Library skills are essential for students to succeed in school. Helping students develop these skills while in elementary and middle school will make their transitions to using libraries as high school and college students easier. Activities to teach these skills focus mostly on cultivating an understanding of the organizational structure of a library: how items are arranged and how they're located. You can also incorporate classroom activities to supplement those you conduct within the library itself.
A scavenger hunt is an effective way to help students get acquainted with the library's databases. Split the class into teams of two or three and give each team a copy of a list of library items they must collect; the first team to collect all the items on the list wins. When compiling the list, make sure all items are available that day. Furthermore, depending on your library's resources, you can include items that are available only in digital formats as well. For teams to collect this type of item, they can simply write down a specific bit of content, such as the first or last sentence. Encourage your students to ask you or a librarian for help if they need it.
Research Grab Bag
According to the Common Core State Standards, fifth and sixth graders should be able to write research pieces that incorporate several sources. Write down questions about specific topics on slips of paper and place the slips into a bag or hat. Have each student reach into the bag and choose a slip. The student will have to locate and check out three sources that pertain to her topic and then write a one-page paper in which she incorporates and cites those sources. For example, one topic question could be "Who won the first battle of the American Revolutionary War?" The student would then have to find three references that she can use to write a paper that answers the question in detail.
A fun way to teach students about the Dewey Decimal System is to give them hands-on practice using it. Before class, arrange for the library to allow you to remove some books that you can have your students re-shelve. Explain to your students that you've selected books from all different sections of the library: fiction, reference, biography, science. Explain that different sections of the library have different number designations that will help them figure out the general area where each book resides. For example, science books will be in the 500s, and the 920s are reserved for biographies. For this activity you can have students work either individually or in teams.
To teach library lessons, you don't have to be in the library. For instance, you can use online activities on an interactive whiteboard to teach the class about concepts such as copyright laws. Cyberbee.com offers an activity you can use for free. The screen shows a classroom of students -- all with their hands raised -- seated at computers, and when you hover the cursor over a student, a question bubble appears. When you then click on a question bubble, a new screen pops up that displays the answer. For example, the first question asks "What is copyright?" Clicking on this question brings up the answer that explains that copyright is a federal law that protects people from having their creative work used without permission.
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