School library celebrates and reinforces love of reading

By SABRINA RIVERA

Special to Leader-Press

National Library Week at House Creek Elementary was celebrated last week with different activities having to do with a variety of books and genre. Each grade level performed a grade appropriate activity that had students think about their favorite books, said House Creek Librarian Roseanne Dietze.

“Kindergarten students were asked to choose from five of their most favorite titles, but were required to narrow it down to only one,” Dietze said.

The titles in which students chose were Poor Puppy and Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel, A Big Guy Took My Ball! By Mo Willems, What Pet Should I Get by Dr. Seuss, No, David by David Shannon, and Pete the Cat and the New Guy. Some of the students developed responses that applied to their daily classroom activities. Student Aiden Berridge selected the book, No, David.

“He was not doing what he was supposed to do,” Aiden said. “You have to listen to your teacher.”

First and second graders performed the Musical Books activity.

“The students were able to gain awareness of different genres and authors,” Dietze said. “The students absolutely loved this activity and their remarks we very positive.”

Student Cheyenne Valdez said the exercise helped her narrow down her choices.

“I liked this because it helped me to practice choosing a right fit book,” she said.

Choosing a book that is appropriate for their age, grade level and interests is a lesson that is taught at the beginning of every year Student Asia Jackson said the activity made it real for her.

“I got to find out about new authors,” she said, almost bursting with excitement.

Third and fourth graders played Name That Book which is an activity led by discussion about how important the title and cover of every book is when choosing your book to read.

“It also helped the students to understand that we use more than the title and cover to choose our books,” said Dietze who read a few paragraphs from a book that had been previously discussed. The students had to guess the story and create the cover of the book. Saniya Jones found the activity rewarding.

“It made me feel good because it helped me to remember some of my favorite books,” she said.

Second, third, fourth, and fifth graders participated in a Book Scavenger Hunt. The activity allowed the students to identify facts about weather using text features and book information to find answers to specific questions.

First celebrated in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance in school and community libraries across the country and is sponsored by the American Library Association. This year’s theme was Libraries Transform.