This week the students were introduced to the 2023 Bluestem books. They are available at all the public libraries as well as the Sullivan library. If students read at least 4 books, they can vote will all of the other 3rd-5th graders in Illinois for their favorite. Any student who reads all 20 will be invited to a pizza party in March. The list this year is wonderful!! Some will be read in library class, and the ones that students read on their own can count towards their class book challenges as well as the Journey Through the Genres. See the MORE tab for a link to the list of books.
This year we will focus on exposing students to many different genre - the goal being to get them to experience different styles of writing, various settings, and interests. Often students get stuck in the same series or section of the library. It's comfortable, predictable and often times comforting. But there are SO many books in the library. So many wonderful books that go undiscovered.
Through the book challenges at each grade level (20 book Bingo board in 4th grade and 40 book challenge in 5th grade) teachers are actively encouraging students to venture into other areas/genres. Mostly we all just want students to find books they enjoy. Ultimately, we are all hoping students will venture on this journey and find that good fit book that will give them a great literary experience. Well, the library certainly was different the first half of the year, but books did circulate! Students were able to put books on hold and pick them up in the lobby of the school. At first we had two days where families could drive up during certain hours, but then we moved to having the lobby open from 7:00 AM - 6:00 PM and the cart remained in the lobby for families to come when it was convenient for them. This is our current practice, although with some students now in person, books are being delivered to the classrooms.
Starting next week, I am happy to say that students will be able to come into the library for 15 min. once a week to check out books. We will allow up to 7 students at a time. Students will use hand sanitizer when entering and be able to browse the shelves. Students may still put books on hold and have them delivered to the classrooms on other days, but this way, students can look at the books and really find that "good fit" book. It will be so nice to have students in the library. Most of our 4th graders have never been inside. We have been busy reorganizing. Our series section is now arranged by genre and we have a wonderful mural that shows the books in each genre. We are also getting two new murals next week. The whole library was painted over the summer, so that will be new for our 5th grade. Bring on the books!! Many people have been asking me what the library will look like this year. That's an excellent question! Right now it has over 500 iPads strewn all over it as the tech department is getting ready to distribute iPads to all the K-8 students in the district. Physically, it has been painted bright colors - green on walls and blue on the soffits by the ceiling and has the updated circulation desk and couch from last year.
But I think they meant the procedures....the teachers are busy setting up a new ebook program that has 40,000 ebooks that the students will have access to on their iPads. We have Destiny too which has over 300 ebooks. So for the first month at least, students will be learning how to access these ebooks, and we will continue to promote the love of reading. I will be having weekly library classes via Google Meet with each homeroom in which I plan to read a book aloud (my favorite thing to do!) and then teach different library and technology skills. I will also have a Seesaw class to post and assign information and tasks. I will definitely miss being about to talk with each student in person to find out their interests and help them find that perfect book, but through choice boards and surveys the students will be able to narrow down their interests and still find good fit books! |
AuthorMrs. Yager has been the Library Media Specialist at Sullivan School for 11 years. Archives
September 2022
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