When you have finished, ask students to name any other features of either library and add them to the diagram.
Exercise:
1. Now have students close their eyes and think about the layout of your school library. Have them get a clear mental picture of it.
2. On a large sheet of paper, start a drawing of a map and give the students a point of reference such as the front door. Now give each student their own map drawing supplies (paper and markers) and have them start with the front door as a visualization point.
3. Have the students label each section of the library map. (More capable students might create individual or group maps.)
4. When they have completed the maps, on additional paper have students write a description of each part of the map "the door is at the front of the library, near the water fountain…."
5. Put the additional information on the map and display it.
6. Now have the students do their own personalized maps for hallway display.
Introduce this activity just before open house or another event at your school, and have parents use the student-created guide to navigate the library! Older students and accomplished writers can supplement the map with an entire handbook of information about the library.
Extension activity: Humor: What you learn with pleasure you never forget! Poke fun at books, reading, and the library with the Library Jokes handout. Then put your young comedians to work on their own library humor!
Assessment
This lesson is designed as a group activity that can be evaluated by the teacher through observation.
Attachments: Handouts.
VENN DIAGRAM Handout: Venn Diagram
HANDOUT: WORLD MAP
Mapping a World of Facts
Read these interesting facts about the world in which you live. Then find on a world map the place mentioned in each fact. Write then number of the fact on the map where you find that place.
1. Did you know that the Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% of the world's oxygen supply? The rainforest's Amazon River contains more water than the next eight largest rivers in...
Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. Its ice represents
70% of all the fresh water in the world.
3. Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Did you know that the word
Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village"?
4. Damascus, Syria, is the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.
5. Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city in the world located on two continents.
6. In the 1930's jazz musicians traveled from city to city. They used the slang expression
"apple" for any town or city. Therefore, New York City, New York, became "The Big Apple."
7. The smallest island that is a country is Pitcairn Island. It is less than 2 square miles in size.
8. The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome, Italy. It reached that size in the year in 133 B.C.
9. Parts of the Sahara Desert might not receive a drop of rain for ten years.
10. The world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls in Venezuela, is 15 times higher than Niagara Falls.
HANDOUT: WORLD of FACTS
Library Jokes
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Rita.
Rita who?
Rita lot of good books!
What did one math book say to the other math book?
"Do you want to hear my problems?"
What do planets like to read?
Comet books.
What do you get when you cross an elephant with a computer?
A lot of memory.
What part of a computer does an astronaut like best?
The space bar.
Why did the computer sneeze?
It had a virus.
Where do computers take their pets when they get sick?
To the Intervet.
How do librarians file melted marshmallows?
According to the Gooey (Dewey) Decimal System.
What did the spider do inside the library computer?
It made a Web page.
When the cold wind blows, what does a book do?
It puts on a book jacket.
HANDOUT: Library Jokes
