First Author Visit of the Year!

We are grateful to have Karla Valenti joining us for our first author visit of the year. She will visit 6 other schools in the district during the week of October 21st. According to the About page on her website, "Karla writes middle grade novels (including the best-selling and highly-acclaimed Lotería), chapter books (like the exciting Legendarios series and Hispanic Stars biographies), and various picture books. Karla’s stories are heavily influenced by her Mexican heritage and layered with ideas and concepts she’s picked up in her many travels around the world."

Students in grades 3-5 will have a chance to hear Loteria during library class the next couple of weeks. We will also create some of our own Loteria cards and play an online version of Loteria. HERE is a video of four artists sharing about the personal connections to the game Loteria and their experience redesiging the game for Google.

Banned Books Week is a time when libraries across the country talk about how some books are challenged or banned. Banned Books Week is a reminder of how important it is to have the freedom to choose what we read and to hear different perspectives. As a part of our unit on Activism, the 4th and 5th graders will explore and discuss this idea of intellectual freedom.