Have I told you how much I love the first week of library lessons?!!
I know it’s always crazy, but I love seeing the big kids walk into the library with smiles on their faces, and surprisingly even hugs!
Right away, they started talking to me about the changes that they saw (they know me so well!) Some of them commented on our new front door decorations, which was a long time overdue! Others noticed our newly painted blue columns right away. A few even commented on how cute my crayon caddies were! But the biggest hit was the reading nook with comfy chairs and a couch when you first walked in. We had always had them, but they were tucked away in a corner. I think my changes this year were a success!
After they settled down, I told them about the Scavenger Hunt that I had made for them. I was actually really excited about this new idea! I figured that since they had already been with me for the most part for several years, they would have fun finding things around the library as they reacquainted themselves with the different sections.
While I was in creating mode, I came across this interesting idea about a fairy tale character scavenger hunt on a blogpost by Rachel Moani. I liked this idea, but I also wanted my scavenger hunt to force the students to visit each section of the library (Fiction, Everybody, Non-Fiction, Biography) and familiarize themselves with how those sections were organized. I decided to combine both ideas, so I put signs on book characters and objects that I had around the library, in all the different sections. Some of these things would be in the actual Scavenger Hunt, but not all of them. This way, I knew they were actually reading the questions, and not just writing down the first thing they saw.
I’ll be honest…I was a little nervous when I did the Scavenger Hunt with my first guinea pig class…I mean my first 5th grade class! (You know how it is with something new….it can either go great, or flop big time…and you sometimes just don’t know until you try it!) I had figured 10 minutes for them to work in pairs on the Scavenger Hunt, 10 minutes to go over the answers and review the way the library was organized, and then 10 minutes to check out books. They definitely had fun, but it was way too long to be done in 10 minutes.
So, after they left I quickly went back to the drawing board and decided to shorten the Scavenger Hunt and not have so many answers that they had to write down. This version went MUCH better, and I used it for the rest of my 5th grade classes and all of my 4th graders.
I also created a version for libraries that don’t have their FICTION section organized by genres.
If you would like to have these Scavenger Hunts, please visit by TpT store.
At first I was going to do the Scavenger Hunt with my 3rd graders also, but in the end I decided to take them on the tour of the sections instead of having them do it on their own. This gave me some insight into things I need to do differently with my current 2nd graders so that they WOULD be able to do the Scavenger Hunt next year.
I also plan on keeping both long and short versions of the Scavenger Hunt to use throughout the year as a quick review and/or assessment. This would also be a good thing to use when a new student comes into the class. They can work with another student, and get to know the library.
So, that’s my first week plans for the upper grades. I’m curious, though, what fun activities did you guys do?
Sandy
You eluded to your fiction section being in genre order… I am considering this with my library for this school year. I am going to just try one or two genres to start. What are your thoughts on mixing fiction and non-fiction in your genres… Say historical fiction that includes the non-fiction books as well? Naming it Historical Stories since Hist Fic implies fiction…. Thoughts are GREATLY appreciated!!!
I absolutely LOVE my fiction center now that it is "genrified". It was a long process, though. I spent all year just labeling all the books with labels I bought from DEMCO. Then, right before the summer, I took all the books off and placed them on different tables by genre. That allowed me to see how many of each genre I had, so that I could see how to spread them out among the bookcases. Once they were back on the shelves by genre, I had to change the call number so that everyone could find them again. I chose to simply add the genre after the call number that was already there. (ex) FIC LIP became FIC LIP HUMOR.
Personally, I would not want to mix fiction and non-fiction books. The whole point is to get the students to understand that there are different types of FICTION stories. If they read a Historical Fiction and wanted to learn more about that time in history/event that occurred, then they would go to the Non-Fiction section (which they know is where all the information/factual books are located.) That's just my two cents worth, though. 🙂 Good luck, Laurie!
I bought this lesson from T2T and rewrote it for my program, but will you tell me how you use the small cards? Thanks!
Claire,
Did you mean the small cards that say "My name is Pigeon." and "I am a Microscope"? If so, those were placed on items all around the library in all different sections and students used them to answer questions. For example, one question asked "What book character is in the Fantasy Genre in the Fiction section?" and the answer to that one was the book character "Despereaux". I also had other characters such as Origami Yoda but that was in a different genre. My hope was that it would helped them remember that my fiction section was organized by genres, and that they needed to pay attention to the genre signs. Hope this helps! 🙂
Sandy
I am excited to use the scavenger hunt with my classes. Do you have a compilation of lessons that you use for the older elementary students, similar to the ones you have for K – 2? I hope so!
I hope they scavenger hunts work well with your students too! I am almost finished with the lesson plans for 3rd grade, and hope to have them posted soon. 4th and 5th will take a while longer … I plan to start working on those over the winter break. 🙂
Hi,
I am considering genrefying my library, can you tell me what genres you used as from what I have read some are more successful than others so it would be great to know which ones work.
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
I started off with the basics (Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Humor, and Scary) but then when I asked my students, they also recommended Adventure and Sports. So those are the 9 that I have used ever since I’ve genrified. I would involve your students as much as you can in this decision…they are the ones that are going to be using it most often! 🙂 Also, ask your teachers as well…have them give input on specific genres they have to teach. That will make it easier for them as well! Let me know if I can help with anything and good luck! I do believe it was one of the best decisions I made! It’s a long process, but definitely worth it in the end!
This sounds like a great idea. However, many books can fall into more than one genre (both mystery and historical fiction) . How do you decide where to put the book? Thank-you
Hi Vikki,
This is a great question, and one that I actually discussed with my kiddos. When books can fit in more than one genre, I try to look at it from the kids point of view….where would THEY most likely go to look for it? I also try to think of what genre is the story MOSTLY about? If it’s more about the historical aspects or it has multiple historical people and/or events, that trumps the mystery aspect (in my opinion). The great thing about this, is that the genres can always be changed and sometimes leads to great discussions with the kids. (How cool is that…debating genres with kids!?) I had a student who came and stated his case for moving a book into a different genre. He had great points so we took a vote, and the genre was changed. The main thing to remember, I think, is that it’s just a starting point. It’s all about the discussions on the different genres you have, what those genres mean, and where you think kids will most likely look for the book. I hope this helps!