What is t
he Read Around the World Library? We've found books set in all the continents all over the world (except Antarctica) and organized them into a classroom library. This is an awesome resource to learn more about places all around the globe as you study geography this year!
Want to learn more about the monthly focus country? We will pull out the relevant books for you on a special bookshelf for easy browsing and access. Some of the books are also highlighted in the middle column below.
To encourage general inquiry about the world we live in, each quarter you will be given a Bingo sheet. Choose a row or column and read books in the assigned categories to complete your Bingo sheet. Suggestions for books you can read to fill your Bingo sheet are listed in the left-hand column below.
Did you finish your geography classwork early? Do you need an interesting free choice book for Academic Support? The Read Around the World Library is a great resource for fun independent reading.
The Read Around the World library is organized in three levels:
1. Continent
2. Country (alphabetically within each continent)
3. Book Title (alphabetically within each country)
So, for example, if you want to find Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe, you need to know the continent and the country of the book to find it on the shelf. In the online catalog, the book's continent, Africa, is listed as the book's Collection. The country, Zimbabwe, is listed in the book's Tags. Once you have this information, go to the Africa shelves in the library. Zimbabwe starts with Z so it will be waaaaay down at the bottom of the Africa section. Then, within Zimbabwe, look for Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. How do you know you're looking in the right place? The spine label of each book lists both the continent and the country.
Also note, when a book spans more than one continent, it will be shelved in the Multiple Continents section of the library. When a book spans more than one country within a continent, it will be shelved at the beginning of that continent section under Multiple Countries.
Don't quite get it? That's okay! This is a unique way to organize books because this library has a unique purpose--learning more about the world's geography! If you need help to find a book, ask your teacher or email Ms. Abercrombie (jabercrombie@latinpcs.org). We are all available to help.
If you're looking up a book in the online catalog, this is where you find the book's continent and country:
This is important! We need each and every fifth grade geography student to take the time and care to check out and return books to the Read Around the World library, or books will be lost permanently. Show your care and commitment to our community by following these procedures.
Step 1: Find the book You can start your search for a book by browsing the bookshelves directly or by searching the online catalog and then locating the book on the shelf. Either way, end this step with the book physically in your hands.
Step 2: Ask the classroom librarian or your teacher to check out the book to you Each classroom will have a student designated as the classroom librarian who will be trained for checking out books from the Read Around the World library. Your teacher will let you know who that student is. Your teacher can also check out books. Please do not take books from the Read Around the World library without checking the book out through one of these people!
This is super duper easy! When you're finished reading a book, put it in the return basket! That's it.
Whether you were just browsing for books and decided not to check out a book, or if you did check out the book and now you're finished reading it, in either case, put the book in the return basket.
Please DO NOT put a book back on the shelf, especially if you checked it out. Why? Each book has one and only one correct spot on the shelf. If you put the book back in the wrong place, no one will be able to find it. Also, if you checked out the book, the only way it gets checked back in is when you return it to the basket. If you put the book directly on the shelf, it remains checked out to you and you will be pestered with email reminders and overdue slips. You can avoid all that by returning your book to the return basket.
The one exception to this rule--if you are browsing for books and you have carefully kept track of the book location using a book marker and therefore know exactly where the book should be returned, in this case and this case only, you may put the book back on the shelf.
To complete a square on the Bingo sheet, you must read one chapter book OR two picture books. How can you tell the difference? We've marked all the picture books in the collection two ways:
In the online catalog, "Picture Book" is a tag. If you see the "Picture Book" tag in a book record, it is a picture book, otherwise it counts as a chapter book.
On the shelf, every picture book has a Picture Book spine label. If you see this spine label, it's a picture book, otherwise it counts as a chapter book.
Picture book spine label: 
Fourth Quarter
Bingo Sheet
Directions: Complete a column, row, or diagonal on the Bingo sheet by reading one chapter book OR two picture books in each category (square). Once you read a book, submit a card to your teacher to receive Bingo credit. Each book can count towards only square.
R1 Books Set in Europe: all books
R1 Books Set in Europe: picture books only
R2 Folk or fairy tales: all books
R2 Folk or fairy tales: picture books only
R3 Non-Fiction: picture books only
A1 Books about Sports: all books
A1 Books about Sports: picture books only
A2 Books Set in Asia: all books
A2 Books Set in Asia: picture books only
A3 Books Set in South America: all books
A3 Books Set in South America: picture books only
W1 Books Set in Africa: all books
W1 Books Set in Africa: picture books only
W2 Books about Animals: all books
W2 Books about Animals: picture books only
Country of the Month
China
Available from WLPCS Library
Watch as a parasitic wasp, similar to the kind used by Pu Zhelong to combat pests on rice and lychee plants in China, bores into a tree trunk and lays its egg in an existing larvae of another insect. Source: Nature on PBS
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FOCUS on CHINA'S CULTURAL REVOLUTION
Available from Geography Classroom Library, WLPCS Library, and DC Public Library.
Available from Geography Classroom Library, WLPCS Library and from DC Public Library.
Available from Geography Classroom Library and from DC Public Library.
Each of the three books above are set during or immediately after China's Cultural Revolution. Learn more about this time period of China's history from BBC News.
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Available from Geography Classroom Library
Watch aerial footage of sections of China's Great Wall. Source: National Geographic
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Available from Geography Classroom Library, WLPCS Library and DC Public Library.
In this podcast excerpt, Arslan Hidayat, Program Manager for Campaign for Uyghurs, walks us through the not so known history of the Uyghur people and what would lead to the eventual formation of the Ottoman Empire. Source: OnePath Network
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Available from Geography Classroom Library, WLPCS Library and DC Public Library.
Available from Geography Classroom Library and DC Public Library.
The mischievous Monkey King or Sun Wukong is a popular mythical character in China. Watch a video summary of the Monkey King's many adventures on Kid Scoop, or read about them on Mythopedia.
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Available from Geography Classroom Library and DC Public Library.
Available from Geography Classroom Library.
There's more to the Chinese zodiac than the animals printed on placemats at Chinese restaurants. Learn more from this Ted-Ed video. Lesson by Megan Campisi and Pen-Pen Chen, animation by Marta Prokopová.
And for more on the Chinese zodiac, learn about the animals that inspired the Chinese zodiac signs at National Geographic Kids.
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Available from Geography Classroom Library and DC Public Library.
Caravan to the North: Misael’s Long Walk by Available from Geography Classroom Library and DC Public Library.
Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz by Available from Geography Classroom Library and DC Public Library.
Undocumented Immigration is a story that affects many Latinos. This is my abuelita Gladys' story of how she came from El Salvador to the U.S. right before civil war broke out in the country in 1979. Source: Pero Like
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Available from Geography Classroom Library and DC Public Library.
Available from Geography Classroom Library and DC Public Library.
Archbishop Oscar Romero is the first priest to be canonized from the country of El Salvador. He was a strong voice of the poor and was assassinated by extremists for highlighting the atrocities perpetrated in his country. Archbishop Romero was declared a martyr by Pope Francis on February 3, 2015. Source: Shalom World
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Available from Geography Classroom Library and DC Public Library.
According to El Salvadoran legend, the Cadejo is a spirit or ghost in the shape of a dog. Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes is Manlio Argueta's original story about these famous folkloric animals. Watch the video to learn the original legend. Source: SAY ZONTE! - The Spanish Learning Experience
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Available from Geography Classroom Library.
Learn more about El Salvadorean artist, Fernando Llort. Source: Aprendiendo con Ms. Lee
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More Geography Resources
Use the online catalog to search the Geography Classroom Library. Once you find the book on the shelf, you can use the online catalog to check out the book to yourself.
Some residents of Hemu Village practically live on skis. Winter lasts seven months in this remote part of northwestern China, and it’s really the best way to travel up and down the mountains and through the forest. Ma Liqin, a herder, zips around on a pair made out of wood and horsehair—a design that dates back more than 10,000 years. Source: Great Big Story
This is the Bailong Elevator, the world’s tallest outdoor lift, which is located deep in the Zhangjiaji National Forest Park in Hunan Province in central-eastern China. The name Bailong Elevator, translates literally to Hundred Dragons Elevator. Source: Wonder World
Cuju, an ancient Chinese competitive game, is recognized by world soccer governing body FIFA as the earliest form of football. Li Weipeng was born in Linzi, the birthplace of cuju. He began to play football at the age of 9, and switched to cuju at 17. Source: CGTN (China Global Television Network)
If you want to dig to China, you’d actually need to start your journey in Chile or Argentina — not the US. And you’d need a super-powered drill to get through impenetrable iron, molten alloy, and rock found in Earth’s three primary layers: the crust, mantle, and core. Source: Insider Science
See mountains of the world compared against each other in 3D simulations. Source: Terra Incognita
A Scottish traveler, Ross OC Jennings (aka, the First Piper), recounts his 8-day visit to El Salvador in 2017. Source: The First Piper
According to the USC Digital Folklore Archives, the folk song, El Carbonero (The Coal Merchant), is so popular in El Salvador, it is almost considered a second national anthem. The song, El Carbonero, reflects that Salvadorans are proud of the working class- the country has a long history of economic hardship and poverty, so the working class is celebrated as opposed to the wealthy. The song also takes pride in the rich natural resources of the country, celebrating the coal that is brought down from the mountains. It is traditionally played on the marimba, brought to El Salvador by African slaves, and reaching the height of popularity in the 1920's and 30's. Source: El Salvador INFO
On International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, the country of El Salvador Celebrates the Nahuat Pipil, the dominant indigenous population in their nation. Source: CGTN
In El Salvador, the dish is usually eaten for breakfast or dinner, served with sauce and curtido (slaw). Salvadorans eat them with their hands. Don’t be afraid to try it, do not use cutlery. The most traditional fillings of a Pupusa are cheese and beans, chicharron (pork) or cheese with loroco (a Salvadoran flower). In April 2005, the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly declared pupusas as the national dish of El Salvador and every second Sunday of November is National Pupusas Day. In the background of this video plays the traditional folk song, El Torinto Pinto (The LIttle Painted Bull). Source: Embassy Festival
Imagine shredding down some of the world’s most dangerous peaks—all on one wheel. Lutz Eichholz is a professional mountain unicyclist taking the unicycle to places it’s never been. His passion for downhill riding has taken him around the world, taking on mountains across five continents. Source: Great Big Story
