Here are the many creative answers I got (along with many requests
for a hit). Some of these are not the low-supervision activities I
need, but I decided to past all of them on. Also, here are the
activities I've been doing (and am bored with):
* I asked the phone company for a dozen copies of the local phone
book, which they were happy to send. Then I made up scenarios such as
You are going to start a pet sitting business, but first you
need to make a list of services and supplies. (Pet food, animal
hospital, vet)
Your oldest sister is going to get married in a month. You
are helping by getting names and places of some supplies and services
the family will need. (Flowers, cake decorators, tux rental, limos)
You just won a lot of money in a lottery. You want to look
up places you can go to get presents for your friends and family.
(Toys, computers, books, jewelry)
The list of places to look up has a space for name of business,
address and phone. Kids work in pairs, using the yellow pages to
find out and write down the info they need. I asked more detail and
more businesses from the older grades doing this.
* I'm going to try playing VERY different kinds of music (short,
maybe ten minutes per type) and have the kids draw to the music.
What kind of color is this music? Do you draw slow or fast? Do you
draw smooth or jerky?
* I pulled the oldest and the least circulated of the easy readers.
I made a form titled "Woodland Book Judge" in fancy letters. The
form asked for title, author and then the judge circled a thumbs up
picture (good book! keep this!), a thumbs down picture (Yuck! Don't
keep this.) and a thumbs up & down (I don't like this but someone
else might). I told them that I need their help to know what books I
should keep in the library and what books really should be taken out.
The kids picked a book from the selection, read it and filled out a
Book Judge Form. I gave this activity to the first and second
graders. Some second graders really got into it. But some classes
make a game to see how many books they can get through and it gets a
little wild.
* I'll give them a word or phrase (encyclopedia, the name of our
school, 'I am terrific') and have them see how many words they can
make with the letters. Divide class into teams, with one child the
recorder, another with a dictionary to look up the questions.
* I copy pages out of several Brain Teaser books with stuff like
logic puzzles, word scrambles, etc. Kids can choose which puzzle to
do.
* One year I did a readers' theater (from Aaron Shepard's web pages).
It was fun but took a LOT of energy on my part to coach and keep
things together. This is one for those who don't need to be doing
something else while the kids do this.
Here's other people's suggestions:
For my 5th grade I am planing to read Elvis
lives and either have them try to use their names to make an anagram or use
the word puzzle from the June Mailbox magazine.
Have them bring board games. Then set them up and let them play. This
works well if you have the kids ahead of time know who is bringing
what.
I found ideas like origami and shaving cream character drawing.....
Try making them all "honorary Librarians" and ask them to do such things as
( within their capabilities) -- move all books to the edge of the shelves
( even 1st graders can do this) -- clear the bulletin boards -- help put
away last minute returns ( older kids)-- Help dust and/or wipe with damp
cloth all carts, etc. -- organize your supply cabinet ( put markers in
boxes, paper in stacks by size, bulletin board materials in order, cords
rolled and secured and in boxes, etc.)-- make "Thank you " cards for the
volunteers -- Do you use shelf place markers when they browse? Have them
clean them and get them ready for next year --
I have the students play Dewey Bingo. I can serve as caller, have a
parent volunteer, or rotate students as callers. I do this the last
week I have students & it make for a very quiet, relaxed final
library period. The students have to listen to what is called (and
by the end of the year I'm yearning for a lower level of auditory
stimulus!) Prizes are assorted things I've collected - bookmarks,
cute erasers, M&Ms,etc. Don't remember where I purchased the game.
I had the kids bring in craft supplies, bought some stickers, gel
pens, and tag board and we made bookmarks. They loved it!
I usually played games at the end, though it becomes difficult to
organize if you have a lot left to do. One game which is easy with
a shelf list is playing Book Bingo---you take books which are badly
out of order (usually Easy for me) and pile them on the tables.
Read from the shelf list and the kids bring the book to the shelf
or cart. Rewards to first table done, and then everyone else.
The older kids would go into teams of 2 with shelf list in hand to
organize. Just spread them out a bit and they like the low-key
activity.
I saved good videos for the end, too --not commercial ones, but
videos of folk tales by Tom Davenport which they would never see
anywhere else----though you have to be careful about age-
appropriate ones. I liked Ashpet, Soldier Jack and Jack and the
Dentist's Daughter for grades 3 -6.
They could make posters to promote Summer Reading (that you could then
bring to the public library for display) if you have the work space...
Sometimes I also have a "read anywhere" day where they can read anywhere
in the library that they want, under desks, under benches, in between
the stacks, etc. I set out some really attention grabbing books that
they can choose from and they love it. Those are "quick and easy" ideas
- good luck!
As tired as it may sound, go to puzzlemaker.com and key in library-related
terms, or any subject that you have been covering recently. Just a
suggestion, but for the ages you mention, it does work! (fast and easy for
you in that situation)
First grades - read They Dirty Boy by Brown or Tubtime (the best
choice) by ? and
then have the kids go out and blow bubbles. Second grades - Read The
Glorious Flight by Provenson, then make paper airplanes and take them
outside to fly them.
Switch places and have the students become the librarians--check in
materials, shelve them, and tell YOU their favorite stories. My 4th
graders loved "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark"; I had them sit on
the floor around my "story chair", and we turned out the lights and
read them. (Fortunately, we have skylights! :) ) They loved it!
I thought of another way you could do this; divide the students into
groups, and set up stations for them. Have them rotate among
stations for checking in, shelving, straightening, etc. You could
even have a purchasing station with catalogues and have the students
highlight the items they'd like you to purchase the next year.
A simple idea but we had a lot of fun with it: playing "20 questions"
with book characters. We are a 3rd-5th gr. school so I tried to come up
with characters that most students at that level would know and were
distinctive enought and had an interesting enough "personnae" to promote
some good questions: Charlotte from Charlotte's Web, Charlie Bucket from
Charlie and the Choc. Factory, the Grinch, Arthur the aardvark, Ramona
Quimby, Harry Potter, Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Mr. Popper,
etc. And in the spirit of '20 Questions' the answers had to be of the
"yes/no" type.
The game really reinforced the elements of a story that students should
be thinking about anytime they read or write a story, and so ask questions
that help pinpoint those elements that define a particular story like
setting, genre, narration in 1st/2nd/3rd person, characteristics
(gender/physical description), family members, characteristics/gender of
character and author. I learned it helped to go over the kinds of questions
that should be asked or else they would get bogged down in guessing things
like an endless stream of particular animals once it was determined that the
character was an animal.
Student volunteers acted as "contestants." I brought in a nice
"cushiony" chair from the teacher's room to make it seem like they were a
special guest. There was a card for each character that included the author
and title of the book and a 2-3 sentence description of important elements
of the story to refresh their memory. On a "blind" pick, they chose a card,
read the description to themselves and decided whether or not they knew the
character well enough to answer the audience questions or needed to pick
another card. I also made a (a la "What's My Line) #1-20 flip chart so
another student could act as "MC" and flip the number as each question was
asked and choose who would ask the next question. The kids had a ball!
I like to bring out the fairy tales; the students love to hear the different
versions of "Cinderella" and "Little Red Riding Hood". Following the recipe
for a fairy tale, the students can reenact a favourite or create their own
in groups of 3 or 4. I allow students to use the "puppets" in the big box
or make their own finger puppets. They can present their story if it is
practiced and complete. This might be too energetic for some students so
they may need to draw a scene from their favourite fairy tale, then describe
it orally so others can guess the part they like best. If it helps to keep
the lid on things, allow one group per session to use the puppets and share
their story in the last 10 minutes.
Older students love to read and create "Fractured Fairy Tales" like those of
Jon Sczieska (sp?) Another activity might be to make a storyboard in comic
strip format or as simple as beginning, middle and end; to be continued the
next time they visit the library.
--
Johanna Halbeisen, Library Media Teacher
Woodland Elementary School (preK-4)
80 Powder Mill Rd, Southwick, MA 01077
johanna.newsong@rcn.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST, etc.) send email to:
listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv.
For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml
See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors:
http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=
LM_NET
Mailing List Home