by Susan Voracek, Elementary/Middle School Library Media Specialist, Asociación Escuelas Lincoln, Buenos Aires
Asociación Escuelas Lincoln held its annual Book Fair this year to coincide with International Literacy Week. This event brought the Lincoln community together around current engaging print materials in both English and Spanish. The event’s motto was, “Children bring your parents and parents bring your children and select books together”.
This year’s goal was to create a more authentic Book Fair experience. We successfully did this by adding guest readers and using iPads. The activities at the Book Fair addressed student’s learning and were tied to our curriculum.
Browsing through Spanish and English titles and creating wish lists… Third grade students use clipboards to record their wish list (titles and prices). Fourth and Fifth graders record their wishes on their iPads.
Listening to guest readers… Mike Martell, our new superintendent, reads “Barefoot Boy”. Students are engaged in Mr. Martell’s reading performance from DEAR chairs.
Reading with a friend in a special area… Alone and together, student read new books brought by the booksellers, graphic novels and magazines from Lincoln’s library, and digital books on iPads from Follettshelf and TumbleBooks. A special reading area was available but anywhere on the floor sufficed
Planning for next year… Based on the success of this year’s Book Fair, next year we will continue the fair in much the same manner. However, one new element will be a focus on the publishing of books. This publishing focus will include a demonstration of how a book is published, students sharing their authored books in a variety of formats (digital and print) and students assembling pre-created books.
Our community enthusiastically supports our Book Fair. It was rewarding to see families and friends come together around reading. Lincoln’s curriculum, student leaning and the American Association of School Librarian Standards are well supported by this fair. We see the fair as an appealing event offering an authentic learning experience to the entire Lincoln community.
Work Cited
“Standards for the 21st-Century Learner”, American Library Association, November 8, 2006. http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/learning-standards (Accessed October 7, 2014)
Document ID: ec710ea2-99a2-27d4-b987-e042c9f4bf3f