Library Pictionary Center

 Can you guess what this picture is?

It's a little small on here but those are arrows pointing at a call number!  I thought this student did a great job drawing her topic for Library Pictionary!  

Below, you can see the simple set up for this Library Pictionary center:

I use a small white board, dry erase markers and eraser, and topic cards (all library related, of course!) for this center.  The kids LOVE it, especially the students who love to draw.  The first person to draw chooses a topic card and draws a picture to represent the topic.  The other people try to guess what the topic is based on the picture.

One thing I will be doing differently this year is that I will print the topics on cardstock instead of regular printer paper.  Even after laminating, the cards were a little floppy so I think cardstock would be a better choice.  You can get my Library Pictionary Center on TPT.

oops!

I intended to post this project weeks ago and somehow it slipped by me!  This was a fun end of year project I did with my 2nd graders about The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown.  

First, we read the book and talked about what we noticed about how it is written.  Then, each class wrote a page all together about reading.  This example is Michelle's class: 

Over the next few weeks, the kids had several other prompts: the important thing about the library is..., the important thing about 2nd grade is..., the important thing about a book is... I typed and copied the class's page about reading for each student to add to their book. They made covers and we stapled the books together to take home.  Here are a few examples:

I thought it was so cute that this student thought my library was big, clean, and sparkly.  It was big and it was a bit sparkly but they must not have noticed all the dust bunnies.

I had so much fun with this project that I'm planning on doing it again next year.  I'm going to try to have kids write a page each year and save them, so at the end of 4th grade, they will have an important book about each year of school.  Remind me to update in 5 years when my new kinders are 4th graders ;)

Genre Posters

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!  Between school projects like mod-podging lego poetry (pictures coming soon!) and packing for the big move, I've been keeping super busy!  


One thing I've been wanting to make are posters for the genres I teach and display in the library.  I think having posters will be helpful reminders not only to the 3rd graders who will do genre passports, but all the kiddos.  I've seen some cute posters on Pinterest but everyone has their own genre definitions and I haven't seen any that were exactly what I wanted them to say.  Also, I have the most difficult time explaining science fiction since it overlaps with fantasy so if anyone has a good, concise explanation for sci-fi, let me know!

I try and keep my library bright and colorful so I picked a bright color for each of the genres and had fun playing around with new fonts:

 Click here for a PDF of the posters!  Enjoy!

Exciting News

This is my NEW library!  Mr. Lodge and I are moving back to CT after 5 years in MA.  It's a little bittersweet since I love living close to Boston and have been able to work with some amazing library teachers in my district this past year.  But, it's definitely the right choice for us and we are excited to start a new chapter.  


I'm SO excited about my new school.  It will definitely take some work to make it mine but it seems like a great fit with a lot of flexibility and opportunities.  I'll keep you updated on the progress I make.  We are moving in a few weeks and I cannot wait to get started organizing and decorating this library space!

Book Pages

As a librarian, part of me is sad when books fall apart but on the other hand, I love a clean, well weeded library and don't have trouble parting with books are old, gross, or well-loved.  While weeding my {old} library, I found many books that needed to go.  Among them was this one: 

Yup, literally falling apart.  I have seen tons of fun ways to reuse old books and thought there must be something I can do with these book pages...bookmarks!  I decided to use watercolors but I'm sure you could use other types of paint, markers, or stick pages in your printer.  
First, I painted a bunch of pages with different designs (and of course forgot to take pictures of most of them before they were gifted so some lovely library friends and am left with the weirder ones):

Then, I laminated each sheet.  I cut the page into whatever size bookmark was best.  After making a bunch, I realized they would look more finished with rounded corners and busted out this neat scrapbooking tool: 

The last thing I did was use a hole punch to make a hole at the top and attach a piece of ribbon:

 One more:

Happy Summer!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!  Here are some ways I've been keeping busy: 

• Spending time with Mr. Lodge and our sweet, 2 year old cousin.  He has a brand-new sister so we have been taking him on walks and adventures and keeping him busy.

• Running!  Mr. Lodge has recently become a personal trainer and running coach and has been trying to fulfill his dream of turning me into a runner so we can run together.
• Visiting my brother in Jupiter, FL.  My mom and I went down for 5 days a few weeks ago.  It was pretty stormy the first few days but cleared up by the time we left.  We visited Vero Beach, the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, and my favorite, the Morikami Japanese Garden in Delray Beach.

What have you been doing on your summer vacation?