Peter Reynolds has written and illustrated many books for children- here are a few that I will share. The Dot is his most famous book, which sparked a movement to celebrate International Dot Day each year. I did some Dot Day activities with the kindergartens last month and it was fun! Peter Reynolds’ books have social-emotional themes that are so helpful for using with kids. They always love the pictures and story lines too.
Here is a short film produced by Fablevision, a company that Peter Reynolds is involved with. It’s about teaching and education, aptly titled Keepers of the Flame. Be sure to share the last video here with your kids- they can draw along with Peter Reynolds! I think it’s important for students to get a glimpse into the illustrating or writing process- Kidlit TV is a great resource for this.
Your order will ship to your home and you can order online whenever you’d like! When you enter the ‘class code’, your order earns 20% back for new books for our school library. Orders over $40 are free shipping.
If your child still wants to get in a last minute entry for the Book-Themed Lego contest, they can bring it in by Tuesday at the latest, before I will draw a random winner from all the entries! They look amazing in the library and I can’t wait to post pictures next week!
Parents and Grandparents, the book fair is open for you during Parent-Teacher interviews and Grandparents’ Day! Students, the fair is open for you when your homeroom teachers take you during the week, or at select recess times. (stay tuned- listen on the morning announcements.)
At HHCS, we begin each school year in every grade teaching about The 7 Habits of Happy Kids; using the book by Sean Covey, and referring to what we have learned often throughout the year. It has become part of our school ‘language’ and has a big effect on building successful habits in our students. Here are some picture book suggestions to help our kids internalize what these habits are all about.
It was so great to have so many families come through the library on the Celebration of Learning night last week! It was so fun to have you all making bookmarks, using the selfie station, checking out extra books, and just reading and relaxing together! The library is such an important part of our school community- thank you for coming by!
I am excited that we will be able to host an in-person book fair for the students the week of May 30! I will need a couple of volunteers to help out with sales. Email me at l.baillargeon@hh-cs.org if you might be able to help!
May is Mental Health Awareness Month! This year at school I started a permanent rotating display of social-emotional books in the library for the students to easily find. It is so important for us to talk about these issues with our kids and to support them in mental health. I hope these resources will be helpful.
Flyers are being handed out this week to your child’s class for the READING OLYMPICS CHALLENGE! I’m looking forward to seeing what your kids come up with for the Reading Olympics categories! Have fun!
Wishing everyone a happy Valentines’ Day! Enjoy these picture books about Valentines, love, and friendship.
Bell Let’s Talk Day was last week, so in honour of that, this week I have posted their website, as well as a slideshow I put together of social-emotional issues, including mental health. Have a look below- you can see the preview in the post- just click on where it says Slideshow and it will take you to the full screen where you can hit your keyboard arrows to navigate through. It has social-emotional books featured by topic as well as by favourite authors who have entire collections of books with social-emotional themes. Hope it’s helpful!
This week on February 2, it is World Read Aloud Day! This day is created by Lit World and sponsored by Scholastic. Check out some of the online events and activities for your family below.
Saturday was World Kindness Day! As Jesus-followers, let’s intentionally teach our kids to find ways to be kind. You will love all the practical ideas and resources on this site: https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/
Our fall Book Character Potato Contest was so fun, that I’d like to do something similar yet different for Christmas! I am planning to put up a Christmas tree in the library in a few weeks. I would love for students to create (at home) some book-themed ornaments to put on the tree! Any materials or format are fine as long as they will work well with being up on a tree! Let your creativity flow! I will draw a couple of names again to win an Indigo gift card to say thanks for participating. You may send the students’ creations in at any time – the tree will go up sometime late November. Need ideas? Try a keyword search for “DIY Book Character Ornaments.”
Welcome back to school HHCS! I can’t believe it’s been 5 months since the students have been in the building! I am so excited to present to you our newly re-opened and newly decorated library. Most of the library had to be dismantled last year to use the space for an extra classroom to keep the class sizes smaller for the pandemic. This year we are so excited to welcome students back to their library, back to their gym, back to a newly landscaped back forest with outdoor learning space, and back to a newly decorated front entrance of the school. Thank you so much to the volunteers who helped me to move and unpack boxes and to shelve everything back in order in the library- I couldn’t have done it without you! It is so great to be in the library space and I love being able to have classes in there as well as wave at everyone as they go down the hall while I am working at the desk.
Last call for the summer reading challenge! If you forgot to send it back and your child did complete it, please send along either the printed copy or you can email me a copy of the digital version. Students will earn an HHCS seal.
This past week some classes enjoyed back to school books like The Day You Begin by Jaqueline Woodson and You’re Finally Here! by Melanie Watt. That’s definitely how all the HHCS staff felt this week- the students were finally back! What a great feeling!
Friday night will be a modified version of our usual HHCS Back to School Night. Be sure to check Sycamore for details. I will be in the library handing out bookmarks and a page of resources for parents! Come and say hi!
Hello everyone! Thank you to all who sent in their poems for the Poetry for Popsicles Challenge! We really enjoyed having the students share their poems! So much creativity in the writing and reciting of these works of art!
May is a busy month as we observe both Asian Heritage Month and Mental Health Month! Let’s continue to promote understanding and diversity. It’s especially important that our kids understand how to take care of their mental health and that it’s ok to ask for help with their mental health.
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.