In the Hardy Library, our major goal is to support curriculum work at each grade level while helping children develop an understanding and love of literature. Class Time All children, K-5, come to library every week. Grades 1-5 spend 45 minutes each week; kindergartner library time is 30 minutes. All children are expected to select two books and return them the next week. A typical library class will include reading aloud and simultaneous discussion, response to literature through writing or other activities, and independent selection of books. What Do We Do During Library Class? Kindergarten Present literature as exciting, fun, and informative. Explore curriculum related and other themes and extend them with a creative project. For example, children might listen to fairy tales and, with prompts, create their own fairy tales, or hear stories and poems about leaves and create an image with leaf shapes. Grade 1 Continue to infuse a delight with all types of literature. Focus on rhyming, wordplay, function of the author and illustrator, relationship of illustrations to text, making predictions, understanding vocabulary, creating mental images, making text-to-self, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections, understanding the difference between fiction and nonfiction text, and build on students� interest in information books. Encourage creative responses to literature. Grade 2 Present literature with emphasis on all of the above topics. Focus on independent book selection and choosing �just right� books. Explore the organization of a library and understand that each book has its own place. Learn to use the library catalog. Enjoy books on �Long Ago,� sea life, and Japan. Encourage creative and written literature responses. Grade 3 Emphasis on selecting just right books and reading thoroughly in each literary genre. Focus on biography, Russian literature, Cinderella stories, and identification of story structure. Make inferences about text. Write book recommendations. Conduct peer to peer responses of literature. Creative and written responses to literature. Grade 4 Support emerging research and technology skills. Encourage reading across genres. Focus on choosing just right books for independent reading and for specific language arts projects. Encourage peer recommendations. Grade 5 In complete collaboration with the classroom teacher, support research and technology needs in language arts and social studies. Special Initiatives Collaborating with the reading specialist to focus on specific skills in weekly, half-hour Just Right Readers Workshop; working one-on-one with students who could benefit from help in choosing books. Internet Resources Reachable through the Wellesley Public Schools' main website, www.wellesley.mec.edu, the Hardy Library Media Center site offers research resources for Grades 4 and 5, student poetry, access to reference databases, links to booklists and suggestions for reading by grade level.