Reading Cards, part 2

Hello,
Last week I told you about my Reading Cards and how I use them in library classes. This week I have a quick update on how the party went. I ended up with 52 children in the library for our celebration. Fortunately, the children are small enough that we were able to fit everyone in the space.

I show a short movie and I always choose one that is from a book. I want to entertain, but also focus on literature since they have been reading all along. I showed an episode of a series about Ramona Quimby that was aired in the early 1980s. (A previous librarian recorded these on VHS tapes for the library.)

I keep an eye out for short movies made from children’s literature. There are many full length movies, but those are more difficult to use at school simply because of time. One teacher I know used to play “The Secret Garden” in 15 – 20 minute segments daily for her children after they had finished listening to the story, but that doesn’t work for my particular situation.

One other thing I do for the children who complete their reading cards is to have a small snack for them. I bought popcorn and put it in small bags for each child one year and another year I bought goldfish crackers for them. Each year there was a mess on the carpet and I had to vacuum it up before the next class came in. So, this year I had treat bags for each student. Each treat bag had a small bag of goldfish crackers, plus some other small items that would be fun for the kids such as puzzles, pencils, and small toys from the Dollar Store or Oriental Trading. As they left the library, each student took one treat bag.

Last year I had a banner made that said “Library Celebration Today” and we hung that up on the wall outside the library so everyone who passed by would know that something special was happening inside that day.

I tweak this Reading Card program every year and would certainly like to hear any ideas you might have.

I hope you have a great week.

Audrey