Secrets of the Garden

This week we enjoyed reading Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld.  This is the fifth picture book nominated for the Morning Calm Medal this year.  

Grade One created their own food chain, Grade Two illustrated a food chain story, Grade Three created a food chain pyramid, and Grade Four and Five demonstrated their scientific knowledge with a word cloze activity.

For a free online e-book about food chains, you can visit http://mrnussbaum.com/food-chains-for-kids/

For a fun food chain game, visit BrainPop at https://www.brainpop.com/games/foodchaingame

Ever After High

 "It's an open book, a road in reverse, 

a brand-new hook-forget that curse. 

It's a rebel cause with a royal heart. 

Rewrite, ignite, restart."

Award winning Shannon Hales has teamed up with Mattel to bring us a new fractured fairy tale series, Ever After High.  Ever After High is a boarding school that is both enchanting and enchanted.  Here the children of fairy tale legends go to school and prepare to meet their destinies.  

On Legacy Day, they must sign the Storybook of Legends and become the heroes and villains of the future.  But what is someone such as Raven Queen (the daughter of the evil queen in Snow White) does not want to follow in her mom's wicked footsteps?  What if the next generation decides to reject their scripted fate and wants to write their own stories?  

How are readers describing this new series?... "Lighthearted, charming, fun, adorable, silly, mysterious with a touch of romance..."

Click here to visit author Shannon Hale's official website...  "Which would you be, a Royal or a Rebel? Read the books and discover your own story!"

Click here to visit the official Ever After High website... There you will find character bios, games, quizzes, polls, videos, bookmarks and much, much more.

World Book Day

In England, this Thursday, March 5, has been set aside as a day to celebrate the joy of reading and books. 

To learn more about this special day, you can visit their website at www.worldbookday.com.   

Don’t miss the writing tips from authors under the storycraft tab.  How do you develop a character?  How do you build suspense and plant clues?  How do you write something that makes people laugh?  How do you use illustrations to support a story?  Of course, there are games and other cool stuff to explore as well. 

If you go to the WBD TV tab, you will find three great sections worth exploring (Storytime Online, Storycraft, and Big Little Book Corner).  Happy listening, viewing and reading!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

This week in library we welcomed March and took time 
to remember the birthday of a much loved author.  
March 2nd is the birthday of Dr. Seuss!

The Grade Ones enjoyed I Can Read with My Eyes Shut and then wrote their own poems about when, where and with whom they can read.



The Grade Twos demonstrated their ability to search our online library catalog for Dr. Seuss resources using title, author, subject and keyword search options.

If you are looking for fun Dr. Seuss activities and games, you can check out the following websites:

http://www.seussville.com/

http://www.randomhousekids.com/brand/dr-seuss/activities/

http://stayathomemoms.about.com/od/activitiesandfun/a/dr-seuss-activities.htm

Grade 1-2 Activity Wrap Up

Today was our last session of the art-literature connection club.  Twice a week, we have enjoyed a story and then experimented with art techniques and concepts.  

We explored dots, lines, shapes, size and colour before putting it all together to create a face in the style of Picasso.  Check out our funky faces above!