News about the library and more!
Pink Day is coming up on February 26th. We’re celebrating friendship, kindness and respect! We will be creating a “Wall of Pink” in the hallway outside the gym with our ideas. Check out the display in the library and find a great read about making the world a better place.
During literacy week we all read the book Journey by Aaron Becker. It is an stunningly beautiful wordless picture book that celebrates the imagination. This week it was announced that Journey had been awarded the prestigious Caldecott Honor. Congratulations, Mr. Becker!
Watch the video below to learn how the book was made:
Last week we celebrated Literacy in a big way at South Slope/BCSD.
It all started with our Celebration of
Learning assembly on Monday, Jan. 21st. First, we recognized all the staff and students who completed 100 nights of reading in our reading club.
Next, we were treated to three special Readers’ Theatre performances. BCSD students performed Red Dragon, Red Dragon based on Eric Carle’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Leadership students performed a very funny p
lay called, Claynocchio. And finally, South Slope staff was very cool in their shades while they performed, Pete the Cat and his Magic Sunglasses.
On Tuesday everyone was invited to dress up as their favourite character from a book. Can you guess who these staff and students are?
All week the school participated in Drop Everything and Read times every day.
On Wednesday, we had special guest readers for every classroom from the Burnaby School district and the community.
Every classroom all read the book, Journey by Aaron Becker. Journey is a wordless picture book that invites readers to use their imagination and embark on incredible adventures. Many classes have displayed their responses in the hallways.
Our theme this week was Reading Opens Doors. What doors has reading opened for you? Do you have a favourite book that changed you or took you on an incredible adventure? I’d love to read your responses here or come and talk to me in the library.
January 20-24 is Literacy Week!
Our theme is: READING OPENS DOORS!
School wide DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) every day!
Monday: School Wide assembly including recognition of our Reading Club and Reader’s Theatre presentations by staff and students!
Tuesday: Dress up as your favourite character from a children’s book!
Wednesday: Guest readers visit our school including Burnaby’s Superintendent of Schools, Kevin Kaardal, and our MLA, Raj Chouhan!
Thursday: Literacy Day. Celebrating literacy across the curriculum all day!
Friday: School Wide assembly with Reader’s Theatre and DEAR!
Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing break.
News for the New Year:
Reading Club: December 31st marked 100 nights of reading. Please return your orange forms ASAP and pick up your new blue 150 nights forms. We will have an assembly on Jan. 20th to recognize the reading club and, of course, give away some great books.
Literacy Week: Jan 20-24 we will be celebrating literacy week at our school. Special events include a “Dress up as your favourite character from a book day” on Tuesday, Jan 21st. Guest readers on Wednesday, Jan. 22nd. Book trivia will happen throughout the week with prizes for students. Stay tuned for more details!
New class blog: I would like to welcome Mrs. March and Division 6 to the blogging world. Check out their blog here. I look forward to reading all about the great things they learn in their classroom.
Looking forward to a great new year filled with great books!
The Stamp Collector is the Canadian Picture Book of the Year for South Slope. Divisions 6,7 and 8 have chosen this visually stunning and moving tribute to the power of stories as this year’s winner. It was a surprise win for me as it is the most serious of the books nominated. Thanks to everyone who participated. Check out the comments for all the books on the hallway display.
Happy holidays everyone! See you in the new year!
Here’s a very fun Youtube video about books for the Christmas season. Enjoy!
This year the students in Grades 4-7 have some great titles to choose from for the Red Cedar and YRCA (Young Readers’ Choice Awards).
Nominees for the YRCA Junior Division grades 4-6:
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Nominess for the YRCA Intermediate Division grades 7-9:
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Red Cedar Non Fiction and Fiction Nominees:
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For more information about Red Cedar click here and for more information about YRCA click here.
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:
On November 15th, author Michael Wade was here. He began by telling us that, allthough he might look like Mr. Clean, he is definitely not. Mr. Wade told us many funny stories, reminded us of the power of every day words and managed to embarrass a couple of teachers, too. One of his stories involved some very strong toilet paper that two students tried to break, but could not.
He reminded us of some of the things that good writers do. For example, he read us a story he is working on now and asked for feedback about how to make it better. He also showed us a sample of his writing and talked about the importance of rewriting. He does seven complete rewrites of each of his stories. In the end, his message was that anyone can be a writer.
Thanks for a very inspiring visit, Mr. Wade!
