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
 

Nature's treasures

Since sharing a book about rocks and fossils, many of the children have become interested in the topic of geology. Each week, one or two students tell me about the fossils or rocks they have found. Next week the Grade 3 class students are going to share their found treasures. They will be showing us the rocks, fossils and shells that they have found and the stories that go with them.

Have you ever saw a moose?

I began my class with the Grade 2's with a question: "Have you ever saw a moose?" The reason I wanted to know is because I was sharing my own story with the students. The previous Friday evening, while travelling up north, my husband and I had an opportunity to see a young moose at the side of the highway. The moose was frightened and many people pull off the road to enjoy this special moment.

My book choice for the class was called "Moose" by Nick Winnick. This non-fiction book gave the children many up-close photos and lots of information about the moose. To see a magnificent animal from the forest is truly a gift. Our world is filled with such beauty; books and sharing our own stories provides us the opportunity to see it.

Spelling-bees are flying into the library AGAIN!

 Classes have voted the tally is in, the Spelling-bees are flying back into the library the first two weeks in June! Grade 3-8 seem to be missing them. (Ha-ha). Next year I plan on having the students use the I-pads for a few spelling-games and sentence structure. I will enjoy watching their faces as they race against the game to win.

Kindergarten's enjoyed this book and author is visiting our school this Wednesday!

I read-aloud the book called "Chicken, Pig, and Cow On The Move" by Ruth Ohi. The children enjoyed the illustrations of miniature farm animals and found it interesting that even when they found a home that was spacious, they still wanted to be close to each other. The barn was built with popsicle sticks and their new home was a doll house. The kindergarten class certainly had connections with the doll house since some of the children had one at home. The children did not seem surprised when all of the animals squished together in the bathtub of the doll house. These miniature animals did not like the change in their accommodation.

Ruth Ohi, Canadian children's author will be visiting our school and presenting to JK-4. I hope everyone enjoys her presentation. Students will have an opportunity to do some drawings with the help of Ruth and they can ask questions at the end of her presentation.

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.

Fossils

The Grade 2/3 classes visited the library today and I shared a non-fiction book with them. The book is called "Rocks & Fossils" by Margaret Hynes. This book provides a thorough look at earth science with photographs of many rocks, fossils, erosion and weather. We talked about caves, and ancient drawings and fossils. I shared a very special treasure of mine that was found in Costa Rica - a fossilized shell! I gave the students an opportunity to hold a fossil and hoped that this would help encourage them to build their interests in natural science. Some of the students thought that they might want to be geologists when they grown up so that they can be experts on rocks. It was no surprise that all of the rocks, mineral and fossils books flew off the shelves by interested students wanting to learn more about them at home.