End of Year Library Activities
While reading the latest edition of the MarcoGrams that focused on Sports
and Games in the Classroom
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/marcograms/June2006.html I came across
these lesson plans. What a fun way to extend library skills at the end of
the year! It would be easdy to incorporate the use of technology and the
Internet as well.
"Street Games" (K-2)
ARTSEDGE, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/mg/lesson717.aspx
Students explore street games of Harlem by learning about and playing
established games, such as stickball, kick the can and tag, as well as hand
games, chant-and-response activities and rope skipping. Then they work in
teams to research a selected street game, compare street games using Venn
diagrams and create a new street game.
"Technical Reading and Writing Using Board Games" (3-5)
ReadWriteThink, International Reading Association and the National Council
of Teachers of English
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/mg/lesson728.aspx
Students work in small groups to create board games that review elements
from novels they have read. Then they play each other's games and evaluate
them. Students are then given an opportunity to revise their games and their
directions, per their classmates' feedback and suggestions.
"Play Ball! Encouraging Critical Thinking Through Baseball Questions" (6-8)
ReadWriteThink, International Reading Association and the National Council
of Teachers of English
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/mg/lesson726.aspx
Students listen to a read-aloud of David A. Adler's Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest
Man and visit Web sites containing baseball facts. Then they write trivia
questions to include in a Jeopardy PowerPoint game that they play in class.
For the end of the year I like to do some activities that are just for fun.
Here are some examples:
K--Teddy bear tea party--kids bring their teddy bears (or other stuffed
"friends"), we read teddy bear stories, do a graph of the different friends; sing a
teddy bear song, have some juice and cookies, color a teddy bear picture.
Gr. 1--Pop-up books. Read a pop-up book (anything by Robert Sabuda!) and
create our own pop-up--easy directions on www.robertsabuda.com.\
Gr.2--Read "Last Day Blues" by Julie Danenberg and create a poster for the
classroom teacher with each student writing something that he/she will miss
about their class.
Gr.3/4--Tangrams--read "The Warlord's Puzzle" or "Grandfather Tang's Story."
Print out a tangram square (and page with puzzles and solutions of different
figures) for the kids to cut out and solve.
Just a couple of things I've done at the end of the year that have worked for
me. With the younger kids I pick a fairy or folk tale to focus on. We talk
about the meaning of folktales etc and then read several different versions.
Right now I'm doing Cinderella around the world with my 2nd graders. At first
the boys groaned but they have loved many of the stories, especially The
Cinderlad. We throw in geography by using the white interactive board showing a
world map and every week having the kids go up and mark the places we have
visited so far.
With the older kids I have been reviewing library terminology, fiction genre
characteristics, nonfiction sources they can use to answer questions etc and
we'll play a the Library game show on their last visit. I don't check out then
so I need to fill the whole 45 minutes with activity. We have a set of the
game show buzzers and they all love sitting there trying to be the first to
answer. I wish I had the budget to offer book gift cards to the winner but
chocolate using works well.
Another activity that works well is Almania. This is a game based on using
the World Almanac for Kids. You teach them lessons of how to find and
interpret information in the Almanac and then there is a game you play at the end.
I
did this with 4th graders and it worked very well. We did the Almania
championship with a team from each class competing. The teachers loved watching
too!
You can take 2 weeks or up to 5 weeks. Check out the game on the website. It
really isn't that expensive for the learning and fun that happens.
I do a baseball game with 2 and 3 and bingo with grades 4 and 5. I made up a
baseball stadium board out of a 3-fold presentation board with velcro on the
bases. I made 4 players with velcro on the backs. Put the class into 2 teams.
Ask the first player a review question. In the first round they can get help
from their teammates but in the second round if they don't know the answer, they
can't roll. I got a large foam dice with pockets from phys ed and put in
1,2,3,4,out and roll again. The child gently throws the dice and if he rolls a 2
you move the player on the board to second base, etc. I don't count outs but
let everyone have a turn and tally the score as we go. They love it!!
I made a bingo game with library vocab, use pennies for markers and candy for
prizes. I give a definition and have them answer with the correct word for
the first round. The next game they have to think of the answer themselves and
mark their boards. Works well, also.
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/bingo/5/
One of the "games" I play is Wheel of Fortune, using Caldecott titles or
Newbery titles, depending on the age level. Another option is using the titles of
all the books you've read to a grade level during the year.
We also do a Spine Game. I made sample book spines with title and spine
labels and laminated them onto construction paper strips. Students are timed
putting them in shelf order.
I am going to do a lesson on planning a family vacation and the Big6.
The book that I will be using is Arthur's Family Vacation by Marc Brown.
show excerpts of movies and read the same scene from a book:
I have my third, fourth and fifth grade classes write book reviews on their
favorite books. We write them on index cards and include: title, author, call
number, genre, pages, summary and whether it is an AR test. We then keep
them in a file box for when that "challenging" student says " I can't find a good
book"
Take a look at Netsmartz.org. There is a section called "activity cards"
which has some great 20-25 minute lessons on iternet safety. There are video
clips the kids love and I have found it is a wonderful reminder to those who will
spend hours in front of the computer this summer. My first and second
graders loved it.
With the lower grades I will use books with activities. I like using "Where
the Wild things Are". I've attached a coloring type sheet I use. I read the
book then have them draw themselves as Wild Things. We discuss how the young
boy gets wild because his mom sends him to be. The bottom line on the paper
is for their own reasons for getting wild (ie when I have to take a bath, go to
bed, clean my room). I inserted clip art in the one I attached however I
usually crop a face picture of them and have them draw around their face and make
themselves a "wild thing". It works best to print them out in black and with
though so the colors they add show up better
I also use Go Away Big Green Monster. I don't let them see the illustrations
(dye cuts really) as I read it to them. I tell them they are practicing
being illustrators and that as I read the book they need to draw what I say. For
preplanning I make sure I have all the colors they need to complete the
picture. I've also used KidPix on the computer to do this with them. After we've
completed all the drawing parts (not totally done with the story) I start the
story over and read it until the end. They get to compare their idea with what
the illustrator did.
Both of these lessons take about 30 minutes each.
The last couple of weeks, I do a used book swap. We have 2 highly
successful bookfairs per year and I know from my own experience that the
kids read the bookfair books they get fairly rapidly and then the books
sit on their shelves unless they take them to Half-Price Books.
My students are allowed to bring in up to 20 gently used, paperback
books that are at their grade level or slightly higher. One week they
bring in their books (I keep track of what each child brings in), the
next week I arrange them onto Fiction, Nonfiction and Picture book
tables and they can come in and get as many "new" books as they brought
in.
Book trivia contests are a hit here. There are some
commercial titles and several websites.
Books Battles & Bees by Cook and Page
Battle of the Books and More by Cook et al
http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/for_children/books_for_kids/kid_lit_general.h
tml
or tiny URL
http://tinyurl.com/s56al
My 3rd graders this week are booktalking. I ask them to think of the best
book that they read during this past school year and to create a
"commercial" to get other people to read the book. Their commercial must
contain the title, a brief summary (which isn't always so "brief"), why they
liked the book/their favorite part, and a recommendation as to the type of
person who should read it.
If you have a couple periods with the kids, you could have them sit and work
on it one time and present the next time. If not, they can just stand up and
talk about their book, maybe not so much a "commercial".
Some comparative literature could also be fun - variations on a theme or
motif (Cinderella, Three pigs, or Heroes/Heroines, etc.) Two or three books
and some discussion should do it.
At the beginning of May, I choose a different chapter book
for each grade level and just read-aloud until the end.
When book circulation stops, I can read for the entire
period. I also let the students take turns reading aloud.
I find this works best because so much happens at the end
of the year, that I may not see the classes due to trips,
assemblies, etc.
google 'following directions' and get tons of ideas to use with my 4-5-6
graders. They love those mind games. Alone or in teams. Just be sure you have done
each one yourself first. I have run across errors.
I sometimes play Dewey bingo or bingo using library terms. Another thing kids
like is guess the book character. A book character is taped to a student's
back and he asks the class questions to determine the character. He has to ask
yes or no questions. A great book to read is A fine, fine school by Creech.
These last days are so difficult.
I just did a fun activity with 4th adn 5h graders with the book Tomorrow's
Alphabet. Once we discussed the pattern, each students took one letter of the
alphabet and created a page to add to our version of the book. I also found out
our kids love Reader's Theaters. I couldn't believe they "begged" to do more.
The latest book featured at iJustRead.com is easy to faciltate a lesson on
how striving is a talent.That book has sections in it for three different age
groups. 3 and up, 7 and up and the back section tells grown-ups how to use the
story as a parable.
-Author Studies
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