Gatewood Library
Purpose Statement
The purpose of the Gatewood Library is to provide access to a varied collection of reading materials to our school population, create life long readers who wear out library cards, instruct students in the Seattle Public Schools library and grade level curriculum, and to practice responsible collection development policies.
Library Curriculum and Lessons
Students in grades K-5 visit the library for classes and to check out books. Kindergarten and first grade students receive a lesson and checkout each week, 2nd and 3rd grade students visit the library to check-out each week and receive a lesson every other week, and 4th and 5th grade classes come in every other week for check-out. Lessons are scheduled with the teachers on a flexible library schedule.
Lessons for students in kindergarten and first grade focus on book care, literary elements, parts of a fiction and non-fiction book, exposure to different genres, and introduction to book awards such as the Caldecott Medal.
Second and third grade students learn and refine their knowledge to independently use the online card catalog, how to find a book in the library, text features, using online databases, and genre.
Fourth and fifth grade students may receive lessons relating to using non-fiction text features, effectively reading non-fiction text, additional exposure to online resources, practice using the Dewey Decimal System, and research strategies.
Library Check-Out
Please help your child to remember to return their book(s) and read at home daily.
Kindergarten thru 3rd grade check out books for one week.
4th-5th grade check out books for two weeks.
- Kindergarten students check out one book at a time and keep it in their classroom.
- 1st grade students check out one book at a time.
- 2nd thru 5th grade students check out two books at a time.
Just Right Books
Have you heard your child mention they need to find a "just right" book? At Gatewood Elementary every child has been taught the importance of finding a book at their reading level. We use the five finger rule to do this for books that aren't leveled or have students check the catalog to identify the level of a book. You can do this from home by clicking on the link above. Then, follow these steps:
1. Type in Level ___ and click Subject. This will tell you all of the books in that reading level.
If you already know the title of a book you are looking for you can check if the book has been leveled as well.
1. Type in the title of the book and click Title.
2. Click on the title of the book on the results page.
3. Look for the "Explore" details of the book. If a book has been leveled, the information will be located here. For example, The Mitten by Jan Brett is listed as Level M (Fountas and Pinnell).
Volunteer Opportunities
Any amount of time is appreciated and lots of jobs are available. E-mail or call to see how you might contribute to our library program!
