Everybody on the Move

 April flew by, and it is going to be May next week! That means summer is sneaking up on us. Who else is ready??!!

April was a busy month in the library, as it should be since it's School Library Month. Second graders came in for research using our online encyclopedia for their Texas Performance Standards Project (TPSP). Since we are an academy with GT and Academically Advanced students, we use the TPSP to differentiate for our GT students. This gives them an opportunity to go through the inquiry process and create a professional quality project or task.

Second grade students are tasked with exploring daily activities and their impacts on physical fitness, and use what they have found to create a physical fitness plan, an original game or sport, an invention that creates a new piece of physical fitness equipment, or a new mode of personal transportation that increases the user’s physical activity on a daily basis.

So where does the library and online encyclopedia come in for that? The students had to come up with the questions they needed to know in order to complete their task. I taught them how to use search words to find the answers to their questions. Students also had books available to them, and we discussed using the table of contents, as well as the index, to help us find the information quickly.

These 2nd graders are designing new equipment to be used by gymnasts.

Students search for figurative language in poetry
while the timer ticks in the background. 

The third grade teachers approached me and asked me to help them with figurative language. It was perfect timing, because I had just come across these super cute figurative language mini-posters I planned on using for National Poetry Month. The teachers and I decided we would make the activity stations where the students had to get up and move. They asked me to focus on 5 types of figurative language: metaphors, simile, personification, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole. The students were getting confused with metaphors and similes. 

The great thing about collaborating with the librarian, is we have the books and supplies all ready when you bring the class in, which saves you time! I had the mini-posters set up at the tables, and since we were short on time, I had poems marked in the books that had the specific figurative language the students would be looking for. The most fun part was the timer I put on the screen. When the timer, or rocket, went off, the students had to move to the next station. At each station they read the type, definition, and example, then start searching and recording what they found. It was lots of fun.

Sometimes, the library turns into a volunteer tea room. :) We had a lovely breakfast and tea for our wonderful volunteers! These parents and grandparents are amazing, and bring so much to our school. 

April was also School Librarian's Day, and I got so many hugs, treats,  and sweet cards from the amazing students! I am so blessed to work here! 

On another note, do you see those mismatched tables in the background? Well, soon I will have all matching chairs and tables!! I met with our furniture rep this past week, and together we picked out my furniture that should arrive within the month. This library is going to look amazing!!