Our third graders have continued to enjoy listening to picture book stories by Oliver Jeffers as well as watching videos to find out more about the talented picture book maker. There has been much interest for his books during check out time and I hope you, the parents, have already had a chance to see one of his books at home.

As part of this inquiry, and in order to ensure that our students can independently locate the books by this author/illustrator (as well as other authors and topics of interest), we also embarked on revisiting how materials are organised on our shelves and how the library is set-up in general. As call numbers are key to locating library books (with and without the use of our online catalog), we started revisiting the make-up of call numbers with the help of the following video (which many of our returning students remembered well from last school year).

Next, we sent our students on a call number scavenger hunt, to allow them to apply this knowledge around call numbers in locating books in all of our main areas, i.e. the Everyone area (where we keep our picture books), the Fiction area (which houses all of our chapter books and middle grade novels) and the Nonfiction area (which houses all of our informational books). 

With great team effort and much focus, our third graders located books based on the given call numbers in the respective areas.

After they had located all books through their call number, they shared some general observations they had made in the process about the set-up of the library, such as all fiction books (in the Everyone and Fiction areas, are organised in alphabetical order according to the author's last name; and books in the Nonfiction are arranged in numerical order, each number representing a topic as defined by the Dewey Decimal Classification system.

In addition to enjoying read-alouds, sharing thoughts and ideas about the stories, and participating in other learning engagements like our scavenger hunt, our third graders love their check out time: searching for books to take home as well as finding a comfy place to read and share books with friends. Keep up the great work, Third Graders!

​As several classes embark on inquiry circles over the next couple of weeks (our first graders have actually already begun this past week), you might hear your child mention inquiry circles or hear us teachers and librarians referring to it – usually with quite a bit of excitement. So, I thought I would share a bit about inquiry circles in general upfront (the what, the how and the why) before sharing more in detail about what they look like in specific classrooms in further blog posts.

WHAT?
Over a total of about six sessions, students inquire into a topic of interest related to their current unit of inquiry, pursuing their personal wonderings and questions.

HOW?
In small groups with other students interested in the same topic and supported by a teacher/librarian (in some classes we also have a few parent volunteers), students go through an inquiry cycle (as described by Kath Murdoch). They first brainstorm and share with each other what they think they already know about their topic, share what they are curious to find out and think of possible ways they might find answers to their questions (TUNING IN).  

Then they begin to search for information on their topic in various ways such as reading books, exploring online resources, speaking to an expert, and making their own observations and experiments (FINDING OUT). As they are finding out, they sort the information according to which of their questions it answers (SORTING OUT) and often ask further questions (GOING FURTHER). 

Next, they look at what they have learned to identify some of the big ideas (DRAWING CONCLUSIONS) to then think of a way to act on what they have learned, like sharing their learning with their classmates and teachers (ACTING). At the end of the process, we reflect not only on what we learned but also on how we learned, identifying what went well and what we might do differently next time (REFLECTING).

WHY?
With inquiry circles, we are honouring our students’ inquiries, what they wonder about, are curious to find out as we pursue individual student questions. This motivates our students, creating high engagement and lots of energy. Through this, more challenging work gets accomplished, as the group also benefits from the individual skill sets and dispositions each student brings to the group, making diversity a real asset. During inquiry circles, our students experience what learning and working together looks and feels like. Overall, it enhances student achievement and provides lots of opportunities for our students to practise a wide variety of skills...
 
… and most importantly, because our students LOVE to learn this way, and so do the grown-ups – teachers, librarians, and parents – who are facilitators and co-learners in the process!

Below is an example from a past grade 1 classroom, with students explaining the process they have gone through. Enjoy!

Our first graders love coming to the library! They frequently visit the library in the morning before classes begin in addition to their scheduled class time. They enjoy chosing books...

... recommending and talking about books with each other...

... and of course, reading together! All this demonstrates how our first graders are developing lifelong reading habits as they self-select books, show preferences in their choices and share their reading lives with others.

As we embarked on an exploration of books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, they also showed to be enthusiastic inquirers. Following read-alouds of books such as Uni the Unicorn and Friendshape, they shared what they noticed in the books (e.g. colorful illustrations, magical things, wishes, unicorns) and wondered about (e.g. how many books she has made, whether she reads her own books, whether she has children, and whether she writes about the things she likes). As knowledgeable inquirers, our first graders knew that they could search for answers by reading her books, looking at her website and talking to her or people who know about her - and this is exactly what we have been doing.

This has helped us to learn more about the author, for example the kind of books she has made, the awards she has won, her film-making and piano playing; as well as allowing us to practise inquiry skills. It has definitely created much interest in her books. 

Next, our students embarked on an exploration of the rights and responsibilities of readers and library users. As their first unit of inquiry of the year is under the transdisciplinary theme of Who We Are, looking at human rights, it is a great way of bringing their learning from the classroom into the library setting. The knowledge they had already acquired around the terms of rights and responsibilities, provoked great conversations during read-alouds and during a sorting activity about what might be a right, what a responsibility of a reader and library user. Students agreed for example that they have the right to check out books, to choose and read what they like, and to have access to all kinds of books and information sources. They further agreed that with these rights come responsibilities as for example returning library books, sharing the space and resources with others, respecting other readers' choices, and using resources and information responsibly. At times there were heated discussion that ultimately led to the conclusion that some aspects can be considered both a right and a responsibility, for example the notion of safety: our students have a right to a safe reading and learning environment; it is their responsibility to contribute to maintaining our library as a safe environment as well as taking care of their own safety both in the physical space and when using online resources.

In order to be able to take advantage of these rights as well as in order to be able to honor one's responsibilities, students brainstormed what kind of skills they would need, identifying four main areas: skills related to library set-up and organisation, library policies (including book care), book selection strategies, and dispositions. We will now revisit and practise some of these skills, and will continue to do so throughout the year. 

A first step was to look back at what we already know about call numbers as they are key in understanding library set-up and material arrangement and the ability to access resources efficiently and independently. 

Next, students embarked on a scavenger hunt around the library. This allowed students to familiarise themselves (again) with the set-up, the material arrangement within, as well as library policies and procedures. Well done, Fourth Graders!

Our G5 students began the school year by reflecting on who they are as readers, starting by selecting a stack of five books that represent their reader identity. Making these "shelfies" always creates much energy and excitement at the start of a school year and reminds students that they are in charge of their reading journey. Our fifth graders also spent time pondering on what makes them feel good about reading, what might stand in the way of their reading enjoyment, how they go about chooing books and what kind of reader they are hoping to become.

Next, we embarked on an author inquiry, which will allow us to explore and enjoy stories by Michael Morpurgo, as well as provide us with an opportunity to revisit and practise a wide range of inquiry skills while going through an entire inquiry cycle, following the phases as described by Kath Murdoch. Our students started by sharing what they already knew about the author and were curious to find out (TUNING IN). Next, they shared strategies on how we might find answers to our questions; through reading and exploring his books, online resources, and by talking to experts or the author himself.

A book exploration and sorting activity helped us to discover the four main themes in the author's  books: animals, war, journeys and legends. In addition to using his books to find answers to our questions, our fifth graders also began exploring the brand-new interface of our online catalog: Destiny Discover. As our fifth graders found out, Destiny Discover leads you to books as well as safe and reliable online resources in our libraries with just one search.

By using Destiny Discover, in particular the Michael Morpurgo Collection, our students have been busy finding out about the author - his personal background, books and writing process - and then sorting out this information to see which of our questions the information answers. (FINDING OUT/SORTING OUT). We will continue with this process over the next couple of weeks while also reading The Butterfly Lion together, and then share with you what we discovered.

I encourage all of our students and parents to watch the tutorial below on how to use our online catalog and the Destiny Discover interface. It is an amazing tool and the ideal starting point for all inquiries as it guides our students to safe and reliable print and electronic resources in our HKA libraries and beyond. 

Our third graders started the year by reflecting on who they are as readers. They did this by first pulling a stack of five books representing their reader identity, and then, in a second step by interviewing each other about the books included in the stack and what they stand for. They shared some thoughts about what makes them feel good about reading as well as what can make it challenging, who they enjoy talking with about books, and wishes and goals with regard to the reader they want to become. Our third graders did a wonderful job and I hope you all had the opportunity to listen to their interviews which they shared through SeeSaw. Spending time on reflecting on who we are as readers, especially at the start of a school year, always creates much energy and excitement; at the same time it empowers our growing readers as they realise that it is really up to them, that it is their respeonsibiity, to decide on and work towards the reader they want to be.

In order to find answers to our questions, our students suggested reading his books, exploring online resources and talking to people who know about him. And this is exactly what we have been doing: sharing read-alouds, talking about what we noticed, and watching videos/interviews with and about Oliver Jeffers.

Our third graders took notes, to then share some interesting facts they learned about him from the videos/interviews; for example, Oliver Jeffers likes telling stories and thinks that picture books are the ideal platform for him to do that; with his sories, he wants to unlock his readers' imagination; he enjoys collaborating with others; the creation of words and picture goes hand in hand; he uses a wide range of tools; he gets ideas from all around him; and making picture books is his dream job. 
As with all of our author/illustator inquiries, students have the opportunty to practise inquiry skills while discovering books they might enjoy reading as well as finding some ideas and inspiration for their own writing. I encourage you to ask your third grader to share an Oliver Jeffers book with you; I bet you will love reading his books together!

​Our grade 2 students started their year in the library by exploring and revisiting what the learner profile looks like in the library. After brainstorming as a class, we broke up in smaller groups which then looked for exmples of specific traits, having their photo taken eventually. As you can see in the picture collages, our second graders came up with lots of ideas and examples, stating for example that reading together and talking about books makes you a communicator, reading all kinds of different books and respecting other people's book choices makes you open-minded, reflecting on what you have previously read when choosing books makes you reflective, knowing about call numbers and using this in finding books makes you knowledgeable and so on. Our second graders are working hard on putting their knowledge about the learner profile into action, so that everyone can enjoy their time in the library.

​As part of this exploration of the learner profile traits in the library, we also began reading books by author and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds. The characters in his books always display a variety of learner profile traits, making the stories a perfect choice for further discussions about the learner profile. ​

The reading of the stories and connected conversations also led to students sharing more what they are noticing about his stories and wondering about - the stories, the author/illustrator and his creative process. In order to answer questions such as whether he has children who inspire his stories, whether he gets ideas from the world around him and from reading other books, whether he is also an engineer (due to the book Going Places), and how many books he has already made ​- our students, being experienced inquirers, suggested we read more of his books, look at his websites, and maybe speak to him or someone who knows about him. 

During the last two library sessions, we looked at a video in which Peter Reynolds answers five questions, which provided us with a lot of information about how he works, why he makes the books he makes, and what he hopes his books will do for the reader. Our second graders took notes in words and pictures to share afterwards with the class. 

Through all this, our second graders are not only exposed to a new author/illustrator and his creative work, they also get a chance to practise their inquiry skills. In addition to exploring the learner profile traits and inquiring about Peter H. Reynolds, our second graders are enjoying their check out time, chosing books, making recommendations, and reading together. They demonstrate how knowledgeable they are in locating books of interest independently, and how passionate they are as readers in sharing favourite books with one another. Keep up the good work, G2 readers and inquirers!

Last Thursday was our first Battle of the Books (HKBoB) meeting of the year and once again our students at HKA have shown what passionate readers they are, and how much excitement and enthusiasm surrounds this competition at HKA. For those of you not familiar with HKBoB, it is an interschool competition during which students aim to read as many books as possible from a list of 20 to then demonstrate their knowledge at a competition in May against other schools in Hong Kong. In order to make points, competitors have to recognize the respective book through a question, stating and pronouncing author and title of the book correctly.

Our fourth and fifth graders turned up in large numbers and it was great hearing the many reasons shared what brought them to the meeting and to join HKBoB: a love for reading, the books on this year's list, what they have heard and seen of the competition already, a friend, last year's experience and wanting to be on the team again. A comment that warmed my heart in particular was, "I am here today because this is the first library that made me a reader." 

The main goal of our first meeting was introducing the books from this year's list...

... and getting books into the hands of our readers! Over the next weeks and months, we will keep you posted and share more information on what the actual competition will look like, how we select our traveling team, and how parents might support their child's participation in the competition. 

I hope you all got through Typhoon Mangkhut safely, without any major damages to your home. It was a scary experience but it also made me appreciate once again living in a city that does such an amazing job in dealing with natural disasters like this - all the precautions taken beforehand and now the joined clean-up efforts in which so many people participate. 

For those of you at home, I wanted to remind you of the online resources available to you from home through our Primary Hub Page (the link is embeded) and suggest especially the following two resources for you to explore and enjoy today:  Tumble Book Library and our online catalogue (OPAC).

The Tumble Book Library is an online library, with a collection of over 1,100 titles, geared towards students in K-6. Amongst others, the collection includes animated picture books, chapter books, videos, non-fiction titles, books in languages other than English, math stories, and even some graphic novels. It is perfect for days like today, when you cannot get to our school or a public library. I bet you are going to be surprised how many familiar, and favourite authors and titles you will discover, ready to be read and enjoyed right there on your computer or iPad. (Your teachers recently shared the various passwords for our online resources. Feel free to send me an email, should you not have received the password for Tumblebooks.)

Today might also be a great opportunity for you to explore our online catalogue (OPAC) ​with the Destiny Discover interface, which you can also access through our Primary Hub Page or the link I embedded. There is no need for you to sign in to search and explore what our libraries have to offer. Not only does our online catalogue allow you to search for books in our libraries, it also provides access to a wide range of online resources; it even links to World Book articles now. 

My top tip for the day, however, is that you look at this day at home as a gift of time, time to spend with your family; and a gift of reading time, enjoying some stories you love together. So, get some favourite stories from your book shelves, find a cozy reading spot, cuddle up and read together. Have a wonderful day!

Since the start of the school year, our kindergarteners have enjoyed exploring picture books together as part of our inquiry into the creative work of author and illustrator Bob Graham as well as during their check out time. In conversations about Bob Graham's books, resulting from picture book explorations and read-alouds, the students shared for example that they noticed families and animals in many of his books, people helping someone else or rescuing an animal, kindness, bright colors and fun days, detailed illustrations and at times a spot light in the pictures, of which our students think it might be to give readers a clue or help them see something more clearly. 

Our last read-aloud (How to Heal a Broken Wing) had our students wondering in particular about the "spot light" in the illustrations as well as the relationship between colours and the feelings of the characters. Might the light be a reflection of the sun, or show that someone is happy, they wondered. Other questions that resulted from our conversations are whether he has made a lot of books already, whether it is good to be an author and illustrator, why he chose to be an author and illustrator, whether he gets help when making his books as well as whether he helps others in making their books, what he likes writing about and whether he wants his readers to see people caring in his stories.

Our young inquirers had a pretty good idea on how we might find answers to our wonderings: by asking him or someone who knows about him, by reading his books and thinking about the stories and pictures, and by looking at his website (if he has a website). And this is exactly what we are planning to do in the weeks to come as we read more of Bob Graham's stories and pursue answers to our questions. As with all of our author inquiries, we aim for students discovering books by authors they might enjoy, getting some insights into the creative process, seeing the people behind the books, and practising inquiry skills at the same time.

Our kindergarteners have also enjoyed exploring picture books during their check out time, having been given the possibility to choose more books than previously (up to three books including at least one picture book and a book in another language than English). In doing this and further supported by upcoming learning engagements, they are also gaining a better idea on where to find picture books in our library and how they are organized on our shelves.