Book Fair matures and integrates curriculum content
To interconnect content and add knowledge: this has increasingly been the Book Fair´s role, and September 21 - 24, helped confirm this characteristic. With “Travel and Adventure” as a theme, things started rolling weeks before, with activities parallel to the fair, related to the curriculum developed in the classrooms.
Students from Preschool I to 12th grade participated in storytelling activities, theater plays and discussions with guest authors. This year the guests were: Andi Rubinstein, Cesar Obeid, the group Ler é uma Viagem, the group Circênico Artes Integradas, and the Klink family.
Ms. Fernanda Caires, librarian and Book Fair organizer, explains that the event is evolving and becoming more and more connected to the educational content developed in school: "The fair is not a stand-alone event, it is part of the curriculum, because all the activities are related to classroom content.”
According to her, "Chapel Book Fair takes the mission of promoting reading seriously." In addition to stands from partner bookstores that sell books in Portuguese, English, educational materials, and the Used Books booth (with used books sold by Stuco), Chapel imported over 1,000 books to sell below cost price at the stands. "This is a very important aspect of the Fair, as Chapel wants books to be circulated and reading be encouraged, and with the school's investment this really happens," says Ms. Caires.
In the auditorium, where we had the book sale, visitors were able to enjoy a photo exhibition called "Nomadic Perspective" by Marina Klink, showing expeditions to Antarctica. The photographic book, which bears the same name, was released exclusively at Chapel during the fair. The 9th grade classes read with the Portuguese language teachers “Cem dias entre céu e mar” by Amyr Klink and worked during the month of September writing articles, reading, and studying videos and text productions about the expedition, adventure, solitude and overcoming, issues discussed by the Klink family, whether in photos, or in their books. Seven and eight grade students were inspired by the Obeid´s stories to produce the fair´s decoration, and ceramic mobiles and booklets inspired by Cordel Literature with linogravuras in Arts classes.
A special program was reserved for the closing day on Saturday, September 24th. Parents and children enjoyed, not only the arts workshop for making travel albums, but the theatrical intervention "Mystery of the Travellers" with Cia Spark.
At the closing of the event, the academic community and guests participated in a discussion with the Klink family, with simultaneous translation into English. The Klink sisters talked about some of the experiences during the trips to Antarctica, illustrated with images on the big screen. The youngest, Marininha Klink, who is now 16 years and traveled ten times to the icy continent, spoke of the importance of preserving visited sites. "My father always taught us that it is very important that when you go places, you should leave behind nothing but your own footprints". Nineteen-year-old twins Laura and Tamara, also shared their experiences and emphasized the importance of the journey and not just the destination itself, and of the learnings they have with their parents about the local fauna: "Understanding animals and species made us give more value to what we saw," said Tamara.
Marina shared about how she became a nature photographer and of the privilege of observation during their travels: "I discovered I was building an invisible bridge between my daughters and the nature I presented to them," she said. In closing, Amyr Klink took the microphone and thanked Chapel for the opportunity, and talked about their latest adventures, entertaining the audience with funny stories and answering questions from parents and students. At the end of the discussion, the family made themselves available for photos and autographs.
"I believe the level of the Book Fair was made possible due to the involvement of many professionals who collaborate with the fair. We do not have a set committee, but a group that feels free to suggest themes and activities, working in collaboration, and that makes all the difference," concludes Ms. Caires.
