March is reading month

There are tons of reading celebrations in March!

With Dr. Seuss' birthday on the 2nd (Read across America day), World folktale and fables week (3/17 -3/23) and United Nations World Poetry day (3/21), we have plenty to celebrate. 

In our library, we are going to participate in a Dr. Seuss reading challenge. (I can't take credit for this idea, I came across it while scrolling through Pinterest, but I am putting my own twist on it. Here is the link to the original). 

I am going to encourage the kids to complete the challenge and bring it back with a parent's signature for a bookmark and pencil (picture below) and the opportunity to win a free book. 

As further motivation for the students, I also wanted to award each class to complete 10 of these challenges an award that will be displayed on our "Reading Wall of Fame." 

In addition to the reading challenge, I like to offer the student's various monthly activities to do in the library that support literacy and encourage reading. 

One of these activities is what I'm calling "Rhyme Time." This activity also sticks with the Dr. Seuss theme as Dr. Seuss was the "King of Rhymes." 

I bought some dollar store* sight words, cut them and sorted them into rhyming pairs. I'm going to tape them in separate spots around the library. Students will have a sheet of paper to find rhymes and will have to write down each word pair they find. 

I will also have additional games available to play - a Dr. Seuss word search, word scramble, matching game and sight word game. 

*Dollar Tree has some excellent and affordable options for librarians! 

February is all about the love

I've always loved Valentine's Day - maybe it's the colors - the stark contrast of red against the pure white snow.

My mind always goes back to one of my happiest memories as a child - a little party my mom set up for my brother and I with a close friend. We probably did the typical things you do at holiday parties - decorate cupcakes, eat cookies, make Valentine's Day cards. Whatever it was...it left a mark on me and left me with a happy, glowing view of Valentine's Day.

With that said, I wanted to be a big part of the student's in our school having happy and fun memories of Valentine's Day. But how was I going to tie this in with the library?

Then it occurred to me - what if we made Valentine's Day cards for our favorite authors or book characters? What a fun way to celebrate our love for reading and the holiday that celebrates love. 

I gathered some paper doilies, foam stickers, pipe cleaners, kid scissors, glue sticks and some crayons and let the kids at it. 

To say that the activity was a success would be an understatement. The students LOVED this activity. I would say that the percentage of students that participated was 98% or more. I was thrilled to see that they were enjoying themselves. 

The best part was the children excitedly sharing who their favorite authors and favorite book characters were. They couldn't wait to show me their Valentine's  - and I couldn't wait to see them! 

After the students completed their Valentine's, they put them in a special Library mailbox. I plan to mail some of the Valentine's to the authors and let them know how much they mean to the kids! 

I made a poster to announce the activity by drawing, coloring and laminating some of the more popular characters in recent children's books and cutting out a huge pink heart. This was a centerpiece in the library for the month of February. 

Another large poster I made for the library was simpler to make and included a large Valentine's Day card and envelope, paper doilies, some specially cut letters from cardstock and some stickers. 

Overall, our February in the library was filled with love, appreciation, happiness and warmth. 

January 2020's Animated Activities

The Mitten Activity

One of my favorite children's books is The Mitten by Jan Brett (this was also our Author of the Month for January). 

I combed through the internet for ideas on how to incorporate this book into an activity (I like to do at least one per month). 

My favorite (of the choices online) was a simple exercise where the kids could draw what animal was in their mitten. I put my own twist on it (spending hours cutting animals out of magazines) and let the kids at it. 

The materials - a worksheet I made myself on Word with a simple clip art image, cut outs of animals from magazines, glue sticks, markers and crayons. 

An example that I put out for the kids (done by my daughter). 

The dollar store sells a clear plastic stand that is perfect for setting out examples. 

They LOVED this activity - over 95% of the students participated! 

I gave the students the option of keeping their mitten project (most did) or giving it to the library. And once the project was completed (all classes had a chance to make a mitten) I made some artwork with the mittens that the students gave to me. 

Write your name in Braille

 January is International Braille Awareness month. While combing for literary holidays, I came across this fun fact. 

I wanted to find a way to incorporate this within my student's library time. So for their second optional activity, I searched up exercises that involved braille. 

The one I found (and thought would work best for their grade levels) was a "Write your name in Braille" exercise.

I downloaded the Braille alphabet and a template for "Write your name in Braille" and printed both off.

*This was challenging for my younger grade levels (Kindergarten/1st Grade). I would advise doing this activity with an older group. Some of them were able to figure it out with guidance, but it was a challenge for them. 

Magnetic Word Board

I spent hours cutting words out of magazines, gluing and laminating, but this baby was worth it!

This is a simple but time consuming project but what better way to instill literacy and learning than adding a magnetic word board in your library?

To make your own:

• Search through magazines for words that are easy to read and would make fun sentences
• Cut them out and glue them to different colored sturdy paper (card stock works really well for this).
• Laminate them
• Buy magnetic tape (available at Michael's and Joann's) and put the magnetic tape on the back of the words (in order to make them magnetic, you will probably have to use magnetic tape across the entire length of the word).

• Buy a flat oil drip tray (from an automotive supplies store) for the board.
• Buy sturdy adhesive velcro (make sure it holds atleast 10 lbs if you want to hang it on a wall).
• Put it in your library and have FUN! 

Author of the Month

Why do an Author of the Month activity?

Every month, I introduce the students to a new author. It may be the same author for all grade levels (for instance in January we did an activity related to Jan Brett's book The Mitten) or it may be divided into different age/grade levels. 

I introduce the Author of the Month in the first week of the new month by reading a few short facts about the author and by showcasing their books in a bookshelf that I have designated. 

I have color coded the shelves and labeled them so each grade level knows where to find their Author of the Month books. I will keep these books in circulation on this shelf throughout the entire month! 

(Special Note: Kids seem to love this and flock to these books! Make sure you choose an author or series with many different books to offer students the chance to check out one of these books!) 

An Author of the Month activity offers the following:

• The opportunity for students to be introduced to a new author 
• The opportunity for students to learn more about authors
• The opportunity for students to be introduced to different styles of books they wouldn't inherently choose

Why is this important?

This is especially helpful for students who come to the library and are lost - the students who are overwhelmed by all of the choices. 

By introducing them to a new author each month, they have the knowledge of different book styles and choices. This allows them the ability to choose a book that they'll find most enjoyable and therefore increases their engagement in library time and reading! 

December 2019's Animated Activities

When I became a librarian at an Elementary school, I decided instantly that I wanted it to be a place of fun, learning, exploration and literacy. 

I wanted to kick the outdated preconceptions of what a library should be. So I started to browse Pinterest and found a load of ideas that were lively and interesting and spun them to make them work for me!

Here are a few of the things that I did in the library in December to actively engage the students:

Guess How Many

This is a fun guessing game 

 The students will have to guess how many of a specific object is in the jar. For December, the object we used was mini candy canes. 

At the end of the month, we went through all of the guesses. The student with the closest guess won a book (and in this case, the candy canes too)! 

Pick Your Favorite
Students vote for their favorite book

  It's important to me for the students to have an opinion and be able to voice their opinion - this gives them ownership in the library and motivates them to participate! 

For this activity, I chose three of the most popular books for the season: The Polar Express, The Night Before Christmas and The Grinch. 

I printed and laminated the covers and taped them to a paper snowman.

We used Post it notes to write their names and cast their votes (by putting their Post it notes next to the book they were voting for).

When the voting was finished, I tallied the number of Post it notes next to each book and read them the winning book!

Libraries are...boring

• Libraries are dull and outdated
• Books are a thing of the past
• Libraries will one day cease to exist

Did I get your attention? 

These are the thoughts that are swirling around out there and I cannot believe my ears. Yes, the image of a library does conjure up a place with dusty books and an elderly lady with glasses on a pearl beaded string checking your books out and loudly hushing you. 

But this is such an outdated perception.

What if we could change that? 

What if we could make the library the hub and heart of the school?

It's possible - with a little elbow grease, determination and heart. That's what I hope to do in my Elementary library.

My name is Megan Franks and I'm a school librarian, book lover and author - click here to check out my work on Amazon.

I love learning, reading, writing and exploring new ways for kids to become interested in these areas as well!

This blog is a way for me to record the journey and to keep track of things that worked...and things I can improve on in the future. It is a hub of ideas for anyone and everyone who is interested in "pepping things up" in the library. I hope it's a source of inspiration and conversation.

I'd love to hear from you and gladly open the doors to creative brainstorming!