Recipe for Success

Students will use an electronic card catalog to find books by subject using the call number. This lesson was used in collaboration with a third grade thanksgiving unit. As part of the unit students were to find a recipe to prepare and bring to class.

A lesson plan for grade 3 Information Skills

By Elizabeth Gibson and Melissa Withers

About the authors

My name is Elizabeth Gibson. I am the Media Specialist (Library Teacher!) at Shepherd Elementary in Mooresville, North Carolina. I hold a BS and a Masters Degree in Library Science. I’ve been teaching for 17 years, first in elementary classroom and currently in the library. This lesson was planned collaboratively specifically for a thanksgiving unit with the third grade teachers (Karen Lail, Kristi Brown, Melissa Withers) at our school. Their lessons, A Class Full of Turkeys, Part 1 and Part 2 can be found on the LearnNC lesson plan database.

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Learning outcomes

Students will be able to use an electronic card catalog to locate information by subject.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

40 Minutes

Materials/resources

Electronic Card Catalog
Data Projector
Recipe books
Prepared cards with appropriate call numbers

Technology resources

Computer
Electronic cataloging program
Projector for computer

Pre-activities

Students should have previous knowledge of the sections of the library (Easy Fiction, Fiction, and Non-Fiction) as well as an understanding of the call number for books.

Activities

1. Students will be seated so that they can view an enlarged projection of the card catalog system.
2. Begin with a view of the desktop with icons and show how to open the program by double clicking the Card Catalog icon. (Program is usually already open as students arrive to use the library, but in the event that it is not students should know how to recognize and begin the program.)
3. Point the cursor at the search box, call it by name and explain that this is where students will type for a search.
4. Point the cursor at each choice for searching the catalog (keyword, subject, title, author, series). With each ask students to state what they think they will find. Quickly show a sample. Example: Point to keyword. What would you type in the search box? Type in suggestion. What would you expect to see? Use the cursor to click on keyword and ask students what they see. Titles. Click a title and show how keyword is reflected in the “card” information. Point out title, author, summary, and call number.
5. After studying one of the “cards” for title, author, summary, and subjects on the first “card” quickly show what each search finds without going to the “card” again.
6. Ask students which search they would use to find recipe books for their Thanksgiving project. Take suggestions and type searches. Guide students to select keyword and subject.
7. Ask students to choose appropriate titles. Look at the “card” for the title. Decide by reading summary if the book would be a good choice. Ask students to find the call number.
8. Ask for a volunteer to find the book in the non-fiction section and bring it back to the group. Give that student a previously prepared card with the call number.
9. While that student looks for the book, continue to other book selections and repeat steps 7 and 8 until all or sufficient sources are located.
10. Close lesson by reviewing: search box, keyword, subject, “card” with book information especially call number.

Assessment

Students show understanding by successfully locating books to meet the subject. This can be assessed immediately during the lesson as well as continually during the year each time students require specific information for classroom or media center projects.

Supplemental information

Recipe books for the media center collection. The following is a series that has proved helpful by meeting language arts objectives (vocabulary, reading selection genre) and social studies areas of study (communities, history, family life).

Cooking Throughout American History by George Erdosh,
Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.,
and two other books by the same author:
Food and Recipes of the Native Americans (ISBN: 0823951162)
Food and Recipes of the Pilgrims (ISBN: 0823951170).

Related websites

N/A

Comments

I sent students by pairs to locate books. Our small school book collection does not have enough recipe books for each student to select one, which I don’t think would be uncommon for many school media centers. There seems to a lot of steps and information for 40 minutes, but the lesson actually goes quite quickly when the preactivity requirements have been met. The students enjoyed looking for the books almost as if it were a scavenger hunt and were eager to help students who couldn’t. I pulled the books that I made call numbers for so that I could guarantee success if the students understood and followed the search process.