Library Tic-Tac-Toe

Fourth and fifth graders had a ton of fun playing tic tac toe in the library! Here's how it worked. 

Students in pairs were given 9 book titles and authors on a sheet of paper. I had typed out the book titles/authors in advance, and tried to pick a mix of fiction and nonfiction, books that were in and books that were checked out. Students then wrote these titles/authors on their game board in whatever order they liked. In later classes, I realized we could save time (and prevent writer's cramp!) by cutting out the titles and pasting them onto the squares. 

Then students used our search computers or iPads to look up the books. If the book was in, they marked that square with an X on the game board, but needed to find the book on the shelf to prove it was in. If the book was out, they marked it with an O on the game board. Teams tried to get three X's or three O's in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to win a tic-tac-toe!

I found this activity through my librarian friend Anna, who found it from her friend Shawna. I think in their version, only three X's in the row (and not three O's) counted as a tic-tac-toe. I did end up with quite a lot of winners allowing both X's or O's to win, but it was fun for students to feel successful!

We had a lot of fun, but most importantly, students polished their skills in looking up books in the catalog and searching for them on the shelves!