Fiction Book Location:A Five Part Unit for Second

Graders

By Angie Bates

• Each of the following lessons was done on successive weeks.

• The lessons are done with second graders at the end of the school year to help them become more independent book finders in the media center – objective 1.08

• Each lesson takes approximately 30 minutes to complete, students will use the remaining time in the media center to checkout books

Lesson One• Review– How books are ordered in the fiction section of

the library alphabetical order by author’s last name

– Which sections of the library have fiction books and where they are located in the media center

– What is the information on the spine label called call number

Lesson One (cont.)

• Instruction and Group Activity– Review alphabetical order process when two or more

words begin with the same letter– Have the students write their last names on a 3x9 strip

of paper and circle the first three letters of their name– Set-up the scenario that the students are fiction

authors and they need to make a shelf label for their book putting it in the “Everybody” section

– Have each student create his or her own call number E Sample for the last name

BAT BATES

Lesson One (cont.)

• Group Activity (cont.)

– Students are sitting in six tables of four• Have each table of four put their names in alphabetical order• Next group two tables together and have the eight put their

names in alphabetical order

– Have the whole class put their names in alphabetical order by:• Call the first student from each table’s alphabetical list to the front

and have the class order them correctly• Call the second student from each table’s list to the front and have

the class order them along with the previous group• Continue calling student groups to the front until all the students are in alphabetical order.

Lesson One (cont.)

• Independent Activity– Have each student find the place in the Everybody

section where their book would go on the shelf by:• Have the children stand in the ‘Everybody’ section

where their call number would be found• Have them stand as close to the spot where their call

number would be on the shelf as they can• Call the children by the month of their birthdays to find

their place in the ‘Everybody’ section• Check the students by having them hold up their paper

strip to be sure they are in the proper area

Lesson Two• Review– Review alphabetical order rules– Review what is found on the spine label of a

fiction book in the Everybody and Fiction sections• Independent Activity:– Each student will complete two worksheets from

the 2004 Frank Schaffer publication, Complete Library Skills for Grade K-2, pages 88 and 90

Lesson Two (cont.)

• Independent Activity (cont.)

– Worksheet Page 88– Students are given 12 book titles and authors and asked to

make a call number for each book– Students are asked to put the 12 call numbers in alphabetical

order

– Worksheet Page 90– Students are given 15 books spines with call numbers and asked

to cut them out and glue them in the correct order on shelves marked with the alphabet

– As the students work on each page, the media specialist checks their work to be sure they are completing the work correctly

Lesson Three• Review– What the call numbers on the spine mean– What and “E” or and “F” at the top of the call

number means and where those books are located in the library

– How books are placed on the shelves in alphabetical order

– How many books might have the same call number because the authors may have the same first three letters in their names OR the same

author may have written several books

Lesson Three (cont.)

• Partner Activity– The class is divided into pairs, students may chose

their own partners as long as the partners stay on task, if not the specialist will need to rearrange them

– Partners are given a strip of paper with two call numbers one from the everybody section and one from the regular fiction section for which they must:• Locate any book with that call number• Record the title and author of the book

Lesson Three (cont.)

• Partner Activity (cont.)

• Once the partners have completed their slip, they need to have it checked by the media specialist• If they have completed the activity successfully, they

may attempt another call number slip until every partner pair has successfully complete one slip• If the partners return an incorrect slip, the media

specialist will help them locate the correct section of the library where the call number would be found

Lesson Four• Review– How books are ordered in fiction section – What the top letter of the call number means and

where each section is located• Independent activity– Students will work independently to complete an

activity very similar to the lesson three activity except that the slips of paper will be contain two call numbers and one author’s name

Lesson Four (cont.)

• Independent Activity (Cont.)

– Students will locate any book with the given call numbers and record the title and author of the book

– Students will locate a book by the given author by first recording the call number to look for, then locating any book by that author and recording the title of the book

– The media specialist will monitor students as they move about assisting students who need help locating call numbers or authors

– As before, the media specialist will check the students completed slips. If the student completed their slip correctly, he may complete another until every one is successful or time is over.

Lesson Five• Review– How books are ordered in the fiction section– What the top letters of the call number mean and

where each section is located in the library• Whole Group Lesson– All students will receive a quick lesson on using

the OPAC to locate a book– The media specialist will demonstrate typing in a

title to find the author and call number of a book

Lesson Five (cont.)

• Whole Group Lesson (cont.)

– The media specialist will demonstrate how to record this information on the book strips to be used in the activity

– Then the media specialist demonstrates finding the particular book on the shelf, using a shelf marker to keep the books place, and removing the book to show it to the class

• Independent Activity– The class will be divided into two groups

• Those that were successful during lesson four– These will move on to lesson five with the media specialist

• Those that struggled during lesson four– These will repeat lesson four with the media assistant

Lesson Five (cont.)

• Independent Activity (cont.)

– The media specialist will explain that each child will have a turn at the OPAC and will locate one book which he will bring to the media specialist to be sure the correct book was found

– At this point, the media assistant will work with the group that needs review finding books by call number

– The specialist will bring students eight at a time to the OPAC stations to being the process of locating their book

Lesson Five (cont.)

• Independent Activity (cont.)– Once a child has successfully found a book, he will

be paired with one of the students from the review group and the pair will complete a book slip together

– The “expert helper” will only give assistance in locating the book if the other child asks or if the child gets ‘lost’ trying to find the call number

– If no other child needs help as the “experts” complete their task, they will be allowed to complete another book slip

• These lessons were taught to several second grade classes by me under the observation and supervision of the media specialist.

• The lessons were so successful, the media specialist said that she would like a copy of the lesson plans to keep with her log book because she would like to do this set of lessons again next year.

• I was honored.