Grateful to All

The Scholastic Book Fair has been packed up and the library is back to it's original form. It is my pleasure to announce that this year's book fair was the most successful one at St. Luke's yet!

Every year since I began working here at St. Luke's, the staff and students and families have supported this annual event. It is wonderful to be part of a small school that is so very generous. I have a large box of books that were 50% off and profit sharing that provides funds for future purchases within the school.

Scholastic Book Fair is here!

It is marvellous to see the excitement in the air when the library transforms into a book store for one week every November. All of the children are peering in the window, wide-eyed and smiling, with anticipation and excitement to see what's going on inside. 

Similar to an old-fashion circus rolling into town, the Scholastic Book Fair is set up for a few days every November at St. Luke's. Everyone gets to view, shop and enjoy, and then it is packed up and the library is back to normal again. The book fair ends when the last trolley is closed on Friday morning.  

Everything in our world is a lesson, even the book fair. Some children buy books; some children don't; some children need to budget and can't always buy what they had wanted to. It is my hope that with the success of the book fair, I can add many great new books to our shelves for all the students to enjoy! 

A big "Thank You!" to all of the St. Luke's families who continue to support their school library!

Little rabbit helps a bear see stars

This week, I read-aloud one of my all-time favourite books to the Grade 1 class. The book is called, "Gruff the Grump" written by Steve Smallman and illustrated by Cee Biscoe. It tells the story of a grumpy bear whose attitude is changed when he rescues a rabbit and receives a small thank you gift. Rabbit is desperately trying to catch all the "fallen stars." The story ends with Gruff the Bear smiling and covered in autumn leaves (the fallen stars) from his new little friend Rabbit.

Isn't it wonderful to be able to imagine a yellow leaf turning into a star? Books can transform our moods the same way that they can transform their characters lives!

Ocean Adventure

With a new school year underway, I'm happy to share new books that I've added to the library collection, like "Miss Smith Under the Ocean" by Michael Garland.

Wouldn't it be a spectacular, jaw-dropping experience to have characters and the settings of their books come alive? This is exactly what happens when Miss Smith reads books to her students. Talk about hand's-on learning at it's finest! The students have the chance to meet the characters of Treasure Island, Robinson Crosue, Moby Dick, and others. They even help save a mermaid caught in a fishing net during their ocean antics!

Miss Smith always returns safely with her students, even though they sometimes get into frightening situations while experiencing the story she is reading. As a librarian who challenges the students to stretch their minds and use their imaginations, I mentioned how much I wish I could provide the incredible story-telling experience that Miss Smith does!

If you're happy and you know it!!

If you're happy and you know it...!! I don't know if you are, but I sure am! The past few weeks, I've been counting down the days to return to the library, and I'm looking forward to another year at St. Luke's. I hope everyone had a wonderful summer. Mine was filled with star-gazing, family dinners, campfires and reading books. It was a pleasure to do a little shopping and I have a few new books that I'm excited to share with the students.

I have lots of new ideas to share with the different classes this coming year, and am always looking for new ways for the kids to learn and interact. One idea is to incorporate a visual picture with a trivia question and then have the students research the topic. Hopefully, this will be both fun and rewarding for the intermediate/middle grades.

My blogs seem to be doing very well at both of my schools, and I hope you appreciate keeping up-to-date with the happenings in the library. Blogging may be time consuming but I feel it's important to share some of my ideas and special library moments with parents/colleagues.

Wishing everyone a fun-filled, rewarding school year!

Happy reading,

Mrs. Lummiss
 

Whale's song

My read-aloud today is a favorite of mine that I shared with the Grade 3 class. The title of the book  "The Whale's Song" by Dyan Sheldon and illustrated by Gary Blythe. I think we all wish we were fortunate enough to hear our grandmother tell us a story. The little girl in the story is named Lilly and she is at her grandmother's house near the sea. She shares a special moment with her grandmother when she suggests that Lilly leaves a special present for the whales like she did when she was young. Lilly leaves a beautiful flower in the water and waits for the whales. Her grandmother says that if the whales like the present they will give her something special in return, the whales will call her name! Lilly listens in the night to try to hear the whales sing. She hears sounds from the sea and runs down to the pier and to enjoy a special moment in time. She hears the whales call her name, "Lilly, Lilly, Lilly." Quietly, she stood and listened to the beauty of these words and felt blessed to have shared the same experience as her grandmother.

Proud Moment!

It was a proud moment for me in the library this afternoon. As mentioned in a previous blog posting, I had planned to have spelling-bees for two weeks in the library. The Grade 8 class came for their library time, and promptly sat down, excited to begin. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to bring the prizes for the spelling-bee, so I was going to postpone until the next week. Their teacher mentioned that they were looking forward to having the spelling-bee game, so I gave them the option to play without prizes. To my surprise, they wanted to go ahead and play the game, and even their teacher joined in! In fact, we had two games and they are all looking forward to the games next week. I'm blessed to have such a wonderful group of kids. Wow! I couldn't ask for students to be more engaged than this.

I was April Fooled

During my morning knitting club on Tuesday, April 1, I was fooled by a Grade 2 student. When I looked behind my chair I was surprised to see a snake. EEK! I was thankful that this little snake looked like a toy and was bright blue. We all laughed and I explained to the students that if the surprise was a real snake sitting behind me on the chair, I'd be out the door and running down the hall. It was all in good fun and the little girls were happy they shocked Mrs. L. I will rest easy now for this year, but I'll be watching very closely next year.

Let the Spelling-bees Begin

The Grade 7 class had their first spelling-bee in the library last week. I chose many words from a list of words appropriate for their grade level. The students were anxious but they enjoyed the change of atmosphere that the library provided.

Before beginning, I always explain a couple of simple rules and tips:

• Say the word out loud
• Pretend you are writing on a piece of paper if it will help you
• The game is for fun!

My last rule is most important. I have this game to build the vocabulary of the students and help them become more confident with their spelling. I ask the students to all be considerate of everyone spelling, and to make sure there are no negative comments or assistance.

The students have a lot of fun taking part, and two lucky students get to go home with a prize, if they are the last ones standing.