August: A Great Time to Prepare Our Library Centers

We have been talking a lot about what new centers we'd like to try in our elementary libraries this year, which ones we'd like to keep, and which ones we'd like to toss. We've been working on a master list and a rotation chart, both of which will be available soon! One center that was successful last year was the ICCA and Goldfinch Award Popsicle Stick Puzzles--you can read about it here.

Puzzles organized!

Goldfinch Award Puzzles

I work in a 3rd - 4th grade building for part of my day. For those kids, I took all 20-something ICCA covers, mod podged them onto Popsicle sticks, and put all of them in ONE large gallon Ziploc bag. I have the book covers displayed in my library if the kids need a visual while they are working.

For my younger K-2 kids, I separated the puzzles into smaller bags. This year, I decided to be a little more organized.

I put 4 Goldfinch puzzles in each Ziploc bag, along with small pictures of the book covers. Not only that, but I put the bag number on the popsicle stick--why didn't I do this last year?! Hopefully, this will save time AND let the kids help keep the center organized, too!

Centers planning at Dallas Center Elementary is underway as well. The centers poster was trimmed and laminated--the first quarter rotations are already in place! Once students have checked out their books, they will participate in a center based on their table numbers.

Two new centers are in the rotation this fall: the Dinosaur Puppet Center and What Happens Next? Center.

The center includes several dinosaur books from our collection, as well as a finger puppet to cut out and color should the student choose. With their puppets, students are encouraged to make up a story to share at their tables. The finger puppet is available from esterstorytimes; CLICK HERE to access it.

The What Happens Next? Center uses the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg as a starting point. Students will look at the book, and after choosing one of the pictures, they will tell what they think is the next part of the story. You can access the pdf from http://librarycentersblogspot.com when you CLICK HERE.