Happy New Year! Happy Year of the Pig! May all your wishes for this new year come true!

I hope you all had a wonderful Lunar New Year break, enjoying quality time with family and friends, time to rest, relax, and read. I always appreciate the slower pace of a break, the extra time I get to enjoy with my family, and lots of uninterrupted reading time. Also during this past break as you can see in the picture collage below, I came across and enjoyed some wonderful books - some written for children, some for young adults, some for grown ups; most I enjoyed reading in print, one in the form of an audiobook. Since I started to keep track of and share my reading also through Instagram (if you would like to explore and/or follow my account, click on this link), I love being reminded of when and where I read a particular book, who might have been with me at the time. It has been a wonderful week, with many beautiful new memories made - and I hope you feel the same way about your past week too.

I am wishing you a great start back into regular school and work life and quickly wanted to remind you of important ongoing/upcoming events - I will of course share more over the next weeks and keep you posted.

Today, we joined readers around the world to mark World Read Aloud Day which is already celebrated for the tenth time, having more and more readers join each year. It is a wonderful opportunity to make extra time to enjoy a read-aloud together, while spreading awareness that literacy is a human right, yet still millions of people around the world are not able to read and write. For our students and all of us, it is a good reminder of how fortunate we are to learn/have learnt literacy skills and to have such beautiful libraries at our school.

While we celebrate reading every day throughout the year as one of my students pointed out, today we made some extra read-aloud time. Some classes, like our kindergarteners, prepared ahead of time, choosing some favourites to be read by their teachers - as you can see from the tweet below. I loved hearing that some HKA families have also made special read-aloud plans for later in the day, outside of school. It shows once again what a great community of readers we are.

World Read Aloud Day was not the only special event today. We celebrated reading further by launching our annual read-a-thon which will run through March 8, 2019. With the read-a-thon, which is a longstanding tradition at HKA, we spread our love for reading beyond our community by raising money in support of Bring Me a Book Hong Kong (BMABHK). BMABHK promotes family literacy around Hong Kong, providing access to quality literature to children. Just a couple of weeks ago, through BMABHK we made a book donation to a local primary school and our fourth graders shared read-alouds with the students there as part of the donation ceremony. (You can read more about it here.)

In case you are new to the read-a-thon, here is how it works (our fourth graders visited each classroom last week to explain it to their fellow primary students)
​

• Students ask family members / friends to sponsor their reading time.
• Then they write down the number of minutes they read each time this month.
• At the end of the read-a-thon, students calculate the total number of minutes read and collect the promised money from their sponsors.
• Students bring the money raised in form of a single cheque to our libraries.
• We hand over the total amount to Bring Me a Book Hong Kong.
• We participate in the installation of book case libraries and book donations organised by BMABHK.​

(Hard copies of the respective forms were sent home today. We also shared them earlier this week in electronic format with all parents.)

Have a lovely Lunar New Year Break!

This past week, our students in grades 3-5 spent time reflecting on who they are as readers at this point of the school year, to then identify an area to grow as readers in the second semester. It is important for us to give students time to think and talk about who they are as readers, uncovering and then furthering their reading identity. We do this by providing students with their check out history of the first semester and some sentence starters/prompts to reflect on what they see in the data once transferred into a bar graph. Of course, what they select from our library does often not cover their entire reading as many also read books from their home or the public library; but it provides valuable insights and general trends that are helpful in making them aware of their identify as readers to then set goals on how to move forward.

Many of our students expressed surprise at some of the observations they made and shared this in lively conversations with each other and us teachers; for example, discovering that they had read considerably more (or less) than they had thought; noticing the complete absence of particular genres in their book selection; as well as identifying changes to past trends in particular with regard to the amount of books checked out. It was interesting that few students were surprised to see what their reading preferences were, having a good idea about what they enjoy the most in books (when it comes to genre and format).

Among the most frequently mentioned areas students wish to grow in are making more time to read to increase the number of books they get to read and including a wider variety of genres in their selection. Over the weeks to come, we will look at what some of the barriers to achieving these goals might be - maybe making time to read outside of school or finding books they enjoy - and how we can eliminate or overcome these barriers. It will require as to look closer at our reading habits and how we might change the ones that interfere with our goals. We will also look at and/or revisit strategies that can be helpful, such as how to find books of interest in our library, how to share our reading with each other and how to make reading plans. In addition, we will of course keep introducing authors, titles and series.

In addition to the read-alouds and conversations about reading wishes, students had much opportunity to look for and check out books. It seemed that after the break, everybody was ready and extra excited to get new books. 

Generally, it seemed that everyone was keen on taking first steps towards making their wishes for reading come true this year, as they recommended books to one another, looked in different areas of the library than just where their preferred books are, and got right into reading after check out.

An exciting start to the year!

Time has flown by and we suddenly find ourselves at the end of winter break and in a new year, 2019. I hope you all had a wonderful time relaxing and re-energising, and are ready for this brand new year. May it bring only the very best for you and your families!

As you can see in the collages embedded in this post, I enjoyed time with my family visiting beautiful Japan and reading lots of wonderful books (picture books, novels for the middle grades, young adults and grown ups). I look very much forward seeing our students this week and hearing all about their winter break (reading) adventures. As we always do at the start of a new year, we will be reflecting about the past year and thinking about wishes where we might want our reading journey to take us during 2019. Whatever these individual wishes might look like, I hope they will involve lots of reading time and wonderful new books.

Reading has so many benefits - besides of course being one of the most magical endeavours ever - and we can't remind ourselves often enough about them. Just recently, I received a beautiful infographic from Penguin Random House summarising some of the big benefits of reading:

COGNITIVE 

• Improves memory
• Lengthens life
• Makes you smarter

PHYSICAL

• Relieves stress and lowers blood pressure
• Improves sleep

EMOTIONAL

• Makes you more empathetic.

I hope you will enjoy lots of wonderful books this year.

​Happy Reading!

If you are new to HKA this year, you might not have heard yet about a long-standing tradition at our school: the read-a-thon. Each year, our students share their love for reading through a sponsored reading initiative in support of Bring Me a Book Hong Kong (BMABHK). Bring Me a Book Hong Kong is a local NGO, aiming to promote family literacy and providing access to quality children's literature to communities across Hong Kong. Over the past couple of years, we have donated book case libraries to various nursery and primary schools, the last one during the past summer to the Po Leung Kuk Wong Siu Ching Kindergarten-Cum-Nursery, Won Tai Sin (70% of the children attending this nursery school are from low-income families).

Last Friday, we visited with our fourth graders Sung Tsun Catholic School (Primary Division), here in Sai Kung, to replenish their book case library (which we donated two years ago) with 125 additional brand-new picture books.

Our students did not just share their love for reading through the book donation but also by reading aloud to groups of 6-year-olds from the school. It was beautiful watching our fourth graders read so confidently and clearly entertaining their young audiences. 

At the end of the read-aloud session, we all got together for a group photo and received each a gift - a bookmark with a personalised thank you message.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who helped: students and sponsors of the 2018 read-a-thon, our g4 students and teachers supporting us in organising the read-a-thon, the Bring Me a Book Team preparing the books and ceremony and the Sung Tsun Catholic School vice-principal, teachers and students who received us so warmly.

(In case you are wondering, the next read-a-thon is coming soon, in connection with our Literacy Week 2019 in March. Stay tuned!)

Our fourth graders recently got a taste of what it feels like to be on the receiving end of not being acknowledged for one's work. In groups, we asked them to create a poster, representing some of their learning about author and illustrator Allan Say. We promised that the group putting together the most creative poster would be allowed to sit on the reading loft, a privilege usually reserved for g5 students. Our students began with much enthusiasm.

In a next step, before announcing the winning poster, we asked the groups to move to a different table. At the table, they were asked to remove the name on the poster in front of them and replace it with their own. There was much reluctance among our students in following this instruction. They were clearly uncomfortable with it. When we then announced the winning poster, congratulating the team that had not actually made the poster, our students were appalled. Some said that it was not fair that someone else would take credit for their hard work. Others said that they felt they had cheated and they were not interested in winning in this way. Our fourth graders had lots to say, which allowed for a fantastic conversation about the importance of acknowledging the people who originally created the images, texts and ideas we are using. - And afterwards, everyone got to enjoy some quiet reading time on the reading loft.​

After having established why it is important to give credit, we looked at how this is done. Students got examples of book and website citations and had to figure out the individual pieces going in such a citation. It took our fourth grade inquirers only a couple of minutes before they had it sorted out. When we cite our sources in a bibliography, we include WHO made it, WHEN it was made, WHAT it is called and WHERE it was published. Later on in the year, we will look into how technology can help us in doing this.

In addition to looking into the avoidance of plagiarism through citation, our fourth graders have continued to explore the creative work of author and illustrator Allen Say...

... and as part of their check out, explored different kinds of nonfiction (browsable, active, narrative and expository). 

They have been busy, our fourth graders.

Last Wednesday and Thursday, many of our students visited the library to share with their parents about their learning in the library and their reading lives. It was wonderful hearing our students speak so confidently as they shared amongst others about author inquiries, how we go about finding and recording information, how we use the online catalog (Destiny Discover), how knowledge around call numbers helps us to locate books in the library, and what kind of books our students enjoy checking out and reading. Thank you to all those who made the time to stop by!

If you were not able to schedule an appointment, here are two big ideas and related resources I shared during the various conferences. 

For those of you who have been to a PTSC in the library, you know that I always speak about the importance of reading aloud to your child, no matter the age. This round of PTSCs was not different; read-alouds were my number one recommendation to all of our parents, for those with children in PK1 and all the way up to G5. As the infographic below also clearly states - supported by research findings - reading aloud to children is key to their development as readers. This is also true for older children, as discussed in this wonderful post on the Read Brightly blog: The Importance of Reading Aloud to Big Kids.

Source: ​https://ebookfriendly.com/best-audiobooks-infographics/audiobooks-promote-literacy-full-infographic/

PTSCs are always a wonderful opportunity to showcase our collection and this time, I had decided to feature mostly titles from our nonfiction collection. While we have some very passionate nonfiction readers amongst our students, the large majority is more drawn to fiction. I therefore suggested during numerous PTSCs the exploration and inclusion of nonfiction in a student's reading selection. I find that for those of us not drawn to nonfiction in our recreational reading choices, it is especially narrative and expository nonfiction that provide a nice entry point to nonfiction reading. Examples were displayed on one of the tables, and as students explored and selected from the display, I was excited having to refill the table regularly over the two days. 

But also so-called browsable and active nonfiction (see examples in the image below) can have a great appeal, especially when carefully selected according to a child's passions and interests. In this context, it is important to remind young readers that this kind of nonfiction does not need to be read from beginning to end; rather, the reader can decide on what sections to read and in which order. For more ideas around nonfiction reading, you might enjoy exploring this post on the Read Brightly blog: How to Get Kids to Read Nonfiction.

You are welcome to stop by on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between 3 and 4pm to explore what our collection has to offer :)

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!

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.