Calling all lovers of children's literature!
Calling all kids ages 8-10: the PBBY is holding FREE storytelling and art workshops every Saturday of July, to celebrate National Children's Book Month.
It's National Children's Book Day on July 20, 2021 and our theme for this year's celebration is Magkaiba? Magkaisa! Magbasa.
Download the official poster featuring the artwork of artist Abi Goy at bit.ly/NCBDPoster2021.
I am putting this list of books on children with special needs and the like. This is a request from a colleague who only had three titles on hand. It turns out that there are more! I hope to further develop this book list.
Theme: Children with Special Needs and Disabilities /
Children’s experience of disability, old age, sickness and death
1.
Title: Xilef
Dyslexia
Author and Illustrator: Augie Rivera and
Beth Parocha
Publisher: Adarna House
Year of Publication: 2000
2.
Title: There Is A Duwende in My Brother’s Soup
(Lampara Books)
Autism
3.
Title: Federico
Down Syndrome
Author: Eugene Evasco
Publisher: Adarna House
Out of Print
4.
Ang Kuya ni Karina ( Anvil/Cacho)
Deaf Mute / Hearing Impaired
5.
Inside Daniel’s Head
ADHD
Author: Joji Santos
Publisher: Adarna House
Year of Publication: 2019
6.
Ang Pambihirang Buhok ni Raquel
Luekemia
Author: Luis Gatmaitan
Publisher: OMF Hiyas
Year of Publication: 1999
7.
Kiko Kitikiti
ADHD
Author: Lauren Macaraeg
Publisher: Lampara House
Year of Publication: 2020
8.
San Dosenang Sapatos
Child with disability / Crippled child
Author: Luis Gatmaitan
Publisher: Hiyas OMF
Year of Publication:
9.
Two Friends One World
Friendship between a blind boy and a girl
Author: Rayvi Sunico
Publisher: Anvil/Cacho
Year of Publication:
10.
Benito and His Magnificent Teeth
Distorted physical condition
Author: Augie and Mike Rivera
Publisher: Adarna House
Year of Publication: 2001
11.
Made Perfect in Weakness: Rosel Ambubuyog
Blindness / Biography
Author: Didith Tan Rodrigo
Publisher: Bookmark
Year of Publication: 2017
12.
Magic Silya ni Titoy
Crippled child
Author: Rusell Molina
Publisher: Adarna House
Year of Publication: 2004
13.
Sampu Pataas, Sampu Pababa
Dysgraphia (?)
Author: Rusell Molina
Publisher: Adarna House
Year of Publication: 2007
14.
May Lihim Kami ni Ingkong
Senility
Author: Luis Gatmaitan
Publisher: Hiyas OMF
Year of Publication: 2001
My daughter is a loyal ARMY since 2016. We talk about BTS often but I was just a witness to her kilig and fangirling moments. Pinagdaanan ko din yan- Michael Jackson, Prince, Kevin Bacon, Menudo, New Kids On the Block. I know how it is to be a fan. But one day, I asked her what sets BTS apart from the rest of the idols. She simply said, ”Mama, watch the music video (MV) of Spring Day.”
Oh. My. Juice.
Nalaglag ang mga prutas ko...
Spring Day referenced one of my favorite stories by one of my favorite authors. Omelas in the music video of Spring Day is like a club house/cafe/hangout place for the boys. But they are seen riding a train. They have left Omelas to journey somewhere. Across a landscape of snow the train went on until it reached a stop where a tree grows. Ang powerful ng mga imahe.
The short story, The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas by Ursula Le Guin is a multilayered story of pain, sacrifice, lost childhood and the difficult decisions one must take against a society that expects conformity and compliance. BTS and the entire production team of the MV captured these all so eloquently in a narrative set in music and visual arts. Ang ganda.
But.
But.
But... It is Dynamite that made me crawl into the rabbit hole. I felt the boys were singing and dancing to my generation - the Generation X. They connect to their audience. They share their joy to their fans. They work hard and the know the cost of fame.
I use the word crawl because I was choosing my consumption of their content and the news articles that come out about them. I know that Kim Namjoon has a massive reading list and that his fingerprints and philosophy are all over the discography of BTS. But, I have not taken a deep interest in all of their content - which is overwhelmingly abundant! In their current solo, Butter, they assert their new found artistic identity. They look more at home in their own skin, more mature and the confidence is on another level. They have transformed from boys into young men.
I found myself racing deeper into the BTS rabbit hole. It has been a fun and wonderful race so far, with so many discoveries about myself along the way. And, to make it more meaningful, I have my daughter to share this rediscovery of my inner child and the simple joys in the midst of the shadows and rain that come with life so often.
I am a school librarian and though I do not work in the public library system in the Philippines, please allow me to share what I know based on experience and professional practice. Our library system is actually based on the US model.
However, the US has the money to support the public library system especially in acquiring books and resources that interests the public. The US also has a more developed perspective and theoretical framework on collection and content development especially on the variety of literature to curate, gather, document and circulate. Advocating for books, reading and libraries is another reason why the US has a strong library system. For a library system to grow strong, the community must look at it as an institution of human rights, empowerment and social justice. Libraries are venues for civic action. Lastly, the US book industry is very much connected to the the library system. The yearly book awards in the US like the Newbery and Caldecott are organized not by writers or critics but by librarians. When winners are announced, publishers are ready the following day for copies to be bought by libraries. Book dealers have bundles to offer libraries.
Not many librarians in the PH will circulate the international edition of Trese, but I will because we have readers in our school community who read graphic novels; our faculty use graphic novels for teaching and instruction; and we have a book club/literary club who reads and creates graphic novels. What I can contribute to the matter at hand is to recommend the acquisition of Trese to librarians and associations of libraries. What others can do to support readership of Trese is to ask their public library to buy copies and circulate it to readers.
Lastly, there is a republic act/law requiring LGUs to construct, develop, manage and grow public libraries. The National Library of the Philippines has a Public Library Division that supervises 1,500 libraries in the country. Why aren't they all functioning like the public libraries in the US, some may ask. I think I have lent answers to this question. The system can be set up but it requires people and political will to grow and to make it move.
Last weekend, Ched invited me as observer in a virtual walk through of Hiroshima Peace Park. The volunteers told stories of their volunteer work, the rituals in Hiroshima that they conduct to commemorate the dead and the victims of war and oral stories they gathered from those who have passed on. There was no hate. Only love. It was a restorative experience.
The event was in coordination with REAL Innovative Connections who organized a group of 5th grade classes in Hawaii and New Jersey. Teachers were touched and the families of the grade school students were thankful to hear these stories from an era that seemed too far off now. Yet, the issues of violence, racism, genocide and authoritarianism are so real to this day. How these issues destroy families, societies and thousands of lives.
We need to hear these stories. We need to heal from the wounds of the past. The Hiroshima Peace Park Volunteers' stories need to be heard.
We are doing something about this.
Ms. Zarah Gagatiga of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People and the National Book Development Board will take you through books appropriate for grade school students, including a presentation of the Best Reads Kids' Choice (2014 to present).
Teacher Zarah will share reading tips and strategies and answer questions about today's digital readers. The hour-long Zoom webinar will be on Saturday, May 22, from 2:00-3:00 PM.
Reserve a slot here, today: (bitly link)
http://bit.ly/KidsChoiceBooksMay29
The talk is an hour's worth of show and tell of books appropriate for grade school students; a presentation of the Best Reads Kids' Choice (2014 to present) of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People and the National Book Development Board in comparison to the National Children's Book Awards (2012 to present); and a discussion of reading tips and strategies for the digital reader of today.
The past couple of days was spent on research skills instruction and one-on-one consultations with our high school juniors. In a few days, we will end the Academic Year 2020-2021 but before things close, I sent out to our juniors (who are incoming seniors) a letter informing them of the library's summer program.
Dear Juniors,
As you journey further on in the EE and SP, we, in the BA Library, will continue to support you. As your reading and research companions, we are opening library services during the summer.
We can assist you on the following:It has been a busy first half of the year. One more week and it's June! Summer is up ahead. While I have been very much involved in community work, literacy advocacy and initiatives online and of course, work from home, I am updated on my Kdrama watch list. It grows long by the day, I tell you. Romcoms and slice of life genre are my biases so, I have them up on my list.
Here are three Kdramas that I really enjoyed after watching True Beauty.
Do You Like Brahms is a Kdrama about young musicians and the pursuance of their dreams. Park Eun Bin plays the aspiring violinist but she is a bit short in the talent department. Nonetheless, she is diligent and dedicated to her job as an intern in a music and arts foundation. This makes her an endearing female lead. Park Min Jae plays the male lead in this drama and it is such a delight to see him essay a conflicted character breaking out into his own. He and Eun Bin have chemistry. Their look and personalities complement each other so, when the scene of their first heart break happened, I wanted them to be back in each other's arms again.
Over all, Do You Like Brahms is a Kdrama depicting the lives of young professionals overcoming their own fears and insecurities with a little help from the community who believes in them. Once again, the value of a community in shaping a person and how it impacts his/her life is very much evident in this drama.
Love Struck in the City is again, the story of six yuppies living in Seoul. It tells of their daily lives and the choices they make on love and career. It looks as simple as that. Yet, at the core is the quest of finding one's self and being happy about it. These six characters are connected to one another and through interviews done by an unidentified character, the documentary/oral history approach in storytelling works. It was like watching a magazine interview in three parts or installments.
Kim Ji Woon and Ji Chang Wook make for a beautiful couple. They did find their happy ending despite the open ended and heart breaking resolutions that beset their friends at the final episode. Those loose ends and open wounds linger. It will make you wonder what will happen next and though there is no promise of a second season, it is better to leave things as they are.
And now I go the last Kdrama review for this post. When the Weather is Fine is one of the under rated dramas of 2020. I am happy to have seen this with my daughter. It is a visual feast, a well crafted story of redemption laced with comforting stories of family life and community. Park Min Young and Seo Kang Joon perfectly portrayed the disturbing silences inside them preventing them to love each other. And when they break this silence, their dialogues to each other is poetry.
Up next in my Ajooma Reviews are three Kdramas, namely Dr. Romatic Season 1 and 2, Reply 1994, Vincenzo and Hospital Playlist.
In the survey I conducted with school librarians, the majority of whom are from schools that have partnered with Scholastic's Reading Program, four relatively new roles emerged from the shift to online and the digital rendering of library services and programs: 1) teacher of media and information literacy skills; 2) content creator; 3) research facilitator; and 4) technology consultant. Prior to the pandemic, I believe that some school librarians were already performing one or more of these roles. However, not all school librarians were doing so, or such roles were seldom discussed among school librarians in roundtable discussions and professional assemblies. This underscores the need for further research to establish a theory of professional practice.
Each of these roles requires specific skills and competencies from the school librarian. What is common among the four new roles is the ability to collaborate with library staff, teachers, school leadership, and members of the internal school community, as well as reaching out to society at large.
Collaboration in schools and educational institutions is grounded in the studies and philosophical works of Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, and John Dewey. It is a social skill that utilizes highly developed communication skills, as well as emotional and moral courage to listen to partners when completing shared tasks. When a school community perceives the library as an essential part of its learning ecosystem, it becomes feasible for the school librarian to function as a partner, team member, and collaborator in key projects and programs within the school. This lays the groundwork for Embedded Librarianship.
Based on selected readings, resources, and reflections from my own practice, I created conceptual maps on collaboration in school libraries and teacher-librarian partnerships. These models serve as references for examining, reflecting on, and planning tasks involving the facilitation of research skills, co-teaching of academic writing, and creation of content in both online platforms and physical formats.
School librarians coordinate and collaborate with students, faculty, academic departments, and student services, especially school leadership, in planning and implementing services and programs. Additionally, school librarians forge pathways for networking and linkages within the school community and broader society. This model is common in many school libraries where librarians provide access to information, resources, and reading materials. Serving as a liaison of valuable information is a role that school librarians can comfortably undertake using various technology tools. During the pandemic, when school campuses closed, libraries transitioned online to continue their coordinating and cooperating roles. On the other hand, a school community can maximize the library and its valuable human resources when the school librarian is integrated into the instructional and academic teaching force.
In this framework, collaboration is perceived and applied as a shared process. While the roles of teachers and librarians may differ, each contributes to achieving tasks and projects that lead to effective and meaningful learning experiences. Establishing a shared goal and understanding the complementary skills of teachers and librarians are crucial.
I have blogged about specific tasks, projects, and teaching partnerships. Follow the Teacher and Librarian Collaboration link to read more about them.
Below is another visual map illustrating the teamwork between teachers and librarians.
The realization of this model depends on how school leaders perceive school librarians. The competencies of both teachers and librarians are essential factors in making this model a reality in many schools. Collaboration requires trust, and therefore, personal attitudes and behaviors toward each other play a significant role. Despite encouragement from school leaders, some teachers may not feel comfortable working with school librarians. However, a creative and people-oriented librarian can facilitate collaboration through deliberate communication and planning with colleagues. These efforts require time, patience, and strategic thinking.
References:
The Many Faces of School
Library Leadership. Coatney. Sharon. Editor. Libraries Unlimited. California:
2010.
Montiel-Overall,
Patricia. Toward a Theory of Collaboration for Teachers and Librarians. AASL,
2005 (PDF)
Standards for the 21st Century Learner. American Association of
School Librarianship. Chicago, Illinois: AASL, 2009
Trilling, Bernie and
Charles Fadel. 21st Century Skills:
Learning for life in our times. California: Josey Bass/ John Wiley Sons, 2009.
One of the topics I focused on last Friday during the Scholastic webinar for school librarians is the adoption of a program management paradigm. Here is the framework I shared with participants of the webinar. If you missed the session, you can visit my blog to do the activities and view the slide presentations. Here are the links:
A year ago, at the press launch of Mga Kuwentong Musmos where I was interviewed by CNN Philippines on our book, Masaya Ang Maging Ako (Gagatiga & Bauza, Lampara Books 2020). Our book is part of the 20 titles published by the international NGO, Room to Read and Lampara Books (along with three Philippine publishers). Adarna House and Room to Read has been working with the DepEd and LGUs to bring our books to communities where there are very few reading materials, or none at all. It was one of the many stories that inspired readers, content creators and industry leaders last year as the pandemic raged on.
The first four months of 2021 have passed by so quickly! Schools that follow the regular academic calendar are on break and many have streamed their online graduation ceremonies on YouTube and Facebook. In our school, we are counting the days till June, then we will bid academic year 2020-2021 goodbye. We learned so much this year living through the Pandemic of 2020. I will be reserving a series of posts for this topic next month. For now, I reckon, as published author of children's books, the Online Author Visits I have had since January 2021.
This is a remarkable venture for me as an author. I used to get invitations from schools to do face to face Meet the Author and live Author Visits in classrooms and school libraries. With the lockdown and a year in quarantine, friends from the basic education sector shifted to the digital platform with many events such as book fairs, storytelling sessions and talks by resource person delivered through streaming channels. Even my publisher, Lampara Books have pivoted to an online platform to promote readership and market books and our expertise. There are learning and graces to be had!
Here is a rundown of the Author Visits I have had so far.
SUKI is LIFE with Zarah G - Last January 15, I was a guest at SUKI IS LIFE! my publisher's online shop and marketing space. It was a lot of fun talking about books of all kinds (of course, those published by Precious Pages and Lampara Books) and the readers who own them. What's more, I was able to promote my new book, Masaya Ang Maging Ako!
Characters We Love - This is an infographic I made for an Author Visit online during the Book Festival at De La Salle Zobel (DLSZ) Learning Resource Center in February. A few weeks after the schedule online visit, I received responses from students of DLSZ! This is always a happy news for an author like me. I love getting feedback from the readers I write for. Click this link to When Students Write Back to Me!
It was also in March when I had an Author Visit with grade 8 students of our sister school, The Beacon School. This was really fun! I used Campbell's The Hero's Journey as framework for my talk on character development.
And here is an online TeleRadyo guesting I had with AHA Eskwelang Pamilya Live where our book, Masaya Ang Maging Ako (Gagatiga & Bauza, Lampara Books 2020) was featured. I had an interview with Teacher Chynna about the benefits of reading and the empowering experience of finding one's self in the pages of a book.
ATM
https://www.facebook.com/dzrj810am/videos/3247903775311725/
