A Wintery Library

Back from Winter Break! It's time to set goals, make plans, change things up. . . and recommit to those things that are important. 

In the library, I have been "winterizing" things with the help of my awesome parent volunteer. My goal is to establish a winter feel that is inviting and fun for every learner.

First, I set out all of our winter books. Teachers are always looking for seasonal books, so they are ready and waiting! (I also pulled out the Caldecott winners: THE SNOWY DAY (1963), THE BIG SNOW (1949) and WHITE SNOW, BRIGHT SNOW (1948). Quiz time: Which Caldecott Honor book did I also set out (although it's not pictured here)? What year did it win the Honor? 

Next, we replaced our book tree with a snowman. My parent volunteer assembled it in two pieces and brought them in, then adorned it with the hat, stick arms, and pennant. I absolutely love it!

Next, these bulletin boards greet visitors and extend the reading message!

Inside the library, I placed snow globes on some of the tables (typically where we have class or where we have staff meetings). These have fake snow (no water) and plastic animal figures  I bought at a craft store. The fake snow was on sale, too. ;-)

I also set out a few winter centers. One of them involves penguin research where learners read nonfiction books and write down questions for other learners to answer. On another, students could choose to write reading resolutions for the year. I love that our teachers did this, too!

For our read-aloud, I shared one of the Caldecott Honor Books for 2013: ONE COOL FRIEND by Toni Buzzeo and David Small.  Of course, I also read from SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY (Caldecott Medal, 1999).

While our students are in our library reading, creating, thinking, and learning, I want it to be a fun place for them to be! Now I look to February!