The African Carnival
November was Intercontinental Carnival month in our Primary School. For this year’s theme, “Africa!”, the LRC not only prepared many books in Chinese and English about Africa for students, but also planned a whole month of colourful activities.
11/1-11/5
The first week was African story sharing
The activities for the first week were held on the first floor LRC’s small stage. Story sharing sessions on different topics were held at noon every day during the entire week, and students could register for the sessions they were interested in.
Students actively participated in the sessions and carefully prepared to engage with stories they were interested in. Some found suitable stories through search engines; some came to the LRC to select storybooks on related topics; some relied on their own rich story reserves to prepare for the story sharing; and some students carefully prepared PPTs, giving vivid descriptions in English.
At the end of the story sharing sessions, the library teacher stamped students’ collection cards with a Moroccan pattern according to each student’s performance and discussed the story with everyone. The students learned about the wisdom of communicating with people from listening to African folk tales, and also experienced the tenacious vitality of wild animals from the story of the Great Migration, where they realized the importance of protecting the natural environment.
11/8-11/12
The second week is African Treasure Hunt
The “African Treasure Hunt” Activity, inspired by the popular comics series Global Treasure Hunt, was held in the first floor LRC at noon each day. Unlike the previous week’s individual participation format, this week’s activity required students to participate as a team. Among the 12 students who signed up, the librarian randomly divided them into four groups. Each team was given half an hour to find as many African ‘treasures’ as possible – the ‘treasures’ had been hidden in every corner of the LRC. Students were given 10 clues and treasure search tips along with the LRC layout and a Map of Africa.
After the treasure hunt, the librarian counted the number of ‘treasures’ found by each group and stamped the corresponding number of seals on the stamp collection card. Members from the top 3 groups each received one voucher for the upcoming book fair, and all participating students received one Egyptian style pen as a reward.
During the intense and exciting treasure hunting activities, students improved their information literacy such as gaining familiarity with the layout of the LRC, improving their map reading ability, and increasing their ability to obtain key information from text. At the same time, they also better understood how to carry out teamwork tasks and make rational use of the ‘combat’ strategy.
11/15-11/19
The third week is the Book Fair with the theme of Africa
After two weeks of Intercontinental Carnival activities in the LRC, we welcomed the African-themed Book Fair. The book fair was held in the shared open hall on the second floor. The book fair space was dotted with African elements, and a small exhibition area entitled, “How Much Do You Know About Africa?” was set up.
Students from every class were looking forward to the book fair. Visiting the fair according to a schedule set up by the librarian, some students happily selected African-themed books, some couldn’t take their eyes off the creative African dolls, and some students were absorbed in reading.
On the far side of the book fair space, students began to line up in an orderly manner after choosing their books. After presenting their selected books, students received an envelope with a wish list to take home to their parents. On the second day, students who wished to buy books exchanged them for the books on their wish list.
11/15-11/30
Week 2 ~ Week 4 Creative postcard design and display with African theme
As the activities progressed over the first three weeks, students’ understandings of Africa deepened, and their impressions of Africa also underwent some changes. What do you think about designing a postcard for Africa to express our good wishes and new understandings of Africa using pictures and words?
A total of 111 students participated in the postcard design activity. The design works of all students were exhibited in the first floor LRC over 10 days, and Primary School art teachers selected the “Top Ten” postcards on November 30. Those students selected as “Top Ten” designers will receive a special certificate with the background of their postcards.
The month of November passed quickly, and the series of LRC activities came to a successful conclusion. We believe that students have gained a lot from this series of LRC activities, and we hope that students will continue to explore books and devote some time every week for reading.