"Quicks" in the Library (LSSL 5368)

"Quicks" in the Library

 These fun, quick ideas are day activities for you and your students. Enjoy and check back for more!


(1)
Under the Sea

Baby Beluga

Written by Raffi and illustrated by Ashley Wolff

Subject Area Integrated:

• English Language Arts, Science, Music

Grade Level:

• Kindergarten

Information & 21st Century Skill Objectives:

• The goal here is to connect a book with a fun activity, teaching students at a young age that reading can be fun. This is also a great way to progress into poetry, as both have a sing-song aspect to them with children that young.
•  Use of technology: computers, Youtube
• Allow children to access the videos themselves using a pre-made internet list (Smore, Padlet, etc.)

Materials:

• Baby Beluga book
• computer and projector and/or a way to play audio clips
• Youtube video of Raffi singing Baby Beluga
• Youtube video of Baby Shark

Instructional Procedures:

• Start off by asking who is familiar with the Baby Beluga book and/or song. Depending on where you are, the numbers could differ.
• Front load vocabulary words for students who may be unaware of what the book is about. For example, ask the students who knows what a “beluga” is. Then ask about other sea mammals or creatures they know about.
• Do a read-aloud with the students, showing pictures along the way.
• After the book, show them the video of the author, Raffi, and his version of Baby Beluga in a sing-song manner (Raffi video).
• After reading and watching the video, ask students if they are familiar with any other songs that could make good books. Lead them in the direction of sea animals so that the inevitable goal is to reach the infamous Baby Shark song.
• Play a portion of the Baby Shark song on Youtube (Baby Shark song).
• Let students understand the connection between the sea life books and how songs can make reading fun!
•  Ask students to find a book on the shelves that would make for a good book to add in a sing-along.

Suggested Instructional Strategies:

• Close read (listen for front loaded vocabulary)
• cues/questions/activating prior knowledge (transition to Baby Shark)
• discovery
• read-aloud, music and songs
• hands-on learning
• simulations and role-play
• identifying similarities and differences (two songs/books)

• Wander around and see what tunes they are using, prompting them to explain why they chose that tune and book.

Assessment:

• The students, very young at that, would be assessed on how they go about the library to look for a book, how they go through the book to find words and ideas, and how they make it into a potential song.

Related Materials & Resources:

•  Additionally, you could find other books with sing-alongs and provide the students a list to give to their parents. Then, students can interact with technology on their own, work one-on-one with a friend or family member, and are connecting the music side to the reading side.
• Turning songs into books isn’t a new idea, but there are a few authors/singers that are taking it to the next level. For example, try the following:
• He’s Got the Whole World in his Hands by Kadir Nelson
• Happy by Pharell
• Knick Knack Paddy Whack by Christiane Engel
• Find Others Here on the Barnes & Noble Blog

 

(2)
Poetry is For Everyone
 

For Everyone

Written by Jason Reynolds

Subject Area Integrated:

• English Language Arts (reading, poetry)

Grade Level:

• Middle School (6-8) and High School (9-12)

Information & 21st Century Skill Objectives:

• Jason Reynolds breaks rules, crosses boundaries, and does his usual thing with this book of poetry, written mainly in free verse. The book can be read from cover to cover, almost telling a story, or each poem can be taken as is. Students are able to connect their lives or someone they know (even previous knowledge may be used to connect to a character in a movie or book), through a series of free verse that they can actually relate to.
• Audible can be used to listen to Jason Reynolds read his own poems
• Youtube can be used to listen to Jason Reynolds read his own poems
• Use of library approved sites to find books similar to a specific poem

Materials: 

• For Everyone book
• Pre-made biography/information on Jason Reynolds 
• Reynolds is not your “typical, type A looking” author, and students need to see that looks, gender, hairstyles, race, and anything that could potentially interfere, or ever has with them, does not stand a chance.
• Lined paper and pencils
• Computers/iPads/devices
• Poetry books (library: public or school, online, Audible, etc.)
• Book of choice (library: public or school, online, Audible, etc.)

Instructional Procedures:

•         At the very beginning of the lesson start with a short reading of one of Jason Reynold’s interviews. One of my favorite articles written on him was by The Washington Post and can be found here.

o   Ask students what they think he looks like, seems like as a person, etc. Get them to think deeply about this. Then, show them pictures and a biography.

o   Discuss how anyone can be anything, despite all odds. Reference the article again.

•         Choose a poem or two for each age group.

o   For high school students, I would choose the poem, found on page 14, which deals with growing up, change, and relates to ages 16 through 25. You could even continue to the next page, adding up to the age of 28.

o   For middle school students, I would choose the poem, found on page 42 and 43. Middle school students have a stigma that they can’t grasp the unknown, but my students loved these poems and the ideas behind them. Pages 50-53 have a strong theme to them as well.

High School Poem (page 14):

At Sixteen I thought

I would’ve made it by now.

At eighteen I said twenty-five

is when id make my first million.

At twenty-five I moved back in

with my mother,

bill collectors

breathing on like

Brooklyn summer.

High School Poem (page 15; connected to page 14):

And now at

Almost twenty-five

I’m just

Almost twenty-eight.

Middle School Poem (page 42):

If you are

anything like me,

You hope

it never stops.

You hope the

bubbling never

dies down

and the yearning to

break out and

break through

never simmers.

Middle School Poem (page 43; connected to page 42):

You hope

the voice that

delivers the

loudest whispers

of what you envision never silences.

That it never cowers behind fear

and expectations that other people

strap to your life

like a backpack full of bricks

(or books written by

experts).

Middle School Poem (page 50):

I’d rather suffer from

internal eczema,

constantly irritated

by the itch of possibility.

Middle School Poem (page 51; connected to page 50):

There have been

many anxious nights

where darkness

has slept around me,

my friends

cocooned in a

coziness I have

yet to meet.

Middle School Poem (page 52; connected to pages 50 and 51):

My eyes

swollen with exhaustion,

my body sputtering

on its way down,

but my dreams

won’t stop crying,

screaming

like a colicky

infant.

Sometimes I think

it needs to be changed.

Middle School Poem (page 53; connected to pages 50-52):

Usually

It just needs to be fed.

•  After reading the poems, speaking on figurative language and the meaning behind his words, have students brainstorm a few lines on the provided paper. The great thing about his book is that the poems are short, sweet, and full of ideas to ponder on.
• Have each student submit their poem at the end of the class, leaving their name off the paper.
• Compile a book for students to flip through. This book will show that many of them are going through the same things, despite thinking they are alone.

Suggested Instructional Strategies: 

• Academic vocabulary and language
• modeling
• close read
• conference
• journaling
• activate prior knowledge
• read-aloud
• Socratic seminars/small-group talk
• student self-assessment
• targeted feedback

Assessment: 

• Let students self-assess their work. If they choose to do so, allow them to share their thoughts with peers at their table/area. With doing this, peers can help with feedback, if the student wants to change something, or feedback on the idea itself.
• For homework, have students find a book that has similar ideas and themes that they used in their poem, allow them to search through poetry books within the library or online, or choose from one of Reynold’s poems. Students are to read the book and explain the similarities and differences between their poem or poem of choice and the book.

(3)
Hands On Fish

Rainbow Fish to the Rescue

 by Marcus Pfister

Subject Area Integrated:

• ELA & art

Grade Level:

• Elementary school

Information & 21st Century Skill Objectives:

• As students are working on the activity, have the read-aloud (by another elementary student) playing in the background. The read aloud is fun because it shows the illustrations by Pfister, but it also has a few special effects added in. View the read aloud here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFORvXhub28

Materials: 

• Paper plates
• glue and glitter or cut out “scales” from shiny silver wrapping paper
• scissors
• googly eyes
• paint of all colors
• markers/Sharpie for writing on the back
• possibly paper if the back is not able to be written on & needs to be glued on later

Instructional Procedures:

• Introduce the book to the students, read, and discuss at the end what it meant for the Rainbow Fish to give away his shiny scales. Why would he do that? What changed his mind? And other similar questions of that nature, but be sure to have a pre-determined list of questions based on age groups.

• Talk with students about what they “give away” to different people every day/week/year, etc. besides presents and other obvious things. Give examples for the younger ones, but be ready to have examples for the older students as well.

• From then on, students will separate into groups to begin working on their Rainbow Fish. You know your students and will be able to determine the level they are at; some students may create a different version (younger or older) depending on dexterity, etc.

• Fifth graders/fourth graders: create their own fish (stencil or hand drawn) to decorate (example below)
• Fourth graders/third graders/second graders: create a paper plate fish (example below)
•  Second graders/first graders: determine between a paper plate or hand fish
• First graders/Kindergarteners: create a hand print fish (example below)

• On the back, students will write one sentence/phrase stating who they would give their shiny scale to and why. Encourage students to be creative and key in on the conversation from after reading.

Suggested Instructional Strategies:

• adapting to learning styles
• analysis of student work
• close read
• current events
• document based questions
• learning centers
• modeling
• project-based learning
• read-aloud
• reading and writing across the curriculum
• hands on learning

Assessment:

• Individual feedback should be done with every assignment. After the assignment is complete, keep the fish in a safe area to dry, out of reach of other classes. When the fish are dry, have a student or two come down to get them or have the teacher come pick them up to bring back to the classroom. By this point, every fish should have something written on the back, and, if not, this is the time the students would finish up or get any last minute help from the teacher/librarian to do so. Have students model their work.

• The teacher should assess the writing skill put into the activity before giving it back to the librarian to be showcased on the wall. The teacher and librarian should work together to decide what specific skill should be assessed, based on the grade level taught. For example: Kindergarten and first grade should focus on capitalization of names and the word “I”, second and third grade should focus on punctuation, fourth and fifth grade should focus on complete sentences. Each grade level should also be able to complete the previous grade levels’ focus.

Related Materials & Resources: 

https://www.myjoyfilledlife.com/the-rainbow-fish/

Examples:

https://images.app.goo.gl/Fst8fuN44UPmH18r6

https://images.app.goo.gl/szMBALtmTqfwb4uP7

https://images.app.goo.gl/XwbtF46scGCpirZK6

https://images.app.goo.gl/bhBeVChrFnWwQdDe8

Blank Templates for tracing:

https://images.app.goo.gl/PA1ycgHcuqo3qAnu5

https://images.app.goo.gl/BLJ5LuZ5waXiWo7F6

https://images.app.goo.gl/1by9rAfSaYoRLxFw7

https://images.app.goo.gl/QXKFChGVJ1nWH9EcA

(4)
Folktales in Youth Literature Alongside New Age Movies

“White Wing’s Escape” from The Panchatantra

Translated by Arthur W. Ryder

and

Finding Nemo the movie

by Disney

Subject Area Integrated:

• ELA
• Science
• Math
• Social Situations
• P.E.

Grade Level:

• Elementary

Information & 21st Century Skill Objectives:

• Video clip of Finding Nemo. The scene to focus on is when Nemo encourages all of the fish to “keep swimming” to get themselves out of the fisherman’s snares.
• The excerpt “White Wing” from The Panchatantra. Hand outs or iPads can be used for marking up the necessary pieces.

Materials:

• Youtube video of the portion of Finding Nemo where Nemo has the fish chanting “just keep swimming”.

Instructional Procedures:

•        Begin by introducing folktales and what they are. Talk about where this specific folktale originated from (India) and the time frame it is set in. Explain how some folktales need to be translated because of where they came from.

•           Read the excerpt from The Panchatantra: “White Wing’s Escape” (India) : “White Wing’s Escape” is from The Panchatantra, translated by Arthur W. Ryder, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1956, pages 214 to 217.

• A hunter sets a giant snare in a spreading banyan tree and scatters grain to catch the attention of birds. White Wing, a ringdove king, and his flock notice the rice grains from high in the sky. They swoop downward and – alas! – are soon trapped in the hunter’s net. As the hunter gleefully approaches the birds with his club, they realize their desperate plight. White Wing says to the ringdoves, ―We must not panic, my friends. There is a way to escape from this terrible fate, but we must all agree to work together. The net is too large and too heavy for any one of us to lift. But if we all fly upward at the same time, I’m sure we can lift the snare and carry it away.‖ The other ringdoves quickly agree. When White Wing gives his signal, the birds all fly upward at the same moment. They lift the snare and create what looks to the hunter, who watches in amazement, like a flying net rising on its own and vanishing into the sky.
• Talk about the story for a minute, focusing on cooperation, and then show the Finding Nemo clip. Compare the two and talk about how cooperation dates back to as far as they can imagine and all the way up until today.

• Discuss how each class they are in the ways that they can cooperate. Prompt them with a class and go from there.

Suggested Instructional Strategies: 

• academic vocabulary/language
• lecture
• analysis of student work
• close read
• cooperative learning
• possible debate
• direct instruction
• read aloud
• reading/writing across curriculum
• flexible grouping
• hands-on learning
• graphic organizers
• potential word wall
• student self assessment

Assessment: 

• For the older kids (fifth grade and possibly fourth grade), I would suggest handing out copies in pairs or sets of three for them to read along. Have the excerpt laminated and give students white board markers. Instruct them to circle/star/underline any time they see a form of cooperation going on.

o   Older Students/Grade 4 and 5: Assess what morals students come up with. Do they make sense? What can be tweaked?

o   Have students read over each others’ morals and have them gauge them.

•         For the mid-range students (third and fourth grade), start a discussion on what cooperation means to them. Have them answer when and where they cooperate, where they learned it from, and why it is important to do so. Have students come up with a game that uses cooperation, have them draw a picture and explain the game. The game can be real or made up.

o   Mid Range Students/Grade 3 and 4: Involvement in the discussion and activity.

o   Have students explain their game and ask if the others agree and/or if they would change anything.

o   If the game is already created, have students inquire more about what specifically they have to cooperate on.

•         Lower level students (second and third grade): Have them compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the Finding Nemo scene and excerpt. Give each group a Venn-diagram to fill in.

o   Lower Level Students/Grade 2 and 3: Look over the Venn-diagram. Answers should be same/similar.

o   Pass Venn-diagrams to the next group and have them circle or star their favorite answer/ones that were similar to their answers.

•        For the youngest kids (kindergarten and first grade), have them draw a picture of a time that they cooperated with someone and write a brief statement as to what is going on.

o   Youngest Students/Grade K and 1: Does the picture match the statement? Does it answer the question?

o   Have students share their drawings with one another.

Related Materials & Resources: 

·        Finding Nemo clip: Youtube Video Link
 

·        PDF file of related words/phrases, the meaning of cooperation, state standards (may be different from your state/district), and many other activities that can be done in the classroom or at home with a parent. The best part is that it gives additional stories on cooperation that you can use as comparisons to the original story. Find It Here

(5)

Novel Haikus

Subject Area Integrated:

• ·         ELA- focuses on poetry, reading comprehension, and reading/writing through the novel/curriculum

Grade Level:

• ·         Any grade level; best for middle school when poetry is a strong topic of interest in curriculum (6^th-8^th)

Information & 21st Century Skill Objectives:

• Allow students to browse for examples of haikus on the internet. Have them print/rewrite their favorite haiku and hang it on the wall/put it in their spiral for inspiration and something to look back at for reminders when it comes to syllables.
•  Let students listen to haikus online and decide if they match the syllable scheme.
•  Invite them to play a game where they can create their own haiku (linked below: Haiku Generator Game).
• Allow the final product to be done on a computer, whether fully or portions of.

Materials: 

• Book of choice- could be a novel chosen by each student or a novel read in the class setting

o   Class setting novels- be sure to set clear boundaries/expectations of what you want and what part of the book. You do not want all of the students to do the same portion of the novel. For example: have a plot line drawn out with specifics of the book and assign a certain amount of students per portion of the plot line to reduce repetition.

o   Student chosen novel- more freedom is given here, allowing the student to choose any part of the book. Be sure to ask them the area the book came from/location on the plot line for a better understanding.

• Paper
• Multicolor of printer/construction paper to glue/tape the final product on
• Markers/colored pencils/pens or any other writing utensil of choice. Also, you can allow for computer generated work.

Instructional Procedures:

• Have students read a book, either as a class novel or individual, and  write the book name down to prevent repetition of books or portions of the book.
• Have students choose a favorite part of the book if they have their own book. If you are reading a class novel, assign sections of the book or allow freedom to write on a section (depends how many overlaps or potential repetitions you want).
• Review the haiku poetry form (links below). Discuss the syllables and origination of the form of poetry.
• Play haiku games (links below) and read multiple haikus with students. Make sure students know the syllable pattern.
• Have students create their own haikus.
• Final product should be clean, clear, concise, and creative! If done on the computer, be sure to review copyright laws and the proper places to obtain graphics/images (Creative Commons, etc.) or how to cite work properly.

Suggested Instructional Strategies:

• Academic vocabulary and language
• Close read
• Analysis of work by teacher/librarian/peer
• Adapting to learning styles
• Project-based learning

Assessment: 

• Analysis of work by teacher/librarian-

o   Does the picture/photo/drawing match the haiku?

o   Is it colorful and creative?

o   Does it use the space of paper wisely?

o   Does the haiku fully embody the portion of the book that was chosen?

o   Does the haiku match the syllable scheme?

• Analysis of work by peers/peer editing- (do this as a pre-check before students turn their work in; create a yes/no checklist for students to make ticks on, if the answer is no then the peer editor needs to write a reason why)

o   Count/clap/etc. the syllables out. Does it match the scheme?

o   Does the haiku make sense to someone who has never read the book?

o   Is the haiku fun and inviting?

o   Does the picture/photo/drawing make sense and match the haiku?

Related Materials & Resources: 

• Harry Potter Haikus: https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson180.shtml
• Read, Write, Think Haikus: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/haiku-starter-30697.html
• Scholastic How to Teach Haikus: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/five-creative-ways-teach-haiku/
• Book Examples with Haikus: https://www.thebutterflyteacher.com/teaching-haiku-poetry/
•  Haiku Generator Game: https://www.poem-generator.org.uk/haiku/

(6)

Drawing Conclusions, Literally

Subject Area Integrated:

• ELA- reading and writing
• Art- drawing,
• Critical thinking
• Cross-curriculum through all subjects

Grade Level:

• Any grade level, depending on the type of novel determines the depth of which the conclusion needs to be; focus on elementary school

Information & 21st Century Skill Objectives:

• To accurately quote when explaining ways to explicitly draw conclusions.
• Introduce the idea of drawing conclusions through cross-curriculum.
• Explain how this resonates in the real world today.

Materials: 

• Book/novel that will be used to read- must have a portion that an inference can be created from
• Paper- colored or plain with pens/markers/colored pencils
• Potentially create your own template with the top part having a section to draw and the bottom part has a written portion to it of either filling in the blanks or a write on their own. 
• **For example: Younger students would work in small groups and would fill in sentence stems of “During this part of the book _________, so and so might do this _______ because ______”. For older students, sentence stems should not be necessary. Also, consider older students to work individually rather than in a group.**
• Share with classmates and see which group/individual came the closest to the actual next portion.
• Finish book and discuss how you can change things/understand cues and hints dropped/pay closer attention next time around.

Instructional Procedures:

• Read a book aloud with has a portion that would need to have an inference pulled from it.
• For example: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or The Very Hungry Caterpillar due to their step by step repetitiveness and ease of catching on to cues/hints.
• Stop at said inference portion.
• Put students in small groups to discuss a situation.
• After the discussion, have students draw what they think will happen next and either fill in the blanks/use sentence stems or free write.

Suggested Instructional Strategies: 

• Direct instruction
• Document-based questions
• Effective questioning
• Testing & generating hypotheses
• Identifying similarities and differences between texts
• Accountable talk
• Project-based learning
• Read- aloud
• Debate

Assessment: 

• Did the inference match what actually happened? If so, how did students come to that conclusion?
• Use discussions as a one-on-one, small group, or whole class. Have students explain to you or the whole class as to their means of figuring out their reasoning.
• Assess writing skills that correlate with academic vocabulary and what is going on in the story. Did students use the names of characters, settings, etc. or did they use non-descriptive words instead?

Related Materials & Resources: 

• Example Lesson Plan with Template: https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/drawing-inferences
• List of Inference Making Books: https://thisreadingmama.com/books-making-inferences-predictions/