Kindergarten Library Lesson Plans
October
Meet in the story corner. Introduce myself by name and title and discuss the role of the library teacher as the person who helps children learn about a variety of books through lessons and story time and the person who will help them select appropriate books in the future. Discuss the role of the librarian as the person who is in charge of the library. Describe the purpose of the Library Media Center. It is the learning center of the school, used by all of its students and teachers. Books, listening centers, big books, videotapes, dvds, cds, computer programs and computers are found in the library media center. Explain the expectations of Kindergartners in the library and discuss the need for rules of behavior during the lesson time. Read aloud Mr. Wiggles Book by Paula Craig and discuss all of the rules for good book care. Show the students where the Kindergarten section of the library is located and discuss the circulation desk. Show them how to identify if a book is a Kindergarten book (red dot). Next, assign students seats and review the rules in the library. Next, have each student complete a "Do you know how to take care of a book?" worksheet and color the picture that shows good ways of taking care of books. Finally, give each student a newsletter for their parents to read and a Mr. Wiggle’s bookmark. Dismiss the students to their teacher.
Meet in the story corner. Read aloud Book Fair Day by Lynne Plourde. Ask, “What is the difference between a regular library day and a Book Fair day?” Discuss what a book fair is, when their class is coming and review the rules of the book fair. Also, review the differences between a hardback book and a paperback book and explain that for their purposes, paperback books are a better value at the book fair. When finished discussing the book fair, review the rules in the library and dismiss the students to check out a book.
November
Meet in the story area. Using Mr. Wiggle visuals, review all of the book care rules with the children. Explain to the kids that we are going to talk about library manners today, especially using a quiet voice in the library. Read aloud and discuss Giggle E. Goose by Al Newman and David Goes to School by David Shannon. On the board make a T-chart and have the students list David's good manners and bad manners at school. What could he do better? Ask "Is it appropriate to yell out loud to get your teacher's attention? Is it ok to jump up and down to get your teachers attention? Would raising your hand before you speak be a good manner? Would it be ok to pull on your teacher's dress to ask her a question?" Show a short video about appropriate tones of voice for different situations, including when in the library, entitled "Using your Karate Voice." Move students to their assigned seats and give them a page from David Goes to School to illustrate. Review the rules in the library and dismiss the children by table to check out their books.
December
Check in the students books and meet in the story area. Read aloud, The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming. Review the definitions to fiction and nonfiction and review our chant "Fiction means fake, nonfiction is not fake." Discuss wether the story we read today was fiction or nonfiction. Using the overhead projector, take the children to http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/games/tina/tina.html. Tina likes to tell stories about real and imaginary things. Listen to her stories, and decide whether she is sharing a real story or an imaginary one. Choose the right answer, and you can give Tina's dog, Pepper, a treat! (Pepper really grooves in her sunglasses!). Move the children to their tables. Have them look at several book titles and circle if the book is fiction or nonfiction, while the children are called table by table to check out new books. After everyone has selected a book and checked it out, review the correct answers to the assignment.
January
Check in the students books and meet in the reading circle. Read aloud, What's Going on in There? a guessing book by Geoffrey Grahn. Review and discuss the book with the children. Talk about why this book was fiction. Review the fiction/nonfiction chant. Move the children to the tables. Have them look at a worksheet with both fiction and nonfiction titles on it. The children will circle the pictures that they think would be found in a fiction book. When the children are finished, review the rules in the library and dismiss them to check out a book.
Check the students’ books and meet in the reading circle. Discuss what animal Arthur is (aardvark) and show the progression of Arthur through the years the Arthur series has been published (his nose was long, now he looks more like a bear than an aardvark). Read aloud “D.W.'s Library Card” by Marc Brown. Discuss whether the book is fiction or nonfiction and why and that the author of all of the Arthur and DW books is Marc Brown. Review the fiction/nonfiction chant. Ask the children what D.W. and Arthur's last name is. Show the students a picture of Marc Brown and give a little of his background. Show the Arthur video "Locked in the Library". Review the rules in the library during book check out. When the children come up to the desk to check out a book, give them an Arthur bookmark to color. Have the children explain why a bookmark should always be used in a book and have them either color or look at their book until their teacher arrives to pick them up.
February
Check in the students books and meet in the reading circle. Discuss Read Across America Day with the children. Talk about Dr. Seuss and his contributions to children's literature. Show the children several books that Dr. Seuss wrote, using the overhead projector. Tell the children that to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday, which is in the beginning of March, we will have author Dar Hosta visiting us. Read aloud, I love the alphabet by Dar Hosta. Talk about Ms. Hosta's illustrations and describe how an illustrator creates collage illustrations. Move the children to their assigned seats. Have them color an illustration A is for Alligator by Dar Hosta and/or complete a Kindergarten word search that goes along with I love the alphabet. Dismiss the children by table to check out books.
