Collaborating & Creating During Library Centers

It has been a whirlwind two weeks as we explored our new library centers and enjoyed familiar ones. Students were thrilled to see our new MakerSpace that was created over Spring Break! You can read all about it here:
Spring Break = New Makerspace.

It has been interesting to watch, not only which centers the students pick, but also how they interact in the spaces. Sometimes they work together to create something, and some group work individually. These first visits to the centers have been for exploration and soon there will be opportunities for bigger projects, long term projects. We are lucky that our newly painted shelves are empty and ready to house "works in progress!"

I only wish that there was more room, because the number of kiddos that have wanted to try out this space far exceeds the room's capacity! :) Some components of it have been moved to the tables in the library area, such as the K'Nex.

As students have used the different centers, I have asked them to evaluate the center for interest and engagement. It has been interesting to read their thoughts on the centers and how we can improve them.

 Just as popular as our new makerspace, has been the Rainbow Loom Table. We have joined Shannon Miller, and her students in Van Meter, Iowa to create and collect bracelets for children in Mangalore, India. Our students have been so excited about Banding Together with students from all over the country to collect these bracelets.

The students stream into the library throughout the day, dropping off their bracelets in the donation basket. You can see by the evaluation that they are taking it seriously- no talking & more time! ;)

In addition to these centers, we also have our puzzle table. We now put our puzzle together on an old white board so that it can be moved without taking the whole thing apart. This is great because we actually get to finish puzzles!

Our MakerSpace is a work in progress. We are learning as we go, what works, what doesn't, things we want to add... our original steering committee comes in during lunch to research new things they would like in the makerspace. There next big decision will be a name!

Our first week ended on a great note, with Mr. Clark, one of our student's dad, dropping off a bag of goodies! The students were excited on Monday to start exploring these items! And we are looking forward to reading all about 3D printers in the new Make: magazine! This might just be our next item to add to our makerspace!

 What would you add to our library stations or makerspace?

Curtis LMC Summer Checkout

We had such a good time today at our first Summer Library Check-Out!! There were almost 40 kiddos, parents & teachers! It made my heart happy to have summer visitors in the library! Enjoy a view into our morning! 

Click below for more pictures of our day!

Curtis summer book check out

Library Centers

With encouragement and help from my fabulous fellow librarians, my Twitter PLN, and Cari Young's Library Centers blog, I set up library centers this past week and couldn't be happier!  Several of the other librarians in our district had started using centers recently and then the Twitter chat #TLElem was all about library centers this past week!  It seemed like NOW was the time to jump in so I am starting out with a few, and using them for just two weeks.  Due to our schedule, classes come to library for lessons every two weeks, so this way, everyone will have a turn.  

This is what we started with this week:

The Puzzle Table- a definite hit with students of all grade levels!  I'll change this out as the puzzle is completed. 

An ocean themed puzzle paired with ocean related books

The Pop-Up Book Center- FINALLY I have a way to share the pop-up books with students!  Even the books that come with the extra inserts, like this year's Texas Bluebonnet winner Postcards From Camp, are perfect for this table.

The Bookmark Center- students have card stock, markers, crayons, etc to create their own bookmarks.  For the younger students, there our bookmarks to color. Stickers would make a great addition to this center.


The Research Center- here, students are given the opportunity to research a topic of their choice using databases and resources provided by the library. Bubble maps are at the station so that students can document their learning.  Students enjoyed using TrueFlix while here, as well as WebPath Express.  The hardest part seemed to be narrowing the topic, which would make a great library lesson in the near future!  

The Almanac Center- I found a set of almanacs with a question of the day flip chart in the media closet.  The almanacs are a bit outdated, but the students are still enjoying them.  I also added a 2013 almanac to the table for the students to compare.  There are activities to go with the almanacs but the students enjoyed just looking through it on their own for the first time.  I even had a teacher come through and learn a couple of new things!  :)

The Book Review Center- This is something I have done in the past and it fit perfectly into the library centers.  Students will create a speech bubble with the title, author and a short summary of a book they have recently enjoyed.  These will be displayed in the library windows for other students to use when searching for a good book to read.

Leisure Reading Area- The LRA is always an option for students because sometimes you just want to read the book you just checked out!  It was surprising that with all of the new centers, several students in each class wanted to READ.  Love it!  

After one of these girls finished her book, she passed it to her friend and went on to the next one!  

Depending on the grade level, small adjustments had to be made during the week.  When 1st grade came in and enjoyed A Butterfly is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long, they had the option of going to a table with butterfly books as one of the centers.  Students used the books to draw and write about butterflies.

As one of the other librarians said, centers won't replace reading books with the students, but it is a nice addition to our library program!  Now for some fine-tuning for week 2 of the library centers!  Any other center ideas??