Hello HHCS community, I hope that everyone had a restful Spring Break! Even though we will not be able to come back for school in the building this week, I am looking forward to seeing the students online. Thank goodness for technology!
First of all for this week, a shout-out to Mr. Cook, our school vice-principal. Every week in his office window he makes a display with an alliterative tribute to one of the teachers- last week before the Spring Break was my turn! Thank you Mr. Cook, for all that you do for our school, staff, and students!
Next I thought I’d share a few pictures from our World Autism Awareness and Acceptance Day activities. We had the students make ‘little brains’ to illustrate things that they have both strengths and challenges with. We celebrated all of our neurodiverse brains!
Here is the announcement for the Poetry Popsicle Write it or Recite it Challenge! I hope the students will enjoy doing this!
Here is a sneak peek of some of the poetry resources mentioned on the poster announcement. I love using the Poetry Machine with students!
I’m excited that our online school book fair with Book Outlet is ON NOW!
Do you love books?
Do you love saving money?
Do you love HHCS?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then be sure to follow these steps:
1. Visit BookOutlet.ca/WEMX and create an account or log in.
2. Add the books you want to purchase to your cart and checkout between March 15-29.
3. Share the book sale information with your family and friends!
Thousands of books are priced at up to 90% off! Shipping is free over $45 or if less then you pay a flat rate of $5. Books are delivered to your door. 20% of sales during the 2 week book sale will go to supporting the HHCS library!
Don’t forget to share this with anyone who might be interested! Let’s get as many people as we can to help support HHCS!
This week I am featuring a few books about creating a culture of reading in the family home.
https://www.trelease-on-reading.com/
This classic book features chapters on subjects like the do’s and don’ts of read aloud, the good news and the bad about digital learning, getting dads more involved in reading with their children, and many more.
“It’s stressful to be a parent. It’s stressful to be a person. But I’ve found that even in the most difficult moments, on the most challenging days, I can usually reach for a book and feel lifted up, returned to myself. On days when I’ve felt as though I have nothing left to give to my kids, I’ve been able to sit next to them and open a book. We start reading, and the world looks different.”
https://www.meghancoxgurdon.com/
Quotes:
“The act of reading together secures people to one another, creating order and connection, as if we were quilt squares tacked together with threads made of stories.”
“There is an opportunity with children to show them art and illustration that will furnish their minds with beauty and mystery, symmetry and wonder. The simplest mechanism for this is the selection of picture books that we share with them.”
“Reading every day with children can’t guarantee perfect outcomes for any family—not in grades, not in happiness, not in relationships. But it is as close to a miracle product as we can buy, and it doesn’t cost a nickel.”
And now for my favourite, The Read-Aloud Family, by Sarah Mackenzie.
Quotes:
“A book can’t change the world on its own. But a book can change readers. And readers? They can change the world.”
“When read-aloud time doesn’t look like we originally hoped, we begin to doubt that it’s giving us any of those wonderful benefits we discussed in part 1. But here’s the thing: it still works. Even when it’s noisy, messy, and more chaotic than you’d like it to be, it works. Even when kids are grumbling, complaining, and don’t seem to be listening, it works.”
Sarah Mackenzie is also the creator of The Read-Aloud Revival website and podcast. She is an amazing advocate for family reading!
Discover your reading superpower with the Book Outlet Spring Online book sale coming up soon! We are excited to announce that we have partnered with Book Outlet to host a 2 week online book fair fundraiser. Book Outlet is an online retailer that offers thousands of new books for up to 90% off!
Book Fair Details:
Event dates: March 15-29, 2021
Rewards: 20% of all Book Outlet purchases made during the online book fair will go back to our school in cash rewards.
Mark your calendar!
A few weeks ago I posted some research sites for kids– here is the rest of my list- hope it helps!
March is Women’s History Month! I shared this story book with some of the primary students. I just love Brad Meltzer’s Ordinary People Change the World series!
I shared Shark Lady, by Canadian author Jess Keating, with multiple grade levels. Here’s the book trailer!
Is your family ready for I READ CANADIAN DAY? We will be celebrating this as our AR Term 2 Celebration on Friday Feb. 26! This will involve:
outdoor events- bonfires, snacks, and snow sculpture competitions
indoor events – reading books about Canada or by Canadian authors, Canadian trivia and virtual field trips
and THEMED DRESS for the day! You and your children can start planning what they will wear that day to fit the Canadian theme. They can wear red and white Canadian colours, or dress as a famous Canadian, dress as a Canadian author, etc. I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!
This week’s author focus is on Canadian author/illustrator Elise Gravel. I just love her hilarious books and her amazing artwork!
The entire month of February is Library Lover’s Month! The Children’s Library Lady has an amazing list of library quotes. Here are a couple of my favourites!
childrenslibrarylady.com
Here are some great lists from The Children’s Library Lady and Read Brightly – books about libraries and reading!
Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed your Family Day weekend! I wanted to let you know about an upcoming event for the whole school- I READ CANADIAN DAY. We will be celebrating this as our AR Term 2 Celebration on Friday Feb. 26. This will involve:
outdoor events- bonfires, snacks, and snow sculpture competitions
indoor events – reading books about Canada or by Canadian authors, Canadian trivia and virtual field trips
and THEMED DRESS for the day! You and your children can start planning what they will wear that day to fit the Canadian theme. They can wear red and white Canadian colours, or dress as a famous Canadian, dress as a Canadian author, etc. I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!
On that note, I want to feature a Canadian author today- Jon Klassen.
I have been putting together a master list of research websites for students that I think are the most helpful or of the best quality. There are many out there but these are the best that I have found so far. I will feature the rest of my list next week. Feel free to bookmark this post or these sites for when your child has a school project or assignment to work on , or if they just want to use these sites for fun!
https://school.eb.com/ – This is the Britannica database – our school has a subscription. Email me (see ‘contact Mrs. B’ at top of page) for the username and password.
Hello HHCS! It’s so exciting to finally be back in the building for school this week! A reminder that the due date for AR reading is coming up quickly on Fri. Feb. 19. I encourage all students to try their best to meet their reading goals for the term!
I am offering the Scholastic book club program for anyone who is interested. This way the students can buy reasonably priced books for their home libraries, and their purchases can earn free book rewards for our library at school! Please have a look at this letter of introduction to learn how the program will work this year: (click here) Scholastic Book Club
Next, you can click on these links to look at the digi-flyers for what is currently available. When you have chosen what your child would like to buy, follow the instructions on the parent letter (link above). Feel free to pass the code along to any friends or family who want to order through Scholastic as well. Be sure to enter my class code when checking out- here it is:
To add to the resources from last week’s post for younger children for Black History Month, here is a fantastic list from Rebekah Gienapp, The Barefoot Mommy. Check out the rest of her site as well as she has amazing articles.
Hi HHCS! Just a reminder that I am running the Scholastic Book Club program for any classes in the school that aren’t already doing it through their homeroom class. Instructions are on Sycamore News. It’s a great program- affordable books for your family, and help to earn free books for our school library!
This week is the observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Here are some books on the topic for various age levels. Go to http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11586
for a detailed list and description of many more books that help ensure we will never forget.
Last week I featured podcasts that are related to reading. This week’s list is on various other topics such as science, history, and current events.
But Why? – topics such as science, poetry, space, history, and civics
Pants on Fire – Can you decide which stories are true and which are false? Great podcast for learning to weed out “fake news”.
Hello HHCS! I thought I’d start off this week’s blog post with the children’s book that I most associate with winter and snow – The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats- a classic book loved by many. (Although we don’t really have that much snow at the moment- but I hear we’re getting some more next week!)
Have a look at this interview with the author of A Poem for Peter- a book that tells about Ezra Jack Keats and his best-loved character, Peter- from The Snowy Day.
Enjoy some more snowy read-alouds:
Our public library is a very valuable resource for you right now! Got a library card? Then you’re all set to go – sign out audiobooks and e-books on your library’s website! Even if you don’t have a library card, you can now sign up for one via email or phone! You will be able to access Audiobookcloud, Cloudlibrary, Overdrive, etc. The Tumblebook library is an online collection for young readers of over 600 titles and reading levels from grades 3-8.
Hoopla is through the public library as well and is a digital service that allows you to borrow movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, and tv shows to borrow. There is no waiting at all when using Hoopla- you can stream or download immediately.
This past week I have been hosting Zoom read-alouds, available for all families from the school to drop in at 3:20. You can find the link and information on Sycamore or in the list of links that your child’s homeroom teacher will have emailed to you. I look forward to seeing you this coming week- I will be there every day during distance learning from Monday to Friday! This past week we read some great books. Mrs. Bonvanie loaned me her copy of Maybe God is Like that Too- a beautiful book about seeing God and the fruit of the spirit everywhere we go.
Goodreads.com
We had fun reading the latest book by Jory John (author of The Bad Seed, The Good Egg, and The Cool Bean)- The Couch Potato! I love the social-emotional themes of these books, and of course I love that they are hilarious!
Goodreads.com
The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be- a beautifully illustrated book with a beautiful message- written by Joanna Gaines- what a treasure! This book reminds us that our diversity and different interests and talents make the world a better place.
Happy New Year HHCS! Since we will be doing school from home for the next little bit, I wanted to give you some resources in case you might be running out of reading material at home!
First of all, I wanted to mention that students can be doing their AR (Accelerated Reader) tests from home! This can be a good way to keep them on track with their reading. Go to the link http://global-zone08.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/1068. If you have any difficulties then email your child’s homeroom teacher. Let’s keep working on those Term 2 goals for AR!
Next, many of the homeroom teachers at HHCS have a class code for their students to use Epic. Even if the teachers are not currently using it, families can sign up for free for the first month. It features books, learning videos, and quizzes. It has fiction and non-fiction, graphic novels, biographies, STEM and DIY books, the list goes on! Some of the books even have the “read to me” feature to be able to hear the audio. If you haven’t used this already at home, please do, you’ll be glad you did!
Next, you can scroll through my blog for previous posts, some of which will have online resources that can be accessed from home. Click on this previous post about how the public library can help you! Curbside pickup is still available, and read for more information as well!
Click below to read about the amazing Christmas tradition in Iceland that involves lots of reading! This would be great to adapt to do with your kids at home!
This article about the Christmas Book Flood comes from the amazing Globe Trottin’ Kids site! Take a look around at the rest of the website, your kids will love it!
The mission of Globe Trottin’ Kids is to engage kids in “learning about world geography and cultures, understanding and appreciating diversity in our world, and being kind, caring, and responsible global citizens.” It is easy to click on various countries and learn about their statistics and culture. There are photos, videos, infographics, links, and even a “Read Your World” section with book suggestions and resources! I have been using this with one of the classes I teach and it has been so fun!
And lastly for this week, please have a look at this fantastic list of culturally diverse Christmas books! What a great way to build up your child’s home library!
