Library Skills Teacher Resources

Cyber Dewey? Dewey Made Fun? Do the Dewey Game? After a librarian-led tour of the school library and an explanation of the Dewey Decimal System, class members use the Internet to access MAGNOLIA, a site with resources devoted to library...

Middle schoolers review library skills by rotating through teacher-created learning stations covering various topics. They discuss plagiarism, work on Almanac practice as a team, complete practice using indexes, and an abstracts handout...

The library is such a valuable resource for kids of all ages. Help elementary readers learn all about parts of the library, text features for both fiction and nonfiction text, and different ways to find books that they want to read.

Biographies deserve special attention when training youngsters how to use the library because they are alphabetized by subject rather than by author. Guide children through the process of finding biographies over a two-visit series. On...

Read Mary Ann Hoberman's book A House is a House for Me to introduce the idea that a library is a house for shelves of books. Young readers practice alphabetizing in the picture book (easy fiction) section of the library. They learn how...

Making the transition to a higher-tech school library or computer lab? This plan suggests 5th graders undertake a scavenger hunt and make a PowerPoint to educate younger schoolmates about how to use information resources in an...

Students examine the concepts of organization and classification. In this library skills lesson plan, students practice ordering and sorting skills by playing an interactive Internet game. Students then practice their classification...

Students examine the concept of organization. In this library skills lesson, students practice ordering and sorting skills by playing the Flood Game.

Where's Waldo? In the library, of course, teaching people how to care for, locate, and re-shelve books. Waldo also reviews alphabetizing, familiarizes class members with library vocabulary, and provides them with his own special bookmarks. 

Students love the opportunity of going to the library to jump into that one comfy chair in the whole room with a book, or be a lucky one to get to the computers before anyone else. But knowing how to locate books and other reference...

Fifth graders utilize the library in order to find the answers to three questions about The Revolutionary War. For this writing and library skills lesson, 5th graders pretend they are a Spy, and write the answers in a fictional letter to...

Third graders create a table of contents. In this library skills lesson, 3rd graders read Welcome to the White House and use the provided worksheet to create a table of contents for the book.

Second graders work with a partner. In this library skills instructional activity, 2nd graders watch a demonstration on how to find a word in a dictionary. Students practice finding words in the dictionary with a partner.

Students examine the concept of organization. In this library skills lesson, students practice ordering and classification skills by playing the Flood Game as well as locating and shelving books in the school library.

Third graders explore the arrangement of nonfiction. In this library skills lesson plan, 3rd graders examine Dewey Decimal classification as they collaborate to locate nonfiction materials in the library/media center.

What do George Harrison, Vanilla Ice, and Steven Ambrose all have in common? The Warner Brothers’ films Batman Forever and The Devil’s Advocate? All are guilty of plagiarism. And if you are considering a research project and want to...

Applying photography basics they learn for this project, first graders take pictures of an adult at work focusing on the tools used, the work site, and job responsibilities. After making a career book that includes photos and...

Fifth graders study the geography, culture, government and economy of Latin American countries. They work in groups to fill out a profile describing their Latin American country. They listen to a reading of Latin American folktales and...

Word relationships, connotation, and denotation are the focus of an activity to teach the use of a thesaurus. Scholars seek out vocabulary words to replace common starter words; they use the new vocabulary words to write three...

Second graders examine a library database system. They are given practical exercises to explore the database system. Finally, the student selects two books, locates the books in the library, and uses these sources for reading and research.

Seventh graders investigate the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. They prepare a written report on the chosen topic related to drugs and/or alcohol. Students utilize technology to share the information about alcohol and/or drugs with an...

Learners categorize their private book collections as a precursor to learning the principles of the Dewey Decimal System. They use the Internet to gain a better understanding of the Dewey Decimal System.

Eighth graders examine the characteristic of Long Island Sound. In groups, they use the internet to describe how the Sound formed and what environmental changes have altered it. They also discover what humans have done to affect the...

Fourth graders determine the Great Salt Lake is a unique, thriving, and diverse ecosystem. They engage in an actual or a virtual field trip. They record field trip, whether actual or virtual, in science lab book or journal and...