And the winner is…

Well, the votes are in and we have chosen our Canadian Picture Book of the Year.  South Slope has selected We found a Hat by Jon Klassen as the winner! 

We chose this book because…

  • The pictures can tell the words and because the eyes of the turtles can make me laugh.
  • The author made unique illustrations because he made the turtles shell patterns different from each other.
  • It makes me feel like that other turtle who wants the hat to tell the truth of why he really wants the hat!
  • The pictures match the words and the pictures tell the story on their own. I also think it is very funny. (I like it very very much!) 
  • It makes me feel happy because it reminds me of my dad since he always wears a hat. 
  • It has powerful words.

In close second place was Town is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz and pictures by Sydney Smith. 

We chose this book because…

  • It makes me a little sad. I go to the graveyard to visit my grandfather, my father’s father.  He was a miner, too.
  • It reminds me that my town is by the sea.  And it is a peaceful book. 
  • It has unique and creative illustrations.  It makes me remember that I used to live by the sea.
  • I feel that I’m in the book and it repeats. 
  • The pictures make me feel calm.  

We enjoyed reading and talking about the other books as well.  When we were Alone was recently voted a winner in the Governor General Literary Awards. The Snow Knows was named the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book of the Year.  

We look forward to reading more great Canadian picture books next year! 

 

The Great Canadian Picture Book of the Year!

This week Divisions 6, 7 and 8 will be choosing their winner for the Great Canadian Picture Book of the year.  First, the students read some award winning books during our library times and were encouraged to check out award winning books. Next, we created criteria for deciding what makes a great picture book.  Then, we read all five nominees for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award for 2013.  Now the students will vote for their favourite.Stay tuned to find out which book won!

Here are the nominees:

mr kingmr zingerstamp collectorwallywolf

And the winner is…

The votes are in! The Canadian Picture Book of the Year is Small Saul by Ashley Spires!

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Over the last several weeks. Divisions 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 read the five nominees for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.  First they decided on criteria for a great picture book.  Then we read all 5 books during their library times.  Finally, they voted.  Stay tuned for some of the students’ comments about the books they read.

The other nominees were:

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Reading Club reaches 200 nights!

April 12th marks 200 nights of reading!

Staff and students may hand in their pink 200 nights forms into the library and pick up their new blue 250 nights form from the library door.  
Thank you to all of you who are participating and encouraging students to participate.  As of March 14th we had travelled 25400km! We just need to read across the Pacific Ocean and we will have read around the world!!!

As we didn’t have our regular assembly in March, here are the book draw winners for 150 nights of reading.  They may come to the library on Monday to choose their books.

Teacher winner: Marilyn

BCSD student: Marissa

Intermediates South Slope:
Brooklyn 1
Lirukshman 1
Joash 2
Emma 3
Andy 4
Shannon 5

Primaries South Slope:

Syzmon 10
Kihan 9
Spike 8
Iris 7
Reya 6
Cole 5

YRCA voting is on now!

Voting for the YRCA novels has begun. All intermediate classes received ballots last week and they are due Wed. April 11th. Congratulations to Connor from Div.4 for being the first to vote!
I wonder which books will be the winners….
Check out the YRCA page for more information on all the books.

Battle of the Books begins!

On Wednesday, March 14th the Battle of the Books will begin at South Slope Elementary.  Divisions 1 and 2 will combine together to form 6 teams and will “battle” it out on Thursdays beginning March 29th.  The school based final will be April 26th and the interschool final will be on Tuesday May1st.  Students will be introduced to all the books on Wednesday and will choose one to read over Spring Break.

Check out the prezi below to learn more about the books. Happy reading and good luck Divisions 1 and 2!

 

Book Week 2012 Writing Contest for Kids & Teens

Book Week 2012 Writing Contest for Kids & Teens

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre is running a Writing Contest for Kids & Teens in celebration of TD Canadian Children’s Book Week 2012 (May 5 – 12, 2012).

The contest is open to students in Grades 4 to 12. One winner from each grade will receive a $250 gift certificate to the bookstore of his or her choice!The CCBC's 2012 Writing Contest for Kids & Teens
Deadline for entries is February 1, 2012.

More information is available here.