I have a goal of enabling students to find their own books by author. To practice the skill of finding picture books in alphabetic order by author, I printed and cut strips of paper as shown below, with various call numbers:
I chose authors that I have multiple books by (Brett, Carle, Numeroff, O’Connor, Shannon, Willems, etc.), to minimize the likelihood that all the books by that author would be checked out. Just in case, I printed some blank spine labels also, for me to write on at the last minute.
I folded the strips, and put them in a bowl for students to pick from. I thought making it feel like a secret drawing might add some suspense/interest. I set out pencils, and invited 1st and 2nd graders to “earn” a bookmark by locating a picture book with a matching spine label, writing down the title, and bringing it to me when they check out their books.
Most students wrote a book title down, as instructed, but quite a few BROUGHT me the actual book–which I did not want to happen because I didn’t want to make more shelving work. Oh, well. We are making progress toward having empowered book searchers!
winner winner chicken dinner! I want to try this one! Wish me luck…
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Have fun and let me know how it goes, Julie!
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Hi Sue,
Such a fun way to introduce author/alpha order. I could see my little 1st graders doing the same thing, pulling the book!😏
As you mentioned, this is still a great way to engage and empower the students to find books by the author. Another great idea from you. I’ll have my 4&5 library pages help type up this project. I’m sure the library helpers will appreciate a break from shelving. 😍
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