ASL Storytime at Burnaby Public Library Dec. 19th
Please note that the December storytime has changed from Dec 12th to the 19th.
TD Grade One Book Giveaway
It was an exciting week for the Grade One students at South Slope/BCSD. Each of them received a copy of Mr. Zinger’s Hat written by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Dušan Petričić and published by Tundra Books. This book giveaway is organized by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.
“The book is to be taken home by each child to keep and to read with their parents. This far-reaching annual book giveaway program, which provides over 500,000 books to Grade One children across Canada, is fully funded by TD Bank Group. The program is intended to encourage literacy and reading for young children and supports the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s mandate of bringing great Canadian books to Canadian children and to promote a love of reading and a passion for books.”
First we read the book and then students received their own personal copies. We hope families enjoy reading the book at home, too!
Remembrance Day
Please join us at 10:30 am in the gym on Tuesday, November 10th as we remember and reflect in sign, song and spoken word. Our theme this year is “Peace is in our Hands”.
Please watch and listen to the video below to see our students’ thoughts about peace and hear the voices of the South Slope Choir.
On Wednesday, November 11th you can attend the Remembrance Day Ceremony in Burnaby at:
The Royal Canadian Legion Branch #83 – South Burnaby
Parade begins at 10:30 AM from Fire Hall #3, 6511 Marlborough Avenue. Ceremony begins at 11:00 AM.
#Rememberthem
DEAR Day
October 26, 2015 is the 9th 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!
Reading Club begins today!
Today students and staff at South Slope/BCSD begin the Reading Club. Every student and staff member at South Slope/ BCSD is automatically a member of the club. This year we want to continue to put the focus on recognition and reading for fun!
Your child received a new reading record form today. When the student completes this form, s/he returns the form to school and receives a new form.
Students will be recognized on a bulletin board in the school and at our assemblies. Students who complete 250 nights of reading before the end of June will have a book dedicated to them and placed in our school library.
Our goal this year is to Read for Fun! Research has shown that children who read for pleasure, read what they like and read often, do significantly better in school. Parents can help by encouraging their child to read every night (or be read to) for a minimum of 15 minutes and then sign the reading record form.
Thank you for helping your child develop a lifetime habit of reading! Please come and see Mrs. Araujo in the library if you have any questions or comments.
Scholastic Book Fair
Next week the Scholastic Book Fair will be back in the library.
Dates: Monday, September 21 – Thursday September 24
Times: Open at Lunch, Recess and After School. We will also be open during parent-teacher interviews on Tuesday and Thursday.
Check the notices sent home and posters around the school for more details.
At least 50% of all sales will go towards resources for your school library. Parent volunteers are needed! Please sign up just out side the library or speak to Mrs. Araujo for more details.
Hope to see you there!
Welcome back!
Welcome back to another exciting school year! I hope you all had a wonderful summer and read some great books. Here is some of the reading I did:
The library program has some exciting opportunities in store for your child this year:
• Our curriculum will be promoting the very best of children’s literature to your child with activities designed to help students enjoy the stories even more.
• We will be doing our very best to get (or keep) your children “hooked on reading” by recommending specific reading materials to each individual.
• At each grade level, students will be learning information literacy skills specifically suited to their developmental needs.
• The iPads will continue to be used for learning and exciting new projects! We have 24 iPads for students to use.
• We have a lot of special events being planned: author visits, DEAR day, book fairs, Literacy Week, the home reading club, and more!
• If you would like to volunteer to help in the library, please let me know. We’d love to have you.
Upcoming Events:
Scholastic Book Fair: Monday, September 21st until thursday, September 24th. Parent volunteers are needed. Please see me in the library or look for the sign up sheet on the library bulletin board soon.
Reading Club: Our reading club begins again on September 28th. Notices will go home the week prior. I encourage all families to make reading for pleasure a part of your day, every day.
Check out the library blog for more information and updates throughout the year. You can access it from the school website under the library tab or go to: http://goo.gl/PPPXu
Use your smartphone to find us too! (A great app for scanning QR codes is i-nigma)
Questions? Comments? Please come and see me in the library. I’m looking forward to an exciting year!
Mrs. Araujo
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr. Seuss I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
Jesse Miller was here!
Today students and staff at South Slope/BCSD listened to some very thought provoking presentations by social media expert, Jesse Miller. He spoke to our intermediate students about how they communicate and how they share their stories. Many of our students are using social media like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and more, despite the fact you must state that you are at least 13 years of age in order to get an account.
Here are some things Jesse Miller asked us to think about:
“Social media is the deep end of the internet pool, and young kids are still learning how to swim.
Would you pay $1 a day to use social media like Instagram or Snapchat?
When you lie about your age to get an account, you are compromising your character.
Would you feel comfortable if your parents, your teachers, your principal or the police saw what you are posting?
Make sure your story online is something you’re proud of.
The digital world allows us to learn without boundaries, but we need to be thoughtful and safe. Ask for help if you need it.
Privacy setting don’t work that well. How can we make things safer?
Are you connecting to have the world at your fingertips? or
Are you connecting to have the world look at you?
Connect with those you care for and learn from respected professionals.”
In the afternoon, I spoke to one class about what they learned from the presentation and what they might do differently. Students shared a variety of ideas including shutting down their account, changing their privacy settings or being more thoughtful about what they post. Others wondered if anyone had been “creeping” their account and noticed that social media can be both good and bad.
If you would like to learn more about Jesse Miller, please visit his web site: www.mediatedreality.com
The Book Fair is back!!!
The book fair is back and will be open all week until Thursday in the library. Classes will be visiting the fair during the school day with their teachers. Come and visit at lunch, recess and after school. We’ll be open during student-led conferences, too. Hope to see you there!
Parents volunteers are still needed to help make our book fair a success. Please sign up outside the library or come and see Mrs. Araujo in the library.