Library News
Welcome to Term 4, which is always a school's busiest term of the year. This year is flying!
This term, our students will be busy reading more great books, completing research projects, working on Drive folders in readiness for Secondary and finishing the year with some beautiful Christmas stories.
This Week’s Reads
Kindergarten is diving into summer with stories about the beach and warmer weather this term! We’re kicking things off with Granny Grommet and Me by Diane Wolfer, a fun story about a granny who helps her grandson overcome his fear of the ocean and discover the joys of snorkelling and rock pools. Students love sharing stories about their own grannies and get to decorate their very own surfboards, too! Fun fact: the author was inspired by real-life “Granny Grommets,” a group of surfing grandmothers from Albany, WA. You can learn more about them here.
Stage 1 students are enjoying John Canty’s Heads and Tails series, where they listen carefully to clues and try to guess the animals—some clues are tricky! The beautiful illustrations add to the fun. Soon, students will research an animal of their choice and create a page for a class book by writing their own clues about it. This exciting activity taught me so much about the students and their favourite animals!
This term, Stage 2 is focusing on reading for pleasure and reflecting on what they enjoy. Last week, students completed a survey about what, where, and how they like to read, including questions about their interests and thoughts on reading at home. I’ll use this feedback to guide future book purchases. We’d also love to hear from families! If you’re interested, please complete the survey to share what you enjoy reading—we’d love to include your insights in our conversations with students.
Families can access the survey here.
Stage 3 has an exciting term ahead, starting with an author study of Alan Gratz and creating book recommendation posters. Gratz has written over 20 children’s books, focusing on historical fiction, especially war stories. This week, we’re diving into Refugee and reading excerpts from Two Degrees, Ground Zero, Allies, and Projekt 1065. If you want to watch the excellent Refugee book trailer, click here.
Reminders
Just a couple of quick reminders
- Please remember to bring a library bag on the day of your library lesson. These help protect our books.
- K-2 can borrow up to three books for one week, and Year 3-10 students can borrow up to five books for two weeks. Books can be renewed if there are no reservations on that book.
- Students can place book reservations by completing a slip at the Library counter.
Library Days
Monday - KD, KS, 6T
Tuesday - 1E, 2M, 3W, 6M
Wednesday - 2G, 1M, 3M
Thursday - 5B, 4WL, 6D
Friday - 5F, 4LD
Coming Up - Term 4 Book Club
The year's final Scholastic Book Club catalogue will go home on Wednesday. It’s an excellent opportunity to get in early for Christmas, and if you let us know, we can hold books for anyone wanting to keep them as surprises. We expect books to arrive back at school in a couple of weeks. We encourage families to use Scholastic’s LOOP online ordering system, as this makes for a faster return to school. Closing dates for all orders will be 9 am Wednesday, 30th November 2024 (week 3). You can view the online catalogue here.
As always, Book Club is a voluntary reading program, and you are not obligated to buy. If you have any questions, please contact me at invlibrary@arm.catholic.edu.au.
Meet the Readers
Meet Paige and Eva from Year 6, who decided to read books from the same genres: historical fiction and fantasy. I hope you like big books too!
Tommy, in Year 5, after learning how to look at his loan history since he began at HTS, borrowed the very first book he took home in Kindergarten. I hope you enjoy it now as much as you did then.
Bag Tales
Samuel could hardly wait to show off his library bag—it was decked out with one of his favourite things: motorbikes!
Have a great week, happy reading.
Mrs Toni Fraser