process took approximately 3.5 days.
The next step was to physically move the books and group them together. I didn't take all of the books off of the shelves at once. The first section was realistic fiction so I took off all of the books in the first two cases that were not realistic fiction and placed them in piles according to genre. Then, I went through and pulled all of the realistic fiction books from the rest of the shelves and put them in their new location. I continued with the second genre and worked in the same way until I reached the end. Since all of the books already had labels on them, this entire process took just one full day.
After that, the location of the books needed to be marked in Destiny. I created sublocations and copy categories for each genre. Then, I went through and scanned each book to put it into the correct location in Destiny. This took one full day. Follett created this very helpful document to assist libraries with this process.
The final step was to create signage to help students find what they are looking for. We already had alphabet shelf dividers (handmade from IKEA cardboard magazine holders) so I reused them by printing new genre signs to tape over the old alphabet. Finally, I created signs to put on top of the shelves as well.
After just the first two days of library, it is easy to see that students are already more independent at finding the books that they are looking for! Also, I am finding that an extra benefit of arranging books this way is that it is reinforcing what genres are. Overall, this will be a very positive change for our library.
Looking forward to another GREAT reading year at Harrison!
Ben Franklin's in My Bathroom by Candace Fleming and Mark Fearing (grades 2-5)
If you could meet any famous person from history, who would it be? One day, Nolan and his little sister Olive receive a mysterious package that says "Property of H. H." Inside is a box that looks like junk...until Ben Franklin pops out! Nolan is nervous and wants to send him back right away but Olive wants to show Ben Franklin around town. Through a series of funny events, including a trip to the library and a surprising ride on a fire truck, Ben Franklin learns what life is like today. Throughout the story, Ben Franklin tells the kids about what life was like back in his time. This book is filled with illustrations and Ben's storytelling is told through short comics. At the end, the author gives more factual information about Ben's stories. Ben Franklin's in My Bathroom is a hilarious story by Candace Fleming (who will be visiting Harrison in January) and is perfect for those who prefer funny stories with illustrations or those wanting to learn more about the past in an amusing way.
