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Staying Cool in the Library

A place for school librarians to learn and grow together

Biography Research Projects

Students need to read and learn about many different types of informational texts, including biographies. A biography research project can combine many important skills besides just learning about the life of an important person, such as: note-takingsummarizing and paraphrasing informationevaluating informationfinding the best sources for informationorganizing informationthe importance of citing your sources practice writing informational text Basics of a Biography Teach students ... Read the Post

Super Simple STEM Activities for the Library

STEM in the library...boy do I get a lot of requests for posts on this! I absolutely love incorporating STEM activities into the library as well as helping classroom teachers come up with fun STEM ideas. What does STEM stand for in case you don’t already know? STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Some may also refer to STEAM which adds in art as well. STEM education has become very popular in schools within the last few years. The reason that STEM education has ... Read the Post

Teaching Genre in the Library

Who else loves to teach genre to your students? Teaching different types of genres help students become lifelong readers. This is also true when thinking about writing. It opens their minds to the outside of their world and not just a traditional narrative.  The Importance of Genre We want our students to fall in love with different types of books and not just all the Fly Guy or Mo Willems books. Our younger readers tend to fall into this trap where they only want to read specific ... Read the Post

The Best Picture Books for Teaching Character Traits

Teaching students about character traits in reading is important but can be difficult to do. Character traits are such an ABSTRACT idea that some children have a hard time understanding what character traits are. Students typically have to use inferencing skills to “read between the lines” of what information the author is giving you about the characters in the story, such as what the character is saying and doing.  How to Teach About Character Traits Start by defining exactly WHAT ... Read the Post

How to Manage Centers in the Library with Ease

Do you struggle to manage centers in the school library? Do you even attempt to use centers at all? Are you overwhelmed with how to incorporate this into your already busy day with barely any breaks? Well, I LOVE having centers in the library and I’m going to tell you some tricks to help manage centers in the school library with ease. (Note: This post contains affiliate links.) How to Organize Centers in the Library  There are two different ways that I organize and use centers in my ... Read the Post

8 Great Picture Books for Teaching the Main Idea

Are you constantly looking for picture books to teach about the main idea of a story? Some people confuse the theme with the main idea. The theme or central idea of a book is the lesson, moral or message the reader takes away after reading. The main idea is what the book is about and can usually be stated as a short summary. It’s important for students to start understanding the main idea (and supporting details) of a story after reading it. This means that they should be able to retell the ... Read the Post