Text Features with Divisions 8 and 9

On Friday the grade one and two students from divisions 8 and 9 learned about text features in the library.  We read some great books from the Blastoff! Reader series and found features like tables of contents, indexes, glossaries, bold words and more.  Come check out these great books and more at the library!

Earth Day Movie

Looking for a good movie to see on Earth Day?  Read this article from School Library Journal.  They recommend a new Disney movie, African Cats,  being released Earth Day, April 22nd.  Check out the movie site for a preview and more.  I’m hoping to add the books mentioned in the article to our library soon.

Tips for Talking to Kids about Japan's Earthquake

“It’s always hard to know what—and how much—to tell children when disaster strikes, and Japan’s earthquake and tsunami is no exception.”                             SLJ March 17, 2011

Read this article from School Library Journal for tips about talking with kids about the events in Japan.  It also includes some recommended books, some of which we have in the library.  Come and see Ms. Araujo in the library to check them out.

Earth Day Countdown

April 22nd is Earth Day.   Check out Earthday.ca or Ecokids for great ideas on how to protect our planet.  We also have some great books in the library.  Come and see Mrs. Araujo if you want to check one out and stay tuned for more details about Earth Day events at our school.

150 Nights of Reading

Just a reminder that 150 nights of reading forms are due this Friday, March 11th if you want to be recognized at the March 18th assembly at 2pm.  Keep on reading!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Our Scholastic Book Fair was a great success!  Thank you to all the parent volunteers who helped with the fair and to all the families who bought books.  Our profits will be used to support our library and other literacy initiatives.

Literacy Fair and Student-led Conferences

This week South Slope will host a literacy fair and student-led conferences.  Visit the gym for the book swap, book walk and take a tour of the amazing literacy displays.  Mr. Douglas has lots of fun planned in the Music Room with recorder stations. The Library is open for the Scholastic Book Fair.

The computer lab will also be open for you to explore online resources.  If you have an email address, I invite you to leave a comment on this blog about the Literacy Fair and/or your visit to your child’s classroom.  Here are some sentence starters you could try:

I noticed…               I liked…                  My favourite part was….

This reminded me of…                 This was the same as/different than…

I wonder…              I think…                I learned…

We hope you have fun!

150 Nights of Reading Feb 23rd

It’s hard to believe, but we will reach 150 nights of reading on Wednesday, February 23rd!  Reading Club forms may be handed into the library anytime after that date.  200 nights forms will also be available on Wednesday.  Keep on reading!

Scholastic Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming soon! Visit the fair next week in the library from Feb 21st to Feb 24th.  It will be open during student led conferences.  Every purchase supports your school library.   Parent volunteers are needed.  Please sign up outside the library or come and see Mrs. Araujo. Hope to see you at the fair!

Inquiry: What are we curious about at South Slope?

Division 3 and Division 4 are both doing inquiry units in their classrooms and the library.

Division 3 is learning about Canadian Government.  What are the levels are government?  Who are the important people and their titles?  What services does government provide?  They will be investigating these questions and more over the next couple of weeks.  Check out these sites on the library catalogue to learn more about government in Canada.

Division 4 is investigating Eurpean countries.  In groups they have chosen a country to learn about and created questions to guide their inquiry.  Today they began using some print and online resources to answer their questions. Check out these sites on the library catalogue to learn more about countries and cultures around the world.