Beyond the Library Lesson:�Publishing Student Inquiry�Book Connections & Collaborations

Rebecca Battistoni, Whole School Librarian

Istanbul International Community School

ISLE Conference March 2026

Breaking

the Weekly

Storytelling Cycle�

The Goal: High student engagement through book design, vocabulary building, and using books as creative models

How can we integrate within the PYP beyond the "weekly library slot"?

How do we move students past the "usual suspects" (graphic novels and favorites) to the full collection?

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The Secret Sauce: Collaborative Partnerships

The Origin Story: How a "one-off conversation" about Grade 1 insects grew into a multi-grade collaborative legacy

The Power of Three

• Grade Level Teachers: Co-planning to align with Units of Inquiry (UoI)
• Digital Learning Coach: Bringing technology into the research process
• The Librarian: Working one-on-one as a research mentor

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Starting Small, Thinking Big�

Grade 1 Focus:

Research Skills 101

Defining the Path:

• Topic: Something you want to investigate and learn
• Inquiry: All research starts with a question

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Tools Used: PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next for primary-friendly digital research; stacks and stacks of informational texts

The "What, Where, How, WOW!" Framework�

Framework for Young Researchers:

• WHAT: Animal types and body parts
• WHERE: Habitat, continent, and sleep patterns
• HOW: Behavior and special skills
• WOW: Facts that surprise us

Skill Building: Teaching students to write facts in their own words and cite their sources (Author and Title)

Mentors in the Stacks (Grade 2 Case Study)�

Project Title:

"Celebrate! Connections at IICS"

The Model: Celebrate! Connections Among Cultures by Jan Reynolds

The Task: Students analyze Reynolds' design—page layout, sectioning, and photo use—to plan their own book

The Reflection: What are our traditions? How do we represent our IICS life?

The Method: Think–Share–Write

A Scaffolded Approach:

• Think: Individual focus with no talking
• Share: Class brainstorming where every voice counts
• Write: Collaborative composition with the Librarian to build paragraphs

Result: A shared sense of authorship and community

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Turn and talk to a friend sitting next to you and share your answers.

The Grand Finale: Published Authors�

The Outcome: By the end of the year, every class produces a published, circulating hardbound book

The Legacy: These books are added to the Library collection for future students to check out

Impact: Students see themselves as creators, not just consumers, of the library

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The Publishing Tech Stack�

• Book Creator: The "Gold Standard" for primary students. Features like AutoDraw (AI-assisted sketching) and real-time collaboration make it the perfect digital workspace
• Canva for Education: Ideal for "App Smashing." Use Canva to design professional-grade covers and then import them into Book Creator
• Shutterfly: a leading e-commerce brand for personalized products and custom designs

Q&A and Collaboration Brainstorm�

Final Thought: "Your library collection is the best mentor text you have."

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Discussion: How can you turn one of your current Units of Inquiry into a permanent addition to your shelves?

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