Student Engagement in the Library
Engage your students in your school library with 3 easy tips! Fun and engaging reading, polls and bookmark ideas that are easy to implement and will keep your readers coming back!
Student engagement in the library is a never-ending adventure! The interests and trends of children (and the larger community) can change frequently and quickly.
So, it's important to keep the pulse on what your students need and look for.
The first thing you need to do is get students inside of your library. Once they arrive, you can use some simple engagement tools to encourage return visits. Once you have regular visitors, you can modify and expand your engagment techniques to focus on specific reading engagement ideas.
First, let’s WOW them with some easy techniques you can implement today!
Library Polls for Students
Students LOVE sharing their opinions about lots of different topics! If they have this opportunity in the library, they are likely to visit more frequently. I saw this idea on Instagram and knew it would be a great fit for my library. To make a This or That poll, you only need a few things to get started.
Materials: two clear plastic containers from the dollar store, a a bag of pom poms, a basket, some Pokémon/hockey trading card covers from the dollar store, some Velro dots, and some pictures for your poll. (If you want some some images ready to go, you can check out my FREE This or That template in my Resource Library.)
Steps: Attach the trading card holders to the containers with Velcro. Insert your This or That pictures. Fill your basket with pom poms, and watch the magic happen! After a few days they were hooked.🏆 I originally thought I would do a new poll every week but, now I have to do it about two times per week because there are so many kids coming in and out ready to share their thoughts.
Watch me make this fun activity on Instagram!
Novel Effect With Picture Books
This is absolutely one of my favourite tools that I use in the library! Novel Effect adds a soundscape through a smart device and a speaker while you read the physical book. It recognizes your voice as you read and adds beautiful music and matching sound effects in all the right places. Students are so much more engaged during these sessions, and their listening behaviours are significantly improved as well.
What books can you use with Novel Effect? You actually probably have many of these books in your library or classroom or home shelves. Even better? They have free printables that go with many of the books! These are perfect for home classroom use an especially for a supply teacher.
Disclaimer: After using Novel Effect, students might say they don't want to listen to books without Novel Effect. LOL. I tell them that we can't use it all the time because it's magical you don't want to wear it out. 🪄😂
Student Engagement Bookmarks
Graphic Novel Bookmarks
These beauties are super easy to make…and FREE! I know you have some graphic novels that are ripped and tattered due to popularity and lower book quality these days. 😕 DON’T THROW THEM INTO THE RECYCLING BIN!
Use these slightly damaged books to engage your students! All you need to do is take these books and cut them up into bookmark strips. I usually take off the cover, rip the book into sections of 6-10 pages and cut them in my paper cutter. Very quick and easy!
You'll be surprised how excited students are to take these when they come to visit. They are always extra surprised when they see new bookmarks from their favourite title or series.
Cut up damaged graphic novels for student bookmarks
Place the bookmarks in a spinner or a small container.
Reading Recommendation Bookmarks
I LOVE using recommendation bookmarks in our library. When students visit I often give them a few recommendations of books they might like to read. If they do take one of my suggestions, great, but it's almost impossible to remember the second and third ideas when they visit the next time. (at least with my memory!)
To help remember my recommendations I designed these book recommendation bookmarks. where I can write down the ideas and locations. Students can use these bookmarks during their book search they come back. I don't use these every time I give recommendations to students, but I try to use them as much as I can to give ideas and empower students. Learn more book recommendation ideas
Doodle Bookmarks
The last type of bookmarks I use are doodle bookmarks from Teacher Golz. Students love to take these with them and colour them in their classroom. After I cut them up, I put them in a pocket chart with simple labels, and rotate them as they run low.
Student engagement ideas do not need to be difficult! They should be intriguing yet simple, and make your students want to visit the library. If you continue to create a welcoming and positive environment, you’ll be sure to see students excited to visit your library space!
What do you do to enage your students? Let us know in the comments!
Jenn
