LIBRARY CURRICULUM
Nancy Hughes, Librarian
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Mt. Lebanon Elementary School Information Centers is to collaborate with faculty and staff, to provide students with the resources, technology, knowledge, skills and motivation to become independent lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and to promote a love of reading in a safe and caring environment.
Elementary librarians have written a curriculum that is tailored to support the delivery of 22 Pennsylvania Code, Chapter 4; Academic Content Standards. The emphasis of this curriculum at the elementary level is to develop a lifetime library user, a lifetime reader and an information finder. It is also our goal to connect books, the library and the classroom.
In the library, Markham students learn how to identify, locate, organize and present information in a clear and concise manner. In the primary grades they learn how to find a particular book on the shelf and how to find an answer to a question by using whatever resource is appropriate. Students are introduced to the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog). In intermediate grades they learn how to develop a search strategy to meet information needs. Their searching skills are sharpened and they use various research books; determining which resource will answer their needs quickly and accurately.
KINDERGARTEN
Students come to the library once a week for 30 minutes. During their visits to the library, students are introduced to various authors and illustrators through stories. Terms such as librarian, author, illustrator, title page and borrow are discussed. After students are introduced to the library and the procedures, students will begin to check out 2 books each visit.
FIRST GRADE
Students are scheduled for library as a class once a week for 40 minutes. Each student may check out 2 books. They are encouraged to visit the library throughout the week to exchange books. Throughout the year topics include citizenship, procedures, book care, differentiate between fiction and nonfiction, parts of the book, enjoying literature through a variety of media and recognition of authors and illustrators that are appropriate for the age and reading levels of the students.
SECOND AND THIRD GRADE
Students are scheduled for library as a class once a week for 40 minutes. Each student in second grade may sign out 2 books. Beginning in third grade students may sign out 3 items, one of which may be a magazine. Curriculum topics include: book care, library terminology, parts of a book, fiction arrangement, non-fiction arrangement, biographies, autobiographies, collective biographies, introduction to reference books, magazines, Caldecott award, fairy tales, various authors and illustrators, and literature appreciation. Information skills include beginning to search the OPAC and Power Library as an electronic research resource.
FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADE
Students in fourth and fifth grade are scheduled as a class once a week for 40 minutes. Students may sign out up to 3 items at a time, one of which may be a magazine. Curriculum areas include: Dewey Decimal System, shelf arrangement, indexes, electronic and print encyclopedias, parts of a book, book publication process, World Almanac, various genres, author recognition, Newbery award, American folklore, and bibliography and study skills. Information skills include search strategies using the OPAC, identifying and using information from a database and books, Power Library, plagiarism and responsibility and internet.
All students are encouraged to read and locate information using the library. A love for books and reading is created through reading aloud, book displays, book talks and author studies. Read alouds and research queries often correspond with classroom curriculum.
The library is a gateway to traditional and automated information resources which stimulate intellectual curiosity and foster the development of critical thinking, problem solving and decision making. The school library is the vehicle that provides opportunities for students to attain information literacy and to foster a lifelong interest in reading.
“I conceive that a knowledge of books is the basis on which all other knowledge rests.”
-George Washington
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