Random Library Things

I haven't written about the everyday library experience in awhile, so this blog post is an attempt to get everyone caught up on what has been going on!

Reading new things is always different and exciting, so I like for the library experience to reflect that! This week I changed the library seating area around. The tables and chairs are now formed into an arc which should be more conducive to a discussion-based environment. Now when students sit down, everyone can be seen and heard! I also moved a whiteboard into this area for students to respond to a "research question of the day".

Our first question was: On what 3 continents do raccoons live?

Mrs. Fay's class excitedly discussed what continents are and where raccoons were most likely to live.

Another different thing we tried during conference week is a "mobile library". Baywood had the privilege of hosting a district PTA Presidents meeting. The location for the meeting was chosen to be in the library. Thankfully, all the staff was supportive of having library time in the Collaboratory on Thursday. Student, teacher and parent teamwork ensured that library time went smoothly. Two carts were curated and wheeled in for students to pick books from. To allow for more book selections, nonfiction was also laid out on tables!

All students are also transitioning to study nonfiction for both their reading and writing units of study. One of my first grade classes today was particularly excited to pick out books on animals (because who wouldn't be!). Currently, the writing unit in the 1st grade classes supports writing stories the students know are true. To connect the books they chose in the library and their writing in the classroom, I shared a story about my tortoise with the class! My tortoise has ironically been known to runaway. I showed all of the students a picture of my tortoise trying to escape. We then discussed what we think the difference between turtles and tortoises are and researched the answer!