[LM_NET] ORIENTATION activities--with movement---ELEMENTARY---HIT

[Robert <rajoyce59@VERIZON.NET>]

ORIGINAL QUESTION :

I am looking for orientation / first week/ first month activities for prek-5
that involve games and moving around the library.  I have lots of saved
listserv messages, but I was looking for tried activities beyond lecture and
powerpoint.  Does anyone have some successful, tried, fun (well-liked by
students) activities and ideas they would not mind sharing?

I will post a hit.

thank you for taking time to share.

Robert Joyce
Virginia---Pittsylvania Co Sch
School Librarian/Library Media Spec
rajoyce59@verizon.net


-------------------------------------------------------

REPLIES:  ( Thanks to ALL who sent ideas !)

I play a boolean logic game that my 4th and 5th graders LOVE.  It's a cross 
between musical chairs and the icebreaker "Have you ever?"

How to play:
Set up the room with enough chairs for each member of the group.  Stand in 
the middle and explain the directions:  if the answer to the question posed 
is "yes" for you, you must get up and move to a new seat.  You may not sit 
in the same seat, or the chair originally on either side.  No running or 
pushing.  The student without a seat must pose the next question (Obviously, 
the questions must be school appropriate).  Students trying not to be seated 
will be asked to sit out of the game (remove their chair).

After a few rounds, monitoring safe movement, add tasks.  First explain the 
terms"recall" and "relevance."  Then ask students to pose a question that 
will have a high level of recall (e.g. Do you like pizza?).  After each 
round, ask students whether the results matched their expectations.  How 
could they modify their search strategy?  Vary the challenges... high 
relevance, high recall, etc.

My students ask for it again and again... I don't believe they think it's 
work!  It translates into good searching on the OPAC and online.

-------------------------------------------------------
We have a fun send the kids on a scavenger hunt with the Dewey Decimal 
System.  I usually read them a library related picture book first (Even our 
5th graders like it).  I give them a brief reminder about where subjects are 
located in the Dewey System and send them into pairs or teams to find the 
information.  I mix up the information on the sheets so everyone is not 
headed for the same section.  Winners get a piece of candy with a special 
bookmark.  And then as the rest of the class is leaving, I hand them a 
regular (but cool), bookmark.

For the younger ones I show and tell the Five Little Monkeys series and 
strategically hide them on different shelves so the students can locate and 
write down the hundreds section where they are found.  It's quite a race and 
I'm not sure if they realize they just learned something.

-----------------------------------------------------
I use a library "scavenger" hunt with the 3rd grade.  Use cutout
symbols on important library areas -- F, NF, return drop, R, newspapers,
catalog, etc.  Students work in twos to locate and match symbols to their
treasure map.  My lessons are only 30 minutes -- 20 minutes for instruction
and 10 minutes for C/O.
------------------------------------------------
I usually invite the students to go on a "field trip" with me: as we walk 
around the library, we go back through time (900s), listen to music (where I 
show them the CDs we have available), we exercise (790s), visit the zoo 
animals (590s), etc... you get the idea.

I have also had another idea that I plan on trying. When I was doing 
inventory, I noticed that several groupings / shelves did not get much 
exposure and checkout. We limit our 1st - 4th graders to 2 books each, and 
our 5th graders to 3 books. I plan on writing the shelf or grouping numbers 
on individual slips of paper, and then at the beginning of each class, I 
will draw one number out, and allow students to check out an extra book ---  
above their limit --- from that shelf. For some reason, our students seem to 
respond to  things like this. Go figure!
----------------------------------------------------
Just an idea...perhaps you could have the easy book section marked with a
big  A, B, C and so on and teach the children that the books are in order
depending on what the author's last name is.  You could get the teachers to
write each child's last name on a sentence strip, and let them hold it and
tell them you are going to pretend they are a book written by themselves,
and you are going to put them in order like the books.  Walk to the "A"'s
and say, "If your LAST name begins with A, come stand here" and so on until
they were all with a letter.  In summary, you could let each child draw a
letter from a box, and whatever their letter was, they could go that
section, pick a book from that section to read at the tables for 5 minutes
or so.  They can switch books with other people at their table when they are
done until time is up.  You can teach them:
1) A person who writes a book is an author
2)  Books are arranged in a special order. (I use this to explain they
should never take a book and stick it in a different place, because they all
live at a specific address.  It would be so hard to find!)
3)  They are arranged by the author's name, and you can tie in letter
recognition with the games.
--------------------------------------------------
Have a book hospital and a guest - the Book Doctor.  Put on a white coat and 
pull out each book and listen to it with a stethoscope.  "Why are you in the 
book hospital? ...  Yes . .. . mmm ... really?  . . . Boys and girls do you 
know why this book is in the book hospital?  Someone took it out on the play 
ground and for got about it.  That night it rained and look what happened to 
the book.  Now it needs to be in the book hospital and no one can check it 
out to read."

Glued pages
colored on pages
chewed books by a pet
pages cut with scissors.

I used a paper box decorated like a hospital.  The top of the box was 
covered in brown to make it the roof.  Kids will hang onto every word you 
say.
---------------------------------------------------------

 use this one every year with my 6th graders and it is a big hit that could 
easily be adapted for younger students.  Draw a map of your library.  Number 
all of the important places on the map like the circulation desk, Fiction, 
catalogs, whatever.  In the reverse of the map put a word bank and an answer 
space for each of the spots numbered.  Give one map/answer sheet to each 
pair of students and send them out to find all of the places on the map, 
giving lots of hints along the way like, "At least 15 times a day I go into 
my office" or whatever.  Kids love it and map reading is a good skill to 
learn.

--------------------------------------------------
How about scavenger hunts? They can be geared for the different ages
and levels of library experience of the students.  Great way for
newbies to find out where things are in the library.

Could also have multiple activity stations.

----------------------------------------------
This was very simple, but a good overview which students seemed to enjoy.  I
had my students complete a map of the library.  For 1st and 2nd graders, I
sketched a floor plan and photocopied it for them to label; the older
students had to complete theirs from scratch.  We discussed the different
sections of the library and, briefly, reviewed what kind of books are in
each area. I posted a list of labels they had to include (Fiction, Easy
Fiction/Picture Books, Nonfiction, Reference, Biographies, Periodicals,
Circulation Desk) and they moved around the library while they were working
on it.
-----------------------------------------
My kindergarten teachers told me next year they'll be doing a pirate them 
with the letter X the first week of school - X marks the spot. They want to 
do a library treasure hunt where kids find the different parts of the 
library and get treasure. I will probably use the Smartboard for a pre-hunt 
activity - I did this at Easter with the 2nd grade and it worked well - kids 
put the right eggs (labeled w/call numbers) in the right baskets on the 
Smartboard, then they went out and hunted the other half of an egg that had 
a match out on the shelves. When I do it this year I'm going to have it take 
2 days - 1 class period is not enough for either. For the k. I won't do a 
book hunt, but will focus on the E section, NF, check-in, and check-out. On 
the smartboard I'll probably make a map of the library and do something 
SIMPLE with Xs. This will be their first time in our library (or maybe any 
library) and the 1st time with the Smartboard, after all!
-----------------------------------------
Here are 2 activities that I have tried with success.
4 corners in the library-  post signs at the major sections of the library 
easy, fiction, biography, non-fiction. folklore, etc.  When you say go, 
students go and stand under a sign, pick out of a hat one of the 
locations-students at that location must sit down- students then go to 
another location- when you have 1 or 2 students left they win. You could 
have bookmarks or pencils, etc. as prizes.  Great for teaching students the 
location of the major sections of the library
Discuss different genres of books- post 5 or 6 signs around the library such 
as historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, etc.  Students go and stand 
under the sign that states the genre they like the most.  Have the students 
make up a cheer about their favorite genre or a mini commercial for their 
favorite genre.
--------------------------------------------------
when I was in a 3-5 library I did a
scavenger hunt for the first class. I made a list of all the things in
the library I wanted students to know where they were, or know something
about, and then did clues. Then made scavenger hunt lists with 10 things
each in different order, and kids went in pairs. Some things they just
had to find, some they had to do something.
(like write a title of a book in the 300's, search for xxx in the online
catalog and tell how many hits you got, how many books by Gary Paulsen
are on the shelf, where would you find the magazines, etc.)  For younger
kids you can leave color coded index cards or something else in the
spots to collect so they know they have found the right place.

You could do this "Move to Infer" lesson but make the cards titles of
books that you have out on display or think kids would be interested in.
http://reading.ecb.org/teacher/inferring/infer_lessonplans.html

----------------------------------------------------
 'movement' orientation lesson I've been using with grade 5. They seem to 
enjoy it.

Purpose:
To familiarize students with items and sections of the library. Orientation.

First I put numbers on certain areas and items in the library.
[In my library I label: -the return box, the check-out desk, the magazine 
rack, newspaper rack, clock, pencil sharpener, scanner, printer, OPACs, 
oversize book section, easy reader section, reference, fiction, non-fiction, 
biography, short stories. etc.]
I tape the numbers onto the area/item.

Second, I made a map of the library inserting the numbers so students can 
look at the map and locate the area/item.

Third, then I put togther a hand-out numbered 1-25 (or however many items 
I've numbered) and a word bank of choices on the bottom.

Next, I have them work in pairs walking around the library locating each 
numbered item using their map and identifying the item or place on the 
hand-out. For example, number 1 is the 'return box'.

I time them and have them work SILENTLY.
Hope this makes sense.
They have a lot of fun.
-----------------------------------------------
the Dewey Go Fish game with books but it is fun. 4th and 5th grades.

-----------------------------------------------------
My 2nd and 3rd graders have fun doing the "Bookie Lookie" which is the 
library version of the Hokey Pokey. We use shelf-markers so this song and 
movement reminds them of the procedure for putting in the shelf-marker 
before pulling out the book. I think we do this the week after orientation 
instead of a story.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes the hardest-to-find activities are for the younger K group. One 
that I've enjoyed and found workable involves a wonderful book Elizabeti's 
Doll, one of our nominations for North Carolina Children's Book Award 
several years ago. I open by telling the kindergarteners that a fad in the 
'70's was having a pet rock. Then I show them a handful of rocks, and ask as 
I show individual rocks, what they would name each. I get them to offer 
suggestions for names based on the scientific properties for classsification 
(but of course, I don't tell them that), such as color, etc. (You'll 
probably get answers like "White," Black, "Brown," which you can encourage 
into development of  more creative names, such as white things, such as 
"Snow," Sugar," "Marshmallow," etc.) Then I read them "Elizabeti's Doll." 
Since the story is set in Tanzania, you can go in the direction of social 
studies and discuss the ways their lives as American children are different 
from those of children in other world communities. Depending on how much the 
class contributes, or how much you want to spin, this takes about 20 
minutes. The scientific properties and communities approaches both align 
science and social studies with our N.C. Information Studies curriculum. 
Another direction is to ask the children if they've ever thought of names 
they would give themselves if they could name themselves. It's amazing to 
hear some of their answers, and what they reveal about early-formed concepts 
of self. Even more fun is to get them to suggest names they think would be 
good for classmates. You could take a language arts and math combination 
approach by making a bar graph of which letters of the alphabet are most 
common as the beginning letter of the class's first names. This is excellent 
for an introductory session. It's also a great book because it's the first 
in a series of three, including Mama Elizabeti  and Elizabeti's School. 
Elizabeti's School is about Elizabeti's first day at school and her 
apprehension, so it would also be great to share as a second lesson with the 
same Kindergarten class. Although these don't involve movement around the 
LMC,
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
My kindergarten students would read the gingerbread man in their classroom 
with their teacher and then come to the library looking for him.  As we 
searched, we talked about the parts of the library where we were then 
looking.  We also talked about what those things are used for -- checkout 
computer, bookshelves, books, my rocking chair, the story area, etc.  Then 
we "found" another, different version of the gingerbread boy and read it 
together.
--------------------------------------------------
here's 2 books for elementary librarians that might address the kind of 
lessons you are looking for:

Learning about books & libraries : a goldmine of games / Carol K. Lee and 
Janet Langford

Learning about books & libraries 2 / Carol K. Lee and Janet Langford

---------------------------------------------------------

This year we read the Shelf Elf (Hopkins) to our pre-K students and then had 
a game where the children had to have a sort of scavenger hunt in the 
library.

First we decided on the parts of the library we wanted to teach the children 
about and talked about how the books are placed on the shelves (spine out, 
right-side up.)  For each part, we made a card with large lettering, lets 
say Biography and "hid" a bookworm toy (your choice) in an obvious place in 
the section.  Before the children came to the library we hid all of the 
bookworms.  When they came in we talked about all of the different parts of 
the library and its organization.  Then we read the story and took turns 
getting up and going to find the bookworms based on drawing an index card. 
It's very simple, but believe me they had a lot of fun with it.  Make sure 
you turn a few books the wrong way on a shelf near the reading area so you 
can ask for a volunteer to correct it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
After going over procedures on checkouts with the kids, we take a train 
trip... just line up and chug, chug, chug around the library. The 'engine' 
is always a place of honor. and the 'caboose', who must keep the line of 
kids moving along and 'on track' are both chosen by me.
I let  the new kids to school be coal tenders, etc,... close to the front of 
the line.  I then walk along with the train chugging along behind me, 
stopping for important points/places in the library. Even though I keep 
Kinder checkouts confined to the Easy section at the begiinning of the 
school year, I think this ia a good way to show them the treats to come in 
the future.  I allow talking, asking questions, kids pointing out their 
favorite parts of the library.   I also have a pamphlet of the library 
guidelines and a map of the library that goes home with the kids.

The following week or so  I give a 'test' of the library areas.  I have a 
simplified map that I let them color in areas according to a legend I;ve 
created.
They can get up and wander to fill it in, and I always allow new kids to 
select an old-timer to work as a team.  The kids ask for both of these 
activities!  I try to be sorta silly as the tour guide, which they enjoy...
------------------------------------------------------
 A plan is to start with a pirate theme.  I'm putting the library map on a 
pirate treasure map.  To get students oriented, we will hunt for "treasure" 
throughout the library to get to know where things are.

 A scavenger hunt is always a great way to get the students active with a 
mission.  Break them into small groups (maybe by color) and give them a list 
of things to look for.  At each location, leave an artifact in their color 
that they collect.  When they complete the hunt, present them with a 
"Library Success" bookmark.  To wrap up, give them a blank map of the 
library and have them work together to fill it out.
----------------------------------------

In 4th and 5th I do scavenger games for locating different areas of the 
library. I make up silly stuff and the kids like it. I have a large library 
that serves two schools - ele & middle. One activity that I did last year 
was simply having the K - 1 draw (with their hands)an E (easy) over their 
heads and their first letter of their last name infront of them to teach 
call numbers, then find the shelf that matched. It was simple and the kids 
learned where things were.
--------------------------------------
Two movement location games are:
1.My students like library 4-square. I identify the 4 areas of the library. 
I have several pieces of paper for each section and pull them out one at a 
time. As the section is pulled out those people sit down. The winner is the 
last person standing. The 4 areas are fiction, nonfiction, easy and 
reference. This was in a magazine last year but I do not remember which one. 
The problem though is running.

2.I also do a book find. I use the same rules as Book Find. I bought the 
game probably from Upstart. The students need to be able to locate things in 
the library. I make up my own cards that are easier. I use F, E, NF and R 
categories and ask for various books. I make sure each one is similar so no 
one card is harder than another.

Two activities about value and taking care of books I have used:
1.Another game I discovered and used one year. I did not do it again 
although I had requests for it. I showed various items in the media center 
and students were to guess the price. The closest one wins. I do not 
remember if I did it as groups or individuals.

2.Hi Ho Librario by Judy Freeman has a movememt song called Alas and Alack: 
the Wounded Book's Lament. It is in CD and book format. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
  You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
  by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET  2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
 3) SET LM_NET MAIL  4) SET LM_NET DIGEST  * Allow for confirmation.
 * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
 * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
 * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/
 * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
 * LM_NET Wiki: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------