LIBRARY NEWS

Week 4, Term 1

Welcome to Week 4 in the library, things are starting to get busier! Kindergarten had their first lesson last week and it was exciting to be a part of it.

What are we learning in Term 1?

This term, we’ll be enjoying books from a variety of Australian authors and illustrators while learning and establishing routines for borrowing and returning library books.

Kindergarten is busy learning how to use the library, borrow & return books and actively listen and respond during reading time. This week, we’re enjoying ‘There’s No Such Thing’ by Heidi McKinnon and learning some book care rules. I’ve included the worksheet we’ll be using for families to discuss with their children at home.

This week, we’re beginning Stage 1’s unit of ‘Australian Authors & Illustrators’ with a couple of classic Bob Graham books. Students will listen to Sandy Beach, Queenie the Bantam or Maxine then choose a favourite and discuss similarities between the books. Students will then design a new superhero outfit or draw a favourite holiday memory.

Stage 2 begins the ‘Legends of Australian Literature’ unit with reading ‘4F for Freaks’ by Leigh Hobbs. Australia Post released a series of stamps to celebrate wonderful Australian authors including Hobbs, Mem Fox, Shaun Tan, Alison Lester and Morris Gleitzman. Each week, we’ll be reading a story from each of these authors then end the term with students creating their own ‘stamp’ of their favourite Australian author. Today, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing 4D’s freak version of themselves, I’ll share these with you when they’re finished.

Finally, Stage 3 is learning about genres and developing an awareness of their favourites, to guide book selection. I’ll also be reading the first chapter from a wide variety of popular series so students can experience a range of genres. This week, we kick off the unit with the Lemony Snicket ‘Series of Unfortunate Events’ book.

Library Lovers Day

Move over Valentine's Day, February 14th is also national Library Lovers Day! This day is a chance to reconnect with your library and share the #librarylove. At the HTS library this week, students are encouraged to leave a message about what they enjoy about our library and about the books and characters they love.

Library Bags

Thank you to families who have been able to send in a library bag with your child, I appreciate your help in keeping our books clean and tidy. I have mentioned to classes that a library bag doesn’t have to be anything fancy, a simple plastic shopping bag works well (it’s large and keeps things dry). 

We were also very fortunate to receive from the Inverell & Tingha Sewing for Charity Group, a kind donation of beautifully made fabric library bags. These were used last week by students who didn’t have a bag and if you could please return these, other students can continue to use them when they forget a library bag. A very big thank you to this wonderful group!

Coming Up - Premier’s Reading Challenge 2023

Although it seems like it only just finished, the 2023 Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is beginning soon. The voluntary challenge involves children reading a number of books from selected lists, logging them online with the PRC and receiving a completion certificate later in the year. The challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for pleasure in students and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge for children to read, to read more and to read more widely. 

Coming home soon will be a permission slip for your child to register (if you and they would like to participate). The challenge begins on the 27/2/23 and runs through to the 18/8/23. If you would like more information about the challenge, visit the PRC website here. 

Meet the Readers

This week, Sienna and Willow grabbed some of our new Netball Gem series, Thomas wanted to brush up on his chess skills, Leo who was excited to borrow a spider and truck book and Chloe who was the first borrower of the intriguingly titled new junior fiction book, 'A Girl Called Corpse'.

Happy reading,

Mrs Toni Fraser