
Library Olympics
Reading Week Decorate Your Door Contest Winner Reward
April - Reading Week Contest
Each class got the chance to tour the building and cast their votes for their favorite fourth grade door and their favorite fifth grade door. Library Council reps tallied their classroom votes and delivered the results to Mrs. Roy, their library teacher.
Mrs. Mitchell's fourth graders won for their door depicting Wish by Barbara O'Connor, complete with lights.
Mrs. Toman's fifth graders won for their two doors leading into their class depicting The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill complete with hanging origami cranes and A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen complete with barbed wire fashioned out of aluminum foil.
Each class won a 40 minute time outside to participate in the Library Olympics, planned and run by our Library Council Reading Events committee members and four Library Council Team Captains.
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill - created by Mrs. Toman's Fifth Graders
A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen - created by Mrs. Toman's Fifth Graders
Wish by Barbara O'Connor - created by Mrs. Mitchell's Fourth Graders
Reading Olympics Reward
We had to wait over a month to get through all the state and district testing. Finally, the time was right and I checked in with the two teachers to take their winning classrooms during two of my prep periods.
Meanwhile, the Reading Events committee of our Library Council as well as the four Library Council Team Captains brainstormed games they wanted to have the winning classes play as a reward. We decided on three to keep things manageable.
There were three stations that teams rotated through during the Library Olympics. Here is a breakdown of how each works:
Reading Relay - Two teams with same amount of students on each
- You'll need two copies of the same title of a picture book
- Students run up to the book held open by a Library Council member
- Student reads aloud a page
- Student runs back and taps the next team member and then goes to the back of the line and sits on the ground
- The first team to all be sitting after their turn wins (they did not finish reading aloud the books)
Poetry Pass - Two teams with same amount of students on each
- You'll need four buckets and an equal number of poetry books per bucket at the starting line
- Have students line up in a fire brigade fashion between the starting line bucket and the finish line bucket
- Student closest to the starting line picks up a poetry book from the bucket and passes the book over his/her head to the next student
- Next student passes the poetry book between legs to the third person in line
- Continue with the over and under passes until the last person in line gets the poetry book into the finish line bucket
- Only when the book enters the finish line bucket can the student at the starting line bucket pick up the next book to start passing along
- The team to fill the finish line bucket with poetry books first wins
Hurdles - Two teams with the same amount of students on each
- You'll need 8 cones and yard sticks or hurdle sticks (not even sure if hurdle sticks are an actual term- we borrowed them from the track and field coach)
- To make it more strenuous our library council team captains decided on this:
- Student jumps the hurdle
- Student does 5 push ups
- Student jumps the next hurdle
- Student does 5 jumping jacks
- Student turns back and simply jumps the two hurdles
- Student taps the next team member and then goes to the back of the line and sits on the ground
- The first team to all be sitting after their turn wins
At the end of the three rotations, everyone cleaned up the stations and gathered together for Popsicles on a very hot day! It was a fine celebration!
Library Council Members Explain the 3 Station Directions
Hurdles
Reading Relay
Poetry Pass
Cool Off with Popsicles
Melanie Roy, Library Teacher
Grades 4 and 5
Email: roym@barringtonschools.org
Website: hmslibraryri.wordpress.com
Location: Barrington, RI, United States
Phone: 401-247-3166
Facebook: facebook.com/hmslibraryri/
Twitter: @hms_library