Off to a great start!

Here are some things we've been working on in the Lawrence School library recently:

Kindergarten classes have been listening to the Harry the Dirty Dog stories by Gene Zion. Students are also learning the library routines and seem more at home in the library every week!




First grade classes have been listening to stories by Mem Fox, an Australian author who uses rhyming and repetition frequently. They have also been practicing using the scanner to check out their own books each week and are becoming quite skilled at it!

Second graders have heard some seasonal titles lately. We read Sophie's Squash, a brand new title which we all enjoyed for its humor and unusual story line. This week students listened to a nonfiction book about pumpkins.




Third graders have listened to some humorous and thought-provoking titles: Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem and The Pink Refrigerator.

Fourth graders have been learning about the Dewey Decimal System, the classification system we use in our library. It is also used by the Brookline Public Library so if students become familiar with it here, they will be more skillful users of the public libraries. As the year goes on we will connect this skill with use of the library catalog to locate materials.

Fifth graders have been listening to read alouds connected to their study of birds. Arrowhawk is the book students have heard most recently. They also completed a short survey to help me to understand what they know about the library, research, and their reading preferences. This will lead to an introduction to the databases provided by the district and the state's library system.


I have also seen lots of middle school students this fall making use of our new "young adult" section! These are books that were mixed in to our fiction section until September when they were moved to the new section and relabeled as "YA" titles. Students in grades 6 - 8 seem to be finding books that their friends and teachers are recommending more easily.