Is It Really Summer?

When I look at my school calendar, I see that summer has begun. True, it is June and the weather is HOT. The stores are filled with the usual summer must -haves: bathing suits, pool accessories, and sunscreen. Everyone is taking vacations and going to the beach. So it must be summer, right? 

Not quite for me. As I reflect here, I see my days are still filled with to-do lists and plans. 

After presenting two days of district professional development, organizing #TBR stacks, and compiling personal reading lists, I see that I am still thinking alot about books, writing, and our library (and things I hope to get done there). I know that I will need to pause at some point and take in the summer in one way or another. I am hoping that is soon! Whether my summer will consist of beach trips and ice cream cones isn't quite clear, but I am hopeful. 

As always, the sweet constant remains. Books are always -- happily --- on my mind. These are the books that have read recently, and some of these will be the subject of reviews soon. 

These books have been part of my "reading life" lately, and I am anxious to see what part they will play in my understanding of children's literature. 

And now, my to-do lists are calling! As I head off to tackle some tasks, I will be looking for signs that  I am in the middle of my own form of summer. What will that look like? I am not quite sure. But whatever its appearance, my summer will --- most assuredly -- be book-related in some wonderful, amazing way. 

Happy Summer to you!! 

My Version of "Book Tasting"

Just a quick post here to share one activity I've been doing in the library for the last weeks of school. It is still a very busy place and the year is wrapping up--as you know!


Towards the end of the school year, like many of you, I start thinking about summer reading, and  I thought about how I would promote summer reading in my final class times with students. I wanted students to have a great list ready to go when they walked into their public library or bookstore this summer, and, ideally, I wanted them to generate a list of their own. So I decided to hold a "book tasting" - an event I first heard about from Andy Plemmons on his blog here.  I also read Buffy Hamilton's post about her book tasting event here. I adapted the event to make it fit my schedule and my library.

To give the library a café feel,  I decorated the tables with plastic tablecloths I had leftover from book fair. Other than that I really didn't decorate at all. Then I walked my fiction section for chapter books that were not as well circulated or ones I felt I hadn't had a chance to book talk recently. I placed one book on the table as a "place setting" and then created a "menu" from the titles. The menu simply listed the titles of the book in chart format with a place for notes (two columns).  Third and fourth graders came in and sat at a table, and using a menu to take notes, they skimmed each book for three minutes (I used a timer). I had them look at the cover, the inside jacket, the author bio, and the first few pages of each book. They took notes in anyway that was comfortable for them: a happy face, a checkmark, questions, etc. After that, they passed the books around until they'd had a chance to look at each book on their table.

We didn't finish during the first class session, so it continued the next week. Along the way, students became hooked on some of the books so they immediately checked them out. (That was awesome and I was very happy about this!) I had a stack of replacement books ready to go when this happened. On the menu, I'd already left some blank spaces so that they could fill in the title if it wasn't available anymore.

At the end of the second class time, and a go-around of about 8 books, I had students get up and walk around to check other titles they might have missed. They added to their lists as the browsed and had great conversations with classmates. By this time, everyone had at least 3 books they wanted to read, and most had a lot more. They walked away with a list of books, and now, I hope they will check these out our wonderful public library this summer.

Overall I was pleased with how this activity turned out, and I know I will do it again next year. I think I will also try it out at the beginning or middle of the year so that readers will have more time to read the books they added to their lists!

I am grateful to Andy Plemmons and Buffy Hamilton for sharing! If you try this in your library, make sure to share, too!