Welcome to a new “Off the Shelf” blog post highlighting important key dates, ideas, and activities for July 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, and Activities for July:

July 1 = Canada Day
     *Explore Canada using books and/or databases.  Then have kids share their learning.
      You can use this Country Fast Facts.
July 2 = World UFO Day
July 4 = Independence Day
July 6 = Frida Kahlo, 1907
      *Have students research Frida Kahlo and then have students fill out their learning on
        this Biography Fast Facts.  
July 8 = Cow Appreciation Day
July 13 = National French Fries Day
July 14 = Shark Awareness Day
     *Explore sharks through books and/or databases. Then have students fill out their 
       learning on  Animal Fast Facts.
July 16 = World Snake Day
July 20 = Space Exploration Day 
     *Explore Space through books and/or databases. Then have students fill out their
      learning on this Space Fast Facts or write or draw a picture of their learning..
July 23 = Ice Cream Cone Introduced, 1904
     *Take a trip to an ice cream store!
July 24 = Amelia Earhart Day
     *Find and read a book about Amelia Earhart and have students fill out their learning
      on Biography Fast Facts. 
July 27 = Parents Day

Activities For July:  

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

Teaching kids about the Dewey Decimal system is an important skill, especially if you want them to become independent library users. I created this set of Dewey Decimal posters to help them understand what types of books would be found in each of the 100-sections. I also included a PowerPoint Slideshow with the posters so it can be used to introduce the information and a set of black and white bookmarks to give them after the lesson for review.

Activity Link: TpT Store

Do you hear kids asking “Where are the dinosaur books? Where are the space books? Where are the drawing books?” several times a day. Do these questions sound familiar? If your library is anything like mine, I bet we answer “Where are…” questions over 100 times a week!

To help answer these questions without ME having to tell the kids each time, I created these picture icons for the Non-Fiction section and taped them to the top of the bookcases. Now, when kids ask me for a book about “cars”, I can just tell them to go find the bookshelf in the 600’s that shows a picture of cars.

Activity Link: TpT Store