Hello, AISLers! Welcome to 2016. Welcome back to school.
Welcome back to Independent Ideas.
Earlier this school year I asked you, the experts in the field, for ideas on how to augment my first grade unit on book care. That unit ended just before the holiday break and I am excited to report back to you with the results of the newly designed lesson.
In November, I shared Mr. Wiggle’s Book by Paula M. Craig with the three first grade classes. They loved Mr. Wiggle (“Is he a worm or a caterpillar?” was a topic of debate) and it gave us a lot to talk about. Then I showed them the No-No-Never-Never box suggested to me by an AISL librarian. The idea is described here at Elementary Library Routines. The box is filled with pets (stuffies), scissors, hole punchers, snack food, bottled water, tape, and a number of other things that we want to keep away from library books. The first graders loved the No-No-Never-Never box so much that they ask to see it every time they enter the library!
In the following weeks we read more stories about taking care of our books. Read it, Don’t Eat It! by Ian Shoenherr is a popular title in this genre. In addition the students love The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers, especially when the incredible boy throws up! I also threw in a favorite, Otto the Book Bear by Katie Cleminson. A joy of this unit is that every single book in the library with a torn page, water damage, slight discoloration, or a peeling barcode, is brought to our attention for immediate fixing. The first graders want all books to get treated nicely!
In mid-December, we did a quick reread of Mr. Wiggle’s Book. The students recapped all the things we need to remember about taking care of our library books. The next step was to educate others with a hallway display. First graders made posters advertising ways to care for library books.
Enjoy the photos of first grade posters. They make me smile!
Thanks for all of your excellent suggestions. They provided some first grade fun!