Book Swap

At the end of last school year I made a goal to do a Book Swap this school year.  I had thought I would plan for one at the end of the year, but instead I am about to hold the first Book Swap next week and I am so excited!  I thought it would be a great way to get some "new" books in the hands of students over the holiday break.

To pump up the kids about the Book Swap, I sent home reminder letters and made weekly announcements about two weeks prior to the Book Swap to give them plenty of time to gather up their books.  I also mentioned it during our weekly Media lessons.

I sent home a letter about the Book Swap based on a letter that a fellow Media Specialist made up to use at her school. You can get a copy of it and all the Book Swap files by clicking here or by clicking on the picture above.  Feel free to use it as is or as a reference for your own Book Swap letter.

Students brought books this week for the swap and I will look through them to be sure they meet the requirements.  Then I will record the number and types of books that they bring in that qualify on a spreadsheet.  You can get a copy of it as well as all the Book Swap files by clicking here or by clicking on the picture above.

I also gave each student who brought in books a receipt so that they will know how many and what types of books they will be able to swap.  You can get a copy of the receipts I used by clicking here or by clicking on the picture above.

To set up, I covered all the tables in red and green table cloths and then put signs to label each table with what kind of books were at that table. This makes it easy for me to organize books when they were being turned in as well as already have the tables set up for the actual swap.

You can get a copy of the signs as well as the letter, spreadsheet and receipts by clicking here or on the picture above.

I even made a Pinterest craft for the occasion (based on this pin).  It didn't come out as well I had hoped, but it took so long to make that I wasn't going to attempt to try it again. It will do for this year anyway.

So I'm set and ready for the Book Swap.    You can stop by my blog next week to find out how it went.  If you decide to attempt a Book Swap, I'd love to hear how it goes.  If you have ever done a Book Swap in the past, how did it go?  Would you do it again?

Library Rules from the Black Lagoon.

Class rules are tiresome, boring, and quickly forgotten. It's too bad, too. Students should remember to be kind, safe, responsible, respectful, and silly as often as possible. 

So, taking inspiration from Mike Thaler's The Librarian from the Black Lagoon, our 2nd grades made up some new rules of their own. But be advised. Forgetting to follow the rules may result in some pretty sticky situations.

Displayed on the library office windows for all passing students to view.

• Do not rip the pages out of a book OR ELSE you'll be locked in a dungeon!
• Do not kick the shelves OR ELSE you'll be flattened by a pile of books!
• Do not steal the books OR ELSE you'll be locked in a yard with a 3-headed dog!
• Do not run OR ELSE you'll be stapled to the wall!
• Never hit a classmate OR ELSE you'll be locked in a room with hungry gorillas!

Here's the how to make this easy activity a big success:

1. Read aloud The Librarian from the Black Lagoon (of course) so the kids can have a sense of the horrible punishments a librarian could enact. 
2. Let students brainstorm a list of basic, daily rules for inside the library. (Think book care as well as behavior.)
3. Add on ridiculous OR ELSE clauses to each rule. Keep them appropriate, but silly. ("Sit in a tank full of spiders" is funny, but "Sit in a tank full of spiders who eat you until you die" crosses a line.)
4. Post for the whole school to see, but don't let them in on the secret. 

Each of our four 2nd grade classes came up with unique rules.

As soon as a couple students notice the posters, reactions ranging from bewilderment to bawling with laughter will abound... and you just may get a couple new rule-followers out of it, too!

- Matthew
busylibrarian.com

Book Fair Ideas

We just wrapped up our Fall Scholastic Book Fair last week.  The Fall theme was "All Star Book Fair."  I have to say, after completing two Book Fairs last year, I felt like I had the set up, run, and take down under control.

And I suppose that was a good thing, because the Book Fair was not delivered until the Friday morning the week before the Book Fair.  I didn't really want to spend the night at school getting things set up, so I closed the Media Center except for book returns and with the help of a parent volunteer, got to work setting things up.  By 3:30, everything seemed ready to go for the following week.

I tried to make decorating simply, quick and easy by simply carefully taping over the door decor I already had up so that I wouldn't have to take down and redecorate after the Book Fair.  It worked pretty well.

I used sports items to go with the All Star theme and traced "foam fingers" and megaphones onto bulletin board paper.

 Then I simply added some small cut outs of basketballs, footballs and baseballs because they were the easiest to draw and cut out.

Unfortunately, Preview Day had to be moved to Monday since the Book Fair was not ready on Friday.  I think this might have hurt sales a bit.  We made only about 66% of the sales that we made around the same time last year.  It was the end of the month, too, so that might have had something to do with it.

I was glad to see that less of the doodaddy stuff was bought this go round. I followed the advice of  Jenn Underhill of the Three Ring Library blog and made this board to display the junky stuff. 

Customers simply had to tell the cashier the number of the item they wished to purchase rather than digging through everything on the table.  Nothing mysteriously disappeared from that section either.  It did take me a couple of hours to put the board together, and I am not sure that it didn't negatively affect sales, but I realize the Book Fair is about getting books in kids' hands, not selling junky stuff, so I guess it was worth the effort.

If you're looking for some more Book Fair ideas, I've started a Pinterest board that you might like to check out.  There aren't a whole lot of pins on it, yet, but I do add a pin to it from time to time.  Check it out here if you are interested.

Do you have any great Book Fair ideas to share?

Read for the Record 2012

Tomorrow is Read for the Record day and we are all geared up and ready for it! Guest readers will arrive at our school around 8:00 tomorrow and make their rounds to classroom to read this year's book, Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad. Our county is very fortunate to be pared up with a great United Way volunteer who has hooked us up with 12 copies of this year's book for us to keep! It's going to be a great day for setting World Records. Are you going to join in the fun?

If you don't have a copy of the book, you can read it for free as an eBook on We Give Books (www.wegivebooks.org). You do have to sign up for an account to access this book, but accounts are free. So why not join in the fun?

 

Storytime in your School Library!

Need a FUN and easy library program? Try this! Once a month, I host a program called Lion Cub Storytime. Lion Cubs are children who will one day be going to my school. Most of them are 3 - 4 years old, but I have had some toddlers too. Usually, these kids are younger siblings of students at my school, but sometimes we have kids who just live in the area. Anyone is welcome! At the beginning of the year, I send a blurb to my classroom teachers about the program that they can copy and paste into their classroom newsletter. I post information about the program on the school webpage, library webpage, and in the school newsletter. I also make sure the folks who register new students in the office know about the program (this is especially important around Kindergarten registration time). When planning when to hold your monthly storytime, choose a day where your local pre-school does not have school (Fridays seem to work well for us). For the last few years, my storytime has been at 9am and we often have a good crowd. Select a theme each month and plan your storytime around that theme. I usually follow this format: read a book, do a fingerplay or flannel board activiy; read a book; sing a song; read a book; do a craft; check out a book; have a snack.
I get lots of ideas from Pinterest and from some of my favorite storytime blogs. I also write about each storytime on my blog - feel free to be inspired by one of my storytime plans!
My favorite places online to gather ideas are:
storytime katie
storytiming
Mel's Desk
I collect ideas I find on Pinterest on my Lion Cub Storytime board - follow it!
I love our Lion Cub Storytime and I have heard from many parents who love it too. The Lion Cubs who come to our school in Kindergarten are more confident when school starts. They feel familiar with the school and our library and knowing someone in the building helps both the student and the parent when the first days of Kindergarten roll around.
Have fun with this storytime - you don't have to worry about Common Core or other academic standards - you can simply encourage and foster a love of reading, storytime, and libraries. Perfect!

Valerie Byrd Fort, Teacher Librarian
New Providence Elementary School
Lexington, South Carolina
www.valeriebyrdfort.com

Taking Care of Library Books!

Kindergarten students came to my library last week for their first checkout! What an exciting day! They love to choose a book, are excited to learn they can take it home, and can't wait to come back the next week for a new book! Every year, before their first checkout, I do a lesson about taking care of your library books. It is fun, easy to plan, and seems to work! I start my sharing with them that they will get to checkout a book, but first we have to make sure they can take care of that book. I tell them that I have a friend who is going to share with them ways to take care of their books. I introduce them to my friend, Mr. Wiggle. I show them a Mr. Wiggle stuffed animal that I made with green tights and have them all say "hello" to him. Then, I read Mr. Wiggle's Book by Paula M. Craig. During the read aloud, I will ask them a lot of questions about what is happening in the book. For example, do YOU eat while you read library books? What's wrong with leaving a library book outside? After reading the book, I show them a book bag that Mr. Wiggle likes to keep all of his important book stuff in. I tell them that we are going to see what is in his book bag and that they are going to tell me if it is something GOOD to have around library books or something BAD to have around library books. I hand out laminated cards that we've made. One side is red with a sad face and it says BAD; the other side is green with a happy face and it says GOOD. After each student has a card, I go through the bag. In the bag is a water bottle, a pack of gum, a stuffed animal, a picture of a baby, a picture of a puppy, a container of yogurt, markers, a flashlight, scissors, and wet wipes (for clean hands). As I hold up each item, students show me if the item is GOOD or BAD. After going through the items in the book bag, I collect the cards, we say "thank you" to Mr. Wiggle and we check out our library books! I also send home a letter to our kindergarten parents introducing them to Mr. Wiggle and sharing some suggestions of ways to enjoy and care for library books at home. I also include in the letter when their child's library day is and a cut out template for a bookmark to color and use. I think Mr. Wiggle really helps our kindergarten students get started on the right foot when it comes to checking out and taking care of their library books!
Valerie Byrd Fort www.valeriebyrdfort.com

Get to Know You Activity

Well, today was my first day back at school.  This is the beginning of my second year being out of a school library because of budget cuts.  I am working as a program assistant in a Junior High.  Anyway, I just wanted to share a cute first day activity that a teacher did in her class.  I thought that a school librarian could do the exact same thing with a class on their first visit to the library.

She made a simple powerpoint of things that were true/false about her life.  If the item was true the students had to walk to one side of the room, if the item was false they walked to the other side of the room.  I liked this activity because it got the students moving.  The students were given a small piece of construction paper to fold in half hot dog style.  On one side they wrote their first and last name-perfect for name tags.  On the inside, each student wrote two things about themselves.  However, the statements could be true or false!  The rest of the class had to guess.  Simple, but yet fun and engaging.

Just thought I would share in case you were still looking for a beginning of the year activity.  Great for older students.

Fall, fall, fall!

How many of you are still stressing over that one big bulletin board that is totally empty?  Well, here is another idea for a bulletin board that I used in my library one time.  Again, my idea, and a very creative volunteer created it!  Remember to always tap in to your parent volunteers!

I plan on making my next posts about some great fall read alouds for kindergarten and primary students.  Also, since we have the big presidential election coming up this year, I have a fun activity I used to do in the library that involved the whole school!  I will share soon!  Stay tuned!

Debt Forgiveness.

Do you purchase books for your library collection out of your own pocket?

I assume not, but wanted to make sure the obvious question was out of the way first. I ask because many a librarian, school and public, gets a bad rap as an overdue overlord, a cost kaiser, a rule rajah, a... um... prince or princess of penalties!

Is that being too harsh? Or are we the ones that need to loosen up a bit?

Colleagues in my district go round and round over what to do about overdues. Do you forgive and forget? Do you maintain the lost book record throughout the school year, but allow the student to continue to check out materials? Do you restrict access to the collection? Just how strict is appropriate for this, the most heinous of all library crimes?

We've tried out a couple of things in our library over the past six years but may have finally stumbled upon a solution that gets the books back without the gluttonous punishments: reintroducing the ROBOT Challenge!

Oh, ROBOT wall! How your weekly sticky postings drew their gazes!

Back in April I mentioned on this very blog that we were in need of something new. We were losing far too many books each year (an average of 150 books not returned annually at a value of $13/book = approximately $2,000). True, this wasn't our money. It was the state's money. But this is no excuse to watch thousands of dollars walk out of our library each year.

I know how this could get a librarian mad. I know how this could make you want to tag the offending students' names in the CIRC and prevent them from ever checking out a book again. I know this could turn a really sweet librarian into the Library Dragon. But what if you could let go of all of those angry feelings and find a way to help the students be more responsible in the process?

Well, I'm happy to report that the ROBOT challenge worked! Sending home overdue slips weekly and keeping parents informed of what materials their kids had checked out seemed to be the ticket to cultivating responsible library patrons.

The shining stars meant ZERO overdue books, which also meant a popsicle party... my treat!

By the end of the year we had just 15 books remaining. This is huge! And even better, we didn't have to lock any of our students up in the dungeon or threaten to eat their tater tots for the remainder of the school year. :)

I've had a lot on my heart this year around the topic of debt forgiveness.

• Are we holding the children prisoner to their lost books? 
• Are we offering alternatives to patrons who cannot afford to replace lost books?
• Are we understanding of the various outside factors contributing to the problem?
• Are we holding repeat offenders responsible?

...so we've resolved the following pledge to our patrons.

• We will forgive lost books at the start of the school year following Back to School Night. No questions asked.
• We will allow students to continue checking out books even after a book has been marked long overdue or lost. Limited to one book per visit until overdue book is returned.
• We will allow students to "work off" their lost book fine by volunteering for one week in the library media center. Responsibility demonstrated is a fine resolved.
• We will limit students who continually lose books to keeping library books in their classroom. Some home situations just aren't ideal for library books.
• We will love you no matter what. Books get lost. If you didn't mean for it to happen, we believe you.

What steps are you taking toward debt forgiveness? We'd love to adopt some new practices to continue better serving our patrons.

- Matthew
busylibrarian.com

Back to School Orientations

This week is orientation week in the Media Center.  I usually show a PowerPoint and review the rules and sections of the Media Center as well as the procedures for checking out a book. While planning out my orientations this summer, I came across some cute videos on YouTube that pinned.  I thought you might like them, too:

Shelf Marker Song

This is a short video demonstrating how to use a shelf marker using a song.  It is to the tune of "The Hokey Pokey."  Granted the first part about the picture on the shelf marker is unique to that library, but you could always start the video after that part, or if you are really brave, just sing the song yourself.

Sammy the Shelf Marker

This is a super cute video.  Again, it has a few parts that are unique to the library it was created for, but it is still usable for demonstration purposes.

How to Use a Shelf Marker in the Library

This video is performed by upper elementary students and is also a demonstration of how to use a shelf marker. I like that the students are acting it out.  You can hear a librarian reading a "Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a..." something book in the background, which makes me think, "WOW! Now that's a library!  Lots going on at once."   I don't think it's too distracting, and again, I like that the kids are the ones demonstrating the proper and incorrect ways to use a shelf marker.  I especially like the sword fight scene.  LOL

Library Manners

This one has been on Pinterest for awhile.  I repinned it from another SLMS.  It is short and sweet, so it's perfect for PreK, K and 1st grade classes.  

 

 Scaredy Squirrel Goes to the Library

This is another cute video.  2nd-3rd graders might enjoy it. 
I like that it is narrated by kids.

 How to Take Care of Library Books

This is probably my favorite video.  It was created by a librarian and even has places built in to stop and discuss each scene.  It's perfect for 1st and 2nd grades...maybe even 3rd.

And I have to throw this one in just for fun.  Being as it's set in a college library, it's definitely not for elementary, but I found it entertaining, anyway.  Hope it makes you smile, too.

The FUNdamentals of Book Care in Five Easy Lessons

Happy back to school!

Fall Bulletin Board Display

Hello All!  I am excited to join Sharing the Shelves.  Over the past year, I have found so many amazing blogs for classroom teachers.  I just discovered Sharing the Shelves last night and I was so excited to see that this blog is about school libraries!  Yes!!
I have been a teacher for 10 years.  Four as a classroom teacher and six as a librarian.  I was in a district for 8 years when I accepted a new job in a different district.  Low and behold I was cut.  As a result I subbed in three different districts this past year.  Still looking for that new job!
Since I don't have the opportunity to set up my own library this fall, I would like to share some of my ideas from the last several years.  I hope some of my ideas will inspire you!
As I'm sure many of you are getting ready for the first day, here is a picture of a fall bulletin board that I had outside my library.  I was the librarian in an early childhood building for four years.

I can't take all the credit.  Several years ago I had a very creative volunteer.  I would give her the ideas and she would run with the ideas!  If you look closely, we printed off colored pictures of books to display on the leaves-books about fall, apples, trees, etc.  Great themes for September in kindergarten and first grade.

Help Students Reach Their Reading Goals

I don't know about at your school, but at my school Accelerated Reader is a BIG deal.  Kids are very eager to earn their AR points, but that doesn't always equate to reading success.  AR is an expensive program; we spend close to $3,000/year on the online program so it's important that we get our money's worth. There are so many aspects of the program that are very underutilized.  One of the little-used tools that comes with the online program is Home Connect which allows students and parents to monitor their progress at home or at school at any time.  When I turned on the AR Home Connect option last year, it also allowed teachers to set three different reading goals to help optimize a student's reading ability.

The three reading goals include

Book Level Goal
This is based on the ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development) on the student's STAR test and, hopefully, increases each quarter or nine weeks.  The ZPD gives a high reading level and a low reading level and the student should read within that level to have the most chance to effectively increase, or accelerate, their reading ability.  The goal is usually the average of this high number and low number.

Example    ZPD = 2.3-3.3   Book Level Goal =  2.8

Points Goal
This is the standard goal that most teachers have used in the past. Students have a certain number of points they should earn by taking quizzes on books that they've read within their ZPD.  I suggest that students read at or above their Book Level Goal, but not above their ZPD.  Renaissance Learning has created a PDF that helps you determine what point goal to set based on how many minutes you want your student to read each day.  It's very helpful when determining what point goal to set.

Quiz Average Goal
This goal is just what it sounds like.  It is the average of all the quizzes a student takes in a set grading period.  It is automatically set at 85% by the Reniassance Learning Company, the company that runs Accelerated Reader. I contacted them about how to lower it, but was told that I could only increase it, not lower it because their studies show that 85% is the lowest average a student can earn and still increase their reading level.

*AR and Accelerated Reader are registered trademarks of Renaissance Learning, Inc.

Using Home Connect, students can monitor their progress every day on their goals each quarter, six weeks, or however your school year is divided.  Home Connect gives a visual so students can see how close they are to reaching their goals. When they reach their goal, a star appears next to that goal.  You can see in the screen shot above that the student has reached 2 out of the 3 goals.

I encourage teachers to talk with their students and set their goals with their students' input.  I gave teachers a copy of this goal sheet to keep a record of their progress each quarter.  I did not make up the contract.  It was made several years ago by someone in my county, but I still use it because it's good documentation and a good goal planning page.  You can get a free copy by clicking here or on the picture above.

*AR and Accelerated Reader are registered trademarks of Renaissance Learning, Inc.

For students, I teach a lesson, and a review lesson half way through the year, about how they can meet their AR goals.  If you'd like to see the lesson for free, you can click here or on the picture above. Some of the information included in the PowerPoint are specific for my school, but you can get the general idea of what everything looks like and how it runs by looking at this PowerPoint.
 

In addition, I also give students this AR Goals bookmark.  I have added a place for them to mark their goals on the back which is also a good way for them to see their reading progress through the year.  You can get a free copy by clicking here or on the picture above.

I have contacted Renaissance Learning and they will send a rep to do an hour long overview of the program for free.  They also offer a day long Professional Development, but the cost is $3,000.  That's not quite in the budget, so we are going to make due with the hour long overview and hope that it helps us learn to use more of the tools offered through the program to help our students truly accelerate their reading.

So how about your school?  Are you using AR or another reading incentive program to encourage students to read?

*AR and Accelerated Reader are registered trademarks of Renaissance Learning, Inc.

QR Code Library Orientation

Yesterday was the first day our media center was open for the 2012-2013 school year!  All four of the fifth grade classes came in for their first library visit of the year.  To remind our students of our library rules and procedures, I created a QR code scavenger hunt.  I developed 12 questions to teach/remind students about media center resources and where materials are located.  I created the QR codes using Kaywa.  We are fortunate enough to have 20 iPads in our media center with the Scan bar code/QR code reader app.  Students worked in pairs.  One student wrote answers on the scavenger hunt sheet and the other scanned the QR code.  Then they traded so each student had the opportunity to scan six codes.  My students were so engaged in this activity!  Even students who are regularly unmotivated were cooperative, careful with the iPad, and they even completed the entire scavenger hunt!  See below for  link to my QR code library orientation scavenger hunt on Slideshare!

 

Qr Code Library Orientation from Jennifer Lewis

Welcome to the Common Core-al, Pardner!

Like many of you, in Georgia we are transitioning to the Common Core State Standards this year. The challenge of the new standards is exciting but there are still many unanswered questions! To assist with the shift, my principal allowed an unused classroom to be designated as the Common Core training room. This space is reserved as a meeting place for teams who are viewing state webinars, planning new units, and storing materials. I teamed up with a couple of colleagues to make this classroom both fun and useful. We designated one corner for math standards and one wall for English/language arts curriculum maps. We used a Wild West theme to decorate the room. A banner over the Promethean board invites teachers in: "Welcome to the Common Core-al!" A butcher paper tombstone's epitaph reads "RIP GPS" (Georgia Performance Standards). Bulletin board space is designated for burning questions and vocabulary. We also have a bookcase stocked with a binder for each grade and various supplies for teachers to use. I hope this mix of form and function will help teachers wrangle the standards this year. Yippee ki-yay!

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow ...

Ahhh ... the end is near! For those of us in upstate New York, we have only about a week left of school. As another school year draws to a close, I can't help but reflect on what a wonderful job that we school librarians have! As summer begins, we can throw out our alarm clocks, sip our coffee for a few extra minutes, hang out with a pile of books on our deck ... oh, but I digress.

Yes, summer is one of my favorite perks about my job, but we educators have such a unique opportunity.  We get the chance to end one chapter and begin another - EVERY ten months! There is something supremely satisfying about wrapping up a school year. I love seeing all of my books find there way back to my shelves. I love packing away my lesson plan book ... all marked up and sticky noted with ideas on how to improve certain lessons and projects. I love the boxes of new books in my office that are just begging to be unwrapped for next year. What a feeling! There isn't another job on Earth that allows you such closure.

I AM looking forward to summer ... dipping my toes in the pool, digging around in my flower beds, paddling my kayak ... oops, digressing again! But even more importantly, I am looking forward to next year, a brand new start!

I have three summer goals.

First, I want to read more intermediate fiction books than ever. I am on a mission to get a few chapter books on my top ten circulation list for next year! So, I am brewing on strategies that I can use to encourage my kids to read something other than Babymouse and Stone Rabbit. Do you all have any suggestions for me as "must reads" that I can add to my summer reading list?

Second, I am preparing some research projects that will tie directly to the Common Core. I want to tie in more web 2.0 tools as final project ideas. I have my work cut out for me, because my poor teachers are feeling the crunch of all the state assessments. I am hoping that some newly created projects will help them meet both Core and some of the assessment skills as well.

Finally, I want to spend some time networking with other school librarians ... virtually! I am a relatively new blogger over at The Library Patch and have been excited to "meet" some fellow librarian bloggers. There is so much to learn from everyone and I am looking forward to having some time to blogstalk and connect with others. A big "thank you" to Jo for creating this collaborative blog ... I definitely plan on hanging out here and hope to meet some new friends.

Summer Camp with a Techy Twist

Cari over at The Centered School Library blog is hosting a S'More Tech Summer Camp.  So much fun! 

S'More Tech Summer Camp

Each day of summer camp will have an assignment and by the end of camp, you will have a neat little PowerPoint  scrapbook.  Love it!  Day One's assignment was super easy and so much fun.  Here's what I made:

Looks interesting, right?  So if I've gotten your curiosity piqued, why not hop on over to Cari's blog and join in the fun?  Just click here to go to Day 1.

Celebrate...You Survived the Year!

Hopefully you are finshed or just about finished with your school year and all the fun that comes with doing the end of the year inventory.  I personally just finished up my inventory today. That got me in the mood to celebrate. 

It's been a long year, but a good one and now it's time to look back on the year and reflect as well as to give yourself a much deserved pat on the back.  It's not easy serving the whole school's reading needs, especially if you don't have the help of an assistant.  So give yourself a hand.  You survived the year!  And as reward for a job well done, please enjoy these library-related, bring-a-smile-to-your-face YouTube videos.  Enjoy!

Who doesn't love a good video montage?

Yes, you could interpret his song in the way the audience seems to, but a good librarian knows that the chorus of this song is really what being a librarian is all about.  Catchy tune, too!  =)

Ah!  I've experienced several days like this one this year.

I think I've found my new workout!  Of course I might have to try to find an old card catalog to really work those muscles.  I wonder if it's available in BETA?

And the other end of the spectrum.  Music, movies, and books...oh, my!  This one's for my public librarian peeps.

And who doesn't love those Old Spice commercials?

 ROTFL!

Happy Summer y'all!