I was happy to get a blog comment from Joan B., the librarian before me. Hopefully she’ll come visit from Alabama soon and do a “guest spot” at Wilson!
For now…
At Wilson, the 3rd grade is studying genre. This month it is historical fiction; last month it was mystery and the month before, realistic fiction. We did partner booktalks today, and here is our (mussed) historical fiction table for the day.
In the 3rd-5th grades we’ll be looking at reference materials throughout the year (print and online), including encyclopedias, atlases, and almanacs. I got a good poster for the “horseshoe” area at www.reallygoodstuff.com – I ordered a few and finally got to unpack them today.
Another poster from reallygoodstuff is this one. I have a “coming” and “going” poster with clear directions and today, with the 2nd graders to start, I appointed a class captain to make sure all six coming/going are taken care of. I will use a new student each week for this – they seemed to really enjoy it today. It helps to give them a stake in state of the library, I think.
In that same order, I got some write-on dice to use with grades K-2 when we do readalouds, and grade 3 for genre. I will read a book or a passage and we’ll roll the dice to see what questions the class will discuss. (Behind that are library jokes, which I pull out from time to time, especially on those days when everyone seems tired. Some are riddles and some are just knock-knock jokes.)
In other Wilson news, thanks to the fabulous Patty Krause, we’ve got our new Follett order out and on the shelves! We have spent the last few weeks on this order, trying to update the many, many series in this library. It’s nice to get a big fat update order in and get the records into the catalog and the books out, as we’ve had kids asking after them every day and putting slips in at the “recommendation station.” Some books are backordered but most came in and Patty is working on the order of A.R. tests from Renaissance Learning.
We are reading the Buckaroo Award books in grades 1 and 2 right now. We have read “Dogku,” “Move Over, Rover” and “The Day Dinosaurs Came with Everything.” The kids get to vote – “dinosaurs” is winning, at the moment.
In less glamorous news, I worked on divvying up my materials into bins for the different schools. I really don’t have a perfect system for this yet, but I’m getting closer. The idea is that instead of keeping everything in my car all the time, I can just keep one laundry basket of stuff with me at a time for each school. Maybe? Maybe. It leaves more room for groceries…or the inevitable books…in my trunk.
Speaking of, after school today, I went to the used book store, Book Trader, to look at books for the four libraries (now that I had all this space, you know!) I kind of hit the jackpot. I found several Eyewitness books for Wilson (high demand), as well as Wyoming animal books for the 4th grade totem animal project (a couple), a few dog books and a Star Wars graphic novel (always wanted/destroyed), Pirateology, some science fiction and fairy books, Caldecott Award books and some excellent fiction, including Lemony Snicket and The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, for Alta. The other day I got some books at the Browser, including one of the Buckaroo award books I need for Alta for $1! It was great. Even though these books don’t come pre-processed and will take more time than if we got them through a library vendor, it’s nice to find some that don’t break the bank that I know the students will really love.
Myself, I’m looking forward to reading “Love, Stargirl” by Jerry Spinelli (which I promised a Wilson student I would read if they read the original Stargirl, and we could swap stories) and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” – to see what everyone’s talking about.
1 Comment
November 16, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Yikes! I’m exhausted just reading about all the work! It sounds like you have a wonderful handle on the “librarian” part – the obsessive compulsive side of me is reveling in the order out of chaos theme. And good ideas for the teaching part – I love the “pink clock!” As I travel around quite a bit, too, the “what do I take with me” dilemma is never quite solved. I have certain things that are always with me and others that I only need at certain schools. Lots of bins and bags involved! I think you’ll get a better handle on it as you get further into the school year. I’d also pack a blanket and an extra pair of gloves for those trips over the pass!
Keep the good posts coming! Jenny