Classroom Activities: Library

These classroom activities are designed to complement the Library topic on BrainPOP Jr.

Trip to the Library
If possible, take a trip to a university or local library with your class. Remember to review appropriate library behavior. Have a librarian give a quick tour of the library. Some university libraries may have art and historical documents, microfiche, and other materials your school library may not have. Have a librarian talk with your students about how to look up different materials and describe their collection.

Numerical Order

Remind your students that call numbers are organized sequentially in the library. Write numbers on index cards and have your students organize them sequentially. You may want to them to use number lines or create number lines for a number card showing three numbers before and after their number. If your students are familiar with decimal places, review how to order decimals.

Subject Search

Challenge your students to find as many different materials as they can about a topic. You may want to pick a specific topic together, such as a famous historical figure, a specific country, a special event, or an animal. Have your students go to their local and school libraries to collect different types of materials. Encourage them to look beyond books and search for magazines, newspaper articles, and even movies. Have students list the title, author, and call number of their materials.

Classroom Classification

Spread a collection of several types of books on tables in your classroom (approximately 20-30 per table). Separate children into small groups and challenge them to sort the books into categories. They should separate each category into a pile and then label it with a sticky note. Have students walk around and look at other groups’ organizational systems. As a group, discuss how they made the decision to classify different books, what topics they came up with, and compare them with the classification system of your school’s library.