This week was Book Week in Secondary and what a wonderful Book Week it was. This was the second year we have held it completely online. This year, however, was a very different Book Week Experience from last year's event. This year, our librarians teamed up with librarians from the other IB schools in El Salvador, the Internacional Book Shop, and various authors from around the country to plan a variety of powerful activities. The LRC Team put together a Book Week website to which they added collections of challenges, video sessions, and book fair links.
LRC Challenges were provided for students and in some cases by students as was the case of the Read 2 Books per Month challenge. Additional activities included the Calligram and Creative Writing Exhibition challenges. A prize will be awarded to the top submission in each category.
During Book Week, students in 6th,7th, 9th, and 12th-grade students took part in a variety of activities.
6th and 7th Grade participated in reading workshops with Salvadoran author Milena Calderón, which focused on the book, La Calabiuza. The students were enthralled with the activity which included a dynamic reading by Milena. This was one of the learning opportunities provided by. GREMISAL.
Silvia Pira of GRELISAL took part por su participaciñon en el fomento de la lectura con el cuento sobre La muerte ella pertenece a la Red de escritores salvadoreños GREMISAL
GREMISAL(Gremial de Escritores de Literatura Infanto-Juvenil Salvadoreña ) is a group of Salvadoran writers, storytellers, and librarians who are involved in the promotion of Salvadoran children's literature within the country and abroad.
The 9th Grade Book Week Assembly took place on Thursday, April 29th.
Ms. Valdez, one of our guest writers this week, who is also our wonderful head of 9th grade had this to say about the assembly.
We finished another week of school by reaffirming the joy of reading and storytelling with our G9 students. The LRC put together some great activities and challenges for all ABC students to participate. Additionally, they were kind enough to organise a virtual storytelling for G9 with Salvadoran author Silvia Pira. As she dramatised her story "La Muerte", it was great to watch G9 students hanging on the edge of their seats and their reactions as the story progressed. Thank you once again LRC for allowing us this opportunity"(Margarita Valdez-Ho9th)
Thursday was a busy Book Week Day as the librarians, Spanish teachers, and grade 12 Spanish students participated in an online Book Day virtual discussion with 11th grade IB students at Faith Christian School in Paraguay. This was a wonderful success, punctuated by a variety of student-led questions, answers, and discussion which revolved around literature, IB experiences, and online learning during a pandemic. This virtual forum was a powerful experience for the students and teachers involved.
We believe in providing our students with opportunities to engage in collaborative work which enables them to learn with and learn from others, share their own ideas and discuss global issues and concerns and share their experiences and learning in collaborative venues. Over the years we have engaged in a great many collaborative with students and teachers from other schools, all of which have not only impacted positively on learning but have made lasting memories and enduring connections for those involved. Virtual meetups provide an ideal platform for this vital work.
Ms. Granados, who is one of our Spanish teachers had this to say about the event in which she too played a major role.
"El conversatorio ha sido una muy buena experiencia, en cuanto al intercambio de conocimientos y vivencias en la materia de Español.
Fue gratificante tener ese contacto con alumnos de otro país y comprobar que, los alumnos de la ABC están dentro del perfil de aprendizaje del IB, los cuales se mostraron muy receptivos y, a la vez expresaron algunos consejos"(Ana Gladys Granados-Dept. Español-ABC).
Mention should also be made of the careful preparation, and engagement with this activity evident in the work that the LRC librarians, the ABC Secondary Spanish team, as well as the students and teachers from both institutions who participated. We would like to say a special thank you to Cynthia Ruiz Diaz of FCS, and Judith Mendez who got the ball rolling and are largely responsible for the planning and implementation of this event.
Finally, the LRC team would like to thank Ms. Rabanowitz, our head of Spanish, for all of the work she and her Spanish team did in helping to prepare for and participate in this activity.
