The first week of the summer holidays – are you excitedly looking ahead to the next eight weeks? I bet you are! You have worked hard throughout the school year and it is time for some extra fun, relaxation and new adventures.

Here are a couple of ideas of what you might like to do to get ready for the amazing time that lies ahead, to make sure you get and make the most out of it.

​Happy Summer Reading, Happy Summer Time! 

Start a Summer Journal / Scrapbook
Keeping a summer journal is a wonderful idea of collecting memories, of recording books you have read, places you have seen, people you have met. You can write, draw, sketch, add photos, tickets, newspaper articles, anything interesting or memorable you come across.

Make Lists
Making lists is a wonderful way of planning and getting excited about the holidays. What do you hope to do this summer? What are you looking forward to reading? Who are you hoping to see? Write down a few of your ideas, either in your summer journal or any other format that works for you. 

Read! Read! Read!
Enjoy all the extra reading time available. Here are a few wonderful books about summer:

Picture Books
Away (Emil Sher)
And Then Comes Summer (Tom Brenner)
Jabari Jumps (Gaia Cornwall)
A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever (Marla Frazee) Splash Anna Hibiscus (Atinuke)
Perfect (Danny Parker)
The Boy on the Beach (Niki Daly)
Pool (Jihyeon Lee)
Beach House (Deanna Caswell)
The House Takes a Vacation (Jacqueline Davies)
​
Chapter books and novels for the middle grades
Letters From Camp (Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise)
Tortilla Sun (Jennifer Cervantes)
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters (Lenore Look)
​Summer Stories (Enid Blyton)
Any Which Wall (Laurel Snyder)
The Penderwicks (Jeanne Birdsall)
Touch Blue (Cynthia Lord)
The Simple Things (Bill Condon)
The Great Good Summer (Liz Garton Scanlon)
Secrets of the Cicada Summer (Andrea Beaty)
Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Summer Vacation (Tommy Greenwald)

And in case you are wondering, what's on my personal summer reading list, here are some of the books currently downloaded to my Kindle app (as always there is lots more than I most probably can read this summer, but I always like having lots of choice :)

Children's literature and novels for the middle grades:

I hope you'll check in again next Monday to discover more ideas and reading suggestions and explore our Summer Reading Padlet :)

The end of a school year is always a bitter sweet experience, especially at international schools. We fondly look back on the many wonderful times, the memories created during a year of learning together, the achievements we can celebrate together. But there is also often having to say goodbye to students, colleagues and friends.

While there are usually just a few in each class, I do have to say goodbye every year to an entire grade level, as they move on to secondary school: our grade 5s. I recently asked them what they take away from their time in the Primary Library and listening to their comments was like watching a time-lapse video, capturing special moments of our time together and also reminding me, how much this special group of students has taught me over the years: sharing stories as read-alouds, talking about books, recommending books to each other, encouraging each other to broaden the genres we read, discovering new authors and their stories, meeting authors who inspired us to read more and write more, celebrating special events connected to reading and books, just to mention a few. In their comments, there was so much passion for books and reading, so much knowledge about books, so much confidence in who they are as readers; just thinking about it now warms my heart and puts the biggest smile on my face. 

But not just from our fifth graders have I learned again a lot this year; I am taking away so much learning, so many happy memories from reading and learning with all of our students, as we celebrated so many wonderful authors and their stories together this year. 

I want to thank each and everyone of you and wish you all the best as your reading and learning journey continues - in the HKA Primary School, the HKA Secondary School or another school in Hong Kong or elsewhere in the world.

With much gratitude,
​Tanja

(And don't forget to make use of all the wonderful reading recommendations you helped me to put together on our SUMMER READING PADLET!)

While we are away during the summer break, George will take good care of our library :)

This is our last week of the school year 2016=17 and ahead of us is the long summer break, which provides many extra opportunities for reading, adventure and fun. Just as during the past years, we have put some reading suggestions and activities together for you, a catalogue of ideas to get you started. Don't worry, you don't have to do all the activities or read all of the books listed (but you can of course, if you want to ;) Just pick and choose what catches your interest and adapt it to best suit you and your family. 

Throughout the break, I will post reading recommendations and activities on this blog. Should you not have consistent Internet access, or should you wish to explore the themes for each week independently in the order that suits you/interests you and your family best, you can download it here.

In addition to these documents, we have set up several Padlets (a kind of online bulletin board) with more reading recommendations from us and from all of our students. These Padlets are a work in progress as all of us - students, parents, teachers, and librarians - can continue to add book recommendations throughout the summer. Adding to these Padlets is pretty simple as there is no need to sign in or sign up. Simply double click to activate a text box, type in your recommendation, done!
​
You can access the Padlets below, through this link or via the Primary Portal page.

Happy Summer Reading!

On Brightly, a blog I regularly read and appreciate for all the wonderful (reading-related) resources and advice shared, I came across a beautiful post by children's author Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich: 9 Children's Book Authors on the Joys of Summer Reading. She had asked some of her author friends to share some tips and advice how to make summer reading special. Here, just in bullet point format, a few examples of what they shared - but I highly recommend going over to the Brightly blog and reading the whole article:

• Kate Messner: allowing children choice on what to read; creating a special summer reading spot
• Kelly Starling Lyons: having D.E.A.R. time every day (Drop Everything And Read)
• Luke Reynolds: giving children lots of options for books
• Phil Bildner: making read-alouds as a family part of the summer routine
• Karen Sandler: reading books about the area you are visiting
• Laurel Snyder: reading in front of your children, falling into a book yourself.

Next Monday, I will share on this blog some summer reading suggestions - books you might want to explore with your child, not as a must-read list but rather to give you a place to get started looking - and summer reading activities for you to explore and download. Stay tuned :)

In a recent blog post (if you didn't have a chance yet to read it, click on this link), I shared how our G2 students supported our PK1 students in finding answers to their wonderings and questions within their current unit of inquiry about living things (Sharing the Planet). During this past week, our PK1 inquirers did a wonderful job sharing some of the learning that resulted from this collaboration and I thought you might enjoy hearing some more about the process (following the phases of the inquiry cycle as described by Kath Murdoch) and seeing some additional snapshots. 

In the classroom, our PK1 inquirers had shared with their teachers what they were interested to learn about and/or what they were wondering about. Based on this, we grouped students, letting those with similar topics/wonderings work together in one group, each group facilitated by an adult. We asked students next to share what they thought they already knew about the topic and many students shared with much enthusiasm. During this process, more wonderings, more questions were generated.

For the next phases of our inquiry circles, we asked the G2 buddies for help. They joined the PK1 students in the library to help them look for answers to their questions, mainly in books, but also by accessing some kid-friendly databases (like World Book Online and Pebble Go) and websites. Our second graders as the experienced inquirers, showed their buddies how to find information in a nonfiction book, helped them read text in books, databases and websites, assisted them in sorting out and recording the information as well as taking note of any new questions emerging.

Then it was time to identify the learning that we wanted to share with classmates and practice presenting it within our groups.

Then we were ready to take action, to share our learning with others. Everybody had learned so much and was so excited about their particular learning! During the presentations, students and teachers were pretty impressed hearing about facts such as sharks having up to 3,000 teeth, bees communicating with each other through a special dance, that guinea pigs' teeth grow all their life, that cats can climb trees because they have such sharp nails, that dog puppies are blind at first, that dogs chew bones to clean their teeth, that birds are the only animals with feathers, that snakes loose their skin when it gets too tight, and that most snakes are not dangerous to humans - just to mention some of our learning. ​We all learned so much with each other and from each other. Well done, PK1 inquirers!

Below are a few more snapshots from each class' inquiry circles. Enjoy!

The reading of Chris Raschka's picture book Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle, provided a wonderful segway into our reflection about what we had learned together in the library during the past school year. At first, our PK2 students had many personal connections with the story to share: about their own learning to ride a bicycle, about all the things they are already able to do, like riding without training wheels, about how they chose their bicycle, what their bicycle looked like, who helped them to learn to ride a bike and how long they have been able to ride a bicycle on their own already. 

Then I encouraged them to share what they learned and remembered learning about as they visited the library this school year. Here is some of the learning our PK2 students mentioned:

• Asking more questions (in particular about authors and illustrators)
• Paying attention to the little details in the stories (like finding the Pigeon who always hides somewhere in the Piggie and Gerald books)
• Learning about emotions through the Piggie & Gerald books (and how an illustrator might show that in the pictures)
• Learning from reading together (sharing thoughts and ideas as well as personal connections after a read-aloud)
• Learning about units of inquiry like Communities from library books
• Learning about topics we are interested in (like reptiles) from nonfiction books
• Finding new series of books like Piggie & Gerald and the Pigeon books
• Choosing different kinds of books (fiction and nonfiction)
• Spending more time exploring the books to really choose the ones we like
• Discovering favorite books and favorite authors
• Finding favorite books in different parts of the library on our own
• Learning about different authors: Pamela Allen, Mo Willems, Grace Lin and Matt Cooper.

While comments about authors and favorite books were clearly at the forefront of most students' minds, it was great hearing such a variety of comments from students representing both main areas we are addressing throughout the year: literature appreciation and inquiry. It was also obvious that even though all authors were remembered, Mo Willems and his Piggie & Gerald and Pigeon books have a special place in our young readers' hearts. 

Very much enjoyed throughout the year was story time in Mandarin as well, especially because of the animated way our Mandarin teachers shared these stories which were often connected to a current unit of inquiry. Further, our Mandarin teachers kept encouraging our PK2 students to include books written in Mandarin in their check out which resulted in many more students taking home books both in English and in Mandarin.

So much learning! Well done, PK2 students!

In my post last Monday, the first in preparing for summer reading (in case you missed it, please click on this link), I stressed how important it is that ultimately we let our children choose what they want to read, while making suggestions and offering some guidance. Another decisive factor in successfully nurturing young readers and instilling a love for lifelong reading in them is the presence of reading role models in their lives. Our children need to see us read, need to hear us talk about books, recommend books, continuously show them that reading is something we enjoy and value. With "us", I mean all of us grown ups: teachers, librarians, parents, and other family members. The more they see us enjoy and value reading, the more likely they are to pick up a book and read as well.

Here are a few tips from the Reading Rocket website (compiled by Scholastic) how you can be a reading role model to your child:

• Surround yourself with reading materials
• Draw attention to all things you read
• Buy or borrow books together
• Don't be a solo reader
• Read for leisure
• Bring something to read wherever you go
• Emphasize the universal importance of reading

(Text source: Scholastic Inc. (2007). Be a Reading Role Model. www.scholastic.com.)

And if you are not sure what you might like to read this summer, here are just a few ideas to get you started - some titles I have enjoyed reading, some of newer, some of older publication date. I have tried to include a mix of different genres and since I also believe that no one is ever too old to read children's and young adult literature, I have included some suggestions from these categories too. (I have embedded links to Goodreads in each of the titles if you would like to know more about the books.)

Young Adult Literature:

​​The Sun is Also a Star (Nicola Yoon)

We Were Liars (E. Lockhart)

​The Boy on the Wooden Box (Leon Leyson)

Children's Literature:

Wonder (R.J. Palacio)

Of Lions and Unicorns (Michael Morpurgo)

​​Brown Girl Dreaming (Jaqueline Woodson)

Some of the books on my personal summer reading list are for example In The Garden of Beasts (Erik Larson), Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Madeleine Thien) and Ginny Moon (Benjamin Ludwig).

You might also find helpful exploring the following online resources...

Goodreads

16 of the Best New Books of Summer 2017 (Read Brightly)

The New York Times Bestsellers

Love Reading: UK Top 10 Books

Best Books of 2017: Great Reading in the Year Ahead (The Australian)

20 of the Best Books to Read in Summer 2017 (HuffPost Canada)


... or go on a family outing to the nearest public library or bookstore some time soon.
​Happy Reading!

The end of the school year is just three weeks away. It's been another exciting year in the library with lots of great books and stories, with authors and illustrators, reading, inquiring and learning. During the past week, I asked our students in K-G5 (PK1 students are still busy with their inquiry circles, PK2 students will do their reflections this coming week) to look back on the year and share something they learned, enjoyed, are proud of.

Our kindergarteners, first and second graders captured their reflections in pictures with the help of our iPads and the ComicBook app, which allows students also to add captions to their images. As I walked around observing our students and taking a few pictures, I noticed pretty quickly the big ideas that were being captured: choosing and checking out books (kindergartners were especially proud of having learned to use browsing sticks), author inquiries, inquiry circles, reading in various forms (alone, with a friend, or a shared read-aloud).By far most important seemed to our students showing themselves with a favorite book, which they had no trouble locating independently.

Our students in grades 3-5 had a closer look at their check out history from the second semester, to help them reflect specifically on where this year has taken them on their reading journey (and example of what this might have looked like is shown in the photo at the top of this post). For this purpose, I also handed out copies of their shelfies and reflections from the beginning of the year, and for grade 4 and 5 students also their check out history from semester one. My favorite part watching our students work on analysing their check out history, displaying the data in a bar graph, to then interpret the data and share observations, was listening to them chatting excitedly about the books on their lists, remembering favorites and recommending these. Moments like this always remind me what an amazing community of readers we are here at Hong Kong Academy.

I encourage you to ask your child about their reflections, about showing you their reflection and sharing with you some of their (reading, inquiring, learning) highlights of the year.

As the school year is nearing its end and I am beginning to reflect with students about the past year and where it has taken them on their reading journey, I am reminded what an amazing community of readers we are here at HKA. I see this in the morning as the library is packed with students who could be outside on the playground but instead choose to be in the library; I see it during class visits when students are enjoying read-alouds, excitedly talking about the stories; I see it during check out times when students enthusiastically recommend books to each other and ask for recommendations; I see it in the large number of students who have been on the B.o.B. team, attending weekly meetings throughout the year (nearly 40% of all grade 4 and 5 students) and the even larger number of students who are now talking about participating next year. There is a wonderful momentum going that gets also students onboard who did not yet consider themselves readers; suddenly they turn up in the library in the morning, they are seen leaving the library with their nose in a book, with a big smile on their face they raise their hand when I ask about B.o.B. participation for next year - beautiful!

Let's make sure that we keep this momentum going during the upcoming break, not just to ensure that our young readers don't loose any of the reading skills they acquired this year (research has clearly shown that the loss in skills is considerable if reading is neglected over the summer), but even more to keep kindling and nurturing their love for reading, to create special memories through shared books. For this purpose, just like in the past years, I will put together a summer reading package, which will include ideas for activities around reading as well as title suggestions. You will be able to download the entire package during the last week of school or follow the program through weekly updates on this blog. 

While you can support your child in many ways to continue reading over the summer (and I will share more about this in the upcoming blog posts), the single most decisive factor how successful your child will be in continuing to read is choice. Nothing motivates readers of any age more than being in control of and having a say in what to read. Of course, we - teachers, librarians, parents - can make suggestions, show our young readers all that is available out there, get them excited about the books we love, but ultimately, we need to let them choose (keeping an eye though on content to ensure it is developmentally appropriate); otherwise reading is downgraded to a mere task. 

We want to take advantage of the summer as a time to further celebrate reading, to show our children why we value it, by enjoying special stories together, by making them part of an unforgettable time together.

​As I already shared in another post (if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, click on this link please), our second graders pursued questions and wonderings of personal interest about landmarks through inquiry circles a couple of weeks ago. In the following two videos, I have captured some of the learning to show you how we go about inquiry circles and with how much enthusiasm and engagement our second graders learned and shared their learning with others in this way:

​Last week, we spent some time reflecting on the process for students to share what they were especially proud of (for example, collaborating, finding lots of information in different ways, sharing our learning in creative ways) and what they might want to do differently or work more on next time (for example, making sure that everybody in the group is on task at all times, looking into more ways on how we can share our learning, working in even smaller groups). These reflections were another opportunity for our second graders to show how familiar they are with the inquiry process.

​This week, our second grade inquirers got to share their knowledge and skills around being an inquirer with their PK1 buddies who are experiencing inquiry circles for the very first time. Under the transdisciplinary theme Sharing the Planet, our youngest inquirers were curious to learn about a variety of topics such as pets (dogs, kittens, guinea pigs), reptiles (snakes and crocodiles), ocean animals (whales, sharks, fish), mammals (gorillas and elephants), birds and plants.  

​Our second graders discovered that even though they are confident inquirers, helping someone much younger can be a challenging task as you need to explain the answers in a developmentally appropriate way as well as make sure you maintain your buddies interest in the task.

​Overall, our second graders did a wonderful job helping their buddies to find answers to their questions in nonfiction books and in kid-friendly online resources. As the photos show, our PK1 students enjoyed the experience too and some wonderful collaboration and joined learning happened. Well done, G2 and PK1 students!