Author Archives: Lana

Revelations and Resolutions

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How can it be 6 weeks since I’ve blogged here? (That’s a revelation) leading to the resolution…Must Blog More Regularly. aka MBMR!

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Our school platform has changed to schoology; after about 10 years with blogs, I’m adjusting to the change.

One of the best things about living in China, and there are many, is that we get TWO chances at New Years Resolutions…the standard old January 1st…. lose weight, exercise more, drink water…blah blah blah…AND we get Chinese New Year, which this year falls on January 28, a wonderful FOUR weeks after our first set of resolutions; so perfect for a little bit of necessary fine tuning…

Resolutions I’m dallying with include…but are not limited to:

*Making more effort (any effort) on Goodreads as right now it is just embarrassing! (so to help that goal, I’ve signed up for the 2017 book challenge to read 250 books this year; started the year with a bang thanks to 12 hours on a plane and have knocked over about 8 so far!)

*Writing letters and postcards, or at LEAST some long e mails. I collect postcards everywhere, I even have some local stamps tucked away. My best writing effort was when my Nanna (grandma) turned 90. I mailed her a postcard a day for 90 days, she loved it! So time to put the pen in to gear and start culling the last ten years worth of collected cards by mailing them to those near and far…Need to smarten up that goal a little, but hey, that’s for CNY!

screen-shot-2017-01-04-at-11-52-00-am*I’d like to tighten up my social media presence and get more serious with insta…try a couple more # like #bookaday #authorofthweek #student reader etc. I can do more with my barefoot librarian feed…stay tuned! I might try and get back into FB with the Barefoot Librarian Page…but otherwise, that platform is over for me.

*Keep sorting out our possessions and stop hoarding; enough said.

 

Cardboard Challenge 2016

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Tomorrow is our 4th Cardboard Challenge, the 5th Global Cardboard Challenge, as started by the Imagination Foundation back in 2012. The Global Cardboard Challenge was inspired by the short film Caine’s Arcade.

The Global Cardboard Challenge is a fun, playful and inspiring way to foster creativity in children through a simple process called Creative Play. Through creative play, kids engage their imaginations and open up their minds to what’s possible – and then they turn their ideas into something real. In this process, children learn to develop and test their own ideas, take chances, solve problems, get input from others and become better creative thinkers.

Many people have asked me how we have run the Cardboard Challenge here in Shanghai, so below (and linked here) is a fact sheet, which condenses much of the great information provided by the Imagination Foundation

Cardboard Challenge Fact Sheet

Decide on a date for your Cardboard Challenge, the official date for the Global Cardboard Challenge, this year, was October 1st 2016; however you can run an event whenever you want; anytime, anyplace.

6 weeks before event:

Advertise event in your community by sharing the following links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U original Caine’s Arcade Movie made by Nirvan Mullick

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul9c-4dX4Hk movie that shows launch of Global Cardboard Challenge and Imagination Foundation

http://imagination.is/our-projects/cardboard-challenge/ Imagination Foundation Website with full information on Global Cardboard Challenge

4 weeks before event:

Start collecting recycled materials from your community and appoint student leaders to set up an area for materials, and a plan for counting materials.

I found weekly challenges worked best in our school and prizes were awarded each Friday for the class that brought in the most of the following:

Week One: Small boxes, such as medicine packets, toothpaste, chocolate but nothing bigger than a granola box.

Week Two: Medium sized boxes, such as tissue and cereal boxes

Week Three: Tubes, toilet paper, kitchen towel, foil and plastic wrap tubes; these are essential to a successful Cardboard Challenge.

Week Four: Boxes, the bigger, or more unusual, the better. If you can contact any companies in the area ahead of time to ask for donations of any used (or new) bike/fridge/furniture/storage boxes, these will be a huge hit.

Hints for a Successful Cardboard Challenge

Plan Ahead

  1. Where will you store the collected cardboard?
  2. What will happen to the cardboard after the event?
  3. Can children take things home? What about shared projects?
  4. Will you work across classrooms, across grade levels, across divisions?
  5. Do you want to use paint… for some grade levels? All grade levels?
  6. Get Parents involved; the younger grades especially will need help with cutting and gluing.
  7. Make sure you have enough materials, not just cardboard, but things to cut/glue/paint/stick things together with. Where will these things be stored? Who will have access to them?

Book Display Ideas

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My Instagram Account has many shots of favorite books and displays:

https://www.instagram.com/barefootlibrarian/

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While on instagram, type in #bookdisplay It is always best to type # in singular, rather than plural, eg #bookdisplay has over 3,000 posts, whereas #bookdisplays has only 300.

When you find some great displays you like, check out that person’s account and see if they are worth following. Also, click on your favorite book displays and see what other # they have used.

You’ll probably turn up tags like #booksuggestion #bookstagram #bookchallenge #instabook and one of my favorites #bookishrainbow

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Here is a post I wrote about using instagram to promote new books http://sites.saschina.org/kpower/2014/11/04/using-instagram-to-promote-new-books/

I like bringing outside elements in to enhance displays, and I’ve done that here with some creations made by students, which I then matched with Roger Hargreaves Little Miss and Mr Men books http://sites.saschina.org/kpower/2014/10/16/fantastic-fun-with-bump-nosey-and-tickle/

I’ve also linked to many of the people I’m mentioning here, on this post. Once you discover a few of these “one stop shops” for finding new books, book lists and great displays, you can rest easy that they’ll always have something for you http://sites.saschina.org/kpower/2014/04/30/list-lovers-of-the-world-unite/

My favorite blogs for inspiration and EXCELLENT book lists include:

http://www.pragmaticmom.com/ check out Mia’s Children’s and YA booklists link, and you really can’t go past her http://www.pragmaticmom.com/booklists/ List of Lists: All My Booklists

Melissa from Imagination Soup is a great one to follow on twitter and pinterest too, here is one of my favorite lists from her http://imaginationsoup.net/2014/11/07/nonfiction-books/ I’m sure you’ll also like her book recommendations by age http://imaginationsoup.net/book-recommendations-age/ 

Here’s one last link I recently stumbled upon: http://clrsig.org/nbgs_books.php which contatins some great book suggestions for our diverse makeup of students at the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group site.

 

 

Great gig with Greenberg

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David Greenberg is in his final session now, with 7th grade. He has presented to almost every student in our school this week; an incredible flurry of sessions including poetry, writing workshops, civil rights presentations and assemblies from Prek-12th grade.

Thank you David for your contributions and I hope you have a wonderful week at Puxi campus; we truly loved having you here and I recommend you highly for other schools.

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News from the Library

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Visiting Author

Our author David Greenberg is here. Please see the attached schedule for the times he may be presenting to your child this week.

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Also attached find the book order form that was sent home last week; it is not too late to order books anytime this coming week. If you want a book, fill out the form, make sure to neatly write who you want the book autographed to, and send in the exact money in an envelope to your child’s classroom teacher, or directly to the ES Library.

David Greenberg Schedule

ORDER FORM CHINA 2016Greenberg Order Form

If you are interested in the Civil Rights presentation offered to grades 4th-12th please join the High School division in the PAC on Tuesday at 9.25 am. David’s father was the lawyer for Martin Luther King and this presentation is excellent. If you would like to join in on any of his poetry presentations, you are also always welcome, check the schedule for a time that suits you and talk to your child’s classroom teacher.

大卫-格林伯格将与9月19日-23日来访美校。查看具体日程表请转至Schoology或者我的博客。如果家长有兴趣出席他为四至十二年级所做的关于民权的演讲，请于9月20日早9：25移步演艺中心。格林伯格的父亲曾是马丁-路德-金的律师，这场演讲必定精彩绝伦。如果你对他其他的演讲感兴趣，请在查看具体日程表后告知您孩子的班主任您的出席时间。

We need Volunteers

Parents, please contact me via e mail kimbra.power@saschina.org if you think you can spare a few hours before October Break to volunteer in the Library. We always need volunteers and you will have the opportunity to discover many great resources our library offers, not just for your child, but also for you.

Cardboard Challenge

We are participating in the Global Cardboard Challenge on Thursday October 13th and we need your help. This week, please hold on to as many small cardboard items as you can and send them in with your child starting September 26th. We run a friendly competition between the 22 elementary classes to see who can bring in the most small cardboard items; think toilet rolls and tubes, granola and cereal boxes, tissue and cosmetic boxes etc. There will also be the opportunity to send in larger items after the October Break and talk to your homeroom teacher if you think you’d like to volunteer your time on the 13th; it is a LOT of fun. Search cardboard challenge into the search area above to see some of our past events.

纸箱大挑战”将于10月14日登陆，更多详情可在Schoology或者我     的博客上查询。由于我们的仓储空间有限，请帮助我们尽可能地收藏些纸箱。9月26日起我们将以班级为单位回收这些纸箱。最受欢迎的纸箱是类似纸巾盒、牙膏盒、麦片盒这样的小包装，或者是卷筒纸卷芯。回收箱就在图书馆正门靠近小学小学走廊的一边，每天回收的数字最多的班级会获得小奖品。点击我的博客链接输入cardboard challenge搜索更多信息。

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Kimbra Power

The Barefoot Librarian

News from the Library

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Roald Dahl would have been 100 years old this year, we are celebrating his birthday on Tuesday September 13th with a giant birthday cake, activities in the library and lots of Roald Dahl Read-Alouds. We’ll also have the excitement of 15 golden tickets being hidden in our picture books for any students to find, the students will then get to choose a free book from us to keep. What’s your favorite Roald Dahl book? If you’d like more information, check out this great website http://www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl/roald-dahl-100

 

今年是罗德-道尔诞辰100周年。我们将在他9月13日生日当天以“大声读”和分蛋糕的方式来庆祝。还有一个“寻找黄金券”的重头好戏。15张将分散藏在15本图画书里，找到黄金券的优胜者可以从我们的神秘奖品柜里任选一本作为奖品。你最爱的罗德-道尔的书是哪本？了解更多详情，请点击链接

screen-shot-2016-09-08-at-11-47-40-amOur author David Greenberg is visiting September 19th-23rd. Please see the schedule on Schoology or my blog http://sites.saschina.org/kpower

If you are interested in the Civil Rights presentation offered to grades 4th-12th please join the High School division in the PAC on Tuesday at 9.25 am. David’s father was the lawyer for Martin Luther King and this presentation is excellent. If you would like to join in on any of his poetry presentations, you are also always welcome, check the schedule for a time that suits you and talk to your child’s classroom teacher.

大卫-格林伯格将与9月19日-23日来访美校。查看具体日程表请转至Schoology或者我的博客。如果家长有兴趣出席他为四至十二年级所做的关于民权的演讲，请于9月20日早9：25移步演艺中心。格林伯格的父亲曾是马丁-路德-金的律师，这场演讲必定精彩绝伦。如果你对他其他的演讲感兴趣，请在查看具体日程表后告知您孩子的班主任您的出席时间。

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Our Cardboard Challenge is coming up on October 14th, there are more details on my blog and Schoology. Please keep cardboard at your home for as long as possible as we don’t have a lot of space to store it, we will be collecting it in homeroom groups starting Monday September 26th so PLEASE start sending items in then; we are particularly after small boxes such as toothpaste/granola/tissue/cereal and LOVE cylinders like toilet paper rolls etc. There will be a daily prize for the class that brings in the most items and we will have boxes outside the Elementary Library for them to be dropped off. Again, check out my blog http://sites.saschina.org/kpower and type cardboard challenge into the search area at the top of the page.

纸箱大挑战”将于10月14日登陆，更多详情可在Schoology或者我     的博客上查询。由于我们的仓储空间有限，请帮助我们尽可能地收藏些纸箱。9月26日起我们将以班级为单位回收这些纸箱。最受欢迎的纸箱是类似纸巾盒、牙膏盒、麦片盒这样的小包装，或者是卷筒纸卷芯。回收箱就在图书馆正门靠近小学小学走廊的一边，每天回收的数字最多的班级会获得小奖品。点击我的博客链接输入cardboard challenge搜索更多信息。

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Happy 100th Roald Dahl

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Roald Dahl would have been 100 years old this year, we are celebrating his birthday on Tuesday September 13th with a giant birthday cake, activities in the library and lots of Roald Dahl Read-Alouds We’ll also have the excitement of 15 golden tickets being hidden in our picture books for any students to find, the students will then get to choose a free book from us to keep.

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What’s your favorite Roald Dahl book?

RD

If you’d like more information, check out this great website that has a huge amount of fantastic resources for families, teachers and children to celebrate the life of Roald Dahl. The party pack is also included below as a PDF.

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We are third time lucky with David Greenberg

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I’ve been here for 11 years and this will be the third time Author Poet extraordinaire David Greenberg will visit us at Pudong campus. I am most excited about this visit as I have come to know David over the years and absolutely love the presentation he does related to Civil Rights. He will be presenting this from 4th-12th grade with a full high school assembly on Tuesday morning in the Performing Arts Centre, and for all of 8th grade on Monday afternoon in the LLH. David’s Civil Rights presentation is aligned with his novel A Tugging String which provides a unique perspective of growing up during the Civil Rights Era as the son of Martin Luther King’s Lawyer.

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Parents are welcome to attend these sessions and we will get you a more detailed schedule as David’s visit gets closer. David will be on Pudong Campus from Monday September 19th-Friday September 23rd before moving to Puxi campus for the following week.

David will be presenting poetry to the Prek-3rd grade during the week and there will be the opportunity to purchase some of David’s books using the order form below that will be sent home with students before David’s visit.

Here are some of the books David will be sharing poetry from, discussing and promoting with the students.

Here is the order form for the books David can sign, and send to us in China after his visit.

ORDER FORM CHINA 2016