Sand sculpture comes alive

My read-aloud with the Kindergartens today was called "Foghorn" by Mary Elizabeth Hanson and beautifully illustrated by Paul Orlando. The possibility of having a sand sculpture come alive unlocks the imagination of the children. Foghorn is a sand sculpture of a cat that a little girl named Elizabeth created one day at the beach. She had taken such loving care in creating the sculpture that once she was done and left, the cat missed her. He came to life to follow her home. Elizabeth has a very difficult time trying to convince her parents that this sand sculpture cat is at their home and in their yard. When the rain comes, her sand cat wants to return to the beach. She is reluctant to let him go but she understands. Once she lets him go, to her surprise she finds a real cat that looks very familiar with the same colour fur and telltale scarf that was on Foghorn.

Imagination grows with book reading and writing. The children were thrilled about the possibility of their own sand sculptures coming to life.

Under the sea

I spoke to the Grade 8 students about life in the Arctic by sharing both a book and a video-clip with them.  The book was called "Very Last Very First Time" by Jan Andrews and is about a little girl who goes under the sea ice to collect mussels. I'm fortunate to have a smart-board in the library so I was able to share a remarkable video-clip to show the students how brave Inuits do this in real life. WOW!

"The Inuit of Arctic Canada take huge risks to gather mussels in winter. During extreme low tides, they climb beneath the shifting sea ice, but have less than an hour before the water returns." BBC News-- Inuit's risky mussel harvest under the sea 

Sometimes we find that a book is not a folktale but rather a historical harvest that has been passed down from generation to generation. The students had many queries and thoughts to share after learning about this and seeing the how the event unfolds.

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.

Look-and-Find

Today, I played a game with the Grade 7 class called Look-and-Find. This games helps children increase their vocabulary and is a fun way to incorporate a writing exercise. Each student was asked to choose a book they found interesting from a table stacked with a variety of fiction and non-fiction books. They had to skim through the book, looking for unfamiliar words or descriptive words that they don't use often, and write seven words down. When the students had finished, they shared their words with class.

Increasing vocabulary has many advantages besides just being able to read and write effectively. It helps improve communications, increases self-confidence and can even contribute to building better relationships with people!

The Look-and-Find game can be adapted to different grade levels to help them with the skimming technique and adding to their own vocabulary.

A picture book about friendship

Today I read the book called "Everyone Needs a Friend" by Dubravka Kolanovic to the Kindergarten class. It teaches us about friendship and acceptance of others, which is important to instill at a very young age. This is a feel-good book with beautiful illustrations of Jack the wolf and Walter the doormouse navigating the struggles that we can sometimes face in friendships.

Look out! Spelling-Bees are coming to the Library.

A few years ago I started having spelling-bees in the library with my library classes. Grades 3-8 had a few weeks of spelling-bees where the last two students standing won chocolate bars. It is a good-natured game in a supportive environment where the kids are encouraged to participate without feeling anxious or judged. My goal is to help the children learn new words, how to spell them correctly, and also challenge them with some friendly competition.

BuzzzzZZZZzzz! And the first word is ......!