HIT:Elem:Curriculum#3

[Tracey Donaldson <LadyLibrar@AOL.COM>]

And, now part three....it seems part 2 was too big, so I had to split it up.
 Hence, the delay!

Tracey Donaldson
Genesee Valley Schools
Angelica, NY
LadyLibrar@aol.com
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I will be starting my ninth year in a elem. school library this
August.  Don't worry about student research until after Christmas
vacation. At our school the sixth grade teachers are the only ones that
do formal library research.
 Remember, on your worst day, you will know more than your students as
this age!  Enjoy!
[VERY GOOD THING TO REMEMBER, EVERYONE!   :-)]
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How much time will your students have in the LMC?
Does you district offer a list of objectives?
Our students get 55 minutes per week, checking out is included in that
time.  We have a formal list of objectives for each grade.  Those really
help in determing what to present.
Just some thougts...
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Week 1:  Every class, all levels.  Sit them on the rug in rows, cross
legged  or with their legs like a pretzel. ("Indian style" is no longer
used for good reason.) Cover Fire drill rules, where to exit, rules for in
the LMC.  And of course introduce yourself.  AND SMILE.  If any time left
over, promise a story for next time, find out some likes and dislikes.

Week 2:  Care of books:  Go through the shelves.  Find books that are water
or cool-aide damaged, moldy, scribbled in,torn, torn and mended with the
wrong tape, books with missing pages.  After a while you should have a
"collection" of "sad" books.
Greet the students with the saddest face ever and after seating them,
really put on an act complete with sighs about what you found.  Have them
guess what happened for each book, and share their feelings about seeing
the book in that condition.  Enlist their help to care for the books, have
them promise to show you the books if they find.  If you project the team
approach, they will trust you enough to bring you the books for mending.  I
even go so far as to show them my MAGIC tape which makes the rip disappear
like magic!  (And when the k-1s make a tiny rip so they can see me use the
Magic tape, I thank them profusely anyway and pretend I don't know. And fix
it.)

Third week:
Walk them through the process of signing out a book.  Show them how to
browse, how to place a book back on the shelf in the right place.  How to
pull a book out next to the one they're looking at so in case they don't
keep it, they can put it back.  Also, if they change their mind it's REALLY
IMPORTANT that they don't stick it back just anywhere.  Compare the books
location to an address.  If I went to Erics house and looked for him, and
he was down the street, would I
find him?  Books have addresses.
1st intermediate signout.

4th week:  1st primary signout, but review the process again.  With
kindergarten, check with their teacher.  If the kids have the concept of
taking papers home and bringing them back, they may be ready.  Other times
classes didn't start til October.
Also, you didn't say if you were automated or not.  I have some previous
messages I sent others --let me know which!
Hope this helps.  Although I love JR/Sr. high, I really miss the love from
the little ones.  It'll get hectic at times,  but enjoy!
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I am going from a k-5 school to a k-2 school this year, so I have been
giving this a lot of thought. This is what I have evolved, it isn't any
accepted curriculum:
for kindergarten, we mostly read stories and talk about the physical
aspects of the media center and books. We spend a lot of time on taking
care of books, how to do it. And the words we use to talk about
books--spine, author, title, illustrator, etc. Also I demonstrate the
difference between fiction and nf and help them identify poetry, etc.

In first, there's more of all that for everybody, plus I invite teachers
to send a small group who really will be able to do "research" . We find
books, look things up together, find answers to questiosn we come up with.
I love this, and so do they. I may do much of the reading and writing, it
just depends on the group.

Second grade is when everybody learns to use the lookup stations, and how
to find nonfiction books on the shelf, etc.we go to the Everybody books
and look at how they are arranged. I ask the kids to imagine they've
written a book, and I say "and of course we would buy it and if we put it
in the Everybody section, you go and stand where it would be." I like to
do this in groups of 6-7. I help them think of the first letter of their
last name and go to the spot if they need help. Some don't. We also look
at atlases, presidential biographies, etc.
 I'm ready to go back to school, as you can see! it is fun. I would suggest
that you will find what your teachers want and how far the kids can go,
and tailor your program to that. But don't wait for the teachers to
ask--you go to them.
Because I am going to be in smaller school this year, I am planning to add
more science. My sister told me about a great program from the Smithsonian
called Science in a Shoebox, where they do a short lesson on, say, fossils
with some examples in a shoebox. Of course, I'll have some books with
mine.
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