[AISLE-Share] Sharing this yr's Ideas

Email list for the Association of Illinois School Library Educators aisle at list.railslibraries.info
Tue May 22 12:22:47 CDT 2018


*THANK YOU* to everyone who contributes to this list serv; I learn so
much!!!!
Last year I shared some successful monthly ideas our small school library
employed, and several librarians expressed interest. We host different
themes & activities for every month. I re-ran some of last year's ideas
with some tweaking, but started some new things too.
SO, below are a few of the new things we did at Princeville Junior Senior
High School (grades 6-12) that were well received:

*SEPT: "Super Hero September"*
*1. Teachers' Super Powers:* In Aug., I'd asked teachers & staff to share
with me their "super" power ... i.e. whistling, gardening, whatever. Then,
with student volunteers' help (students need volunteer hrs. to graduate;
totally works for me!), they glued teachers' faces to cartoon super hero
bodies (from clipart images printed on bright paper) and attached word
bubbles of the particular super power and put out other super hero-themed
decor and posters.
2. *Kicked off our reading contest*, "Just Read It", send out e-mail of new
books, book trailers, & other upcoming stuff.
3. Had a *display of "super" saves* - Real Life Heroes: true stories of how
teens had made a powerful difference in the world
4. Of course, a *display of super hero books & Super Sept. superhero
bookmarks *(made w clipart on a bookmark template, printed on bright card
stock)
5. *Interactive post-it door (*unused exit door) with "What's YOUR super
power? Kids had fun putting up their individual strengths (has to be
checked daily for the very few who think they're hilarious & post
non-school-appropriate thoughts lol.)  :)
*DEC. "Make a Difference December"*
I try to keep Dec. low-key, considering how crazy-busy people are AND how
short the month is for school days. However, in addition to the expected
new books display, holiday books display, and Dec. book marks, we did 2
things that were really popular:
*1. Collect items for homeless families: *After consulting with an area
service that aids homeless families, we advertised a list of needed items
(including kids books!). Had a great response. Think we'll do this again,
starting just before Thanksgiving break.
*2. Create-It Day: *This was for ANY student, whether or not they're a
reader. Broken into different sections, depending upon grade, any
interested student was allowed to come to the library and decorate the
boring metal bookends during homeroom (making a positive difference in the
room's look). I provided paints, glitter glue, foam stickers, fun-colored
duck tape, glue on letters, paint markers, & hot glue guns. Kids were
invited to bring add-on items (I'd e-mailed images of cool decorated book
ends found from Pinterest). Shells were a popular add-on here. This was a
VERY successful venture.
*FEB. "Fake-out February"*
1. Sent to teachers lesson plans & ideas (gleaned from this list serv!) for
teaching about determining the validity of information.(very well-rec'd!)
2. Put up T/F fun facts around the library that were in hearts (for Feb.,
of course) that opened (like a card) to reveal the truth.
3. Had a *board of true v. fake book cover*s (kids had to guess) and news
articles.
4. Included a *link to the free online game Factitious* with the Feb.
google doc promo listing new books, etc. that was sent to students/staff.
5. Had BreakOut game/scavenger hunt sessions (per grade group) at end of
the month for Reading Contest kids.
6. Of course, display of mystery/detective books and Feb. bookmarks with
T/F fun facts to guess at.
*APRIL: "Animal April"*
*1. Cutest Pet Contest:  *This was WILDLY popular with staff as well as
students. Will definitely reprise! Anyone interested could e-mail or bring
in a photo of their favorite pet(s), including pet name. Put all the pix
(in no special order) on display with pet names but not owner names. Then
people could vote for their 2 favorites (too hard to choose just one!).
Half way thru the month, we added a Goofiest Pet vote, by popular demand.
Student volunteers counted the ballots. Winning pet owners received a $5
gift certificate to the local ice cream place, and every owner received a
snack size candy bar. Though it wasn't book-oriented, the activity really
drew in people to the library who rarely come ... and then they found cool
stuff to read here. Win win!
*2. For deco*r, we had many "fun with photoshop" images of animals around
the room, animal fun facts posted about, and many teachers contributed
their "funniest pet stories" which we displayed with the teacher's face pic
attached.
*3. Of course, animal book display*, new books display & animal-themed
bookmarks (coloring bookmarks with designs from adult coloring books)

If anyone wants to see further details of these or other themes, e-mail me
off list. I'm happy to share the Word and Google docs we used.
AND please feel free to share any successful things you've done at your
school.
Happy summer!!!!
:) Kathy
   ksullivan at princeville326.org


*Kathy Sullivan*
*Princeville Junior Senior High School*
*P.C.U.S.D. #326*
*302 Cordis Avenue, **Princeville, IL  61559*
*309.385-4660  x1574*
*ksullivan at princeville326.org <ksullivan at princeville326.org> *

*"Literature is the safest key to a nation's treasure." *- Chaim Nachman
Bialik

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