Judy's Workshops

BER Seminars • Winners! • Books Kids Will Sit Still For • Selecting Books for Children • Literature and Library Skills • Booktalking & Reading Aloud • Multicultural Books • Once Upon a Time • Storytelling • Hi Ho Librario • Keynote Speeches • Parent Programs • Musical Booktalk •

LITERATURE AND LIBRARY SKILLS: An Integrated Approach

Some librarians groan, "I hate teaching library skills. They're so boring." If that means handing out worksheets from library skills books and having children fill in answers, then I agree. What may be boring, however, is not the theme of the lesson but the manner in which it's being taught.

The library curriculum is one that needs to be covered in the library on an ongoing basis. We want children to become lifelong learners and library fanatics, to assume responsibility for the knowledge they chose to pursue, and to grow.

Unlike teachers who may depend on a teacher's manual to plan out their lessons, librarians are wholly responsible for the way they set up and implement each unit. They develop stimulating literature-based library skills lessons for classes, work cooperatively with classroom teachers to serve their needs, as well as provide students with an intensive, enjoyable and illuminating indoctrination into the depths and delights of the library.

Each librarian has the challenge to develop an organized, creative, and innovative library curricula that expands and reinforces library, literature, critical thinking, and research skills year by year, building on prior knowledge, with a goal of children being independent, comfortable and competent in any library.

We want our students to be able to locate any and all needed information from fiction, nonfiction, biography and reference. The library is packed with literature, and the skills we teach are a means to locate and celebrate those treasures and provide our kids with the necessary skills to enjoy reading and tackle research.

In this workshop, we'll explore creative ways librarians, grades K-6, can stimulate both the intellect and the imagination using exemplary children's books as the catalyst to developing a coherent and comprehensive library curriculum. We'll look at ways to expose children to literature genres, styles, and authors through booktalks, browsing sessions, and integrated library skills that tie in with the books in the library, and guide them in learning new reference and research techniques. We'll explore read aloud skills; tell, retell, and act out stories in creative drama and Reader's Theater, try out writing activities, evaluate books for the year's "Best Books" lists, and look at creative ways to investigate every nook and corner of the library through location and orientation games and activities.