Back to School Essentials for Teacher-Librarians

Plan your Library Orientation Lessons

The first few weeks of school are when you establish the library routines during class, teach or review books care, and remind students where to find everything in the library’s space.

Instead of spending hours creating orientation lessons, you can use the materials I’ve developed and refined over the past 15 years of teaching elementary library classes.

Days 3, 4, and 5 of Library Set-up in 5 Days – Lessons

Follow along as I prep my elementary library orientation lessons for kindergarten through 5th grade during the first weeks of the school year.

See How I Did It

Get Moving and Have Fun with Orientation Games

Make a life-sized board game, or a scavenger hunt, in your library for students in 3rd grade and above to review the library expectations and procedures.

How to Set it Up

Setting up Google Classrooms for Elementary Library Classes

Even if you teach in-person, having a dedicated Google Classroom for each grade level or library class is helpful for parent communication and sharing links easily with students.

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Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grade Library Lessons

These are the same lessons and curriculum I use to teach in my own elementary school, so you know they are librarian-tested to be engaging and effective.

Every lesson, read-aloud unit, library center, and activity listed here is editable, and includes a comprehensive lesson plan with AASL National School Library Standards for Learners and National Common Core Standards.

Printable Versions – These read-aloud lessons and activities are designed for students to complete on paper. The Read-aloud Units contain 4-5 weeks of activities to go along with reading aloud 1 book per week.

Digital Versions for Google Classroom or Google Slides – Unlike the printable booklets, these digital activities can be purchased individually or as a bundle. Students will complete the activity in Google Slides, and they are easily shared through Google Classroom, SeeSaw, or other learning platforms.

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Library Lessons

Get students moving and active on their first day of library while taking a tour of the library and reviewing library procedures & rules. Plus, you may want review how to use your library’s online catalog to find materials too.