Part 4 in a series in which I develop a second-grade library skills curriculum.
I look over the scrawled list of skills that Hannah and I came up with. What I really want is for my older child to learn how to find stuff in the library without my help, because I'm busy managing the younger ones. On a fresh page I write:
Main goal: Child is able to locate fiction & nonfiction books & reference entries on a subject of interest, independently or with the help of library staff, while following library rules.
Yes, that's about right.
On a new page I make a list and label it SKILLS.
1. Child will know proper way to behave in a library and how to care for library materials.
I'll have to distill this down to essentials: what always needs reinforcement (don't run; don't yell; don't eat or drink around books) and what they wouldn't know unless I told them (wait patiently in line to see the librarian; don't try to put books back where you found them, but leave them out for the staff to put away).
2. Child will identify library staff. Child will know how to approach staff and ask for help finding things.
An important skill in general, but especially here in the library.
3. Given a subject of choice, child will know how to find the encyclopedia and select the correct volume, then to ask library staff for help finding the right page.
Selecting the correct volume only requires first-letter alphabetization skills.
4. Child will know where to find a dictionary and an atlas and will understand what they are for.
Might as well, since they're in the same section as the encyclopedia.
5. Child will know the meanings of signs that say "fiction," "nonfiction," "reference," "juvenile," "reference desk," "checkout/returns," "copier," "telephone," "restrooms."
6. Child will know what is meant by "author," "title," "subject," and "keyword."
I remember when keywords didn't even exist. But all four are necessary to use the catalog.
7. Child will find the shelf containing the juvenile nonfiction books on a subject of choice, by browsing or asking staff for help.
Maybe I'll create a reference card, a little cheat sheet, that will help him navigate the cataloguing system. Maybe one already exists. Google it? Didn't find one, but ooh, here's a history of the Dewey Decimal System and Library of Congress system, with a comparison of the two.
8. Child will find fiction books by an author of choice, by browsing the shelves or by asking staff for help.
Asking for help has to be part of this strategy for fiction until alphabetization is completely learned.
9. Child will know how to use the library copier.
This is important for taking home reference information -- we won't usually have time to wait for a seven-year-old to puzzle out the encyclopedia entry on jellyfish.
10. Child will know how to use the online library catalog with adult supervision.
There is one library area that I am not eager to push for independence with, and that is the computer system. I want the child to be able to hit all the keystrokes and navigate, but I'll be right there to help. Besides, we'll mostly use that from home.
11. Child will use his own library card to check out books and will know when to return them on time.
Just as soon as I learn how to return library books on time! BWAHAHA.
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