Last week during library class, upper elementary students celebrated World Read-Aloud Day. Six different classes held teleconferences with students all over the world via Skype.
Students in Siberia read to us one of their favorite Ukrainian folktales, “The Old Man’s Mitten” while we read to them Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw ’s book “Same, Same But Different”. ISG students played “Mystery Class” with a fourth-grade class in an unknown part of the world. After many failed attempts to guess where our mystery class might be located, even with their helpful clues, we finally guessed by entering the longitude/latitude coordinates via Google Maps.
The class was in Chennai, India! Students jumped up and down when they finally guessed correctly. As a student in India read to us a chapter from their class favorite book, “Wonder” , the tens of thousands of miles that separated us melted away and we were all together in one place, captivated by a story. In exchange, one of our primary students read to them a section of Michael Morpurgo’s “War Horse”. You could have heard a bookmark drop as the two classes, thousands of miles away from each other, listened.
Then we moved on to Birminghan, UK, where we were surprised to find out that some of our very own DBGS students have hometowns not far away. Even closer to us, across The Kingdom near Jeddah, the energetic students in library class at The KAUST School informed us that they love reading some of the same books, and some of the same authors, as we do.
One of the most important parts of World Read-Aloud Day is that it demonstrates, in practical, concrete ways, that out there in the big, vast world of schools and desks and books and learning, there are students everywhere who love to read. This love of reading connects us in tangible ways. Thanks to LitWorld and World Read-Aloud Day , for setting up this forum for connecting our young readers to the world.
For more photos and details of the event, check out our LRC Library in Saudi Arabia: World Read-Aloud Day #WRAD16 padlet.
Happy Reading, everyone, from the LRC library!
~ Katrina Lehman, Library Media Specialist~
Thanks to everyone who participated and voted in our Facebook Book Cover Photo Contest! DEMS and DBGS students in Grades 4/5 and Years 5/6 participated in a book scavenger hunt and were photographed with their books. Here are the winners!
se exciting titles that presenters recommended at ISG’s GAFE Google Summit? You know: the ones that challenge us to expand our vision and thinking to what could be? The LRC has purchased seven of them in ebook form. They make great winter break reading and can be accessed anywhere, anytime, 24/7.
This book builds on a simple premise: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique but is rooted in the identity and integrity of the teacher. Good teaching takes myriad forms, but good teachers share one trait: they are authentically present in the classroom, in community with their students and their subject, weaving connections that help their students weave a world for themselves. The connections made by good teachers are held not in their methods but in their hearts—the place where intellect, emotion, spirit, and will converge in the human self—supported by the community that emerges among us when we choose to live authentic lives.
People with fixed mindsets believe that fundamental qualities like intelligence are essentially stable; people with growth mindsets believe that such qualities can be developed and nurtured. As teachers, if we can foster growth mindsets in our students the results will be transformative. Barry Hymer and Mike Gershon begin by explaining how learners with growth mindsets are: more open to challenges and constructively critical feedback; resilient in the face of obstacles and initial failure; convinced that effort makes a difference; able to learn well with and from others; likely to rise to the top – and stay there.
Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners by 
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by 
It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens 
Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by 
Walk out Walk on: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now by 
Lehman's Library Lab 