Book Fair Success

Our book fair last week was a grand success!  We sold $3357 worth of books and fun stuff.  That translates into nearly $400 worth of books from the fair for the library, plus $898 to spend on author visits and other books.  We met our goal which was to pay for both author visits this spring: Jennifer Lott in February and Eric Walters who is coming in March!

I am working as fast as I can to get the new books stamped, stickered, and ready to sign out.  Everyone was excited to see and borrow the new books today!  Some of the most popular ones were Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot, the Minecraft books (I had to buy a second set!), and Stick Dog, a series which is new to our library.  Check back next week for more new books hitting the shelf!

Posted in Book Fair | Leave a comment

Jennifer Lott Author Visit

On Thursday we had a fabulous visit from local author Jennifer Lott as part of our ongoing celebration of Literacy Week!  The primary classes had a chance to hear Jennifer talk about her writing and read from “Hexed Hair”, the latest book in her Family Magic Series.

Jennifer explained where she got the idea for her stories, mostly from her own relationship with her sisters.  Many students could relate to the feeling of wanting to put a spell on a sibling!  She also explained some of the challenges of communicating with an illustrator who lives in a different country (Italy) and speaks another language (Italian).  She showed us a long wig and we imagined what sorts of things might get tangled in your hair if it wouldn’t stop growing.

My favourite part was when Jennifer read from her book, she really made the characters come alive.  Glenda, Charlotte and Eilleen were funny and talked to each other like real sisters.  The students were laughing along, especially when Eileen and Charlotte woke up to realize they had no hair left on their heads!

After the reading many students bought one (or both) of the books and had the chance to ask Jennifer to sign it for them.  Jennifer left some copies of “Cursed Dishes” and “Hexed Hair” so if anyone missed the chance to buy one they can come see me on Monday.  I also have two copies of each book to be borrowed from the library.  I have a feeling they will be pretty popular!

Check out the photos from the visit.  Some of the students in Division 7 were so inspired that they used the 15 Minutes of Fun plasticine bin to create characters from the book.

Posted in Events, Literacy Week | Leave a comment

15 Minutes of Fun

IMG_1513 IMG_1514We are ready for Literacy Week with our 15 Minutes of Fun bins!  Every day classes can borrow a new bin and explore a new activity.  There is drama, science, art, math, games, and of course, reading!  The library is full of books just waiting to be discovered, and reading them is a great way to try something new.

Posted in Literacy Week | Leave a comment

Literacy Week is coming!

Are you ready for Literacy Week?  We are getting ready at UHE!  The theme is “15 Minutes of Fun” and we have lots of activities planned for January 26-30.

If you would like some ideas of what you can do at home to celebrate Family Literacy Day, visit Life Literacy Canada.

Posted in Literacy Week | Leave a comment

‘Tis the Season…

… for reading by the fireplace!  This is my very favourite time of year, and although it gets busy with concerts and parties and baking and shopping, I always try to find some quiet time each day to curl up with a book.  The decorations are up and holiday books are out in the library, so stop by if you need a book to cozy up with on a rainy night!

Posted in News | Leave a comment

Reading is Sweet – UHE Reads 200

After a late start to our school year, we are ready to start our home reading program! Since we are a bit tighter on time, the goal this year is to read for 200 nights.  Primary students should read or be read to for at least 15 minutes and intermediate students should be reading 20-30 minutes.  The bright yellow sheets will be coming home this week, and you can start counting November 5 as your first night!cupcake-310968_640

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Getting back into the swing of things

This year has definitely not been a normal start, so it is nice to feel like things are getting back to normal.  I love my routine, and I think the students do too!  I am very excited to be the teacher-librarian at University Highlands and am looking forward to getting to know students and parents over the coming months.

Today I got to participate in Learning in Depth (LiD) for the first time.  In the morning, I got to choose my topic with Ms. Brophy’s class.  I got “circus” which I am quite excited about.  I just read “Water for Elephants,” set in the 1920s, so I think I might start my investigation by looking at the history of circuses.

The library was open for research, and several students came down to take advantage of it.  Two girls borrowed several books about bees, two others were trying to come up with a project joining their two topics of “glass” and “water.”  One boy whose topic is “maps” explored Google Maps to find his old neighbourhood in Ontario.  He was very excited when I showed him street view, and he found his old house!  Another small group worked on posters and information sheets for a cooking class they are planning to offer to primary students.  It was great to see everyone so engaged and excited!

I am hoping to spend some time this fall to expand our collection of LiD resources, both books in the library and digital resources online.  If you have any that you think would be good, send me an email!

 

Posted in LID News in the library | Leave a comment

LID Today: Musical Instruments

Today LID in the Library featured MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS! It was a fun time to explore the connections between musical instruments and other LID topics.  For instance, students made connections between muscial instruments, wood, glass and even storms!    Students had time to explore a great number of musical instruments.  The thunder tube was by far the favourite!  Students explored sites where they can create their own musical instruments.  These websites include:

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/musical-instruments-for-kids.htm

http://www.familycorner.com/family/kids/crafts/9_musical_instruments.shtml

http://pinterest.com/maestroclassics/homemade-musical-instruments/

Students also saw a great video on wine glass music (the connection to glass):

Check it out at: http://youtu.be/Xwoopjvq8vI

Posted in LID News in the library | Leave a comment

University Highland Scholastic Book Fair Was a Huge Success!

Thank you to all the parents, teachers and students who supported our recent ScholaStic Book Fair!   Our school raised a total of $1,972.25, giving our library a profit of $493.00 in free books!  I would like to thank all of the parent volunteers who assisted in this endeavour.   I would also like to thank all of the student volunteers who helped at the book fair.  A special thank you to Mary Halfar and Nitasha Naicker for organizing the book displays!     Great work everyone!

Posted in News | Leave a comment

Scholastic Book Fair Coming to University Highlands!

Our spring Scholastic Book Fair will be held April 3rd and 4th.   The hours of the fair will be:

April 3rd – between 12:00-1:00 and 3:00-5:00

April 4th – 12:00-1:00 and 3:00-7:00

We are looking for parent volunteers to assist with the set up of the fair as well as student volunteers to help at the book fair.  If you are interested in assisting, please contact Brenda Papapanagiotou at Brenda.Papapangiotou@sd41.bc.ca

 

Posted in News | Leave a comment