Information Literacy Skills Lesson: Parts of a Book

Two weeks ago, I conducted classes on Information Literacy Skills for grade 2 on Parts and Care for Books. The lesson was focused on information that can be found on the different parts of a book and locating skills like the use of a table of contents and an index. By using the analogy of body parts to parts of a book, the care and responsibility for the printed medium was taken up as well.

This week, I'm teaching grade 1 students on the same content and skill. Although the content and skill are the same, the treatment and approach are different. For one, students actually examine the books and are asked to identify each part through oral drills. Only five basic parts (cover, spine, table of contents, title page and main body or text) are introduced but the same emphasis to the information found in the title page is discussed. If the grade 2 boys worked on a written activity to enumerate ways to care for books they borrow from the library, the grade one boys had a book making activity.

I purposely alloted enough time for this activity. I even requested a double period encounter from the Reading teacher so the boys could finish their books on time. Library classes are held in the library and are facilitated by the librarian.

The grade one boys could easily tell ways how to care for books, but, making one deepens their understanding and appreciation of book making itself. Besides, the process is close enough to publishing. Once back in the classroom, enrichment and follow up on the necessity of caring for books will be done by the Reading teacher.

I showed an example, first of all. Then, I presented the instructions on how to make the book.

It's really very simple.

The boys were given four pieces of bond paper cut in quarters. They had to write and draw their favorite food, toy and person on each page. The first page serves as the title page where they must write the title of their book (My Book Of Favorites) and the "by line" (their name as author of the book). Once the drawings and writings are finished, they color and make designs. The last step was to staple the pages together and bind it with masking tape. The boys were pleased with themselves upon reading their own work.

In the classroom, the teachers will display their finished work and allot a sharing time so they could talk about the books they wrote. Imagine if book making could be done in the middle grades as well. What stories and facts could the boys create and communicate? Oh, the many ways to make library classes fun and engaging!