For the next part of the lesson, compare your school library with another library the students know. You can visit your local public library and compare your school library to it or you can take a virtual tour of one of these libraries:
You can use the notes provided below to describe the tour.
As students tour the library, determine whether your school's library has some of the same features as the library you are visiting in person or virtually.
On chart paper or the chalkboard, draw a Venn diagram. Label one of the diagram's circles with the name of your school library and one with the name of the library you visited in person or virtually. Have your students identify the features of the two libraries, and write them on the chart. Have students tell you where to place the features:
- Place them inside the "Your School Library" circle if they apply to your school library but not to the other library.
- Place them inside the other circle (labeled "_____ Library") if they apply to that library but not to your school library.
- Place them in the middle section of the diagram (where the two circles intersect) if they apply to both your school library and the other library you visited.
When you have finished, ask your students to name any other features of either library and add them to the diagram.
Now have students close their eyes and think about the layout of your school library. On a large sheet of paper, start a drawing of a map and give the students a point of reference such as the front door. Have the students give instructions as you draw and label each section of the library map. (More capable students might create individual or group maps.) When you have completed the map, on additional paper write a description of each part of the map as dictated by the students. Put the additional information on the map and display it.
Introduce this activity just before open house or another event at your school, and have parents use the student-created guide to navigate the library! Older students and accomplished writers can supplement the map with an entire handbook of information about the library.
Extension activity:
Share Library Songs for fun with your class, and have the students write original songs about your school library. Or poke fun at books, reading, and the library with Library Jokes. Then put your young comedians to work on their own library humor!
Assessment
This lesson is designed as a group activity that can be evaluated by the teacher through observation.
Lesson Plan Source
Education World
Submitted By
Cara Bafile
National Standards
LANGUAGE ARTS: English
SOCIAL SCIENCES: Geography
TECHNOLOGY
- GRADES K - 12
NT.K-12.1 Basic Operations and Concepts
Return to this week's Lesson Planning article, Lessons from the Library.
Originally published 04/12/2002
Links last updated 03/28/2008
