Valley Cottage School

Kindergarten Lessons
Goal of being introduced to, a beginning understanding and utilization of:

• Library Protocol, staff, and tour
• Being responsible for your book & library book care
• Parts of book: Show me your front cover, back cover, spine, spine label
• Introduce book collections: E (Easy picture books, BR (Beginner Readers). H (Holiday)  and magazines
• Title page-what is it and where is it?
• Fairy tale or Fact: learning about fiction and non-fiction
• What is an author and what is an illustrator?
• Discover some authors and illustrators
• Start to be a terrific library listener and begin the journey of a life long love of literature and information  

1st Grade Lessons  
Goal of being introduced to, a beginning understanding and utilization of:  

• Library Protocol, staff, and tour
• Being responsible for your book & library book care
• Re-introduce collections of library materials and add Non-fiction (Dewey Numbers) and B (Biography)
• Choosing a Just Right Book using the 5 finger Goldie Socks rule
• Title page: all parts-title, author, illustrator, publisher and place of publication. Learn & conduct Title Page Test   
• Location of Holiday books (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Jewish Holidays, Christmas, Kwanzaa, etc.), by the symbol on the spine label
• Spines and spine labels, in alphabetical/numerical order on the book shelves
• Locate E books in alphabetical order on the shelf when given a call number
• Biographies: What are they, how are the identified and where are they located?
• Fairy Tale fun: Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Compare and contrast stories
• What is the Main Idea of a story or Non-Fiction book?
• Discover some authors and illustrators
• Be an even better library listener while continuing on the quest to love literature books and information

2^nd Grade Lessons
Goal of being introduced to, a beginning understanding and utilization of:

• Call numbers what they mean and how the locate materials, the seven library collections of books;
• Re-introduce collections noted above and add R (Reference) and F (Fiction chapter)
• Fiction and Non-fiction books; how to distinguish
• Parts of a book: inside and out: TOC, index, glossary etc.
• Dictionaries, locate words using guide words to find word and its meaning
• The Randolph Caldecott Award: about the award, who current and past winners are (highest award given in children’s literature for illustration).  Review winners and create literary project connected to the book
• Further develop the idea of What the Main Idea is in a story or Non-fiction book
• Discuss character attributes in a story
• Discover some authors and illustrators
• Continue to be great library listener,  love literature, and become an information investigator

3rd Grade Lessons
Goal of being introduced to, a beginning understanding and utilization of:         

• Locate all the collections in the Library Media Center         
• Genres-different types of fiction books and their characteristics        
• Genres-different types of non-fiction books and their characteristics         
• Almanacs-mega information in a small volume         
• Atlas-how to get here from there       
• Encyclopedias: finding information on a topic        
• Introduction to the OWL, our library catalog
• Continue being a great library listener, a literature lover and an information investigator.

 4th Grade Lessons
Goal of being introduced to, a beginning understanding and utilization of:

• Library Media Center website, how to get to and some of what it contains        
• Learn T.A.S.K. (Title, Author, Subject, and Keyword) searching on the O.P.A.C.       
• Dewey Decimal numbers and how they go in order         
• A Guiding Tag-finding book locations in the library according the the signs posted      
• Searching the library catalog on the computer & locating books         
• Parts of a library cataloging record for a book     
• Introduction to Library Media Center web page and its contents; databases, computer terms etc. 
• Periodicals and how they provide information online and hard copy        
• Online research tools (NOVEL, Worldbook online, Britannica, etc.) and how to use them        
• Evaluate different types of poems and create some on their own         
• Continue to discover some authors and illustrators while reviewing picture books for older readers        
• Continue being a great library listener, a literature lover and an information investigator.  

5th Grade Lessons
Goal of being introduced to, a beginning understanding and utilization of:          

• Book Buddies: Being a great reader to others (VCES has 5th grade reading to kindergarten students)      
• Reinforce Library Media Center website, how to get to and all of its contents        
• Refresher: T.A.S.K. (Title, Author, Subject, Keyword) searching on computer for library materials        
• Refresher: Reference tools & searching for information (Internet, online tools, encyclopedias, almanacs, etc.) 
• Becoming a Digital Citizen, with internet and computer use    
• Create a research paper with all its components’ on the topic of your choice using notes to construct, locate sources for information and distinguish fact or opinion on given subject         
• Bibliographies, how to do bibliographic citations of materials for reports and projects         
• The John Newbery Award, about the award, who current and past winners are (highest in children’s literature for writing), read a winner and design a literary project        
• Discover some authors and illustrators       
• Continue being a great library listener, a literature lover and an information investigator.   

Dear Parents and Students:                                                                                                                 2018

Our school library is ready for another year of reading magic.  Students have begun to visit the library.  The bookshelves are filled with many new and wonderful titles.  We have picture books, beginner readers, chapter books, non-fiction titles on all sorts of topics, along with many other resources.  Your child has a regularly scheduled visit to the library once a week.  Students in the upper grades visit more frequently, especially when needing various types of research for their projects. During library classes we read together, learn about different themes, (some silly and some serious), use the white board, create storycraft projects, have book hunts, and learn how the library works. We discover how to locate materials in the library using the computer catalog, and the Dewey Decimal system. We learn about our website and to use online resources located there.  Our library has a broad selection of books appropriate for readers (and pre-readers) of all levels.  Some of these books focus on topics that pertain to cultural and social issues such as holiday celebrations, divorce, adoption, same sex households, single parent households, adolescence/puberty, and other similar content areas.  Please note that all of our books have been determined to be age appropriate for children in Kindergarten through 5^th grade.  If, however, you are uncomfortable about your child borrowing books related to a certain topic, please contact the Librarian or your child’s teacher.

 Every week your child will pick out a new book to read. Please remember your child’s library day and make sure their book is placed in their book bag.  When children return their book the following week, they will choose a new one.  If a child forgets a book, we will give them a reminder letter, and when they bring their book back they may choose a new one. If a child loses a book, please contact us to remit or replace the book. 

Below are some helpful hints for raising a terrific reader:

• Read to your child
• Let them see you reading
• Take them to the public library for a free library card
• Talk about books together
• Let your child read to you
• Pick a family story and have everyone read it together
• Visit the public library often—and take out books!!

Please see our website at http://www.vc.nyackschool.org and click on Library Media Center   which is in the Quick Links Box.  Click on OPALS to access our new user friendly catalog and more.  This will allow you to view our district library catalog and many other research tools for your children to utilize.  Library information, the library curriculum, and more are posted there along with the summer reading packets. 

I look forward to another exciting year working with your wonderfully enthusiastic children.  Thank you for all of your support.

Sincerely,

Carolyn C. Travers, School Library Media Specialist-----Sue DeFelice, Library Assistant

Valley Cottage Elementary School, ctravers@nyackschools.org    353-7295