This week all the 1st through 5th grade classes are coming up with a class list of rules for the library and writing them on a bookmark that they will keep. Other than making their library cards just like last year, this is the first real project of the school year with students.

I tried to do this last year just with the 4th and 5th graders, before I knew we had a die cut machine at school. I cut out all the bookmarks from cardstock myself, and I let the kids decorate them. But they didn’t really take it seriously, and it was kind of a waste of paper and time. They wrote one word in big letters and called their bookmark finished. It was disheartening because I’d wanted to tie some bookmark crafts into other things throughout the year, but I abandoned that idea.

So this year I dove into my arsenal of craft papers at home and used my library’s bookmark die to make 310 bookmarks for all 5 grades. That’s what I spent a not insignificant amount of my morning doing today: cutting out bookmarks. But I think it’s worth it because these look much cooler than last year’s batch already, and they’re more interesting than the usual bookmarks I have on my desk. So the kids can have fun picking their design, and hopefully they’ll put some time and thought into the library rules. And actually hold on to the bookmarks this time!

In case anyone’s wondering why this is just 1-5, pre-k and kindergarten are doing a Kevin Henkes author study the whole month of September. I’ll post about that later this month.