Literacy – South Slope/ BCSD Library

April 12, 2018

200 Nights of Reading

Home Reading Club: It’s hard to believe, but On April 13^th we will reach 200 nights of reading! Students and staff will be recognized at our Celebration of Learning assembly on April 27th.

Why is reading for fun important? Here is an excerpt from the International Reading Association position paper on leisure reading:

“Research shows that leisure reading enhances students’ reading comprehension (e.g., Cox & Guthrie, 2001), language (e.g., Krashen, 2004), vocabulary development (e.g., Angelos & McGriff, 2002), general knowledge (e.g., Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998), and empathy for others (e.g., McGinley et al., 1997), as well as their self-confidence as readers, motivation to read throughout their lives, and positive attitudes toward reading (e.g., Allington & McGillFranzen, 2003; Eurydice Network, 2011). The benefits of leisure reading apply to English learners (ELs) who read in English as well as in their native languages.”

Pick up your forms any time from the library. Thank you for participating and keep on reading

April 6, 2017April 6, 2017

30 Second Book Talks

Division 2 have been reading up a storm and they’re getting ready to share their love of books with the world. Students chose books they love and then were asked to write a 30 second book talk script to “sell” their book. Before they began writing students watched many book talks online and created criteria for their scripts and book talk. Now for the really fun part! Students are now recording their book talks using the Tellagami app. Today the library, the atrium and the hallways were filled with students recording.

Stay tuned for updates and information on how you can watch and listen.

Please click the link to read more news about what’s happening in the library. April2017newsletter

June 18, 2016June 18, 2016

Reading Club reaches 250 Nights!

Our Reading Club has reached 250 nights! The last day to hand in your forms is Monday, June 20th. Students will be recognized at our assembly on June 28th. All those staff and students who completed 250 nights will be able to put their name in a school library book next week. I will let teachers know when their students can come to the library and pick a book.

Don’t forget to join the summer reading club at the Burnaby Public Library and at libraries across BC. Registration is now open. Click here for more details.

Artist: Lee Edward Födi

Read my earlier post, Summer Reading, for reading recommendations and more.

May 24, 2016May 24, 2016

Aboriginal Stories

During the month of May we have been reading Aborginal stories in the library.

Some classes have been reading books by author/illustrator Julie Flett. We have noticed her use of the colour red and other earth toned colours. We also noticed how her books make us feel peaceful and happy. We have learned a few new words and phrases in Michif and Cree.

Other classes have been reading new books like Taan’s Moons by Alison Gear. We loved the amazing felt artwork created by Kiki van der Heiden and students from various schools on Haida Gwaii.

Finally some classes have enjoyed reading Orca Chief, Raven Brings the Light and Cloudwalker by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd. We are amazed at the beautiful paintings and enjoy trying to find the hidden clues in each illustration.

Come and check out these amazing stories any time from the library.

April 28, 2016

Poem in your pocket day

We have celebrating poetry in the library and in the school during the month of April. Today was a very special day: Poem in your pocket day. Everyone was invited to put a poem in their pocket to share with someone else. Today classes shared their poems with each other, their buddy classes and more.

Some classes also went to David Grey Park to share their poems there. Click here to see a great video on Ms. Shuster’s blog about our day.

We have lots of great poetry books in the library. Come and check one out any time. Here are a few of the new books we have that celebrate the great art of poetry.

October 26, 2015

DEAR Day

October 26, 2015 is the 9^th anniversary of the BC Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) challenge. Dear started as a small challenge between school libraries in 2007 and has since grown to involve many participants across the province. The simple, but powerful idea of DEAR is to promote the importance of literacy by having as many students and adults as possible read at the same time on the same day.

Today we celebrated DEAR by reading after lunch for 20 minutes. Everyone dropped everything and brought their books to the hallways, classrooms, the library and more.

The goal for October 26, 2015 is to have EVERYONE in BC put down their work, turn off their computer screens, pick up a book, magazine or newspaper and read for 20 minutes.

Reading is a beautiful thing!

February 10, 2015February 10, 2015

Family Storytime at BPL

Don’t forget there is another session of Family Storytime at Tommy Douglas Library this Saturday at 2:00pm!

January 29, 2015January 29, 2015

Literacy Week 2015: What did we do?

What did we do during Literacy Week? At our assembly on Monday, January 19th, we were treated to two special Readers’ Theatre performances. BCSD students performed Pop, Poppity, Pop! Then the South Slope staff performed Tacky the Penguin. What’s happening?!

On Wednesday, we had special guest readers and ASL storytellers for every classroom from the Burnaby School district and the community. Our guests included Kevin Kaardal, Superintendent of Burnaby Schools, Councillor Nick Volkow, City ofBurnaby, and Raj Chouhan, MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds.

On Thursday everyone was invited to dress up as their favourite character from a book. Can you guess who these staff and students are?

We also had book trivia with prizes all week long.

All week classes read and created responses to Quest by Aaron Becker. Our essential question was, “What is your Quest?” Check out some of the student responses:

Do you have a favourite book that changed you or took you on an incredible adventure? I’d love to read your responses on the blog or come and talk to me in the library.

Upcoming Events: In February, Inuit author and storyteller, Michael Kusugak, will be visiting our school. He will be telling stories to our primary students. Stay tuned for more details!

January 18, 2015January 18, 2015

Literacy Week 2015 is here!

Literacy week is back! Tomorrow is our official start and we have lots of fun events planned throughout the week to celebrate literacy. Our theme for the week is “What is your quest?” We will be reading Aaron Becker’s amazing wordless picture book, Quest. Last year we read his book, Journey, and we are all excited to find out what happens in this sequel.

On Monday we have our Celebration of Learning Assembly at 9:30am, First, we will recognize Reading Club and 100 nights of Reading. Next, Readers’ Theatre plays will be performed by BCSD students and the Staff of South Slope.

On Wednesday we have invited some very special guest readers and ASL storytellers to visit all the classrooms starting at 1pm.

On Thursday dress up as your favourite character from a book. Here are some fun costumes from last year.

On Friday come back to the gym at 12:15pm for more Readers’ Theatre performed by our leadership students and Drop Everything and Read.

It’s looks like it’s going to be an amazing week.

What is your Quest? What does literacy mean to you? I’d love to read your comments below.

January 11, 2015

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Everyone!!! I hope everyone had a relaxing break and read lots of great books. Here are some books I read over the past two weeks.

And here are some more new books ready for reading in the library. Come and check them out now!