In the month of August, we circulated over 5500 books. Remember, we didn't start school until the 7th and students didn't start checking out until the 12th and 13th. Now we know what keeps Mrs. Maffe so busy!
After finishing orientation lessons, we have been reading stories and doing learning activities that go along with the grade level curriculum. Our kindergarten classes have heard animal stories and used songs, math and phonics to make the stories even more fun. This week our Kindergarten story is about the American flag, to go along with their unit on the flag. We march and sing, as well as use some math to describe the flag.
First grade has listened to the story Fall is Hard. This is to go along with their study of seasons. We decorated trees that were having a hard time with fall.
Second grade spent some time looking at the differences between literature texts and informational texts. We investigated a variety of books to decide if they were literature or informational texts. Then we learned where we can find each type of text in the library.
3rd, 4th and 5th grade students are being introduced to MackinVia. They can log into MackinVia with their library number and explore the many databases available to them.
Third graders have come to the media center to explore the many genres we find there. Our lesson includes reviewing a group of books to decide which genre it belongs in. As long as we can give evidence to support our choice we can pick where each best fits. Third graders are also the first grade level to participate in the Genre Challenge. After they read through all the genres, they can eat lunch with me in the media center, on the new "Bait Shop" reading area.
Fourth graders have been challenged to try new chapter book series. We all enjoy The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, but we have learned that there are many other great series to get caught up in.
It has been a busy few weeks of school. Along with all the lessons, we have almost completed the Bait Shop, "Dowell's Book and Tackle" reading area, gotten familiar with all the paperwork and administrative part of being a media specialist and begun to prepare for our first big book order.