Library Buzz (Activity)
One of the best ways to get kids excited about coming to your media center is to create a BUZZ. Much like adults around “the water cooler” you can generate “buzz” simply through conversation. This lesson gets kids talking about the library and having a good time doing so. Great lesson for the beginning of the year.
Grades: 3rd-7th
Skill: Library Terminology and Information.
Time: 20-25 minutes
Materials: “Find Someone Who…” fun sheets, Pencils.
Pre-Prep: Copy the “Find Someone Who…” fun sheet on the next page for each student.
Directions:
1. Welcome students to the library.
2. Pass out one “Find Someone Who…” fun sheet and a pencil to each student and tell them to turn it face down.
3. Let the students know that when you say “go”, they will need to walk around the room with the fun sheet and find other people who meet the descriptions or statements on each line. The only rule is that once you write a person’s name on your sheet you can’t talk to him/her again until you have spoken to everyone else in the room (that way you don’t have a pack of three who run through it in five minutes and it also lets the group get to know each other and talk up the buzz). So everyone will have a bunch of different names on their fun sheet and not just one or two.
4. Give an example or two by asking a child “Have you heard a storyteller before?” If the answer is “yes” then pretend that you are writing the student’s name down. If the answer is “no”, then go to another person and ask the same question.
Note: The questions do not have to be asked in order.
5. Say “go” and know that your library will get loud but a good kind of loud.
6. Review and ask if anyone shared the same favorite book or overdue fines, etc.
7. This is a great time to review a few things in the library but don’t overdo it with information or you’ll kill the “buzz” that the kids just got from the game and their thoughts that the library is a pretty cool place.
P.S. This is a great game to play at a staff meeting as well to get teachers more interested in the media center.
Find Someone Who…
1. Likes the same author as you do________________________________
2. Uses the internet to research things ___________________________
3. Likes one of your favorite books_______________________________
4. Likes to read magazines ______________________________________
5. Has never had an overdue book_______________________________
6. Has used a thesaurus before___________________________________
7. Knows where the riddle and joke books are ___________________
8. Has heard a storyteller _______________________________
9. Wants to be an author or illustrator__________________________
10. Has read a book longer than 300 pages______________________
11. Has read at least four Dr. Suess books ______________________
Your Name_____________________________________________________
Librarian in a Box (Activity)
Have just a minute as the kids line up to go back to class? Need a quick question to use as a knowledge reward? Here are several questions you can “pull out of a box” when you need to.
Questions:
What happens if you lose a library book?
What is a catalog in a library?
Name four types of books you’d find in a library.
What are reference books?
Is where the spine on a book?
How should you treat a library book?
Name four fairy tales.
How are biographies shelved?
What is a biography?
What is an atlas?
What are periodicals?
What is a plot in a story?
What happens when a library book becomes overdue?
Name three types of book genres?
What is a “series”?
What is a “trilogy”?
What are call numbers?
What is a table of contents?
Where do you find a table of contents?
Why do people speak softly in a library?
What does the copyright page tell you?
Where do you usually find the title page?
THE LIBRARY BOX (Activity)
What’s in the box?
Take a large box or bag and make an opening at the top. Choose a few items from the library and keep them hidden behind the check-out counter or anywhere out of sight from your students. Without letting your students see, place one of the items in the box. Have one student come up and reach his/her hand in the box and feel around. The student must describe the item to the rest of the class without saying what it is. The class must guess based on the descriptions of that one student.
Example: A globe is in the box. The student might describe something like this- it’s round with ridges. There’s something curvy around the side. It’s kind of heavy. It can spin.
Continue playing with other items and other students reaching in the book. If the whole class is correct in all the guesses then the whole class wins. Here are some ideas for items to put in the box: globe, magazine, library card, CD, book binding tape, book mark, computer mouse, or puppet.
The Character Game
See if your students can identify these well-known book characters. More challenging, see if they can tell you the author’s name. Play in teams or use as a center.
Clues and Answers:
1. Clue: A man who has twelve talented Penguins.
Answer: Mr. Popper/ Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
2. Clue: A flying boy who takes Wendy, Michael, and John on a magical adventure to Neverland.
Answer: Peter Pan (Peter is also acceptable)/ Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
3. Clue: A lovable bear who wears a floppy, wide-brimmed hat and a duffle coat and enjoys marmalade. He finds trouble wherever he goes.
Answer: Paddington/ Paddington Bear Series by Michael Bond
4. Clue: A smart aardvark who wears glasses, has a sister named D.W. and a best friend named Buster.
Answer: Arthur/ Arthur Series by Marc Browne
5. Clue: A member of the Quimby family, this spunky girl always finds herself in quirky situations especially at school.
Answer: Ramona/ Ramona Series by Beverly Cleary
6. Clue: A group of kids who solve mysteries always involving weird grown-ups in their town.
Answer: The Bailey School Kids/ The Bailey School Kids Series by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones
7. Clue: A principal who with special snaps (usually from tow boys named Harold and George) turns into an underwearing superhero.
Answer: Captain Underpants/ Captain Underpants Series by Dav Pilkey
8. Clue: A second grade boy from South School who finds himself constantly in trouble because of the things he gets others to do- that’s how he got his “horrible” name.
Answer: Horrible Harry/ Horrible Harry Series by Suzy Kline
9. Clue: With red hair, freckles, and crazy braided pigtails this no parent girl finds adventure everywhere, even in the South Seas.
Answer: Pippi Longstockings/ Pippi Longstockings Series by Astrid Lingren
10. Clue: A girl who is always in a mood – good or bad.
Answer: Judy Moody/ Judy Moody Series by Megan McDonald
11. Clue: A brother and sister who go on amazing adventures through their very special tree house.
Answer: Jack & Annie/ Magical Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne
12. Clue: The world’s funniest kindergartener.
Answer: Junie B. Jones/ Junie B. Jones Series by Barbara Parks
13. Clue: A housekeeper, who wears a white bonnet and does exactly what her employer Mr. and Mrs. Rogers tell her. But things get a little mixed-up when what she’s told are idioms like “buy something for a song” or “break the ice” and this character takes it literally.
Answer: Amelia Bedelia/ Amelia Bedelia Series by Peggy Parish
14. Clue: Four orphans decide to make their home an old red boxcar.
Answer: The Boxcar Children/The Boxcar Children Series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
15. Clue: A mysterious character who writes about “very unpleasant events” of the Baudelaire orphans.
Answer: Lemony Snicket/Lemony Snicket Series byLemony Snicket
16. Clue: A nanny who is blown by the East wind to #17 Cherry Lane with a magic umbrella to lead the Bank’s children on adventures.
Answer: Mary Poppins/ Mary Poppins Series by P.L. Travers
THE BEST STORY I EVER READ (Activity)
Traditional book reports are great but take up a lot of time and can be a little boring. Here’s a way to spice up the review process and build “buzz” about the books in less than twenty-five minutes.
1. Split your class into two or three large groups. Have each group site at a table or in a circle on the floor.
2. Give each student a half sheet of paper and a pencil.
3. Direct each child to write the title of their favorite book (and the author if they know) on the sheet along with a sentence of two about why it is his/her favorite story. Then in the corner of the sheet have the student write his/her name in very small print.
4. Put a bowl, bag or hat in the middle of each group and have each student fold their paper and put it in the bowl.
5. Once everyone has finished, tell the students that on the count of three, everyone will close their eyes and point to someone in the circle. The person who has the most fingers directed at them is the first caller. This person will draw a paper from the bowl and read the review without revealing the name of the writer. The group is to guess whose favorite book it is by listening to the sentences. The person who wrote the review pretends to guess as well.
6. Once the correct guess is made, the person who penned that particular review will become the caller, making it easier to identify the reviewer as the game goes on.
7. If there is time after, have students take their papers and stand next to where they would find their book in the library.
More Challenging Ways:
Have students look up reviews of their book son different websites or place a review of their own on Amazon or Barnes and Noble if your school system allows you to do this.
Post the reviews in the library and have other students try and find the book.
*** There will be a few of the same books in the bowl however, the mystery is to guess who wrote the sentences explaining why he/she liked the book.
*** You can also play using “THE WORST BOOK I EVER READ.” You’ll be surprised at how many of these “bad books” will be checked out just to see if they are really that awful.
