Tag Archives: French-Canadian

Read-a-Louds Jan 3 – 6

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

Welcome back after the Winter Break! This week we will be reading a couple of books. For K to 1, we will be reading Robert Munsch’s new book Give Me Back My Dad! This story is a result of an online poll that Scholastic held last Fall – students were given 3 different storylines, and the one with the most votes would be the story that Robert Munsch would write. This book contains the winning storyline, and true to Munsch’s writing style, is quite funny!

 

 

 

 

For grades 2 to 7 students (who visit the library for story-time), we will be reading a traditional French-Canadian folktale, The Flying Canoe, retold by Eric A. Kimmel.

This folktale has many versions, and has been altered since it was first published in the late 1800’s. The original publication had the story taking place on New Year’s Eve instead of Christmas Eve, and the main characters were loggers instead of voyageurs. The sinister element of the story has been toned down to make the story suitable for younger students; in the original story, it is El Diablo who visits the loggers and offers them a ride in the canoe back to their homes for New Year’s Eve. Grades 6 and 7 students will be comparing the original story to this newer version.

Apr 25 – Apr 29 Read-a-Louds

The Kindergarteners this week will be reading the humorous story Llama Llama Mad At Mama by Anna Dewdney. This rhyming story is one of several stories about the young llama, a character that the K’s find fascinating.

Division 2 will be reading two companion books: The Quiet Book, and The Loud Book! both by Deborah Underwood. Each book describes either a quiet or loud kind of noise or activity. For example, “Making a wish quiet” or “Crackling campfire loud.” Students will then come up with 5 of their own kinds of quiet and 5 kinds of loud. Lot’s of fun!

All other classes will be reading the english translation of Dominique Demers’ new story Today, Maybe, originally published in French. It is a whimsical story about a young girl who knows that she is waiting for a friend, but doesn’t know who this may be or when he/she might come. The illustrations, by Gabrielle Grimard, are stunning and beautiful. The young girl learns that “true friendship is worth waiting for.”