Lesson Topic/Focus: Book Care, Choosing a “Just right book”, and How to
move in the library.
Jessica Sowder
Grade Level: 1
Length of Lesson: 3 class periods
KCAS:
RL.1.1: Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RL.1.2: Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central
message or lesson.
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AASL Standard(s):
1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g.,
textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather
meaning.
1.1.7 Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by
identifying misconceptions, main and supporting ideas, conflicting
information, and point of view or bias
I Can Statements:
 I can identify how to find a “just right” book.
 I can identify how to care for my library books.
 I can identify and follow the library rules for check out.
 I can determine the lesson or moral in a story.
Introduction:
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Introduce that as first graders library check-out looks different than it does
as a kindergartener. They have grown up now and have more
“responsibility” and discuss what that word means.
Lesson 1:
Introduce students to the book We’re Going on a Book Hunt and have
them make predictions about the story.
Teach students the chorus of the song with the motions and then add
“Handle with Hugs“ verse.
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Talk with students on how we treat treasured things that we don’t want
damaged.
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Bring out a new book. Show them what a new book looks like. Then
introduce examples of books that have not been taken care of properly.
Show examples of books that have: torn or ripped pages, food and drink
spilled in them, drawing or marking in them, etc.
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Act out how we should handle books. Act out washing your hands,
turning pages carefully, no eating or drinking with your books, not
drawing or coloring with your books, use of a bookmark and putting the
books in a safe place.
Materials:
http://www.teachingbooks.net/media/pdf/UpstartBooks/Book_Hunt_LL.pdf
Copy of We’re Going on a Book Hunt
Practice books
Damaged books
Closure:
To earn the license, the student must do any of the following you feel is appropriate:
• correctly demonstrate how to hold books
• show how to use a bookmark
• name three safe places they can keep their book at school and at home until the book is
returned
When students can demonstrate these things, they become a licensed book caretaker. Use the
form on page 7.
Lesson 2
Introduction:
Review with students the book We’re Going on a Book Hunt and discuss what they learned
in the last lesson. Sing the Chorus of the song.
Lesson:
Show students the If the book fits PowerPoint. (See attached)
Once you have shown the PowerPoint, then discuss that books that books are like shoes and
that when you go to the store you describe to the salesman your needs. You tell them what
types of shoes you like best, the use for the shoe, etc. Show them two shoe boxes one plain
and one fancy. Ask them to choose the shoes that are best for them. They should be able to
explain that they can’t do this without more information. Then explain that the cover of a
book is like the box and authors and publishers try to attract readers to their books by the
cover they design without the reader even opening the book. But to find a “Just right book”
it is important to check if it “fits” just like we would with a shoe. We want to check the size,
width, and, color of the book. So once we have found a book that we like the cover, then we
need to open the book and look at these three things:
Size: What size are the letters? (How many sentences on the page, etc.)
Width: How thick is the book? (How many pages, how many chapters)
Color: Pictures? Interesting summary? (This refers not to the color of the cover, but the color of
the language, the pictures, the inside appeal.)
Take time to now teach the students the
Is it a Good Fit?
Here it is—the choosing part.
Can’t read a hard one.
Don’t want an easy one.
We’ll have to count our fingers.
Miss a word, finger up. Stop at five.
And the
The Five Finger Book Song(Sung to the tune of “Yankee Doodle”)
Here’s the way I choose a book—
I count upon my fingers
.See a word I cannot read,
My fingers keep a record.
Miss a word, that counts for one,
But I still can read it.
Miss the next word, finger up,
At five, I’ll choose another!
Closure:
After you have introduced the verses, talk with the students about the fact that it is not enough to
be able to “Word Call’ the words on the page, but that they must also understand the events of the
story. When they are reading along and do not know many of the words on the page, it makes it
difficult for them to know what is happening in the story and therefore the book too difficult for
them. Have a set of practice books for the students to be able to read and then determine if they
are a good fit. Have them choose a just right book to show others and then group share.
Lesson 3
Introduction: Review the previous two lessons and sing the chorus and the
verses they have already learned. Introduce that they library has rules just
like their classroom.
Lesson:
First have students discuss why their classrooms need rules. Discuss that
libraries need rules for the same reason and then take time to demonstrate
the rules of your library about how you start library check out.
Show the students how to:
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leave and enter the story area
be seated and leave the tables
push chairs in
go to the shelves
use shelf markers
line up for checkout
sit and wait patiently for others
what to do when they do not have check out
when to return library books
After you have practiced the checkout routine, have the students us there knowledge
from all three lessons and choose their books for check out.
Closure: Before the students leave the room learn two new verses about
returning library books on time and give them a bookroom that shows
their library day.
Check it Out
Here it is—the book check.
Can’t keep it always.
Can keep it two weeks.
We’ll have to bring our book back
.Beep boop beep, beep boop beep, beep boop beep.
Return Our Books Song(Sung to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel”)
Now we have our library books.
We take them home and read them.
But we can’t keep them at home.
Bring them back on ________ (insert day).