Our 2010 Scholastic Book Fair is coming soon!

Get ready for Scholastic’s Book Fair SAFARI!

Come to MEI Elementary’s Scholastic Book Fair 2010!
Find it in the MEI Elementary School Multi-Purpose Room
The first week of December!

http://www.scholastic.ca/

Adobe will Read ALOUD!!! Who knew?

Thanks for this info from Mrs. Susan Watts!
http://sites.google.com/site/susanjwatts/

A .pdf file can be "read aloud" using the Adobe Acrobat Reader...
How?


If you find a pdf. document online that you want to use / read, first you
will need to save it to your computer (My Documents, Desktop, etc.).
Then OPEN the pdf.
From the toolbar at the top of the page select: VIEW----> then scroll down to
select---> READ OUT LOUD----> ACTIVATE READ OUT LOUD.


The Adobe program will read the page aloud to you...and NO fancy text reader software program needed!


Imagine the possibilities...

Nancy Rue Nov 6, 2010 at Lynden, WA

http://www.faithgirlz.com/tour

Nancy Rue coming to Lynden, WA !!

Tour Dates and Locations:



November 6, 2010 - Beauty of Believing Event with Nancy Rue


Where: Lynden, WA


Address:


Word of Life Church
1986 Main Street
Lynden, WA 98264


When: 1PM-4:30PM (Doors open at 12:15PM)

Tickets are $12 per tween if you purchase online, or $16 at the door.
Moms and mentors are FREE!

Tickets go on sale in early September at www.itickets.com
Invite your friends to this public event, sponsored in part by GEMS!
For more information, call: (801)GEM-SCLB or email Julie Ball at faithgirlzlynden@gmail.com

KidsBooks hosts authors in November!

KidsBooks Author Events: Exciting author events in November at Kidsbooks!

Nov 2nd Suzanne Collins


Nov 4th Annie Barrows


Nov 8th & 9th Deborah Ellis and


Nov 24th Scott Westerfeld


and a few book launches too!

TICKETS REQUIRED – FREE http://www.kidsbooks.ca/
A limited number of tickets are still available on a first-come, first-serve basis only - sorry, no phone calls or emails; tickets must be picked up in person at Broadway store. Our website will be updated to indicate ticket availability, so check there before coming to the store!
Suzanne Collins
Tuesday November 2nd
from 7-8:30 pm
Kidsbooks, 3083 West Broadway


Annie Barrows
Two great events to choose from:

In North Vancouver: Thursday November 4th at 4:00 pm
Please note offsite venue: North Van District Library, Lynn Valley Branch
Community Meeting Room 1277 Lynn Valley Road, North Vancouver
For more information, call Kidsbooks in the Village at 604-986-6190
In Vancouver: Thursday November 4th at 7:00 pm

Please note offsite venue: Our Lady of Perpetual Help Gym
2550 Camosun Street (at W.10th Ave.)
For more information, call 604-738-5335


Deborah Ellis
Two Events Planned:
In Vancouver: Monday November 8th at 7:00 pm
Venue location: Kidsbooks 3083 West Broadway

In South Surrey: Tuesday November 9th at 7:00 pm
Venue location: Kidsbooks 15033 32nd Ave South Surrey


A Steampunk celebration with
Scott Westerfeld
Wednesday November 24th at 7:00 pm
Please Note Offsite Venue:
West Point Grey United Church Sanctuary
4595 West 8th Avenue

Come dressed as your best Victorian/Steampunk
look to be eligible to win a signed framed print from
Leviathan by illustrator Keith Thompson!

Some exciting book launches happening too!



Jill Barber - see http://www.kidsbooks.ca/
for details
Saturday November 6th 10:30 am
________________________________________

Simply Read authors at Kidsbooks
Nov 15 Book launch for Simply Read authors at 7 pm
Location: Kidsbooks 3083 West Broadway
________________________________________

OrcaBooks authors at Kidsbooks
Nov 18 Book Launch for Orca Books authors at 7 pm
Location: Kidsbooks 3083 West Broadway

Math Web Tools K-12

Here are some cool interactive math tools for all ages that were recommended to me by a colleague:




3Dvinci

http://www.3dvinci.net/ccp0-display/splash.html


3D design is a great motivational and instructional tool. It exercises both left-brain and right-brain skills, and appeals to students of all abilities. ModelMetricks books contain easy-to-follow projects based on the free Google SketchUp application, to show how to model anything in 3D.



Algebasics

http://www.algebasics.com/


This site contains a variety of interactive Algebra help/ problems/activities



Archimy

http://www.archimy.com/


This site has a service for drawing the graphs of all kinds of functions . With Archimy, you will draw the graph of any function and form, just use your imagination. The program must be downloaded and is free.



Arcademic Skill Builder

http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/


Our research-based and standards-aligned free educational math games and language arts games will engage, motivate, and help teach students. Click a button below to play our free multi-player and single-player games!



Calc3D

http://www.calc3d.com/


This site has interactive Mathematical graph and charting software for geometry and statistics



Chart Gizmo

http://chartgizmo.com/


This site has an incredible chart builder for any type of data that can be typed or uploaded to this tool



Chart Tool

http://www.onlinecharttool.com/


This site is another great tool for creating Charts and graphs On Onlinecharttool.com you can design and share your own graphs online and for free We support a number of different chart types like: bar charts, pie charts, line charts, bubble charts and radar plots.



Concord Consorium

http://www.concord.org/work/software


This site features free downloadable Math & Science software.



CrickWeb

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks1numeracy.html


Math interactive tools for white boards



Flash Card Creator

http://www.aplusmath.com/Flashcards/Flashcard_Creator.html


This site from aplusMath allows for the easy creation of online/printable math flash cards



Interactive Simulations for Math and Science

http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/index.php?cat=Featured_Sims


This site is from The University of Colorado



Interactives

http://www.learner.org/interactives


Interactives" provides educators and students with strategies, content, and activities that can enhance and improve students' skills in a variety of curricular areas.



Interactive Library Applets for Math, Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry & Earth Science 6-12

http://edinfo.securesites.net/il/il_math.htm


The Interactive Library is about "real interactivity"! The database contains hundreds of activities that make use of sophisticated java, vrml and shockwave programs. Teachers can create their own activity sheet to go with the programs. Students can use these programs to supplement their classroom activities, or use one of the more advanced applets as a starting point for their science project.



Introducing Integers (6-8)

http://mathstar.lacoe.edu/newmedia/integers/intro/media/media.html


This site contains hands-on approaches for teaching the sometimes challenging concept of integers. Included are video clips, concrete models and Mat Board for solving the problems. Quick-Time media player is required.



Java Math & Science Applets

http://www.falstad.com/mathphysics.html




Johnnie's Math Page

http://jmathpage.com/index.html


Links to interactive math tools and activities for students and teachers.



Lure of the Labyrinth

http://labyrinth.thinkport.org/www


This site contains a interesting digital game for middle-school pre-algebra students. It includes a wealth of intriguing math-based puzzles wrapped into an exciting narrative game in which students work to find their lost pet - and save the world from monsters.



Math.com

http://www.math.com/students/puzzles/puzzleapps.html


This site has a large number of math puzzles and games. Many can be used with an interactive white board



MathsNet (K-12)

http://www.mathsnet.net/


MathsNet is an independent educational website providing free mathematics resources to the education community. Its aim is to offer truly interactive resources that are both wide and deep in terms of their applicability and usefulness. MathsNet is not an online textbook. It is interactive, requiring the user to participate rather than be a passive observer.



Math Forum

http://mathforum.org/library/resource_types/simulations


This site contains a listing of a number of additional sites that contain Math interactive simulations.



MathNet Number Cruncher

http://mathsnet.net/cruncher/index.html




Math Playground

http://www.mathplayground.com/index.html


Welcome to Math Playground, an action-packed site for elementary and middle school students. Practice your math skills, play a logic game and have some fun!



MathTV

http://www.mathtv.org/


This site has interactive games and simulation related to math problem solving.



Math Tool Chest

http://macmillanmh.com/math/mathtoolchest/mtc_online


This site has a 'kid' look and feel and many Math related interactive games.



MathVids

http://www.mathvids.com/


MathVids.com is a website dedicated to providing high quality, instructional, free math videos to middle school, high school, and college students who need math help.



Mathway

http://mathway.com

This site is powered by Bagatrix Solved!™ technology, Mathway provides students with the tools they need to solve their math problems. With tens of millions of problems already solved, Mathway is the #1 online problem solving resource available for students, parents, and teachers.




Online Calculators

Instacalc

http://instacalc.com/

 (also creates charts)



Calcr


http://instacalc.com/calcr


(basic calculator only - powered by Instacalc)



e-Tutor Graphing Calculator


http://www.e-tutor.com/et2/graphing http://www.calcoolate.com/




Calcoolate

http://www.calcoolate.com/


(Also available as a download for Windows machines.)



Create a Graph 


http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph


(creates five kinds of graphs)



Online Conversion

http://www.onlineconversion.com/


This site can convert just about anything to anything else.



NumberNut

http://www.numbernut.com/index.html


This site has a variety of activities and games that can be used in conjunction with interactive white boards




Random Number Generator

http://www.random.org/


This site allows for the generation of true random numbers. Teachers could use this for probability and statistics actives as wall as drawings, random sampling and more



SqoolTools MathFacts (K-6)

http://sqooltools.com/freeworkshops/mathfacts.html


Explore all of the best K-6 math tools the web has to offer! From basic addition to geometry and fractions, from virtual manipulates to interactive games, from online calculators and converters to graphing tools. You will discover resources for every math topic you teach.




Teaching Time

http://www.teachingtime.co.uk/




Teaching Tables

http://www.teachingtables.co.uk/




TUSD Interactive Math Portal

http://www.tusd1.org/resources/math/students_math.asp




Visual Math Learning (4-8)

http://www.visualmathlearning.com/


This site is a free interactive multimedia on-line tutorial for math students. Its first level, Numbers and Arithmetic , is a pre-Algebra level course suitable for grades 4-8. Unlike traditional textbooks, Visual Math Learning is designed to run on any personal computer with a modern browser.



Web 2.0 Math Symbols Drawing Applications

http://software.informer.com/getfree-web-2.0-drawing-math-symbols




Web2.0 for Math Educators - a Wiki

http://mathfest.wikispaces.com/Web2.0+For+Math+Educators

October 18-22, 2010

Author Feature of the Week:  Jean Little!

These are the titles we have that she wrote:

http://bit.ly/cze0hL

Find out about Jean Little and her work here:

http://jeanlittle.ca/

September 2010 in the Library

Well, the Library Orientations are well under way!

School Staff is looking forward to taking in Widget Wednesdays, a ten part series in computer apps available to staff after school on Wednesdays.

Please note: TD Canadian Children's Book Week has been moved from November to April 30-May7, 2011!
www.bookweek.ca

Design Bookmarks Using PowerPoint!

Notes from:
“Designing Bookmarks” by Gareth Poon (The Bookmark, Fall 2009, Vol. 50 Issue 1, pp. 25)

-Using Microsoft PowerPoint 2007

*Italicized points differ from original instructions(2003).

1. Launch PowerPoint

2. From the ‘design’ tab click on page setup.

3. For “Width,” enter 4 inches. For “Height,” enter 6 inches. Click “OK.” (If you are using PowerPoint 2003 for Windows, enter 40 inches for the width and 60 inches for the height).

4. Under the ‘home’ tab click on the ‘shapes’ button.

5. Choose the ‘line’ option, and draw a line straight down the center of the slide. (To make this easier, you may want to ‘view’ tab and make sure that the ‘ruler’ option has a checkmark beside it.

6. Add text and images to the left side of your bookmark.

7. Under the ‘home’ tab press the ‘select’ button near the very right hand side of the menu bar. Choose the ‘select all’ option.

8. Still on the ‘home’ tab, choose the ‘copy’ button from the left hand side of the menu button. This creates a duplicate of everything on the left hand side of the slide.

9. Drag all of the duplicated items to the right side of the bookmark. You can also use the arrow keys to move the items around.

10. Click on the dividing line that you drew in step 5. Press the ‘delete’ key to remove it.

11. Click the big Microsoft button in the top left hand corner and choose ‘Save As.”

12. In the ‘format’ drop-down menu, choose “JPEG.”

13. 14. 15. Only apply to people who are using PowerPoint 2004 for Mac (see The Bookmark Book)

16. Name your bookmark, choose a location, and click ‘save.’ This will produce a JPEG file (i.e. image file) in the location that you specified.

17. Upload this JPEG file to a photofinishing website (such as https://www.londondrugs.com/ldps) or bring it to a photofinishing store on a USH flash drive.

18. Order 4” x 6” borderless prints with a matte finish.

19. When you pick up your order, kindly ask the technician if they can cut the stack of print in half. If they can’t, take the prints to an office/copy store (e.g. Office Depot) and ask them to cut the prints in half.

*Updates by Andrea Meerstra May 2010.

Website resource for parents:

http://pluggedinparent.com/

Features a number of articles of particular interest to parents regarding kids and technology.

Have a great summer!

Have a great summer!


If you get a chance, email to me a photo of you reading a book on your summer holiday!


I would love to post them on the foyer TV in September!


ENJOY!

June News!

Please see the Library today if your child has materials or fines owing.

ONLY students who are clear at the Library will receive their yearbooks.

June 25th LIBRARY USED BOOK SALE!
Bring your quarters, dimes and nickels!
Get your summer reading on Fun Day!



*Summer Reading:
House of James Summer Reading Club http://www.houseofjames.com/
Call 604-852-3734 for details or see in store after June 17th to register.



Kids’ Summer Reading Club resources http://www.kidssrc.ca/
Sign up at your local public library mid-June.



Can’t get to the public library? Try their e-books! http://www.fvrl.bc.ca/learn/ecollection.htm

Books for pre-K to Adult available for FREE with your FVRL Library account.
Read online or download to your computer, eBook reader or Smartphone.



Travelling by car? Try the public library’s collection of audio books! http://fvrlhp.fvrl.bc.ca/search/X



Type in your keyword and narrow your search by Material Type: Books on tape or Books on CD.


Don’t forget to stop by your Church Library for more summer reading resources!


*Keep those card fronts! The Library continues to collect any used greeting card fronts (trim off the personal writing) for making bookmarks throughout the year. Thank you to Judy Tyers of Bethesda House who makes these bookmarks for us.


*Did you pay for a lost Library book? Keep looking over the summer! The Library would love to have the item back and give you your refund in September.


Thank you to all our Library Student and Parent Volunteers for all their help all year!
Consider volunteering in the Library this September! We need you!

Make your own whiteboard using a Wii

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ

RABS May - June 2010

RABS


May 3-7, 2010

Kindergarten:  The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

Grade 1: Fluffy Grows a Garden by Kate McMullan

Grade 2: Birthday for Bear by Bonny Becker

Grade 3: Stanley's Beauty Contest by Linda Bailey

Grade 4: Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller.  Along with a fun storyline illustrating good manners, students learned about pig-latin.

Grade 5: If the World Were a Village by David Smith



May 10-14, 2010

Kindergarten: The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster

Grade 1: The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster

Grade 2: Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton

Grade 3: Follow that Bus! By Suzan Reid

Grade 4: Church Camp Summer Cramp by Chris Thaler

Grade 5: Tale of a Great White Fish by Maggie De Vries (and Rick Hansen)



May 17-21, 2010

Kindergarten: Pete’s A Pizza by William Steig

Grade 1: The Most Amazing Dinosaur by James Stevenson

Grade 2: Mr. McMouse by Leo Leonni

Grade 3: Pink! By Lynne Rickards

Grade 4: Ted by Toni Diterlizzi

Grade 5: A chapter of BOY by Roald Dahl.



May 24-28, 2010

Kindergarten: Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

Grade 1: Bad Boys Get Cookie by Margie Palatini

Grade 2: Lom and the Gnatters by Kurusa

Grade 3: Because Brian Hugged His Mother by David L. Rice

Grade 4: There Once Was a Man Named Michael Finnigan adapted by Mary Ann Hoberman

Grade 5: Yay, You! By Sandra Boynton



May 31-June 4, 2010

Kindergarten: The Turn Around Upside Down Alphabet Book by Lisa Campbell Ernst

Grade 1: Mickey McGruffin’s Ear by John Hall, Pie Rats Ahoy by Richard Scarry

Grade 2: Arthur’s Tractor by Pippa Goodheart

Grade 3: The Neighborhood Mother Goose by Nina Crews. The illustrations in this book give a whole new perspective to old nursery rhymes. Sure to inspire creative photography! Encouraged students to take photographs of objects that start with the different letters of the alphabet and make their own book on the computer.

Grade 4: Gilbert de la Frogponde: A Swamp Story by Jennifer Rae

Grade 5: Oh the Places You’ll Go Dr. Seuss



June 7-11, 2010

K-3: Kiss the Cow by Phyllis Root
Kindergarten: Willow’s Whispers by Lana Button

Grade 1: Willow’s Whispers by Lana Button
Grade 2: Gordon Loggins and the Three Bears by Linda Bailey

Grade 3: My Librarian is a Camel by Margriet Ruurs (this would be a great book to sign out during Freedom to Read Week in February!)  This book was recently published in Japanese.  See Margriet's Blog at http://www.margrietruurs.com/

Grade 4 & 5: DVD Interview: In this half hour long DVD, Jon Scieszka, author of Math Curse, The Stinky Cheese Man, The Book that Jack Wrote, and the True Story of the 3 Little Pigs interviews Jeff Kinney, the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Jeff Kinney describes where he gets the ideas for his stories, his writing process and how he overcame the pull of video games. He encourages students to always do their best and have pride in their work, even when doing tasks they don’t like.

Ramona and Beezus Movie coming to theatres July 23!

Watch the trailer!
http://www.tribute.ca/trailers/Ramona+and+Beezus/17697

Buy the movie tie-in edition of the book!
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Beezus-Ramona-Movie-Tie-Edition-Beverly-Cleary/9780061914614-item.html?EMS_MID=EMSx321x23222

Printing Spine and Pocket labels successfully in Destiny.

Printing Spine and pocket labels:


Go into the REPORTS tab

Under the heading LABELS, choose Spine/Pocket Labels

Decide how you want to print your labels. This sample is “labels by date added”.

This sample is for label stock 2 across by 5 down, purchased from Western Library Services, 1-800-663-4393 www.westernlibrary.bc.ca, email wls@westernlibrary.bc.ca
Order “Laser Labelsets Librarian’s Choice #1685. It has one spine label and two pocket labels for each title. It comes in 100 sheets per package with a regular price of $51.95 but if you can catch it on sale, it may only be $46.95. (Canadian)

Gauge: each 10 points is a line of text.



For the labels that we use, I choose Demco OCLC 4-14216850
Offsets: Horizontal 18, Vertical 18
Font size: 12pt.



Now comes the best part:

Run the Report

Refresh

View Report

And when the window pops up with your labels ready to be printed, click on Print.

In this window, where it says “Page Scaling” use the drop down menu and choose “none”

Make sure the Auto Rotate and Centre is not checked/selected

Make sure the paper source is not checked/selected

Now click on “Advanced Settings” and select “Print as Image”.



There are other tips at this link here if these tips don’t work for your printer set up.

http://lists.sjsu.edu/pipermail/calibk12/attachments/20071002/bc2ffbcc/attachment-0002.doc


http://lists.sjsu.edu/pipermail/calibk12/2007-October/001260.html

Pray Kids! Newsletter

http://links.mkt1665.com/servlet/MailView?ms=MzQ4MDg1NjES1&r=MTE0OTI2MDA1MAS2&j=NzIzOTU4MTYS1&mt=1&rt=0

RABS for March 29-April 30, 2010

March 29 to April 2

Kindergarten: Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
Grade 1: The King Has Goat Ears by Katrina Jovanovic
Grade 2: Horace and Morris Join the Chorus (but what about Dolores?) by James Howe
Grade 3: Pierre le Poof! by Andrea Beck
Grade 4: Hot Fudge by James Howe
Grade 5: Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

April 5 to April 9

Kindergarten: No Roses for Harry by Gene Zion
Grade 1: Big Chickens by Leslie Helakoski
Grade 2: Friends Go Adventuring by Helme Heine; The Most Wonderful Egg in the World by Helme Heine
Grade 3: Chickens Aren't The Only Ones by Ruth Heller; Big Chickens Fly the Coop by Leslie Helakoski.  Differences between Fiction and Non-Fiction were discussed.
Grade 4: Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer by Carol Brendler
Grade 5: Little Fingerling: A Japanese Folktale by Monica Hughes

April 12-April 16

Kindergarten: The Sweetest One of All by Jean Little
Grade 1: The Great Alphabet Fight by Joni Eareckson Tada
Grade 2: Class Two At the Zoo by Julia Jarman
Grade 3: The Baseball Card by Jack Siemiatycki
Grade 4 & 5: The Tallest of Smalls by Max Lucado
Grade 5:



April 19 to April 23
Ask your child to show you where the TITLE is found on a book.
At Least 5 Places: Front cover, Spine, Library Label, Title Page, Inside Jacket Flap, more.
Kindergarten: Book, Book, Book! by Deborah Russ

Grade 1: The Baby Beebee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie
Grade 2: The Little Wood Duck by Brian Wildsmith
Grade 3 & 4: Fiddle For Angus by Budge Wilson
Grade 5: Throw Your Tooth on the Roof by Selby B. Beeler




April 26 to April 30
Kindergarten:
Grade 1:
Grade 2:
Grade 3:
Grade 4:
Grade 5:

Vote for public funding for independent schools today!

There is a poll currently being run on News 1130 which is asking if the public is in favour of funding for independent schools. The vote this morning was 68% against funding for independent schools.


Please show your support of public funding!

http://www.news1130.com/

Look for this on the page:


"Today's Poll Results
Should private schools receive public funding? Call the Listener Line at 604.877.6332, e-mail us your comments or tweet us @News1130Radio."

Thanks!

How to enter to win a free Hybrid Bus for your school

"From: Canadas GreenestSchool [mailto:CanadasGreenestSchool@ketchum.com]


Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 7:32 AM

To: Canadas Greenest School

Subject: Chance to Win a Hybrid Bus and Classroom Supplies/ Une chance de gagner un autobus scolaire hybride et des fournitures scolaires


Did you know that one school bus has the capacity to take 36 passenger cars off the road, for a total of 1.9 million cars in Canada a year! That means over 1.3 billion litres of passenger car fuel are saved in Canada every year by students riding school buses.

Green facts like these are why school bus manufacturer IC BusTM is hosting the Canada's Greenest SchoolTM Contest. The contest invites school children to use their creativity to describe what they would do if they were in charge of making their school a greener and more eco-friendly place. Students have the chance to win $3,000 to be put towards his/her education and the school of the winning student will win a hybrid school bus from IC Bus (a $200,000 value) and a green audit of the school from a LEED accredited professional. The teacher of the winning entrant will also receive $500 for environmentally friendly class supplies.


To enter, students must submit an entry in the form of a photo collection, an essay, video, music, photos or any other creative format. Individual or group/classroom entries are encouraged.


If you would like to encourage students from your school to participate, please visit http://www.canadasgreenestschool.ca/

 for:

• A call for entries from Canadian Olympic figure skater, Josee Chouinard.

• Printable materials for your classroom including posters and eco-educational class activities.

• Environmental facts and figures that can help inspire students to take action!

• Details about the contest and the Official Rules.



Don’t be tardy—the deadline to enter is April 5, 2010!



Good luck!

Ketchum Canada on behalf of IC Bus



P.S. Please help us spread the word by forwarding this message to other teachers, students’ parents, and the school PTA."

March 22-26, 2010 RABs

This was our first week using our new library program called DESTINY.

Our OPACs have a whole new look for searching with some amazing user friendly options such as "visual search". 

Why don't you visit the Library to try it out?

Kindergarten: Too Many Toys by David Shannon. This author really knows true life! It was as if he had written an episode of my life with my son and his toys... that spill into the living room... his latest obsession being a box which he has decorated as a car that you can watch movies in!


Grade 1: The Boy Who Loved Bananas by George Elliot. A real crowd pleaser with lots of repetition and a humorous twist at the end.

Grade 2: Lemon Duck by Laura Backman. Lemon is not like the other hatchlings... a tender story with a good ending.

Grade 3: Jim and the Beanstalk by Raymond Briggs. This is what I call an "oldie but goodie" (copyright 1970)! A funny story about what happens when Jim climbs up the beanstalk to find that Jack's giant has aged. The old giant is in need of glasses, dentures and a wig. A sweet ending.

Grade 4: Christopher, Please Clean Up Your Room! by Itah Sadu. Christopher's pet fish team up with the cockroaches next door. They go to extremes to try and get Christopher to clean up his room and eventually the stinky fish tank.

Grade 5: Camilla Camelion by Colleen Sydor. Camilla is born with some amazing abilities which make her popular with her classmates AND her teachers!

March 1-5, 2010 RABs

Kindergarten: Willy and Hugh by Anthony Browne.

Grade 1: Dr. Drabble's Spectacular Shrinker-Enlarger; Dr. Drabble and the Dynamic Duplicator by Sigmund Brouwer and Wayne Davidson. (See also: http://www.coolreading.com/)


Grade 2: Goose's story by Cari Best. If you liked the movie: Fly Away Home, you'll also enjoy this book about a goose who arrives at the pond one spring with a mysterious broken leg.
(See also: http://us.macmillan.com/author/caribest
 and http://biography.jrank.org/pages/219/Best-Cari-1951-Sidelights.html)

Grade 3: The Boy Who Ate the World (and the girl who saved it) by Don Gillmor and Pierre Pratt. Students were tickled by this hysterical tall tale.
(See also: http://www.mbwriter.mb.ca/mapindex/g_profiles/gillmor_d.html)

Grade 4: Missuk's Snow Geese by Anne Renaud.  A sweet tale of how a girl helps her father find his way home in a snowstorm.

Grade 5: Sydney And Norman by Phil Vischer
(See also: http://www.philvischer.com/?page_id=70)
 A parable with a surprising and arresting twist.

RABS February 22-26, 2010

This week we celebrated

National Freedom To Read Week!

Kindergarten: Iris Has a Virus by Arlene Alda

Grade 1 and 2: The Delicious Bug by Janet Perlman

Grade 3: Violet by Tania Duprey Stehlik

Grade 4: Victory at Paradise Hill by William Roy Brownridge

Grade 5: Bamboo by Paul Yee

RABS February 15-19, 2010

K-5 How to Train with a T. Rex and Win Eight Gold Medals by Michael Phelps.

This book illustrates what kind of training goes into competing to win gold medals.  Even though this book was about the summer Olympics, it really gave students a new perspective about what it takes to compete at any Olympic level (winter or summer).

Feb 8-12, RABs

This week classes came to the Library for a book exchange and then went to visit our Christian Book Fair brought to us by Lighthouse Books.

While many students in grade 5 went on field trips, the ones that stayed at school were read the following book:
Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch! by Eileen Spinelli

This book shows the powerful way love can transform a whole neighborhood, even if it was by accident.

February 1-5, 2010 RABs

Kindergarten: Mattland by Hazel Hutchins
Grade 1: Wanda's Freckles by Barbara Azore
Grade 2: The King's Taster by Kenneth Oppel
Grade 3: (fieldtrips)
Grade 4: Reviewed "We are a Team" poster in Library
Grade 5:

RABs January 25-29, 2010

Kindergarten: Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton

Grade 1: Library Lil by Suzanne Williams

Grade 2: Young Authors Day at Pokeweed Public School

Grade 3: Stanley at Sea by Linda Bailey

Grade 4: The Final Game by William Roy Brownridge. Instead of a read alound, in one class we talked about the ideas on the We Are a Team Poster; about taking things that don’t belong to us and what kinds of things happen when we do.

Grade 5: Timmerman Was Here by Colleen Sydor (the ending reminds me of the Johnny Appleseed story and also a little bit of Bone Button Borscht/Stone Soup stories.)  About leaving a place better than when you found it.

January 18-22, 2010 RABs

Kindergarten: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback
This is a really fun book!  Have a look at interviews with this author as well as videos of his books on you tube.  Really neat!  Inspiring!


Grade 1: Brady Brady and the Great Rink by Mary Shaw
Boys and girls alike enjoy these hockey books. Great for reading aloud.

Grade 2: Treasure for Lunch by Shenaaz Nanji
One of my enduring favourites.


Grade 3: The Best Skater in the Whole Wide World by Linda Bailey
This story has a great ending.  Well developed and fun to read aloud.


Grade 4: The Hockey Tree by David Ward
A new favourite.


Grade 5: Black and White by David Macaulay
For this book, when it came time to read the parts of the train station announcements, I used a children's microphone on a cheap keyboard- it distorted my voice perfectly!  The students thought it was fun.  Students really struggled, however, to understand how the different stories in the book worked together.  Unexpectedly mysterious story.

RABS January 11-15, 2009

Kindergarten: Mrs. Toggle’s Zipper by Robin Pulver

Grade 1: Brady Brady and the Twirlin’ Torpedo by Mary Shaw

Grade 2: Snowed in at the Pokeweed Public School by John Bianchi

Grade 3: The Best Figure Skater in the Whole Wide World by Linda Bailey

Grade 4: The Hockey Card by Jack Siemiatycki

Grade 5: Testing Miss Malarkey by Judy Finchler

RABS January 4-8, 2010

Kindergarten: Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton

Grade 1: Emma’s Cold Day by Margriet Ruurs

Grade 2: Champions of Hockey by John Bianchi

Grade 3: The Farm Team by Linda Bailey

Grade 4: The Moccasin Goalie by William Roy Brownridge

Grade 5: Do Not Open This Book! By Michaela Muntean

RABS December 14-18, 2009

Kindergarten: The Stable that Bob Built by Cindy Kenney (Veggie Tales).


Grade 1: The Little Fir Tree by Margaret Wise Brown.

Grade 2: The Christmas Cobwebs by Odds Bodkin.

Grade 3: The Runaway Driedel by Leslea Newman

Grade 4: When Mother was Eleven-Foot-Four by Jerry Camery-Hoggart

Grade 5: PART TWO: Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco.

RABS December 7-11, 2009

Kindergarten: Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun. A mouse loses her home and finds a new dwelling inside a gingerbread house.


Grade 1: Silent Night, Holy Night: The story behind our favorite Christmas Carol by Myrna Strasser.

Grade 2: Sorry, Miss! By Jo Furtado and Frederic Joos. A series of minor tragedies befalls a boy’s library book as he gets overdue notices every month for a year.

Grade 3: Countdown to Christmas by Bill Peet. Santa goes on a modern kick; he repaints his sleigh with untraditional colors, hints that he’ll get a jet engine next year (to the dismay of the reindeer) and throws out his old, well worn gift sack with terrible yet hysterical results.

Grade 4: It’s Christmas by Jack Prelutsky. A collection of poems and stories about the “ups and downs of Christmas”.

Grade 5: PART ONE: Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco. A heartwarming story adapted from presentations by Dr. Clarence Riedenbach and heard on the “Hour of Power” with Robert Schuller. In the story, a tapestry brings together a couple that was separated by war.

RABS November 30-December 4, 2009

Kindergarten: Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field; Catfish by Jill Newton. After reading these two, we compared the illustrations as a class.


Grade 1: May I Bring a Friend? By Beatrice Schenk De Regniers.

Grade 2: May I Bring a Friend? By Beatrice Schenk De Regniers. After reading this book with grades 1 and 2 classes, we discussed why authors would want their book to win awards (such as the Caldecott Medal or Honor).

Some reasons:

1. For popularity, can sell other books that the author has written

2. Can sell lots of books as they are featured, higher demands by libraries and readers so publishers to reprints

3. Books get translated around the world

4. More ideas?

Grade 2’s were very excited to find out what the medals mean and their value. Allowed them to vote by show of hands if they thought this book deserved the Caldecott Medal award- all said yes!

Grade 3: Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires (first half) Introduction to comic style illustrations in this humorous story of a cat with a lot of imagination. A great time to share our graphic novel style Bible books.

Grade 4: African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways- Poems by Avis Harley. This is just an awesome book with terrific photography and clever poems. Discussed use of photography as illustrations in book making. Fits in with Grade 4 poetry unit.

Grade 5: African Acrostics by Avis Harley.

RABS November 23-27, 2009

Kindergarten: McDuff’s Christmas by Rosemary Wells


Grade 1:

Grade 2: Paddington Bear and the Christmas Surprise by Michael Bond

Grade 3:

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

RABS November 16-20, 2009

Kindergarten: All Aboard the Dino Train by Deb Lund


Grade 1: It Happens to Everyone by Bernice Myers

Grade 2: Sven’s Bridge by Anita Lobel

Grade 3:

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

RABS November 9-13, 2009

Kindergarten: The Silence in the Mountains by Liz Rosenberg


Grade 1: A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes (Last half)

Grade 2: A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes (Last half)

Grade 3: A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes (Last half)

Grade 4: A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes (Last half)

Grade 5: Sadako by Eleanor Coerr (Last half)

RABs NOVEMBER 2-6, 2009

Kindergarten:


Grade 1: A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes (First half)

Grade 2: A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes (First half)

Grade 3: A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes (First half)

Grade 4: A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes (First half)

Grade 5: Sadako by Eleanor Coerr (First half)

RABS October 26-30, 2009

Kindergarten: Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine


Grade 1: Tiger Can’t Sleep by S.J. Fore

Grade 2: The Library by Sarah Stewart

Grade 3: Wild about Books by Judy Sierra/A turkey for Thanksgiving Eve Bunting.

Grade 4:

Grade 5: