Parent Workshops on Information and Technology

Next Week Workshop for ES Parents: eBooks and Electronic Resources

Join us on Wednesday, January 28 from 8:15-9:15am in the ES LIbrary for a tour of the hundreds of ebooks and other electronic resources available to our elementary students through the ES Library. Parents are invited to bring their own devices to use during the workshops to set up resources for use at home.

Revised Schedule for Workshops on Information and Technology

In an effort to consolidate and reach our parent community, we have adjusted some of our information and technology workshops for parents. Please notice that some of the sessions take place as a part of the Talk Tuesday series and some take place on Wednesdays.

The sessions are designed to be practical, hands-on and to help parents support their children as learners. We encourage both new and returning parents to attend.

The following sessions will be held from 8:15-9:15 am:

• Wednesday, January 28 - eBooks and Electronic Resources (ES Library) 
• Wednesday, February 11 - A Long Walk to Water Discussion Group (ES Library) 
• Tuesday, February 24 - Digital Citizenship (E 215) 
• Tuesday, March 10 - Visiting Authors Presentations (E 215) 
• Wednesday, March 25 - Great Apps for Home (ES Library) 
• Tuesday, April 21 - InFlow Research Model K-12 (E 215) 
• Tuesday, May 12 - Safe Internet Searching (E 215) 
• Tuesday, June 2 - Summer Reading (ES Library) 

Please look for more detailed information closer to the date of each workshop.

One School, One Book: Join the Water Walk January 30

Our ASD community of readers continue to participate in our shared reading experience of One School, One Book. When you read A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park you’ll be inspired to take action to help the people of South Sudan

The Middle School SEENAH and GAIA clubs were inspired and will offer an opportunity for the ASD community to take action at DUCE on Friday, January 30.

The ASD community is invited to join student clubs SEENAH and GAIA on a ‘Water Walk’ around the track to gain empathy for the millions of people without access to fresh water and to raise funds to help drill water wells in South Sudan.

The walk is for 15 - 20 minutes between 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. A suggested donation of AED 10 is appreciated and will be donated directly to Salva Dut's organization, Water for South Sudan. All participants receive a free bottle of water to enjoy when they complete the walk.

Hope hope to see you there in support of an important cause that has touched many of us as we read Salva's memorable story in A Long Walk to Water.

Book Fair Success

The Elementary School Library wishes our community a happy New Year! With a new year, comes new books to read! 

We'd like to say a big thank you to those who shopped at the Book Worm Book Fair in December. The ASD Libraries benefit by receiving 10 percent of total purchases in store credit at Bookworm Book Shop. As a result, the ES Library has more than 200 new books for our readers to check out!

There is something new for everyone! Some of the highlights include several new National Geographic books such as Extreme Illusions, Myths Busted and Everything Battle. We also have several new cookbooks and baking guides as well as some new origami, paper airplane, pet and sports books. 

Some of our new junior fiction books are Gordon Korman's latest installment, Jackpot, several titles in the Seekers series by Erin Hunter and the latest in Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne. Many of our readers will also be happy to know that we have several new books in the My Weirder School series by Dan Gutman including Ms. Beard is Weird and Mr. Harrison is Embarrassin'.

Make sure to stop by the library to explore our new titles. Here is a sneak peak of some covers in the slide show below:

Unwrapping Secret Santa's Library Books

Our students have had such fun both wrapping and unwrapping books from Secret Santa! Thank you to everyone who participated in the festive fun. At one point this week, we had around 300 wrapped books on display ranging from picture books to chapter books, from information books to comic books. Students enjoyed selecting books recommended by their fellow ASD readers. The anticipation of opening a surprise was infectious. Many students left the library with the gift of a great reading recommendation.

The ES Library team wishes our ASD community of readers a wonderful Winter Break. 

Happy holidays and happy reading!

InFlow: Building Research Skills

This year, elementary students are reflecting on their research process by using a new model called InFlow. ASD has adopted InFlow as an integrated model for K-12 information literacy. The eight elements of InFlow are ask, map, explore, make, show, imagine, collaborate and reflect. 

Some of the basic concepts around the InFlow model are:

• K-12 common language and cohesive model for the research process. 
• Designed to be engaging for learners and to support learner-centered and individualized learning. 
• Focussed on authentic learning experiences and the production of creative, tangible outputs. 
• Process which flows naturally from one element to the next, rather than a set of isolated tasks. 
• Elements can be undertaken in any order. It is likely that some elements will be repeated several times, but equally, it is not essential to use every element during an activity. 
• Learners engage with information in a variety of ways as they map, explore, ask, reflect, collaborate, imagine, show and make. 
• Collaboration is an important component of and group projects and team work are supported. However, each of the elements can also be carried out as an individual task as appropriate. 
• The model is designed to adaptable for different age ranges. 
• It is intended to be refined and adapted by each individual to suit their own situation and the needs of their learners.

InFlow in Action:

Grade Four students are working collaboratively to research life on the Oregon Trail. In small groups, they have developed a series of questions. Using a Google Doc to organize their note taking, each group member is responsible for a specific focus area. As a team, the students work together to learn about this period in American history. All of the questions are self-selected making the process entirely inquiry driven by the students. A variety of books and electronic resources are used to answer their questions.