Not Just Fish in the Library

It is clear to me that most of our students are super curious about other people’s lives. We read about many “normal” people that have done extraordinary things from Kids who Dare to be Different by Ben Brooks. All of our copies of that kind of book, have been checked out. We ordered a few more copies from AdLibris, so we’re hoping to both satisfy their curiosity as well as spark more questions!

It was interesting to hear what students would like to be known for. The ideas ranged from professional sports, being an expert in something and becoming a teacher in that area, to being a “strong feminist”. Not everyone had a turn to share what kind of extraordinary things they would like to do in their lives, and how that could help make the world a better place. Perhaps you could talk about that with your child, and share what you do to make the world just a little bit better for everyone.

Apart from the 100 Immigrant Women book, we have all titles in Swedish as well.

Last week, we had a teacher librarian colleague visit. Marie Noëlle from the International School in Stockholm came to visit our school library. We exchanged best practices and she observed our library lessons. This is how she described our ISGR school library:

“The library is a nice place where their [ISGR] students feel excited, comfortable, happy, creative, and welcome from the start. Students benefit from a huge range of fiction and nonfiction books. The signage inside the library is well thought through, relevant and effective: a genuine source of inspiration for “my library”. Fleur and Sophie did an outstanding job. It conveys both a welcoming environment and makes it easy for students to spot the book they are looking for.“

Thanks, Marie-Noëlle for visiting us!

In the darker days, we (or maybe it’s just me!) have more need for cozy indoor spaces. So we put up some paper lanterns in our library! Talking about improvement of our library environment: we’ve dedicated some of our budget to beautiful plants, fun board games for the Library Club (so we don’t have to use our personal ones), as well as construction material (Lego and Plus Plus). Little things that can make a big difference!

The Aquarium Club fish “release party” was a success! The five guppies (one pregnant one, so it seems!) survived the journey from their old home to their new one in the library, and thanks to expert help from our Aquarium Club members and our Friday Volunteer (Friday Library Fairy!) Patty, the fish happily explored their new habitat. But we saw that the water plants weren’t doing so well… So that will be a natural continuation for our Aquarium Club: inquiring into how to maintain a healthy habitat for the fish and how to best take care of them. The Aquarium Club is now open to new members! Please send Fleur an email (fleur.doornberg-puglisi@staff.isgr.se) with your child’s name and class. All students from grade 2 and up are welcome. Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, December 3rd in the library, from 14.30 – 15.00ish.

Next week’s library lesson will be all about our aquarium. Together, we will answer the question: How can we keep our fish safe and happy, while at the same time keeping our students safe and happy? We will create agreements on how we can enjoy the aquarium and the fish, while still being focused on finding the best fit book, and reading it after checking out.

Our next Board Game Afternoon will be on Friday, November 27th. From 14.30 – 15.00ish, in the library. Students from grade 2 and up are very welcome! Bring your own board game, or play what we have. After the Winter Break, Library Club will include Board Game Afternoons (every other week), Construction Club (on Tuesdays or Thursdays, depending on staff meetings) and Aquarium Club (monthly meeting, and every week two different students have the task to take care of the fish). If you and/or your child have any ideas for other events we should include on the Library Club calender, let us know!