Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Genre browsing & book speed dating

Over the past week-and-a-half, all of the sixth grade ELA teachers' classes and one of the seventh grade teachers' classes cycled through the library to find books for their book reports.  I love it when students visit for book reports, as it's a great opportunity to remind them that even assigned reading can be fun!

Sixth grade classes had super short visits, but I didn't want to miss an opportunity for a quick library lesson.  We started each visit with a quick review of our genre categories (and discussed how graphic novel is a format NOT a genre but still gets a special label in our space):


I recently got boxes upon boxes of new middle grades and YA fiction, so I laid out all of the new books by genre category.










Students spent 10 minutes browsing the new books (or the stacks, if they preferred).  After four days of four classes a day, many of our new titles were in students' hands!

When I confirmed our visits with the seventh grade teacher, he said "let's do a whole period!"  While I wanted to focus again on genre categories, the sixth grade activity wasn't suitable for a full period.  After browsing some lesson options, I settled on a book speed dating activity!  Check out this great free resource from TPT:  Speed Dating Score Sheet

When students arrived, I prepped them for the activity then assigned four students to each table.  When students arrived at the table, they found a score sheet and a book at each place, as well as a genre category sheet.  

Our ESOL teacher co-teaches this seventh grade class, and the majority of our ELL students speak Spanish, so each table also included a novel in Spanish as an option.  This book was in the middle of each table, and any student could review it while at the table.



I used a free classroom timer to manage the activity.  Students spent three minutes with the book at their seat, noting the title, author, and genre, giving the book a rating, and making any notes they wanted about the book.  After three minutes, each student passed their book to the person on their right.  After four rounds at a table, the students then shifted over a table for four more rounds.  

This activity allowed students to sample titles from most of our genres, as I made sure that each two tables included a sampling of at least eight of our nine categories.  At the conclusion of the speed dating rounds, students who had rated a book as one they wanted to read got to check out the book for their book projects.  Others hit the stacks to browse, hopefully with a better idea of an appealing genre.

Both activities were loads of fun, and I look forward to doing them with other classes in the future.




 

Friday, January 6, 2023

Manga Day

Middle School programming doesn't have to be high-tech to be fun!  Thanks to some great donors on DonorsChoose and our school Foundation, we amped up our manga collection this fall.  Students have been champing at the bit to read these high-demand titles while I was processing them and readying them for circulation.

So, it was time for MANGA DAY!

White board that reads "Welcome! Manga Day!"

I invited students to visit the library during lunch to browse the new collection, learn about manga as an art style, taste Japanese and Korean snacks, and maybe try their hands at some origami.

Photo of Korean/Japanese snacks (Pretz, lemon KitKat, and peach gummy candy)
Here's a sampling of the snacks students could try, thanks to our local H Mart and Kroger:


Origami paper with instructions for folding

I got these adorable origami bookmark kits from Demco!  They were available in our makerspace throughout the event.  This activity was popular, so it will return as a stand-alone event in the future.

Students enjoyed watching Chie Kutsuwada share her manga drawing technique while eating their lunch in the library.

The real draw, though, was the manga collection!  To make sure that all students had an opportunity to review the books, students did not check out during the event but made lists of series/books that interested them.  After the event, I used the lists to make sure every student got at least one title to read.  

A photo of a student holding a wishlist and browsing manga books.

It was great to expand our collection and see the students' excitement about checking out manga.  I had to relocate manga to make room for the new books, and I have a full cart of books on hold awaiting student pick-up!

A bookshelf with four shelves holding manga series.


Manga books on a red card