Library Data Notebook

                         

    
     One of my favorite things being a teacher is looking at data.  When looking at the student’s data, you can see how far a student has come in a certain amount of time.  As a librarian, I miss looking at data.  I wanted a way to keep track of my students’ data, so I came up with my Library Data Notebook.  I wanted the notebook to be fun too.  I came up with a way for students (not the librarian) to keep track of their Accelerated Reading goals and for them to make library goals.  I also made a sheet where I make a goal as a librarian each six weeks.   

     Every grade level sets an Accelerated Reading goal each 6 weeks.  For 3^rd-5^th, it’s usually 6 points and an average of an 85 percent by the end of the 6 weeks.  For kindergarten through second, it ranges from 1 point through 5 points.  Second grade has an average goal of 80 percent, whereas neither kindergarten nor 1^st grade have an average goal.  As a class, we write down our A.R. goal for the 6 weeks.  We also come up with a prize idea for the winning student with the most A.R. points.  The students also come up with a library goal to keep track of too.  I came up with a list of library goals, and the students either pick one from the list or think of their own.  Here’s a few goals from my list. 

Our class will follow directions during class library time.

Our class will return all books each week.

Our class will return books to the correct place on the bookshelf.

Our class will follow center directions.

Our class will checkout 1 easy and 1 chapter book each week.

Our class will whisper at all times in the library.

     Once the A.R. goal and library goal have been decided, I pick 6 students (one student per week) to be my observer/Recorder for the week.  Each week, the student is in charge of looking at the A.R. report to see which students met their goal or not.  The student will then graph how many students met their goal.  They use green for yes and red for no.  The student will then graph how many students followed the library goal too.  At the end of the six weeks, we look to see how well the class followed their goals.  I give rewards to each class that met their goal.  We also write down our results on the results page.  At the end of the school year, we go back and look at all of the progress we made over the past year.

     To help with expressing my library expectations, I came up with Books the Bear Library Behavior Expectations.  There are 4 different levels a class can fall under.  Level one is the lowest.  Students don’t follow directions at all in the library.  Level two is when most of the students are following directions and the rest are not.  Level 3 is when the class is behaving.  Level 4 is when the class is behaving but going above and beyond.  Students do things without being asked.  They go out of their way to fix books or push in chairs to make the library a better place for everyone.  Just like the others, the recorder also keeps track of which level the class gets by graphing.

     For the first 6 weeks of doing the Library Data notebook.  I took charge and helped them.  Once the 6 weeks were over, the students took over.  I thought I would have a problem with them being too easy on the students, but the recorders were much harder on the class than I was. 

     I really enjoyed doing this with all of my classes.  The students like doing this too.  It helps them keep track of their library, behavior, and especially A.R. goals, which is a grade for them. 

     If this is something you would like to do in your classroom or library, please check out this link to my store where you can download this product.

Library Data Notebook on TPT.


Here are some photos of the binder being used in my library.