Hoo, Hoo, Hoo

Grade 4/5 class listened intently to a book called "Northern Spotted Owl" by Patricia A Fink-Martin. This book is from the True Book Animals series that provides amazing photographs and interesting and unusual facts about animals.

I read these books to encourage the students to want to research other animals or birds. They were amazed to find out that the owl does not having external ears. It is unfortunate that clearing old forests are taking away the habitat of the Northern Spotted Owl. Did you know the wing span can be 4 feet wide? A student helped me measure out 4 feet with the measuring tape. All of the students were surprised.

Our world is full of nature's creatures that we can only be exposed to through books or occasionally see at a zoo or aquarium. After reading only a few pages, it sparked conversation of visual sightings and interest in this magnificent bird. A student mentioned that he thought this bird was lazy because they do not build their own nests; all of the students chuckled. I'm sure it will be the topic of conversation at the dinner table tonight.

WARNING! Do not open this book (5 star)

The Grade 2/3 class truly became totally captivated during the read-aloud of the book called, "WARNING! Do Not Open This Book!" by Adam Lehrhaupt. Lowering my voice to a whisper and pausing before turning the page built suspense that made this story very real. A few of the children actually moved from where they were sitting, feeling like the book was actually going to come alive. All of us laughed and chatted about each page and the anticipation of what was to follow. So many children wanted to borrow this book after I read it. Aah! Choosing the right book for the different classes makes it memorable and enjoyable and everyone left with a smile. All shivers were now gone.

Happy Halloween!

A Milestone Birthday for St. Luke

Wow! St. Luke Catholic Elementary School will celebrate 50 years this Sunday, October 19. The building has changed but it still has its country charm and wonderful families continue to support this amazing gem.

 Congratulations to St. Luke School students, staff and families!

Happy birthday!

Interesting inventions

I found an interesting non-fiction book on the shelf called, "Extreme Science : Science in the Danger Zone" by Larry Verstraete. My first choice article from the book was titled, "Cut the rope." This article was about an inventor named Elisha Otis who invented the safety elevator. He helped change the future of city skylines with skyscrapers and tall buildings being built.

The second article that I shared was about how space engineers sent 2 spiders, minnows, minnow eggs and 450 fruit flies into space. I'm sure you're asking yourself the big question, "Why?" Scientists and space engineers wanted to see what they would do if they were in a place with no gravity. The spiders first wove webs that were sloppy and the minnows swam in circles. I'm pleased to say they eventually figured it out. The spiders were able to fix their webs and the minnows stopped swimming in circles.

Space exploration and science engineers are continually working together to find innovative ways to explore and help our world with their inventions.

Memorable day in history.

I wanted to share something that the intermediate students would find really interesting, so I chose a memorable day in World History. I decided on a non-fiction book, "The Fall Of The Berlin Wall : 10 November, 1989" by Brian Williams. It is part of a series called Dates With History.

The 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall will soon be here and it is a part of history that shows the importance of freedom and the power of people. All of the students were very curious to find out the length of the wall, why the wall was built, how many lives were lost and many other incredible facts.

After sharing this book with the class, I answered all the questions they had about this time in history using the information contained in the book. I also gave the students the opportunity to watch a YouTube video called, "The Iconic Photo of the Berlin Wall." This video provided photographs and the personal testament of TIME photographer Anthony Suau's coverage of the Berlin Wall.

Everything in the world is important!

I shared a book with a class called, "The Important Book" by Margaret Wise Brown. It is not a story, but rather a book describing and detailing the importance of many objects. After reading the book aloud, we talked about how everything in our world is important and has a purpose.

I suggested to the class that we could create riddles and the students could guess the object. Two of the students shared their funny riddles, and had the whole group laughing. This is a great book to show how the author described each and every thing within the book. Purpose and importance go hand in hand in life; you can't have one without the other, if you take the time to recognize it.

Violet

There is a book that is catalogued as a non-fiction but if you were to just look at the cover, you'd think it was a picture book. This book sends out such an important message in a simplified way. The title of this book is called, "Violet" by Tania Duprey Stehlik and illustrated by Vanja Vuleta Jovanovic.

The main character is a young girl who moves to another house and is nervous to go to a new school. There are many students of many colours at her new school: red, yellow, blue. Violet is surprised to find that there is nobody else that is the colour of violet.

When her father comes to pick her up from school, her classmates see that he is blue in colour, and make remarks about it. Another day, Violet's mother picks her up for school and again, a classmate comments about her Mom's red skin. Of course, the question is asked by some of her curious classmates why she is Violet is the colour that she is.

When she arrives home with her Mom, they talk about the different colours of skin and why Violet's colour is a mix of colour from her parents. This is book to embrace and share with intermediate students. It certainly provides a lesson that does not need any explanation after you read this book aloud.