Respectful, Responsible and Safe in the Library (Grades 3-5)

This week we begin identifying what our school rules of being "Respectful, Responsible, and Safe" look like in the library. We began by discussing why people sometimes make bad choices. Answers included

 They are having a bad day
They are mad or sad about something that happened
They are hungry
They got up on the wrong side of the bed
Someone did something that made them upset

 Next we read The Snurtch by Sean Ferrell.

Students loved the final spread and we talked about our "snurtches." Interesting things we decided:

  • A "snurtch" is your "bad side"
  • A "snurtch" is when something overtakes you
  • Sometimes your "snurtch" is in control, sometimes it is not
  • A "snurtch" can make the difference between a good choice and a bad choice
  • "My dad has a really big "snurtch"" (A personal favorite of mine)

Next, groups were formed to think about what being
  • Respectful
  • Responsible
  • Safe
looked like in the library (because our "snurtches" would be in control). Groups shared out and I compiled the answers on a padlet here.




Over the course of the week I synthesized the thoughts down into smaller chunks so we could review and accept these as our Library Expectations.

In the meanwhile, I dismissed students for book checkout and had them draw their "snurtches"




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Reading Identity: Who am I as a reader?

Image
This lesson was about making a visual representation of our reading selves.  We drew, we laughed, we learned about each other as readers, and started building a reading community.  We did this on a remote day.  *This was developed in conjunction with my brilliant colleagues.* Standards:  AASL: Inquire/Share I.C.1 . Interacting with content presented by others. I decided we needed a theme to tie a disjointed year together and settled on the question:  I spent much of my summer thinking about "identity" but needed a concrete landing place for those big, abstract thoughts.  I wondered what would happen if we thought about "identity" through a reading lens. We read Reading Makes You Feel Good We practiced looking at two options and showing our choice for where we like to read by holding up that number of fingers. Next, we moved on to our directed draw. When we were done drawing, we had a big reveal.  Students were tasked with looking for someone with a similar piece of
Read more

Books as mirrors and windows (with sticky notes & reflections)!

Image
Every year I examine books as mirrors and windows with my students.  Every year I tweak the exploration and this year was no different.  This year's additions included sticky notes and reflections.   Day 1: Mirror moments Sticky notes I created with Tony Vincent's template (link below) After modeling mirror moments (and having students make "me too" signals), students identified a mirror moment from a stack of books at their table.  "This is like my sister and I.  We fight all the time." - 3rd grader "When my mom tells me to clean my room I just sit because I don't know where to start." - 3rd grader Day 2: Window moments In the next class I modeled "window moments" and we drew windows in the air when we heard moments that were "not like us."   Students identified "window moments" at their tables with sticky notes. Students shared their "window moments" through the window we passed around our sharing circl
Read more

Circulation Policies in our Library

Image
Developing relationships with students and families is my priority. I want them to have what they need from our library, but I also want (and need) them to respect our library and other students and return books so others can borrow them. Lost books are a reality. We lose MANY of them (too many of them) because it isn't something I spend much time or energy dwelling on. My hope is that the "lost" book has found its way into a home and is being loved there. However, this is something that has been increasingly on my mind. This past summer I read Rebeka Barringer's Knowledge Quest article  “How Inclusive and Human-First Circulation Policies & Practices Can Impact a Child’s Relationship with Elementary Library Spaces” (Nov/Dec 2022) and it spoke to me. It made me think about the language used to communicate with families student buy-in (or lack thereof) in the circulation of books I decided on action items for this year to address lost books: Help students underst
Read more