Madame Pince and the School Library

For libraries and librarians just west of Hogwarts

Shelf Marker Poem

January9

Like all librarians, I try to keep the shelves in order.  What’s that myth again about Sisyphus?  That’s who I feel like sometimes. 

I made some large shelf markers using heavy paper of different colors, pasted on the following poem, and laminated them.

I’ll mark your place

While you look at a book,

But remember each book

Has it’s very own nook.

 

When you’re done looking

And know what you’ll do,

Please put me back. 

Then you are through.

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Leftover Books for Christmas

December10

This year we have an extra week before Winter Break, which is scheduled to begin December 23.  I’ll be reading some of the extra books I have for Christmas. I review pre-reading strategies and making predictions.

Merry Christmas, Space Case

Jingle Bells, Homework Smells

The Year Without a Santa Claus

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell

Where Did They Hide My Presents?

How the Grinch Stole Christmas SIOP Lesson Plan

December3

I’ll be following Week 13 plans from last year which can be found here.

Thanks to Boris Karloff I do a pretty decent version of ”How The Grinch Stole Christmas,” and my Cindy Lou Who impersonation (it’s really a June Foray impersonation),  often makes lower elementary kids’s mouths drop.  It’s one of the perks of teaching elementary school.

Christmas Picture Books for Lower Elementary

November28

I’ll be following Week 12 lesson plans from last year, but with some changes.  You can find the original plans here.

 Personally, I’m not a big fan of “I wish Santa would come by helicopter,” and I’m a little tired of “Santa Claus is comin’ to town,” so I have a couple of new books on standby in case I feel the need to swap them out. 

I’ve got “The Year without a Santa Claus”

and I have “Merry Christmas, Splat”

Thanksgiving Videos for Lower Elementary Classes

November22

I’ve been using the videos and lesson plan from Week 11 of last year.  You can find the plan here.  As much as I appreciate Steven Kellog’s books,  the versions of “How Much is a Million” and “If You Made a Million” on the video, Chicka Chicka 123 have not been a big hit this year and they didn’t do much better last year.  Time to trade it out for something new.

Differenciating Fiction and Nonfiction

November7

I’ll contintue with Week 9 of last year’s lesson plans, which can be found here.  However, I’ll also read “Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade, probably to 2nd grade.

Differenciating Between Fiction and Nonfiction

November7

I followed Week 8 for last week and focused on the differences between fiction and nonfiction.  The lesson plans are here.

Destiny Quest Survey

November3

If you use Destiny Quest, please respond to this survey.

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Halloween Movies for Elementary Kids

October29

I’ll follow last year’s lesson plans for Week Seven and show movies, (click here for plans) since Monday is Halloween and the schools are having their Hallowwen parties on Friday, October 28.

Halloween Books for Lower Elementary Featuring Rhyming Text

October16

If I remember correctly, Week 6 of last year’s plans went very well, so I’m going to pick them up without any editing this year.  You can find last year’s plans by clicking here.

One caveat, be sure to practice the books before reading.

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My name is Connie Parker Harrison. I am a media specialist in the Dearborn Public Schools and split the week between two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. Dearborn is a fairly large district to the west of Detroit Michigan. Dearborn has a diverse population of students and this means that students are coming into schools with a wide variety of skill sets in all curricular areas. I also teach part time in the library and information science department at Wayne State University where my specialty is children’s literature.

Technology used to be a hobby for me, but when Dearborn’s School Board recently doubled my responsibility from two schools to four and cut the secretarial support staff in the media centers, my hobby became my lifeline. I have to have my instructional tools at my fingertips and they have to be user-friendly. I started this blog as a way of organizing myself.

Oh, and just in case you’ve forgotten, Madam Pince is the librarian at Hogwarts.

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