Library-Media Center Literacy Program
Kindergarten-6^th Grade Program Rationale, Outcomes, and Goals
Created by Samantha Beutler

Literacy Program Rationale

The library-media center should be an integral part of the school’s instructional process, acting as a central hub to connect learning activities in the classroom to educational experiences in the library-media center. In addition to providing reading or viewing materials to supplement the curriculum, quality literature must be provided that meet the individual needs and interests of all patrons the center serves. The policies, practices, and beliefs of the library-media center must support, supplement, and enhance the educational experiences offered in the classroom, as well as provide positive literature experiences for children in order to facilitate a desire for lifelong learning. Teachers and library-media specialists must collaborate to provide unique, motivating, and engaging learning experiences for students that integrate quality literature across the disciplines. The outcomes displayed below communicate what students and teachers will get out of the educational experiences offered through a collaborative teaching environment. The goals that follow provide more detailed information to explain how teachers and library-media specialists can help students achieve the goals to meet the outcomes.

Kindergaren-6^th Grade Outcomes:

1. Students will enjoy literary transactions by reading, listening, and responding to a variety of literary works, including books, electronic materials, musical compositions, poetry, dramatic works, and other types of media.
2. Students will enjoy literary transactions by viewing, interpreting, and responding to dramatic works, visual arts, electronic images, and other media.
3. Students will comprehend, analyze, criticize, and evaluate what they view, hear, read, interpret, and experience in order to discern quality literature examples.
4. Students will recognize, classify, interpret, and appreciate different genre.
5. Students will identify, understand, and interpret story elements.
6. Students will relate their lives and personal experiences to literature.
7. Students will appreciate classic and contemporary literary works, and communicate their appreciation of literature to others.
8. Students will become lifelong learners that enjoy reading and appreciate diverse forms of literature.
9. Students will create their own literature and positively respond to the work of peers.
10. Students will develop confidence in their own creative abilities and skills.
11. Teachers and library-media specialists will collaborate to integrate literature into all aspects of the school’s curriculum.
12. Teachers and library-media specialists will provide enriching literary experiences to enhance students’ self-awareness and the understanding of the world around them.

Kindergarent-3^rd Grade Literacy Program Goals:

The teacher and library-media specialist will:

• Make reading aloud a top priority by sharing a variety of literary works from authors and illustrators on a daily basis.
• Introduce, promote, share, and provide quality literature examples from different genres to develop students’ awareness and enjoyment of diverse literary works.
• Assist students as they compare and contrast literary components across genres and literature formats.
• Make quality literature available in the library-media center and classroom.
• Ensure students have information skills time in the library-media center, as well as free time to browse materials and self-select literature.
• Serve as guides to help students analyze, interpret, and respond to literature in meaningful ways.
• Provide learning opportunities and motivating activities to help students understand and interpret story elements including characterization, setting, plot, theme, style, and tone.
• Provide enriching literary experiences by integrating quality literature into thematic teaching units throughout the year that span classroom activities, library-media center activities, and literature displays and presentations.
• Provide opportunities for students to create their own literature as they interpret and respond to literature or personal experiences in a risk-free, flexible environment (activities may include book talks, writing and illustrating books, class murals, mobiles, puppets, play, etc.).

Students will:

Increase their listening skills and attention span through exposure to quality literature that is read aloud.

• Develop positive self-images about reading good literature and self-select books of literary value that appeal to them.
• Compare and contrast literary works, author and illustrator styles, and poets and poetry.
• Develop an understanding of elements of good literature.
• Demonstrate their ability to interpret a story or characterization through role playing, story maps, webs, illustrations, oral presentations, or other activities.
• Develop their own opinions and share those opinions in a risk-free, positive environment through book talks, discussions, or other activities.
• Communicate their emotional reactions to literature in a risk-free environment through activities such as book talks, author chairs, or by creating visual interpretations in response to literature.
• Develop literature skills by identifying characters, developing empathy for characters, telling plot sequence, describing setting, and determining elements of tone and style.
• Respond to literature in a risk-free, supportive environment that allows them to create their own literature in response to personal experiences.
  
  

4-th-6^th Grade Literacy Program Goals:

(These goals are in addition to previously stated K-3 goals.)

• The teacher and library-media specialist will:
• Provide opportunities for students to critically analyze, interpret, and evaluate diverse forms of literature.
• Use literature to expand and enhance knowledge in all curricular areas by implementing collaboratively planned teaching units.
• Allow classtime for book sharing and discussions.
• Provide a minimum of 30 minutes per week in the library-media center for students to browse library-media materials and select books.
• Integrate multicultural literature throughout the curriculum.
• Incorporate different genre and elements of good literature into the reading and literature curriculum.
• Provide learning activities to facilitate students’ understanding of literature elements.
• Assist students as they identify, interpret, and connect story characters and experiences to personal experiences.
• Encourage students to express their opinions about literature in an open, positive, risk-free environment.
• Provide opportunities for students to express creative skills in a risk free environment.
• Provide opportunities for students to share personal reactions to literature.
• Provide opportunities for students to enjoy their literature preferences. 

Students will:

• Develop creativity and imagination to interpret a variety of literature from multiple perspectives.
• Develop critical thinking skills that are necessary to analyze and interpret messages generated from literary works.
• Self-select books of choice that are of literary value and appealing to students’ interests or needs.
• Self-select books of different genre to read.
• Choose books with different elements of literature.
• Identify with characters by listing ways they are alike or different to the characters.
• Describe how they would react in a character's situation.
• Compare animal similarities to people (characterization).
• Identify any story's origins (place it in geographic place).
• Participate in activities to identify the elements of literature.
• Relate their creative skills to different characters' skills.
• Share reading ideas, opinions, and reactions about specific books read with others.