ISB’s Literacy Week is a celebration that aims to highlight the importance of literacy in our lives and educations. Take a look at all of the wonderful ways that ISB celebrated Literacy Week this year!
Literacy Week started off with Lower School teachers and students transforming their classroom doors into lovely book jackets and book displays. Our hallways became a colorful bibliophile’s paradise!
Literacy Week kicked off with the 12th annual Multilingual Book Fair. Book Culture, Bayard-Milan, and l’école des Loisirs/Max Book Club supplied hundreds of high-quality multicultural books, magazines, and games for all ages in French, Spanish, and English. Tables were filled with colorful covers and intriguing titles in a variety of genres! It was delightful to see the enthusiasm on people’s faces as they perused the selection. Students cozied up in the “Book Nook” to read, and Middle School student volunteers read aloud to younger students.
“The Book Fair is a great event that brings the wider multilingual community together. It is a highlight of the year for our boys! We’re not always confident navigating French titles, but with the great selection, we ended up bringing home an armful of unique and wonderful books!” -Azadeh Nawy, ISB Parent
Throughout Literacy Week, ISB family members, teachers, administrators, and Middle Schoolers visited classrooms and the library to share the gift of reading with our students. This year, over 50 Mystery Readers, read aloud from beautiful multicultural books in French, Spanish, and English to curious students.
“I was delighted to have the opportunity to share this time with the French Kindergarten. At a time where computers and technology take on such a big role in our society, I was glad to see that books have still hold a special place in the heart of our children, as they were really happy to share this moment with me.” -Melodie Fourquet, ISB Parent
“Being a Mystery Reader was a fun way to sneak behind the scenes and see how the class works and the kids get along. Watching their curiosity and energy as they digested new literature was incredibly gratifying!” -Tal Nawy, ISB Parent
For an especially lively Mystery Reader experience, Librarian Maria Falgoust and French 4th Grade Head Teacher Amina Maine planned a surprise field trip to Albertine, the beautiful French bookshop and reading room that is a project of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. ISB parent and Albertine Bookseller Adam Hocker read a book on mythology to the class, to tie into their Artifacts unit of inquiry. He also explained the history and interior design of the bookstore.
“Meeting their mystery reader in this special place really gave them a sense of pleasure in reading. They enjoyed browsing and exploring the extensive, rich selection of books for their age range. Albertine’s team gave us a warm welcome and we look forward to a long-term partnership that fosters our students’ voracious appetite for reading.” –Amina Maine, French 4th Grade Head Teacher
We concluded this week-long celebration of books with Dress Like a Literary Character Day! Students came to school dressed up as their favorite characters from books and poems.
Director of Middle School Joe Santos challenged students to identify his impressive literary character: Rincewind, the wizard from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. The five lucky winning students won a pizza party with Mr. Santos!
As part of ISB’s commitment to showcasing diverse perspectives in our curriculum, this year’s Literacy Week featured a “Diverse Books Read-aloud” day, where classes set aside time to read a diverse book together and have a group discussion.
French Nursery read a book about about multiracial families, Noire comme le café, blanc comme la lune, by Pipi Mandelbaum, and discussed different family compositions. The class also read the book J’ai le droit d’être un enfant, a book about children’s rights. The students reflected the things that they do in their daily lives that other children might not, such as going to school. They also discussed the homes they live in and how homes can be different around the world.
Alicia Smith took the Diverse Books Read-a-loud as an opportunity to launch the 1st Grade’s study of habitats with a Native American myth. The class read Seneca’s traditional tale “Turtle Races with Beaver” from the book Keepers of the Animals by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac.
Literacy Week was not just for students – it also included a workshop hosted by the Library in partnership with ISB’s Diversity Committee on “We Need Diverse Books: The Importance of Equal Representation in Children’s Literature”, to provide resources for choosing diverse books for children. The workshop featured a panel with Author Selina Alko, Illustrator Sean Qualls, and Senior Literary Specialist from Lee & Low Books’ Jill Eisenberg followed by an open discussion. Read more about the workshop here.
