The Year Is New, The Bugs Are Too!

Objective 1: Teach grade appropriate library skills.
Objective 2: Introduce the field of entymology through the use of books both fiction and nonfiction.

Activity 1: Starting in September students come to the library each week to learn library skills as well as listen to stories selected for a particular theme. This year the theme is “Go Buggy for Books”. The books that are selected are stories about bugs explaining how bugs are beneficial, the difference between bugs and insects and their different habitats.
Activity 2: Based on the information already presented, the students and teachers will vote for their favorite bug based on 4 characteristics (color, size, shape and beneficial behavior). The results are tallied and published using the Tool Factory Database for all the students to see.
Activity 3: The librarian will compile a list of favorite books from different genres (some bug books included). Every student and teacher in grades 3-5 will received the list and check which ones they had read. Using Tool Factory Spreadsheet, the students will post the results to find out how many teachers and students had read the books. The information on the spreadsheet will tell them the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. book as well as the favorite genre.
Activity 4: Select one grade level to work in the Tool Factory Word Processor to write a story about a new bug. The students will need to name the new bug, describe the new bug, tell a story with this new bug as the main character, tell the new year’s resolution this bug makes and tell the beneficial behaviors of their bug.
Activity 5: Using Tool Factory Math Draw Students will design a picture of their new bug and the bug's habitat to insert at the end of their stories.
Activity 6: The stories will be bound into a “The New Year/New Bugs of 2012” book and a copy will be given to each contributing author.