Elementary librarians met for a few days in June to align our curriculum more closely to Missouri Grade Level Expectations (GLEs), Balanced Literacy, Tungsten benchmarks and the MAP test.  A simple scope and sequence was created to show at what grade level a skill is introduced, reviewed and mastered.  During the introduction of a skill, librarians repeatedly model the skill or procedure.  Students are guided through skill review using group or individual practice and assessment.  Students at the mastery level of a skill are frequently assessed and retaught as necessary.  This full implementation of this scope and sequence of library skills depends on the number of days each librarian serves her school.  Because of my schedule I am at Hagemann only two days per week, so each class comes to the library for 30 minutes each week.

Our curriculum is divided into three main categories.  Library Media Proficiencies include basic procedures of checking in and out materials, behavior, care of materials, library layout and using the catalog to locate materials.  Students learn the parts of a book and how to use them to locate information.  We instruct students in the use of the features of nonfiction text.  Although these may seem like minimal skills, the ability to comprehend nonfiction text is an example of higher order thinking and is assessed regularly in Tungsten and MAP tests.  This skill has also been a consistent challenge to our students.

We also focus on information seeking strategies.  Students first learn how to formulate their questions and searches for information.  Higher level thinking is required as students respond to questioning strategies which grow more complex through the grade levels.  In appropriate grades we require them to identify which resource will provide their information.  Students also learn to use these myriad resources, give appropriate credit to copyright, and evaluate their use.

Literature skills encompass developing good life-long reading habits.  Children learn to choose books appropriate to their changing reading levels, recognize favorite authors and learn about cultures different from their own.  We participate in various reading motivation activities to increase reading enjoyment for our children.  As we explore various forms of literature, children discover the joy of language.  These skills not only heighten the enjoyment of reading, they improve the students’ writing abilities.