(Disclosure: This blog post contains several affiliate links, and if you click through and make a purchase, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you.)
(Note: This blog post also contains NUMEROUS just-because-I-love-you links to MANY free products on Teachers Pay Teachers, and if you click through and download the free products, nothing particularly exciting happens for me, but you get the FREE TpT resources! Wahoo!)
So…I’m sorry it has been a really, really long time since I’ve published a post. I’ve been, you know, teaching and momming and stuff.
And then, when I didn’t write for awhile, I felt like I needed to prove that I was not a total blog delinquent by making sure my next post was worth the long wait…
…and…here it is! It’s time for another list of FREE PRODUCTS that you can find on TpT and use in your school library. I have over 50 goodies to show you today! (If you’ve missed my other lists of freebies, click here and here to cash in on over 80 other free TpT products available for librarians!)
I’m back! Let the freebie spree commence! YEAH!
Makerspace / STEAM
Here’s a quick and easy and science-y activity that your students can try in your makerspace! Teaching Tidbits and More with Jamie designed this freebie that lets kids experiment with making 3-D shapes out of card stock and seeing which shape is best at holding up books. It’s a great challenge for the library, since you probably have a book or two kicking around! 🙂
And here’s a super fun STEM challenge for the media center – Build a Gingerbread Man Trap by Smart Chick. It would work well with so many gingerbread-themed read aloud books!
Looking for a way to keep track of what’s going on in your makerspace? That Library Media Teacher has created this free product that includes both printable and digital surveys that students can fill out to share what types of activities they explore when they visit the makerspace!
Coding
Get your little library learners’ minds ready for coding with this hot dog themed offline coding activity by iGameMom STEM Learning!
And here’s another free activity courtesy of Teaching with Jackie. This one is just spectacular for practicing coding skills without devices. I tried it with my first grade students last year and I could almost see the lightbulbs lighting up above their heads as they started to understand the basic idea of coding!
If you want to take screen-free coding to the next level, you’ve got to try this free resource by Tess the Krafty Teacher. This product will help you get started with using a Code & Go Mouse to teach your students about coding! She also has another awesome freebie that’ll get you going with Bee Bots.
When you’re ready for your students to begin with online coding activities, check out this freebie from Mrs. J in the Library, which will help you get your students started with Scratch and Lightbot!
Library Rules and Etiquette
Kids love the “David” books by David Shannon! This printable activity by Little Miss Librarian helps students to think about proper library procedures by inviting the students to imagine that David takes a trip to the library! Your beginning-of-the-year review of library rules can be so much fun as your kids can imagine good choices and bad choices that David might make at the library!
Using a Card Catalog
Practicing with an online card catalog is a must in the library today. Help your upper elementary students gain proficiency with a card catalog with this free product from That Library Media Teacher. (After all, the better they are at finding stuff in the library, the less you have to find for them!)
And here is another free resource that can help your students as they use the card catalog! That Library Girl has put together a free form that will assist your kiddos by giving them an easy way to record the information they find when they look up a book.
Dewey Decimal System
Here is a free printable by Pooley Productions that can be used when your students study the Dewey Decimal System!
For the Little Guys and Gals
Give your younger students a chance to practice with a basic table of contents with this freebie by Christine Reed!
This free activity by Katie Blair Young asks students to figure out whether books are fiction or nonfiction and why. It’s great for reviewing fiction and nonfiction with your littlest library students!
ABC Order
With this autumn-themed alphabetical order freebie by Differentiation Station Creations, your students can practice the essential library skill of using ABC order!
Or, during the holiday season, your students can try this alphabetical order resource by Bright Buttons! 🎅
And Deanna Cappucci has designed a cute free product so that your students can practice ABC order by alphabetizing each other’s names! (In the library, I could see this working well with first AND last names so that kids can get the idea of alphabetizing books by authors’ last names!)
Students can practice alphabetizing to the 2nd letter with this Earth Day ABC order freebie, available in More than Math by Mo’s store.
And here is a fantastic set of ABC order task cards! Thanks for the freebie, Erin J Murray!
Research and Reference Books
This printable activity by Teaching with Tamara allows kids to practice their dictionary skills while looking up some homonyms. When I SAW this resource, I knew it would be JUST RIGHT for this CURRENT blog post! 🙂
3…2…1…blastoff! Give your kids a chance to practice their research skills and learn about the planets with this freebie by Imaginative Teacher! Students could use this activity to practice with encyclopedias, and the product also includes a list of suggested websites the kids can use to research this topic!
Or your students could use reference books, along with other library resources, to do some totally fun animal research with this free product from The Library Patch!
Book Review Activities
Asking your students to recommend books to classmates can get kids excited about checking out books from the school library. Here is a cute Halloween-themed book review template designed by Kim Miller that you can have your students fill out to share their favorite library books with their friends!
Looking for other book review options? Here is another great and free book review form by Amanda Rose Resources! Or try this book review freebie by Josie’s Place!
Fun and Fantastic Stuff
Many students love to color, so it’s wonderful to have reading-themed coloring pages on hand for your fast finishers. Here is a great coloring sheet for your library by EveryLittleThing!
I don’t know about you, but I have a few students who are constantly telling me, “I forgot it was library day! I didn’t bring my book!” The Swamped Teacher has developed a freebie that will help with this very situation. By printing out these reminders and making them into magnets to send home with your students, you’ll help students and families remember to return library books!
Do you want to get your library students curious about some of your favorite books? This free, printable sign by Library Learners will give you an excuse to start chatting it up about a favorite title!
Here are some simple, cute, FREE forms you can send home with your students who have done an excellent job in the library. This freebie by Andrea Walkup makes it so easy to acknowledge students for good choices in the media center.
This free product from The Librarian’s Literature Links gives you a super-easy way to give classroom teachers information about what went on in your library class each week. The form includes a spot to point out star students, students who struggled, and students with overdue library books, as well as some basic information about what you did with the whole class. I’m planning to try using these in my school library this year!
Bookmarks
For a FREE, cute, and library-ish birthday gift for your students, how about these free birthday bookmarks, courtesy of Library Learners?!
ElementaryVibes has designed these free bookmarks featuring the Good Egg, the Cool Bean, and their friends. (How adorbs!)
Here are some lovely bookmarks you can personalize with your students’ names by The Organised Teacher Collective!
Perfect for your first day of library – here’s a set of reading-themed bookmarks by Brittany W!
Here are super cute animal-themed printable bookmarks, by Nikki and Nacho, and some adorable ocean-themed printable bookmarks by Let’s Learn S’more!
When you are teaching your students about “Just Right” books, Little Mrs. M has three varieties of free, printable bookmarks that you can give to your students. She’s got free Valentine’s Day themed bookmarks, free St. Patrick’s Day themed bookmarks, and free spring-themed bookmarks! Wahoo!
And…the seasonal bookmark fun continues! Check out these free, printable, Christmas-themed bookmarks by I Teach! And these free, printable, 100th-day-of-school-themed bookmarks by Michelle Dupuis Education! And how about these free, printable, Earth Day-themed bookmarks by Let’s Learn S’More!
Library Decor
Get a start on decorations for the fall with this autumn-themed reading poster by AJ Amazing!
Next, from Librarian Vickie, we have some posters that you can use to teach your students about different genres!
Decorate the walls of your library with these great library freebies – a set of reading quotes posters by Alexandra Stewart and a set of library-themed posters by BlackCoffeeBlackNails!
Encourage your library students to read with this printable “READ” banner set by Josie’s Place! Or here’s a “READ” poster set by Erin E Townsend!
And for more all-year-long-decoration fun, you can download this free product from Primary Teacher Solutions by Mark Johnson. These posters show children reading during each of the twelve months of the year!
And…here’s a free product from my store that you can use to decorate your library! I call these “Strive Stars” because I’m hoping that they will inspire kids to strive to do great things. This set includes nine printable pages, each containing a large star with an encouraging message along with a smaller blank star (just to make your display more visually appealing). Designed to save ink but still make a colorful display, these understated black-and-white stars can be printed on bright printer paper before you cut them out. (I like me some Astrobrights, but any colorful paper will work!) The set includes some stars that have a Christian theme as well as some with messages that would work in any school setting.
Clip Art
Teacher-librarians always need book clip art for different projects, so download this free clip art by Allison Fors that includes opened and closed books!
And here is some gorgeous clip art of kids reading by SchoolBoxTreasures! Perfect for library newsletters, overdue slips, worksheets, or whateva!
Let’s Hear it for Teachers Pay Teachers!
TpT really is a beautiful place. I just highlighted over 50 FREE products for librarians, and there are so many more terrific resources available there that will help your school library to be the best it can be. Feel free to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store (or the stores of any of these great TpT teacher-authors!) so you can discover other nifty resources that will help you save time and increase the overall awesomeness of your library!
**Thank you so much to the Teachers Pay Teachers teacher-authors who gave me permission to include links to their free resources in this post! For more freebies, click here and here to check out my other posts about free resources for your school library. Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss my next post!**
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