Library

jump to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4-5th, Middle School

Kindergarten

The Seattle Country Day School Library provides students with a wide variety of resources to meet their research and recreational reading needs. Kindergarten students come to the library for a class session every week and may check out up to three books at a time. Most library lessons emphasize literature appreciation, but important beginning library information skills are interwoven through many lessons. Every class
session includes time for the students to browse, select books, and “read” to themselves.

Skills that are introduced and developed in kindergarten encourage the students to:

LITERATURE APPRECIATION
• Listen to and discuss award winning books and authors.

LIBRARY/INFORMATION SKILLS
• Learn about the care of books and responsibility of returning them on time.
• Understand the difference between fiction and non-fiction books.

First Grade

The Seattle Country Day School Library provides students with a wide variety of resources to meet their research and recreational reading needs. First grade students come to the library for a class session every week and may check out up to three books at a time. Most library lessons emphasize literature appreciation, but important beginning library information skills are interwoven through many lessons. Every class session includes time for the students to browse, select books, and “read” to themselves.

Skills that are introduced and developed in first grade encourage the students to:

LITERATURE APPRECIATION
• Listen to and discuss award winning books and authors.

LIBRARY / INFORMATION SKILLS
• Compare and contrast folk tales from around the world.
• Understand the difference between fiction and non-fiction books.

Second Grade

The library program helps students develop a thirst for information and literature and introduces students to the resources available in a library. Second grade students learn to search the library catalog and find on-line and print resources. During their weekly library time, students also listen to and discuss different genres of literature and may choose up to four books to take home. Students may also visit the library to research information individually or as a class.

Skills that are introduced and developed in second grade encourage the students to:

READING/LITERATURE
• Compare and contrast trickster tales from around the world.
• Discuss selections read from books in the Fiction section of the library.

RESEARCH SKILLS
• Find relevant information for research assignments in both print and electronic encyclopedias.
• Search the on-line library catalog by title and author.

LIBRARY ORGANIZATION
• Find books in the E, EF, and F sections of the library if the call number is known.

Third Grade

The library program helps students develop a thirst for information and literature and introduces students to the resources available in a library. Third grade students learn multiple ways to search the library catalog and to find on-line and print resources. During their library time, students also listen to and discuss different genres of literature and may choose up to six books to take home. In addition, students may visit the library to research information individually or as a class.

Skills that are introduced and developed in third grade encourage the students to:

READING / LITERATURE
• Read and discuss selections from different genres of fiction including fantasy, historical fiction, realistic
fiction, and mystery stories.
• Read and respond to poetry written by a variety of poets.

RESEARCH SKILLS
• Search the on-line catalog by subject, single keyword, and call number.
• Browse teacher/librarian selected web pages for information pertinent to an assigned topic.

LIBRARY ORGANIZATION
• Locate single and collective biographies in the biography section of the library.
• Use call numbers to find resources in the library.

back to K-3 Curriculum

Grade 4 and 5

The overall goal of the library program is to assist students in developing a thirst for information and literature that will foster a lifelong love of learning. In fourth and fifth grade, regularly scheduled library classes include discussions, reference lessons, reading aloud, and book selection. Students become increasingly proficient at using the multitude of library resources, learn to evaluate the effectiveness of such resources, and develop basic research skills. Additional library sessions are often used to conduct research for cross-curricular projects.

Skills that are introduced and developed in fourth and fifth grade encourage the students to:

READING / LITERATURE
• Participate meaningfully in regular Library Literature Circle discussions.
• Identify pertinent bibliographic information within a variety of books.

RESEARCH SKILLS
• Use the online catalog to search for library resources by subject, author, title, and key words.
• Determine when and how to broaden or narrow a search in a database.
• Identify and search for relevant sources of information using a full-text electronic database.
• Practice the discriminating use of dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, and atlases.
• Effectively search the on-line catalog and a full-text electronic database using keywords and Boolean logic.
• Evaluate print and electronic reference resources for relevance, accuracy, and timeliness.

LIBRARY ORGANIZATION
• Efficiently and accurately locate library books using assigned call numbers.
• Understand the Dewey Decimal system as a system of organization of non-fiction books in the library.
• Accurately shelve non-fiction books that contain up to two numbers to the right of the decimal point.

back to 4-5 Curriculum

Grades 6, 7, and 8

Students in sixth grade have bi-weekly library classes and participate several times a year in parent-led literature circles. A voluntary book club is run during the lunch periods for the students in the seventh and eighth grades. All Middle School students often visit the library with teachers for reading, writing, and research projects.

Skills that are developed in Middle School library classes encourage the students to:

LITERATURE APPRECIATION
• Constructively participate in Library Literature Circle or Book Club discussions.

LIBRARY/INFORMATION SKILLS
• Use truncation and wild cards to broaden keyword searches in a database.
• Search a variety of electronic databases for information relevant to a classroom project.
• Evaluate Internet resources for reliability, accuracy, and timeliness.

back to Middle School Curriculum