Living Library
The energy in the room was ecstatic as students and community members checked out the “living books” at our inaugural Living Library event, “I AM the STORY.” For five hours on Friday, April 26th, Hangzhou International School Community Library became a vibrant meeting place for students to have personal exchanges with some fabulous “living books,” which included students, teachers, business managers, and parents. “I AM the STORY” is about sharing culture, perspective and experiences while building empathy, compassion, and understanding through exploring who we are and where we come from. "Books" shared stories that ranged from how they learned to type to living through war. Each of the volunteer community members brought their past experiences, knowledge of life, and cultural values to share within their 15-minute time slots.
HIS was so pleased at the amount of students that volunteered their time as both stories and assistants in order to be a part of this unique event. These Grade 8 students had this to say about the event.
“I talked to Bany because her story was emotional and gave you the feeling of being there” (Daniel Fryer).
“The Living Library was helpful to understand and know different cultures and perspectives” (Dieter Armstrong).
“The stories that were told with emotion engaged us and made us want to go again” (Yuki Chan).
Keep your eyes open for future Living Library events at Hangzhou International School Community Library.
Check out the video of the HIS Living Library here: https://www.his-china.org/inform/gallery?media_category_id=&media_channel_id=&media_group_id=412
Idiom of the week: A hot potato. Speak of an issue (mostly current) which many people are talking about and which is usually disputed.
Come down to the library and write a sentence including the phrase for a chance to win a prize from the HIS Café.
What is an idiom? An idiom is an expression not defined by the individual words in the phrase.
Featured book of the week:
Fly Guy
It all begins one day when a fly goes flying, looking for something to eat, and a boy goes walking, looking for something to catch for the pet show. After the boy catches the fly, he is amazed to find out that the fly calls him by his name — Buzz! Buzz's parents think the fly is a pest, not a pet.
Reading level Emergent: Grades PK-2
Arnold, Tedd, “Fly Guy.” Scholastic Inc. New York, USA, 2016.
