Library visit story unit · KS1 (Reception to Year 2)
My First Library Card
Learning objective: Know what a library is for and how to choose a book to borrow.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Fantasy · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: The Impossible Library
Talk questions
- What would you like to borrow from the library? Why?
- Who could you take with you to the library?
Writing task
Draw your own library card. Write your name and the first book you would borrow.
Word bank
- library
- a building full of books and other things that anyone can borrow for free
- borrow
- to take something for a while and then give it back
- return
- to give or bring something back
- librarian
- a person who works in a library and helps people find what they want
- card
- a small, flat card with your name on it, which lets you borrow books
Success criteria (information report)
Reception to Year 2: I can write facts. I can use a heading. I can label a picture.
National Curriculum statements
- “listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “being introduced to non-fiction books that are structured in different ways” (Year 2, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge” (Years 1 to 6, Spoken language (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
The library had a big glass door that opened all by itself. Whoosh!
Inside, it was bright and quiet and full of books. There were books on high shelves and low shelves. There were books in boxes and books on cushions.
“Welcome!” said the librarian. Her name was Mrs Lee, and she had a badge shaped like a book.
Mrs Lee read a story about a sleepy bear. She did the bear’s voice, all low and growly, and everyone laughed.
“Can we take books home?” asked Malik.
“Yes!” said Mrs Lee. “Joining the library is free. Choose a book, take it home, bring it back and choose some more!”
Notes
Library visit story unit · KS2 (Years 3 to 6)
The Library That Never Closes
Learning objective: Use a library's catalogue and shelves to find books, and explain why libraries matter to a community.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Fantasy · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: The Impossible Library
Talk questions
- What surprised you most about what a library offers?
- How could you help someone in your family join the library?
Writing task
Write a short leaflet persuading a family to join the library: three reasons, and one book you would recommend.
Word bank
- catalogue
- a list of everything a library has, which you can search to find where a book is
- borrow
- to take something home for a set time and bring it back
- community
- the people who live in a place, and the places and services they share
- audiobook
- a recording of a book being read aloud, which you can listen to
- recommend
- to tell someone that something is good and why they might like it
Success criteria (persuasive letter)
Years 3 and 4: I can give a reason in each paragraph. I can use persuasive words. I can end strongly.
Years 5 and 6: I can back my reasons with evidence. I can answer the other side. I can use modal verbs and a formal register.
National Curriculum statements
- “reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes” (Years 3 and 4, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction” (Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own” (Years 5 and 6, Writing – composition (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
“Your first clue,” said the librarian, handing our hero a folded card, “is on the shelves. You’ll need the catalogue to find it.”
The card said only: Find the book about the boy who grew a tree in his bedroom.
Our hero sat down at the catalogue computer and typed tree. Two hundred and twelve results. They typed tree bedroom. Three. The second one had a picture of a boy peering out from a tangle of leaves.
Beside it was a code: JF HAR.
“J for junior,” said the librarian, who had wandered over with a trolley of returns, “F for fiction, and HAR for the first three letters of the author’s name. Every book has one on its spine.”
Our hero followed the signs past the audiobooks, the comics and a quiet table where a man was reading a newspaper in Polish, to the junior fiction shelves. H. HA. HAR. And there, tucked inside the book, was a second card.
Notes
