10 Fun Activities to Make the Most of School
Library Time
School libraries are some of the most magical places in the school building (hey, you
don’t have to be a school librarian to admit it), and library activities are some of the most
memorable from elementary school.
Many of us remember walking in a neat line with our class, heads filled with excitement
at the thought of borrowing some new books for the week! If you’re like the members of
the Teach Starter teacher team, you loved the school librarian and loved the library
activities for kids that they put together, just for us! With school librarians in mind — and
those schools where teachers take on the job as there’s no money in the budget
dedicated to an official librarian — we decided to pull together some of our favorite ways
to celebrate the library and get kids hooked on a book!
Library Activities
Library Scavenger Hunt
Before your students can use the library to its full potential, they need to be able to
navigate its shelves!
Your library might have a slightly different layout and shelving system to the next, but
that doesn’t mean you can’t put together a Library Scavenger Hunt. Grab a free
scavenger hunt template for the lower grades or the upper grades. You can also mix
things up with a fun QR code library scavenger hunt!
Take a StoryWalk®
Created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT, in association with the Kellogg-Hubbard
Library, the term StoryWalk® is a registered trademark, but they’re pretty eager to
spread the word about this fun library activity for kids! The basic idea? Take a popular
children’s story from a book, and break it down so kids can walk through the story — be
it on your school campus, in your town, or wherever it is safe and encouraged for kids to
wander.
The idea is to get kids engaged in the story and to help them with the transition from
words on a page to their greater imagination. The creative educators at Oak Grove
Elementary in DeKalb, Georgia shared this StoryWalk® for Dear Mr. Blueberry (a
fantastic story by Simon James) with us after being inspired by Ferguson’s concept.
Learn About the Dewey Decimal System
Named for Melvil Dewey, the librarian and educator who devised the system, Dewey
Decimal Classification (yup, that’s the real name), will help them for decades to come
when it comes to navigating the library.
To make learning the Dewey Decimal System more fun, turn this library activity into a
challenge, assigning groups of students titles from different sections that they have to
find.
Set Up a Tracking System
The easiest way to get kids excited about books? Make it a group project. School
librarian Stephanie shared this fun bulletin board she has up in her elementary school
library where she tracks the books that her classes have read by posting the covers
each time a book has been finished.
Independent Student Research
The library environment offers your students an amazingly broad variety of books and
digital resources to research with! Once your students have familiarized themselves
with the shelving system in the library, let them go wild with a research task.
Independent research tasks, such as our Genius Hour Teaching Resource Pack, give
your students the opportunity to drive their own learning, explore their own interests,
and cross off a whole lot of curriculum standards while they’re at it!
If your students aren’t up to working on their own research tasks, why not take them to
the library to develop their inquiry skills on a whole-class or group project?
Split your class into groups and give each group a topic to research.
Send them out into the library to find books with information on that topic.
Encourage each group to read through their books and write down some interesting facts on
their topic.
Have them present their findings to the rest of the class.
Talk About Taking Care of Your Books
It may not be the most “fun” library activity on the list, but it’s one of the most important!
Make sure you chat with your class about the best way to use the library and its books
respectfully. Why don’t you brainstorm with your class the best way to treat books and
make a poster to refer to again and again? I’ve used our Books – Landscape Page
Border.
Introduce Library Lingo
The next step to using a library is getting down with the lingo!
Your students can research their library vocabulary to find out exactly what the library is
all about. As they find the meaning of each word, get them to find the word in a Library
Lingo word search. Simply input your library vocabulary into our Create Your Own Word
Search Widget.
Make Book Wish Lists
There are a lot of buzz words associated with the library nowadays – Digital Learning
Center, Literacy Center, Book Nook, or the more familiar School Library. Whatever
terminology your school adopts, they have one thing in common; they make fantastic
places to grow a love for books and reading. And that sure is something to get excited
about!
On your first trip to the library, let the kids explore the books at their leisure. While
they’re browsing, have them fill out a Book Wish List of books they might like to borrow
over the next month or even the next semester!
Remind each student that reading is a superpower, and they will be using their library
time to strengthen their superpowers each week.
Play Go Fish
Whether you have reluctant readers who need a little motivation or kids who just can’t
make a choice because there are so many good options, turning library time into a
game of Go Fish can be a great way to help students get excited about the adventure
aspect of choosing a new book in the library.
Remind Them to Mark the Book
Dog-eared pages are enough to make any school librarian cringe (OK, we admit it …
sometimes we tear up too). Elementary school librarian Lacey shared this fun “pick a
bookmark” reminder that she has placed at her book check-out desk to make sure that
never happens. And can we please talk about those googly eyes on that scanner?
Library Outing Activities
Here are 3 printable library activities to try out on your future expeditions to the
library:
The first one is a library scavenger hunt.
The second is an interview with a librarian. You may have to make prior
arrangements, but often the librarians are available and happy to help you with
anything when it comes to learning more about the library.
And the third activity is an Explore Your Library Challenge:
Hope you enjoy the activities and some fun expeditions to the library. The weekly
library tradition is one we’re definitely holding on to. Germy books and all.
Shared Novel Study
One of my favourite activities to do when I was a teacher was to read a shared novel
with my class. Sitting down and reading a story, breaking down the characters motives,
predicting what would happen next – it was all so much fun! Seeing the student’s get
involved with reading was such a rewarding experience. And even better, it was
educational!
The library is the perfect place for a shared novel study! We have developed an
amazing Novel Study Activity Resource Pack to help you and your class take a novel
study to the next level. From predicting the plot to analysing the characters, help your
students pull apart a story with these educational worksheets.
Independent Student Research
Taking your students to the library for independent work can sound daunting – but, if
done properly, it can be a wonderfully empowering experience for your class.
The library environment offers your students an amazingly broad variety of books and
digital resources to research with!
Once your students have familiarised themselves with the shelving system in the library, let them
go crazy with a research task.
Independent research tasks, such as our Genius Hour Teaching Resource Pack, give
your students the opportunity to drive their own learning, explore their own interests and
cross off a whole lot of curriculum codes while they’re at it!
If your students aren’t up to working on their own research tasks, why not take them to
the library to develop their inquiry skills on a whole-class or group project?
Split your class into groups and give each group a topic to research.
Send them out into the library to find books with information on that topic.
Encourage each group to read through their books and write down some interesting
facts on their topic.
Have them present their findings to the rest of the class.
Reading Centre Activities
You can’t put together a pack of library activities for kids without including some
fabulous reading centre activities!
Guided reading and independent reading groups take on a new spin in the library –
there are so many books to choose from, you’re sure to find something for every
interest at any reading level.
Holly has written a fabulous idea for How to Effectively Teach Comprehension in the
Classroom. For more independent work for the lower years, make sure you check out
our New Resource Alert: Literature Study Task Cards for Picture Books
Write a Book Report
For a quick and easy library activity, you can’t go past a good old fashioned book report.
Accompanied by these super cute reading posters, these book report worksheets
encourage your students to value the opinions of their peers and read a greater variety
of texts!
