Welcome to a new “Off the Shelf” blog post highlighting important key dates, ideas, and activities  that you can incorporate into your library lesson plans or classroom activities. My goal is to help you stay organized and inspired as you plan your month, making it simpler to bring exciting and meaningful activities to your students. Whether you’re looking for fresh ideas or resources to save you time, I hope these posts help make your planning process smoother and more enjoyable.

Key dates & Ideas for February:

Feb. 1 = Take Your Child to the Library Day
          *Read  “The Library Lion” and then create your own Book Care Book here.
Feb. 2 = Groundhog Day
           *Share some fun facts about Groundhogs.  Afterwards, create a fun groundhog craft .
Feb. 5 = Weatherman’s Day & World Read Aloud Day
           *Learn more about celebrating World Read Aloud Day here.
Feb. 11 = National Make a Friend Day
          *Have kids create their own “How to Make a Friend” poster.
Feb. 14 = Valentine’s Day
          *Create a home-made Valentine’s Day card. (Check out this example!)
Feb. 15 = National Hippo Day
          *Explore Non-Fiction books on hippos. Then use my Fast Facts to show your learning on Hippos.
Feb. 16 = Innovation Day
          *Let kids use their imagination to create an invention that makes their life better!
Feb. 17 = President’s Day
          *Learn about the president’s job here.  Then, make a list of things you would do if you were president.
Feb. 20 = Love Your Pet Day
Feb. 24 = Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
Feb. 26 = Tell a Fairy Tale Day
          *Create your own Fairy Tale following the ingredients like in this example.
Feb. 27 = Digital Learning Day & Polar Bear Day
          *Another research opportunity for Polar Bears!  Instead of books, use your school’s online databases!

Activities For February:

This is a great way to introduce new books to your kids in February and get them excited about reading them!   First, place books around the library or your classroom on tables, and allow students time to go explore new books.  Then, hand out a bookmark or booklet so that they can write down titles of new books that they would like to read in the new year.

Activity Link:  TpT Store

These bookmarks have been a lifesaver for me this year in the library! After students check out their books, they choose one of the bookmarks to color. This gives them a fun, new bookmark each time they visit the library, but it also gives them something to do while they wait for others to finish finding their books.

Activity Link:  TpT Store

This activity is designed to help younger kids understand the steps they need to follow in a research project. The research steps are in kid friendly terms, and modeled around a cooking theme to make it easier to understand.

Activity Link: LessonsBySandy Store   or   TpT Store

This unit is to help upper grades (3-5) understand the steps they need to follow in a research project. They are modeled after the Big6 steps, but with easier to understand terms.  I’ve included posters for each of the 6 steps, as well as a poster on a Works Cited page. In addition, there’s a main poster with all 6 steps in one and a set of black and white bookmarks.

Activity Link: LessonsBySandy Store   or   TpT Store

Help kids learn the six research steps with this note-taking set. It includes: 2 research topic brainstorm pages, several versions of a note-taking page to review the steps of the research, and two color posters (one with cooking icons to go with my “Recipe for Research” lesson and one without cooking icons).

Activity Link: LessonsBySandy Store   or   TpT Store

I hope you find this useful!