What we are up to in 2nd grade library: Oliver Jeffers and Stuck.

This past week in library classes the 2nd grade students had a chance to "meet" the author/illustrator Oliver Jeffers.  Okay, okay, he did not actually come to Sprague to visit, but we watched this excellent, and quite humorous, video about him and read one of his books.

Mr. Jeffers is the illustrator for both of the Crayon books - that is The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home so most 2nd graders are familiar with his work and style and also are big fans. We read a book that he wrote and illustrated titled Stuck.

The hilarious thing about this book is that Floyd throws item after item up into the tree to try to knock his kite down and everything he throws up gets stuck.  This is an incredibly silly (and therefore) fun book to read aloud.  We took some time after reading the book to come up with our own items to get stuck in the tree.  Take a look at the crazy Stuck trees the 2nd graders made:

2KC - In addition to the fast blue car and the ice cream cone, Elephant and Piggie made it into this tree.

2KF - lots of donuts stuck in this tree along with Darth Vader and some balloons.

2MH - notice the 3D items like the paper airplanes, the volcanoes, the sun and the Empire State building.

I hope you are enjoying your book as much as we are enjoying ours.
Read On!
Ms. J.

What I remember about my school libraries...

... Or how our personal experiences shape the way we approach teaching in the library now.

I only have few memories of my school library when I was a student at Lincoln Street Elementary School in the 1970s.  I remember visiting with my 4th grade class and having a teacher direct our attention to the biography section.  She told us about a former student who decided to read all of the biographies in the library in one school year.  This was not an idea or a challenge I ever would have come up with on my own and I found it interesting, if not totally inspiring.

My husband remembers one thing and one thing only about his school library experience in elementary school: the frustration of never having enough time to select and check out a book.

Now that I find myself teaching in the library, I like the idea of making suggestions to students about their reading choices that they might not have thought of on their own. The library can and should be a place where students have a chance to set their own goals and make their own choices based on what they are interested in.

I keep my husband's shared memory in the forefront of my mind always.  I know students want time to check out a book that they are excited to read and I want to make sure they have that time and any help they might need to find that book.

I have no memory of a library teacher from middle school at all and I never saw or spoke to a librarian in high school either.  With that in mind, I aim to be available to help my students and to get to know them and their interests as much as possible.

Read On!
Ms. J.

Print and eBooks Co-exist

Picture from wikiHow.com 

I opened up the newspaper this morning only to find that there was a very relevant article about books.  It looks like printed, paper, dead-tree books are not going anywhere despite the existence of ebooks available on every phone and tablet.

The article from the New York Times Media desk is "No, the Internet Has Not Killed the Print Book. Most People Still Prefer Them." by Daniel Victor.

None of this news is surprising to me because as a librarian for children I see a big future for printed material.  There is nothing quite like sitting down with an oversize picture book spread across your lap and immersing yourself in a story told through pictures and words.  I don't mind an ebook and I am more than grateful to have a few with me at all times thanks to the fact that my phone is with me at all times, but when I am sharing a book with a child I still want that printed paper experience in full color, in a variety of sizes that we can touch and turn and examine carefully together.

Picture from paintermommy.com "How to Spark a Child's Interest in Reading"

I have ebooks in the library.  Ebooks certainly have their place.  Which is exactly what the study by the Pew Research Center that this article was based on found out.  Ebooks have features print books will never have - like allowing you to easily search the text when the index fails you.  The thing is, printed books also have features that ebooks will never have and it is those seemingly simple, analog aspects of printed books that makes them an essential part of every reader's life.

Read On!
-Ms. J.