Friday, December 13, 2013

Holiday Book Spines and ABC order!

We love picking out our favorite holiday books to share with students this time of year. This year, we added an extra layer of learning by adding a lesson on abc order and library book spines for our first and second graders. Here's how it worked......

On week one, we read a holiday book to our students. I decided to share An Otis Christmas by Loren Long. It is a wonderful story of bravery, Christmas magic (and surprise!), and the true meaning of Christmas. The pictures look like paintings and our library has a copy signed by Loren Long! Every class I read it to (all 15 classes) loved it and were on the edge of their seats.

After reading, we talked about ABC order in the library and how we look at author's last names when putting fiction books in order. This was review for our students. I then used Reflector on my computer to show my kids how to play the game Shelver on Mrs. Lodge's website on my iPad.
http://www.mrs-lodges-library.com/play-shelver
I had an iPad on each table for kids to play. It was such a success for all levels! It was such a great way to reinforce the skill.

At each table, while one student was playing Shelver, the other two were working on creating a book spine for a holiday book. They were the authors and had to create the title. They used real books as reference tools and did a great job.

Next, on week two, we are just starting the process of putting the book spines in order on a bookshelf I made out of paper and hung in the hallway outside the library. I also have created a bookshelf on a board in the library--I'll never fit them all on one bookshelf! I have been having classes put an other class's book spines in ABC order since most know the order of their class. The kids have been doing a great job of putting all 20-something spines in order! Success!

The large bookshelf in the hallway.
A close up of some of the spines
Some first grade examples
I'd like to see this book..Santa Likes to Toot! Kids would love it! 

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