stayingcoolinthelibrary, Author at Staying Cool in the Library

Avoid the Summer Slide: The Best Summer Reading Programs for Kids

As the school year winds down, we want to empower our students to continue learning through the summer. Summer reading programs are a great incentive for students to read during the summer months. And while this is a wonderful way to help avoid the summer slide, I also believe that summer reading is a great way to help kids fall in love with reading. Here are 9 free summer reading programs that will have your students staying on top of their reading all summer long! 1. Local Libraries’ Summer Reading Programs Discover the amazing wonders that your local library has to offer! Many libraries will have summer reading programs for different age ranges. You may even remember participating in one when you were growing up! The summer reading programs at your libraries are free to sign up for. The milestones of the program may vary from library to library.

Supporting Teachers and Students During Testing Season

Like it or not, standardized testing is a part of our education system. This article is not to debate whether standardized testing is good or bad – but instead to focus on what we, as librarians, can do to support the teachers and students during this stressful time of the year. Although we aren’t teaching a tested subject area, that doesn’t mean we can’t have a positive impact during testing season. Here are 6 practical ways you can help your campus in the days and weeks leading up to standardized testing. 1. Help with Review In the weeks leading up to the testing season, teachers everywhere are building in lots of review to their already busy class schedules. Offer to help with that process. If you see these classes for a set time each week or month, play a review game during your library time. As a reader and

Encouraging Summer Reading

Summer break is a time for children to finally relax and enjoy a break from school. However, educators know that students still need to continue learning and practicing skills – especially reading. During the summer months, it’s easy for kids to forget what they’ve learned during the school year, which can lead to a difficult start when school resumes in the fall. However, getting students to pick up a book isn’t always easy, so I’m sharing some strategies for boosting summer reading in your school. Create a Fun Reading Challenge A reading challenge is a great way to motivate students to read over the summer. You could create a simple challenge where students need to read a certain number of books, or you could get creative and design a scavenger hunt-style challenge that requires students to read books of different genres or on specific topics. Make the challenge engaging

8 Field Day Activities for a Book Inspired Field Day

As the school year winds down, schools everywhere host their annual field day. The day is filled with games, relays, and lots of laughs and memories! Let’s ramp up the fun and connect field day with reading and books! It’s a great way to tie together two things that kids love and make field day extra special. Here are 8 book-themed field day activities that your students will talk about for years to come! A book or literacy-themed field day is a great way to bring books to life for our kids. We can give them a chance to “jump into the action” of some of their favorite books. In the weeks leading up to field day, you can even give teachers a list of the books that they can read to their class to help build excitement and anticipation. Then on the big day, students will love connecting

8 Ideas for School Library Month and National Library Week

As a librarian, you likely spend many weeks and months a year celebrating the library, books, and reading in general. Therefore, April may not seem particularly special. However, April is School Library Month and also contains National Library Week, which gives you the chance to spread your passion for the library and invite others to join in the celebration. What is School Library Month and National Library Week? School Library Month was started by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) to celebrate school librarians and libraries across the country. The idea is to encourage the school and community to celebrate the role libraries play in learning and education. National Library Week is an annual celebration started by the American Library Association (ALA). This week promotes the valuable role of librarians, libraries, and library workers in transforming their communities. In 2023, National Library Week is from April 23-29, and

5 Figurative Language Activities for the Library

Figurative language can be one of the hardest concepts for students (especially the younger grades) to understand. In order to understand and use figurative language, students have to be able to move past the concrete. Which is why it’s super important that students are exposed to it often. These figurative language activities will help you make figurative language accessible to young students and make bringing figurative language into your library a piece of cake. I want to share a bit about why figurative language is important, plus how you can incorporate these simple Figurative Language Worksheets and Posters into your library. What is figurative language? Figurative language is using ordinary sentences in a way that differs from the original meaning. Oftentimes what is said is not really what is meant, which is why it can throw students for a loop. For example, you might say, “I said that a

Library
Management

Lesson
Plans

Reading
Motivation

Library
Skills

Research

Reading & Literacy

Archives

Avoid the Summer Slide: The Best Summer Reading Programs for Kids

Supporting Teachers and Students During Testing Season

Encouraging Summer Reading

8 Field Day Activities for a Book Inspired Field Day

8 Ideas for School Library Month and National Library Week

5 Figurative Language Activities for the Library

QUICK LINKS

BESTSELLING PRODUCTS

LEGAL STUFF