Library

At the core of our school building and life

Welcome to the CAISL Library Media Center!

This Department is divided into two spaces:

one dedicated to Lower Elementary (EC3-Gr.2) - the BLUE LIBRARY and
one oriented to older students (Main Library), (Gr.3 to Gr.12) - the RED LIBRARY

CAISL students are always encouraged to read, and our two dedicated librarians guarantee that there is a wide variety of resources to keep them going. Family members can also check out books and take part on activities organized by the library media center.

Below you can find more about library resources and initiatives.

For more information on any of these initiatives please write to library@caislisbon.org. Let us know how we can help you.

PRINT COLLECTION

The print collection is currently over 40,000 books, both fiction and nonfiction, in English and Portuguese. We are also developing small collection of books in French, Spanish and Chinese. These will be useful resources for the students studying these languages and for those who want to read in their native languages

In the red library, located at the main entrance of the school, books are arranged as Junior level and Secondary level for both fiction and non-fiction books, in both Portuguese and English. The Community Library, found in the story corner of the Red Library, is made up of donations that have not been added to the main collection, but are still available to all CAISL parents and teachers.

In the Blue Library, located in the Elementary wing, books are grouped as board books, picture books, leveled readers, and chapter books in order to help students locate the books at their appropriate reading levels. One room of this library contains books in English, and the other room has Portuguese books.

Another resource is the Leveled Reader Room, located upstairs in the Red Library, where sets of fiction and non-fiction books are organized by DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) level. Teachers and students can use this arrangement to find books at the reading level they need, and entire reading groups can work on the same title at the same time.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

The CAISL Library also offers access to a large variety of electronic resources.

Our newest resource, Sora (by Overdrive), was acquired in June 2020 to provide easy access to eBooks and audio books. The child-friendly app can be downloaded from app stores for phones or tablets, or accessed online through a web browser, and currently offers around 2500 unique eBooks and audio books. Through Sora, books can be downloaded with an internet connection and read offline after downloading.

An additional 1000 eBooks and 260 audio books can be read through the OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) with internet access. Our collection includes non-fiction and fiction aimed at all reading levels in both English and Portuguese. Many of the non-fiction titles are unlimited access so an entire class can be reading the same book at the same time.
Videos from Safari Montage and Infobase are accessible through the OPAC and can be viewed immediately.

Electronic resources also include a wide variety of materials which cover all age ranges:

Databases include EBSCO Explora, Infobase, NewsBank, and NewsBank KidsPage.
Encyclopedia Britannica can be searched by different levels (Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced).
News resources include The Day, The Day Explorer, The New York Times, and Time Magazine.
Educational resources include Brain Pop, Brain Pop Jr., Brain Pop ELL, and Raz-Kids.
Citations and bibliographies can be created using Noodletools.

Access these resources from links at the bottom of this page.

CAISL HOOKED ON BOOKS

Each Spring, CAISL holds their annual Hooked on Books Event in the elementary school, where everyone reads the same book or author to have a shared reading experience. During these weeks, the students in grades 3-5 read the same title and students in grades Pre-K through grade 2 read books by the same author. There are a wide variety of related enrichment activities across the curriculum from art to music. 2021-22 will be the 18th year of this event.

Students in Pre-K through Grade 2 have read books by these authors:

Mem Fox.
Tommie DePaola
Cynthia Rylant
Martin Waddell

The final event is the spring show where one of the author’s books is turned into a musical performed by Grades 1 & 2.

Students in grades 3-5 have read these titles:

"Kensuke's Kingdom," by Michael Morpurgo;
"The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane," by Kate di Camillo;
"Dear Mr. Henshaw," by Beverly Cleary

In 2019, CAISL will host the author Bill Harley and students will read his book “Charlie Bumpers vs. the Teacher of the Year.” Bill Harley is a storyteller and musician and will be working with students to develop their storytelling skills.

SUMMER READING PROGRAMS

During the Summer months, the CAISL Library is open to check out books and the students have fun challenges to meet! This summer, due to Covid-19 restrictions, library access will be restricted to curbside pick-up. Please see the director’s updates for more information.

In June, students in Kindergarten through Grade 4, and their parents, are presented with a summer reading program booklet filled with activities and ideas to encourage them to enjoy reading all summer long. There are four programs with different themes.

During the summer of 2020 students did “Set Sail for Adventure” in a summer of reading which celebrated the Portuguese history of exploration.

The Summer Olympics will happen this year, in 2021 so the theme for this summer will be “CAISL Reading Olympics.”

The summer of 2022 will be the summer of the World Cup, so students will help their favorite World Cup team to the finish by reading in the “CAISL World Cup.”

The fourth program in our rotation is “CAISL´s Rockin’ Reading Café” which is a tasty mix of food, cooking and reading.

FIRST 500 - EC READING

Research shows that infants, toddlers, and young children whose parents regularly read to them learn critical pre-literacy skills that make them better readers later-on in life.

To encourage CAISL parents to read with their toddlers, the Library Media Center started the "First 500 challenge." Families register with the Library and receive a booklet where they can record the titles of 500 books read to a child before they finish kindergarten. After each 100 books families check in at the library for a sticker on their booklet. After reaching 500 titles your child will receive a special First 500 t-shirt!

POETRY MONTH CELEBRATION

In 1996 the Academy of American Poets declared April to be Poetry Month. CAISL celebrates poetry throughout each April with a wide variety of events. Some past activities were:

Students write poetry in classes where poetry usually does not appear - from math to science.
Student perform their favorite poems at the Thursday Open Mic event. Poems can be presented in any language the student wishes to perform in.
Classes group students to work together to compose poems.
Music classes work on the adaptation of poetry to music and the performance of both versions.

RANDOM ACTS OF POETRY

"Random Acts of Poetry" can be part of an April Poetry Month celebration but they also happen randomly throughout the year. People, mostly teachers, but sometimes students, suddenly appear in a classroom and “interrupt” the lesson to perform a poem. (“Interruptions” are pre-arranged with the teachers, but a surprise to the students.) There are often costumes and props, but mostly there is a love of poetry that is shared.

BOOK CLUBS

For several years the middle school has hosted a monthly book club where students and teachers read the same genre of book and then get together, over pizza at lunch, to share the title they read. Through the pandemic years, this book club has continue to meet but online.

The middle school book club has inspired two more student book clubs: High School and Portuguese.

Another active Book Club is the Parent Support Group book club. Having started the club in 2019, they meet regularly via zoom and all their readings are posted regularly on their webpage so Parents can join at any time.

ONLINE SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR CAISL FAMILIES

Books & Encyclopedias:

Newspapers & Magazines:

Learning Platforms:

Videos:

Citations:

Other:

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