Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, students reflect on the importance of access to reading materials.  Using Heather Henson’s tribute to pack-horse librarians, the lesson helps children remember how fortunate they are to have a school or public library.

Lesson Plan:

Suggested Grades:

3-5

Objective:

To understand the importance of access to reading materials and to appreciate the efforts of those who bring books to children and to the public.

Suggested Time:

40-45 minutes

Success Criteria:

Each student will successfully complete the questions on the lesson handout, thus showing their comprehension of the text and its message.

Lesson Outline:

1. Introduction:

Ask a few questions to provoke the children’s thinking.  Sometimes I ask:

1. Do most kids have libraries at their schools?
2. Do most communities have libraries?
3. Have libraries always been a part of our culture?
4. Can you think of a time or a place where people might not be able to get reading materials?
5. If it was very hard to get a book, or if you could not get any books at all, what might happen to you?
6. If you or the people around you could not read, how would your lives change?

Tell the children that today’s lesson looks at a family that did not have easy access to books.  This is based on a true story and faithfully represents the lives of a lot of people who lived in the rural United States about 90 years ago.  It could still be the case in many parts of the U.S. and the world today.

2. Main:

Prepare students by pointing out that the author uses language to reflect the regional dialect.  Thus, the words will not sound like words you or I use today.  You will need to listen carefully to understand this story.

Teach That Book Woman by Heather Henson.   Read slowly because the language will seem unusual to the children.   Check the students’ comprehension as you go.

After the story, work through the student handout together.  You may, of course, adapt the questions for your own students.

3. Conclusion:

Ask the kids why Heather Henson wrote this book?  What is her main idea?  What is she trying to say to her readers?

Emphasize that it is a privilege to have a well-stocked school library.  This year we should use it well, reading broadly and sampling deeply from the collection.  In this way, the world will open and we can learn anything.

Resources:

1. That Book Woman by Heather Henson and David Small.
2. Copies of the student handout.
3. Clipboards if the children are seated together on the floor.

Notes:

I have found this lesson to be quite difficult for third graders, which is why I suggest working through the student handout together.  I’ve not used it as much with fourth and fifth graders, but assume that they would find it difficult as well.  The language and setting are unfamiliar to students in an international school, so it is a stretch for them to understand the main ideas without support.

Recommended books for this lesson:

1. That Book Woman by Heather Henson, pictures by David Small.

Key Terms:

Books, Appalachia, Pack-Horse Librarians, Books and Reading, Librarians

That Book Woman, Student Handout

Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, students think about what can be learned in school and what cannot be learned in school.  As students return from the summer holidays, it is good to reflect on all that was learned and experienced over the summer and the reasons for returning to school.  This lesson enables kids to share some of their summer experiences while understanding the importance of more structured learning.

Lesson Plan:

Suggested Grades:

2-5

Objective:

Each child will be able to identify five things typically learned at school and five things typically learned at home.

Suggested Time:

40-45 minutes

Success Criteria:

Each child will complete a “T Chart” with two lists:  Learn/Do at School and Learn/Do At Home.

Lesson Outline:

1. Introduction:

Welcome children back to the school and especially back to the library!  Emphasize how good it is to be together and how much you are looking forward to another year’s learning journey with them.  Ask provocative questions like these:

• I wonder . . . . Do we learn everything we need to know in school?
• Are there some things we learn at home or during the holidays?
• To be very smart, should we go to school more?

2. Main:

Share A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech, pictures by Harry Bliss.  Check for understanding as you go.  When I teach this book I usually pause and ask the children, “Would you like to go to school on Saturdays?”  “Would you like to go to school on Sundays?”  “Would you like to go to school during your holidays?”  “Would you like to go to school over the summer?”  The kids enjoy screaming “NOOOOOO” every time.

If you can arrange it, ask your principal to stop by and ask the children if they would like to go to school on the weekends or over the holidays.  This is a perfect book for a principal to read to a class, so see if you can arrange for him/her to make a guest appearance.

Once you are sure that the children understand the story, show them how to construct a “T-Chart.”  You can do this as a class or ask children to work in groups.  The T-Charts should be set up so that there are two lists:

• Learn At Home
• Learn At School

You may wish to use a graphic organizer with three columns and let the column in the middle be a “Learn BOTH at Home and at School” category, but I prefer to keep the categories separate.  Doing so forces the children to think about the differences between learning at home and learning at school and that conceptual difference is key to this lesson.

The children will have their own ideas, but some of them could include:

Learn At Home                                                           Learn At School

How to brush your teeth                                            How to read

How to wash dishes                                                    How to write

How to walk the dog                                                   How to walk in a line

How to care for a younger child                               How to take turns

How to grow a garden                                                How to raise your hand

How to climb a tree                                                     How to play basketball

How to go shopping                                                    How to use a computer

How to do laundry                                                       How to play an instrument

How to take a phone message                                  How to sing in a choir

How to wrap a present                                               How to do math

How to bake a cake                                                     How to use an atlas

Give the children about ten minutes to work in small groups on their T-Charts, then come back together and compile a class chart.  Students can finish their own charts as the class chart takes shape.  Make sure that each child has at least five ideas from the “Home” category and five ideas from the “School” category.

3. Conclusion:

Ask the children where they do most of their learning.  They answer, and the big idea, of course, is that we learn different things in different environments, but that we can always learn.  We are all lifelong learners.

Collect the work and make sure that the homeroom teacher has the T-Charts for the children’s language notebooks.  The T-Chart or graphic organizer is a writing extension and fits nicely as a short piece of written work as the response to a piece of literature.

Resources:

1. Paper
2. Pencils
3. A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech, pictures by Harry Bliss
4. Flipchart paper and markers, a whiteboard, or a smart board for scribing the class T-Chart.
5. If you choose to do the art extension, you’ll need paper and markers for the word strips.

Notes:  If you like the idea of this lesson, but are looking for a different instructional plan, please check out the excellent ideas from The Picture Book Teacher here:  http://thepicturebookteachersedition.blogspot.ae/2013/07/a-fine-fine-school-by-sharon-creech.html  She has done a lot more work than I have, and there are more lesson ideas to choose from.  However, not all those ideas are writing or reflective.  I like the way this lesson is structured because it asks the kids to do some original thinking and reflect on their summer experiences.

If you don’t yet have a display in the library, this would be a great lesson to extend with a simple art project.  Make a giant backpack out of light colored paper and have the kids make word strips or pictures with their ideas about what they like to learn in school.  Paste these onto the backpack.  Likewise, create a giant house or apartment block and let kids make word strips or pictures for things they learn at home.  The title of the display could be “Learning at Home and Learning at School.”  You could even add their pictures next to their ideas to fill up your school house at the beginning of the year!

Recommended books for this lesson:

1. A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech, pictures by Harry Bliss

Key Terms:

School, Students, Principals, Holidays, Learning

Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, students think about what the new school year will bring.  Do events happen to them, or do they control their own fates?  Can any of us really see the future?  This is the first challenging piece of literature I use with new Grade 4 students.  It forces them to think critically and carefully to fully understand the text.  With exquisite illustrations, The Fortune Tellers demands high level thinking.  This is one lesson you want to be sure to teach during “Back to School” season for Upper Elementary Students.  Don’t forget your crystal ball!

Lesson Plan:

Suggested Grades:

4 and above.  Younger children interpret stories literally, and this lesson requires a good bit of deeper thinking.

Objective:

For students to understand that they control their own futures, and their success and progress in the new school year.

Suggested Time:

45-50 minutes

Success Criteria:

Each student will write three predictions about the new school year.  Every prediction much contain an “if” clause.  For example, “I will make a new friend if I take turns, share, and use kind words.”

Lesson Outline:

1. Introduction:

Ask students if they know what a fortune teller is.  What does a fortune teller claim to do?  Can anyone really see the future?   What do you think?

Explain that today the students will hear a story about a fortune teller.  The illustrations are exquisite.  Look carefully at the bright colors and patterns.  The illustrator, Trina Schardt Hyman, was inspired by African villages and culture.

Also, tell the students that this story is tricky!  It makes you think, because the author does not explain the entire story in words.  You must use the words, think hard, and figure out what the author is trying to say.  This story is real literature and a “step up” from stories you have heard in Grade 3.

2. Main:

Teach The Fortune Tellers by Lloyd Alexander.  Clarify unfamiliar words such as “benefactor,” “demise,” and “codger.”   Work slowly through the text, because the children are going to have to do a lot of reading between the lines.

Ask follow-up questions such as:

1. The old fortune teller seemed very confident in his predictions. Why?
2. Was there anything in the old fortune teller’s predictions that was unique to the carpenter?
3. Could anyone become rich if she earned enough money?
4. Could anyone become famous if he were well known?
5. Could anyone marry the love of his or her life if they meet the right person and that person agrees?
6. What do you think of the old fortune teller’s fortune telling skill?
7. Why did the old fortune teller always use an “IF” clause? He usually said, “Yes, such and such will happen IF YOU  . . . . “  Why is the “If” statement so important?
8. When the carpenter put on the fortune teller’s hat and gazed into the crystal ball, he didn’t see anything. What does this tell you about fortune tellers?
9. What did the carpenter decide to tell the cloth merchant’s wife when she asked about her future? Why?
10. The young carpenter decided that it might not be too hard to tell fortunes. Why did it seem easy to him?
11. Do you think that the old fortune teller truly saw the carpenter’s future? After all, the carpenter did become wealthy, famous, and did marry the love of his life.  Was his destiny foretold?
12. We know what happened to the old fortune teller. What does his disappearance tell us about his ability to actually foretell the future?

Ask the children which of them thinks that he/she could be a good fortune teller.  Choose a child to come forward.  Wrap up the child’s head in a scarf and give him a volley ball or soccer ball to gaze into.

Ask the children which of them thinks that he or she would like to ask questions of the fortune teller?  Ask one of those students to come forward and have a seat in front of the fortune teller.

Have the two children role-play being the fortune teller and carpenter, then give other kids a chance.  Usually my students jump at the chance to be the fortune teller and predict the future.  Make sure that the fortune teller uses “If” statements.  Take a few pictures of the kids dressed up as fortune tellers – they love it!

Pass out the student assignment sheet.  Ask each child to make three predictions about what this school year will bring.  What will happen to them?  Make sure that each prediction uses an “if” statement.  Here are a few examples:

1. My spelling will improve if I practice my words every day.
2. I will learn a lot if I do all my homework.
3. I will stay healthy if I eat a balanced diet.

3. Conclusion:

Draw the children back together and have a few of them share their predictions.  Collect the work and keep it until the end of the year.  Tell the kids that at the end of the year, we will check and see whether their predictions have come true!

Resources:

1. The Fortune Tellers by Lloyd Alexander.
2. Two scarves.
3. Two “crystal balls” in the form of a borrowed volleyball or soccer ball.
4. A tablecloth to drape over the table in the fortune teller’s studio (optional).
5. Copies of the student assignment sheet.
6. Pencils
7. Camera to take photos of the kids in the fortune teller role play

Notes:

I have used this lesson for many years, and it is an all-time favorite of both teachers and children.  There is a lot of thinking going on, it’s good fun, there is a short writing assignment, and it also makes a perfect end-of-year farewell lesson.  The last time I checked, The Fortune Tellers was out of print in hardcover, so plan, purchase a used copy, and make sure that your kids get to a chance to engage with this unique text.

The lesson is much more fun if you bring the scarves and “crystal balls.”  It’s usually not too much trouble to come up with a few odds and ends to use, and it makes the story come alive for the children.

Recommended books for this lesson:

1. The Fortune Tellers by Lloyd Alexander.

Key Terms:

Fortune Tellers, Crystal Balls, Fate, Future, Destiny, Success, Villages, Africa, Carpenters

Fortune Tellers, Student Assignment Sheet

Lesson Overview:

In this lesson, students learn how to choose “just right” books.  Many kids are easily swayed by what they see on TV, what their older siblings are reading, or what their classmates are choosing.  Children need to be prepared to make the right choices for themselves according to their interests and, to a certain degree, their abilities.  Using the famous ‘Five Finger Rule,” kids can be taught to choose books that are just right for them!

Lesson Plan:

Suggested Grades:

2-4

Objective:

Use the “Five Finger Rule” to independently choose suitable library books.  (Supports AASL  4.4.1 “Identify own areas of interest” and AASL 4.4.2  “Recognize the limits of own personal knowledge.”)

Suggested Time:

40-50 minutes

Success Criteria:

Each child will be able to explain the “Five Finger Rule” in his or her own words.  Each child will also be able to apply the “Five Finger Rule” when choosing library books.

Lesson Outline:

1. Introduction:

Open the lesson with provocative questions such as, “Have you ever noticed how many thousands of books there are in the library?  How can we be sure we are making good choices?  Will the best books for me be the same as the best books for my friend?  What strategies can we use to guide our choices? “

Today’s lesson will teach you how to choose great library books!  Let’s get started!

2. Main:

First, assess the kids’ current understanding.  Ask, “If we went to the library right this minute, how would you choose your books?”

Find out what they already know.  Record the students’ ideas on a white board or flip chart.   Some of them may know a lot about making good book choices.   This part of the lesson is important because you will use their ideas to check what they already know against a Brain Pop video (if available.)

If they seem stuck, prompt them by asking “Whom could you ask?”  or “Where could you look on the book itself?”  Make sure the class gives you at least ten ideas before moving on.

Next, show the Brain Pop Jr. movie, “Choosing a Book.”  (if available).  As you watch, check off ideas that the kids have already mentioned.  Make a note of any new ideas from the video.  Briefly discuss the video, then explain that the remainder of the lesson will focus on the “Five Finger Rule.”

Teach the Five Finger Rule:

1. Pass out Five Finger Rule Bookmarks.  (See attached file.)
2. Together, review the steps in using the Rule.
3. Give each student a book and ask them to use the rule. Be fair, be honest!
4. When the student has finished the first book, switch it for a second book for a bit more practice.

3. Conclusion:

Encourage students to write their names on their bookmarks, take the bookmarks with them, and use the Five Finger Rule when browsing for books today.  Tell the kids that they should use the “Five Finger Rule” each time they browse for books!

Resources:

1. Copies of the “Five Finger Rule” bookmarks, copied onto colorful cardstock.  (See attached file.)
2. Flipchart or whiteboard
3. Markers
4. 40 books of varying difficulty for practice using the “Five Finger Rule.”
5. Access to the Brain Pop Video “Choosing a Book.” (optional).
6. Ability to play the Brain Pop Video “Choosing a Book.” (optional).

Notes:

Teach this lesson every year, without fail, to students in Grades 2-4.  Children are very young and easily swayed.  Over the years, my colleagues and I have observed more and more kids trending towards comics or illustrated novels and choosing fewer books with words!  They seem reluctant to try anything new or anything they don’t already know.  More and more, the “Five Finger Rule” is becoming essential to counter these trends!

Be sure to refer to the Five Finger Rule in future lessons.  Make the “Five Finger Rule” part of your school and library culture.  Always have bookmarks on hand and encourage the children to use the “Five Finger Rule” every time they come to the library.

Recommended books for this lesson:

A selection of 40+ library books with varying levels of difficulty and taken from various genres.

Key Terms:

Book Choice, Browsing, Just Right Books, Five Finger Rule

Five Finger Bookmarks

Lesson Overview:

Most school libraries change from year to year.  And, most students do not take time to look carefully at the complexity of the learning spaces around them.  In this Treasure Hunt challenge, get your kids moving and looking carefully at the library.  They will explore, make notes, and perhaps make a few sketches.  They will find out where the bathrooms are, saving you lots of time later.  And, they will learn where the emergency exit is, potentially saving precious seconds in an emergency.  Use this lesson to get your kids oriented to the physical facilities, and they will become more independent library users.

Lesson Plan:

Objective:

To have the children move with confidence around the library physical facilities.  (Information Literacy Lesson: May tie to a Learning Continuum on the elements of Independence and Enthusiasm.  Independently moving around the library; enthusiasm when participating in the activity – kids love treasure hunts!)

Suggested Grades:

1-3

Suggested Time:

45 – 60 minutes

Success Criteria:

Children will be able to find each of twelve treasure hunt “stations” and return to the correct locations for story time, check-out, and quiet reading.

Lesson Outline:

1. Introduction:

Welcome and review of last week’s lesson.  Today at check-out time we will use a browser card!  However, before we check-out, we need to become familiar with the layout of the library.  A few things might have changed from last year!  Watch carefully!  Introduce the idea of a treasure hunt and note that this is not a race, but a search to see who can find each of the important library landmarks.  You will be working with a partner for today’s treasure hunt.

2. Main:

Pass out Treasure Hunt game cards, clipboards, and pencils.   Instruct the children to find #1-#12 and draw a quick picture (Grade 1) or make a short note (Grade 2) of what they find there.  Emphasize that this is not a race and that the children should not run in the library!  “Please walk!”

3. Conclusion:

Review activity, what the kids found.  Have children report on their experiences.

Resources

• Treasure Hunt game cards.  (See below for a sample handout.)
• Large, printed numbers from #1-#12. (See attached handout)

Notes

Be sure to have at least one “trick” in the treasure hunt.

• Example: Using a large sheet of paper, make a well-known city landmark such as a stadium, skyscraper, or river.  In Dubai we made a Metro Stop with the iconic blue train.  Place this landmark in a prominent place and tell the kids that there is one very tricky part on the hunt!

You will need to modify the treasure hunt to fit your particular library.  It is important that every treasure hunt include the bathrooms, circulation desk, and librarian desk so that the children know where to go for help.

I have included two sample treasure hunts:

• The first is set up as a checklist and asks that the children check off numbers and write a few words. (See attachment)
• The second is set up more for drawing/sketching answers. (See attachment)

Please select and adapt the format that is best suited for your students.

Key Terms:

Treasure Hunt, Libraries, Library Games

Treasure Hunt Large Printed Numbers

Treasure Hunt Template, Writing

Treasure Hunt Template, Drawing