Finding Bangladesh- Adnan M.S. Fakir

One of our Bangla teachers shared this TED Talk by Adnan Fakir with me titled Finding Bangladesh.  It's an interesting talk about how legends/lore from Bangladesh originated.  The first 2 minutes of the talk is the teaser from the movie that has been made: Finding Bangladesh 2: Tales of the South.
Learn something new about our host country!

Mitali Perkins Visit

Grades 4-8 attended a wonderful presentation with Mitali Perkins this morning.  We are thankful to the PTA for sponsoring a visit to the school.  Her presentation entitled Stories on the Fire Escape  was about growing up and writing "between cultures" and the power of stories to keep us balanced.  It was very relevant for our diverse student population.  Thank you Ms. Perkins for taking the time to visit us!
If you missed seeing Mitali Perkins today or want to learn more, see her again tomorrow at the Dhaka Lit Fest!

Being in Grade 7 was hard!

The first books...11 years apart!

Rickshaw Girl is becoming a movie and was published in Bangla today!

Thank you PTA for sponsoring the visit!

OverDrive Sora

Try the new Sora reading app from OverDrive on your October break travels! 

The library offers thousands of eBooks and audiobooks through OverDrive.  Download the Sora app on your device or access Sora online at: https://soraapp.com to see what books are available.

Our other link to OverDrive still works, but I think Sora provides a better student reading experience and syncs well across multiple devices.  Stop by the library if you need help using Sora.

Banned Books Week 2018

We are busy getting ready for Banned Books Week September 23-29.  Stop into the library to learn about, and check out, challenged books.

A huge THANK YOU to Mr. Shoyab and Ms. Shuborna for taking the lead on the awesome Banned Books Week displays.

Comics belong in the classroom

Something to think about as we get ready to begin a new school year...

Gene Luen Yang was the 2016-2017 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. His platform was "Reading Without Walls" which suggests that being, and reading, outside our comfort zones can increase empathy. 

We have his comics in the MS/HS Library.  Find them all at: COMIC 741.5 YAN

Her Stories

The creators of Her Stories are coming for a visit! 

"Told over the span of 1000 years, HerStories explores the lives of 21 outstanding women of Bengal and present day Bangladesh. Educationalists, poets, athletes, artists and activists, the heroines of HerStories are home-grown role models for future generations."

-Her Stories Website

See the newsletter or one of the librarians for visit details.  And, enjoy this Her Stories book trailer:

  

Buddy Reading in the MS/HS Library

This week our middle school students are buddy reading with our elementary students.  This is one of our most requested library activities by students and teachers at all grade levels.  We enjoyed several great picture books and Grade 7 even read the tall tales they wrote to Grade 1 students. Over the 2 years we've been doing this, I've seen the read-aloud skills of our middle school students improve a great deal!

Leveling Books

A professional read!  Interview with Fountas and Pinnell from School Library Journal that touches on the leveling of classroom libraries. At the schools I've worked at, school libraries are not leveled but classroom libraries are. This article contradicts that thinking in regards to leveling classroom libraries.

"We certainly never intended that children focus on a label for themselves in choosing books in classroom libraries." (Fountas &Pinnell)

and even better....

"It is our belief that levels have no place in classroom libraries, in school libraries, in public libraries, or on report cards."  (Fountas &Pinnell)

Fountas and Pinnell Say Librarians Should Guide Readers by Interest, Not Level

Our recent article on reading levels and the dangers of using strictly prescribed leveling systems in libraries for young readers sparked much dialogue and debate. One of the most popular and widely used reading systems is the "A to Z" gradient, developed by Irene C.