Responsibility

Helping students learn to take responsibility for their school and their community spaces, one shelf at a time

We don't need no stinkin' responsibility

Students in Grade 4 choose one fiction shelf.

Students in Grades 5 and 6 choose one fiction shelf.  Two weeks later, they choose one nonfiction shelf.

Their job: put their shelf/shelves in shelf order.

Problem 1: Students grumbling that I’m making them do my job Problem 2: Students can’t locate books despite repeated lessons and ample signage Bottom shelf neglect - need to up circulation Shelves are a mess due to: 1. Partially my lack of time 2. Partially After-school Program's lack of responsibility

Materials needed: 1. Plastic sleeves for the shelf lists 2. Dry-erase markers 3. Folder for each class’ papers 4. Box for the folders 5. Three-ring binder for lists of who has what shelf 6. Patience 7. More patience

When you ask students to do something, do you hear this

My tasks: 1. Make and print out shelf lists, by specific shelf.&nbsp;Blank space for checking off, title, author, call number.&nbsp;Header includes shelf range, student name, and teacher, with blank space for writing these in. 2. Label the shelves after the students have picked them.&nbsp; 3. Keep a running list of who has what shelf when someone moves their stickers. 4. Check their shelves after the class is gone, to see how they’ve done. 5. Determine who has Shelf of the Week, hang the medal, put article in school newspaper. 6. Update shelf lists when new books are cataloged.

TPT, where I first found this idea, and adapted it for my students WeVideo Soundtrap Google images

What goes wrong: 1. Students are too crowded into one aisle because they need a shelf next to a friend. Solution: make a limited number of shelf lists available in each aisle for each class so as to spread them out.&nbsp;Then be flexible. 2. Students can’t read.&nbsp;(yup, even 6th graders)&nbsp;Solution: have them work with a buddy.&nbsp;One person reads the list and checks off books (or NF for Not Found) while the other person checks the shelf for the book and gets it in the right place with assistance. 3. Students sabotage someone else’s shelf.&nbsp;Solution 1. Wait for them to graduate. Solution 2. Patrol the aisles offering assistance and scoping out the usual suspects.&nbsp;When a student finishes, they move on to the Comfy Reading Area and read.

What goes right, hopefully: 1. Kids find books to sign out that they never noticed before 2. They start to figure out alphabetization and decimals 3. They start to figure out why all the cheetah books are on one shelf and the dogs are on a different shelf 4. They get good at shelving and race each other (OK, pie in the sky) 5. They become more familiar with how the library is organized, so they can find a book on their own when they have a call number 6. They start to take pride in their shelf, and a job well done. Maybe even feel like a contributing member of the school community. Maybe (gasp!) even develop a sense of responsibility.... 7. I get slightly more organized shelves 8. The Middle School librarian gets kids who can find stuff in her library

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