Monday Meme

iPod Friday

(Picture adapted from jamona_cl on flicker)

At the end of the week I give myself a treat and listen to my iPod at work while processing books or working on the database.   These are my picks for today.                          What do you listen to at work?

More Christmas Tunes

David Bowie and Bing Crosby

Little Drummer Boy

Peace on Earth

iPod Thursday???

(Picture adapted from jamona_cl on flicker)

At the end of the week I give myself a treat and listen to my iPod at work while processing books or working on the database.   These are my picks for today.                          What do you listen to at work?

All I want for Christmas..  
WAIT!  That's not it.  
♫♫ I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas ♫♫

or, if you prefer the original...

Here's 10yr old Gayla Peevey singing back in 1958.

click picture for video

wEIRD wORD wEDNESDAY

Nogs: 
a strong ale or a cold drink containing a beaten egg and milk mixture with whisky

Frankincense & Myrrh: 
both are a gum used for incense and perfumes

Magi: 
wisemen; astrologers;  the class of Zoroastrian priests in ancient Media and Persia, reputed to possess supernatural powers

Wassail: 
a hot alcoholic drink that is traditionally served in a large bowl especially at Christmastime; also an early English toast to someone's health

Blue Spruce 2015:Kenta and the Big Wave; Oddrey and The New Kid

The Blue Spruce™ Award program brings recently published Canadian children's picture books to Ontario children ages 4 to 7 in kindergarten through to grade two.
This program promotes reading for enjoyment and begins to develop the reader’s skill in evaluating a picture book based on story, text and pictures. Students read 10 nominated picture books during the school year and vote for their favourite book in the spring. The best picture book is selected by student voting, and the winning author is presented with the Blue Spruce Award.

Kenta and the Big Wave by Ruth Ohi

The tsunami has swept everything away—including Kenta’s most prized possession, his soccer ball.

When tragedy strikes Kenta’s small village in Japan, he does all he can to hang on to the things that matter to him most. But amidst the chaos of an emergency evacuation brought on by the tsunami, Kenta and his family must quickly leave their home, taking with them only the barest necessities. Climbing to safer ground, Kenta watches helplessly as his prized soccer ball goes bouncing down a hill and gets swept away by the waves, never to be seen again… that is until it washes up on a beach on the other side of the world, into the hands of a child who takes it upon himself to return the ball to its rightful owner.

Love the page showing the kids playing while living at the school after the tsunami.  This is a good way to introduce the idea of natural disasters to primary grades in an age appropriate way.  But the gem of this story is the adventure that Kenta's soccer ball goes on and it's journey back to Japan.
LESSON IDEA:
-pair this story with a Pen Pal program with a school in another country.
-Pair this story with fact books of tsunamis and hurricanes and fires.  Talk about how we have fire drills and Kenta's school have tsunami drills.  Compare and contrast the two activities.
-Have the kids colour a basic world map.  Have them chose  and draw on the map an important toy or item and have them predict on the map where it could travel to by ocean current.

Oddrey and The New Kid by Dave Whamond
Ever since she averted disaster in the class production of The Wizard of Oz, Oddrey has been making new friends at school. Her classmates have come to appreciate her irrepressible charm and Oddrey, in turn, encourages them to be their own unique selves. So when Oddrey's teacher introduces a new girl, Maybelline, to the class, Oddrey, ever the optimist, is sure that they'll become the best of friends.  But Maybelline's elaborate storytelling habits and bossy playground personality soon force Oddrey to reconsider. Fed up with Maybelline's tall tales, and her classmates' fascination with Maybelline's stories, Oddrey challenges Maybelline during a class trip to the zoo. The adventure that ensues is Maybelline's and Oddrey's best adventure yet!

More fun and bright illustrations. Another tale about Oddrey who still sees the world in a unique manner and a new character, Mabelline, who like to tell stories of her many adventures.The middle part of the story becomes a wordless book allowing the reader to actively become part of the storytelling.  I feel that a discussion at the end is still necessary to discuss whether Mabelline's stories were true or false or mostly true.
LESSON IDEA: Tall Tales - discussion and comparison
what is a tall tale.  list items that hint that a story may be a tall tale ___ The story has many exaggerations in it.
___ The main character has a problem to solve.
___ The main character is bigger than life and has super-human abilities.
___ The plot of the story is funny and impossible
discuss one or two of Mabelline's stories and write on chart paper which parts match a tall tale and which parts  could be true.

Monday Meme

iPod Friday

(Picture adapted from jamona_cl on flicker)

At the end of the week I give myself a treat and listen to my iPod at work while processing books or working on the database.   These are my picks for today.                          What do you listen to at work?

Christmas Tunes

2000 miles - Pretenders

Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Thank God It's Christmas - Queen

Do Reindeers Toot? and other questions for Santa

Excerpts from actual letters received at the North Pole.  

my name is ******* i am 6 years old.
i would like to drive a car.

This year nothing really changed in my family but lots of things have changed for me. I made new friends , I can't stand nicknames, I joined choir at my school and I got new fish!



Santa you are
half of the best!


 May I please have a tablet, a 4-wheeler, a kinetic sand kit, a brother and a brother that is nice. I want a nice brother because he is annoying and I have been a super nice boy all year.


I was wondering how can your reindeers fly and dont say that it is magic because i know thats not it?


and how can u fit throow my chimny cause mine is really small and every night we have a thing that locks in my chimny so do you come throow the door oh and by the way im not saying your fat.



Dear santa,
my wish for the world is... to let more pepole go to school.




Dear Santa,
 My wish for the world is that everyone can go to outer space by themself.




We have a  pencil Theif and he or she is stealing all of our pencil's,so I would like some pencil's please for my class room.



Hi Santa      
is frosty your friend. who boogies more Dancer or  Blizen.                    




Dear Santa: I hope you are not busy tonight. I know your reindeers barfed on my skylight last christmas.



 I am in grade2 so i think you should be on a diet
because you eat to many cookies but you can still drink milk because thats helthy



dear santa      
i  can,t wait until christmas my mind is blowing boom
i hope  you  and  your wife  your  elves  and   your  rindeer   are  all  ready  for   the...       BIG    Day
i hope   you and  your  elves  and   are   your   reindeer   are   not    sick    on   the   BIG  Day
 the   BIG   Day  is  really   exciting    for  me    and   everyone
I  FEEL     excited     FOME    *****



I like kitties, they run around. My wish for the world is that there could be more funness for people who don't get fun stuff.





DEAR : Santa. How are you up at the north pole? Is it cold? Well lets get on with it. I would like a mgp scooter and a xbox 360 thats it goodbye. : ) :( :) :(


    Dear Santa,

         My favorite thing is a garbage truck.  Where are your garbage trucks? I want a garbage truck for Christmas and a AA battery.  See you later.


 


Dear Santa,
I went to the North Pole once and saw you face to face.


 most of all i want big box of mr noodles



I have worked so hard in gymnastics.I really like gymnastics and I am working so hard to be the best.My favourite subbgect is music.In music I can let all my worries go away.




Did you know 1 kid in my class does not believe in you? I do.


This year is going awesome. I participate in sleeping. I'm saying this because the night you go to every house I'm sleeping.


Dear,Santa

How many times do your reindeers toot.Do they toot two times?
Does your elves have pointy ears because they don't eat there vegtables like green peas?



Hi Santa!

I've been a very good boy this year and I have cookies at my house so you should come

I will leave you a beer.  Do you drink beer?



What do you call R2-D2 covered in snow? Snow2-D2, hahaha!



Dear,Santa,

yo, ya have'n a good one? well, I'm think'en that the anwer is definetly a yes .
I was actally think'en :is you'r real name, saint nicoles or santa claus?(shorts:saint nic and santa)
also do you'r raindeer really fly?are elves really real? do you actally go down the chimney to dilliver toys and do you go up and down the chimney yousing you'r own magic? AAANNNDDD how is Misses claus doing?

OKEY DOKEY!!!!!!!!!!
WWEELL, time to burst you'r bubbles..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................I AM NOT FINISHED THIS MEASAGE!!!!



Dear Santa,

I have ALWAYS wanted an elf on the shelf. (ONLY FOR ME!) Keep that a secret please.
p.s. please give 5 candy canes. I hope you can read this. I love candy canes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!---------------------------------------------------------------------------sorry I just wanted to do that line!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and that to.



For Christmas I'd like a Lego Indiana Jones set that comes with Indiana Jones. I'd also like 1,000,000 dollars.



Dear Santa,

Hi.  I would like the daily 5 activity to be only read to self.



Dear Santa,
You're the best! Is your wife pregnant yet? I hope she is. Can you tell me when she is?



 You give a lot of people presents but some people cannot afford them. So can you please give a present or two to the people that cannot afford a present? Thank you.



My favourite  reindeer is Blitzen and Dixon !  (Wait...who's Dixon?)



I am nice to my friends by not yelling at my friends when they win a game and I lose.


My wish for the world is that everybody will be safe. I hope that the reindeers are safe , too and not sick so that they can fly.



Dear Santa,
. How is Dancer, he is my favourite, but don't tell the other reindeer I don't want them to think I am picking favourites.



hi frosty i am so so so sore for saying that. When I was building you, I'm sorry I got mad and that I said that word.

Homeless find Hope, Refuge and Community at Public Libraries

Social workers are joining librarians to provide help where it's needed

(excerpts from the Nov 20, 2014 article By Terry Reith, Andrea Huncar, on cbc.ca/news.ca)

“A lot of homeless people actually have jobs and have families and need resources, so they use libraries.” says Eric Weissman, a sociology professor at College of New Caledonia in Prince George, B.C.  

“Libraries have always been that central place, that community centre. It’s one of the mandated qualities of libraries...It’s a last stand...the Alamo of urban space for the homeless.”

At least five libraries in Canada employ social workers to work with the homeless. (CBC News)

​Homeless people were using the library, but staff were having difficulty coping with the complexity of their needs. “They have issues bigger than the librarian can answer for them.”

Having the social worker on site has made a difference, says library spokeswoman Michelle Jeffers (San Francisco)

Libraries provide more than shelter from the elements.  They offer access to information, entertainment, services and a sense of community.  Libraries often have a line in their policy to assist anyone and do so in a way that demonstrates respect and offers dignity to patrons.  Whatever attitudes people may face elsewhere, libraries can, and should, welcome, inform and inspire all those who walk through its doors.

We Bid Farewell to Norman Bridwell

Like so many others, I cut my reading teeth on the stories of a big red dog named Clifford.  Working in elementary school libraries for the last 10 years I can attest that such is still the case.  The Clifford books are still amongst the most popular series for primary grades.

Norman Bridwell, the creator of the beloved Clifford, has died at the age of 86.

From BBC News:
His loveable character first made an appearance in 1963 and went on to star in more than 40 stories, selling 120 million copies worldwide.  Bridwell had completed two more books which are due for release next year.

His wife of 56 years, Norma, said: "A lot of people were Clifford fans and that makes them Norman fans too."

She was responsible for naming the character Clifford after her imaginary childhood friend.

Over the decades, the bright red dog featured in a host of stories, including Clifford Goes To Hollywood and Clifford and The Grouchy Neighbours, which became popular bedtime reading for children.  

The dog regularly got into trouble before redeeming himself with a daring rescue or doing a good deed. Bridwell's wife said there were parallels between the author and his creation.

"He's never been able to recognise that. Clifford tries to do the right thing, Norman tries to do right the thing, and he makes a mess of it. But he's the most lovable grown-up man. He's just a nice guy."

Before he found fame with Clifford, Bridwell worked as a commercial artist during the 1950s.  He made numerous attempts to break into children's publishing, until a New York book editor suggested he created a story around an illustration he had submitted of a child and her oversized dog. Further rejections followed, until publishers Scholastic saw his creation's potential - a move which led to lasting success for the company.

"I said to my wife, 'Now don't count on there being any more. This one is just a fluke. I don't know if there will ever be another one,'" Bridwell said.

In more recent years, the character was animated in a series of cartoons for US television, while a feature film - Clifford's Big Red Movie - was made in 2004.

~~~~~~

Mr. Bridwell talks about the Clifford series in the 50th anniversary video from Scholastic.ca

“Norman personified the values that we as parents and educators hope to communicate to our children -- kindness, compassion, helpfulness, gratitude -- through the Clifford stories which have been loved for more than 50 years,”  said Dick Robinson, chairman, president and CEO of Scholastic.

wEIRD wORD wEDNESDAY

Desuetude:  disuse


Dalliance:  a brief love affair

Brood:  to think alone

Blue Spruce 2015: The Day My Mom came to Kindergarten; The Man with the Violin

The Blue Spruce™ Award program brings recently published Canadian children's picture books to Ontario children ages 4 to 7 in kindergarten through to grade two.
This program promotes reading for enjoyment and begins to develop the reader’s skill in evaluating a picture book based on story, text and pictures. Students read 10 nominated picture books during the school year and vote for their favourite book in the spring. The best picture book is selected by student voting, and the winning author is presented with the Blue Spruce Award.

The Day My Mom came to Kindergarten by Maureen Fergus
"I liked kindergarten from the very 1st day," begins the narrator of this very funny and touching picture book. However, she notices, "My mom was happy for me, of course, but I got the feeling that she was also a little sad" to leave her. So one day the little girl invites her mom to join the kindergarten class for the day, which turns out to be a real learning experience — for both of them. Somehow her mom just can't get any of the rules right: she barges to the front of the line, she shouts out without raising her hand, she slams down her scissors during Craft Time. How embarrassing! In a wonderful role reversal that will delight young children, the girl must become the patient and sometimes frustrated expert who instructs her mom on how to behave.

A fun role reversal book that discusses classroom rules.  Kids movie have used this concept for years: making the kid the expert who has to teach or lead the adults.  It is a tactic that make this book about rules fun and lively.  I see many opportunities for class interaction during story time and there are many connections to be made with the students home lives.  I predict some interesting conversations at the end of this read-aloud!
LESSON IDEA: Report card.  Give grades of thumbs up, thumbs out or thumbs down to how mom did at first, how the daughter taught her; and how mom did in the end.
How many think their mom or dad would have trouble on the first day with the classroom rules?
Pick a rule and say how would you help them learn it?

The Man with the Violin by Kathy Stinson
Who is playing that beautiful music in the subway? And why is nobody listening?
Based on the true story of Joshua Bell, the renowned American violinist who famously took his instrument down into the Washington D.C. subway for a free concert, this is a  story that reminds us all to stop and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. More than a thousand commuters rushed by him, but only seven stopped to listen for more than a minute.
Dylan is someone who notices things. His mom is someone who doesn’t. So try as he might, Dylan can’t get his mom to listen to the man playing the violin in the subway station. But Dylan is swept away by the soaring and swooping notes that fill the air as crowds of oblivious people rush by. With the beautiful music in his head all day long, Dylan can’t forget the violinist, and finally succeeds in making his mother stop and listen, too.

This book has so many wonderful levels.  There are lessons about paying attention to the world around you; about not rushing so much but to slow down and notice the important things in life; to listen to one another; not judging people solely on appearance and assumptions; and, about the importance of retaining the imagination and curiosity we had in childhood.  The illustrations also seem to contain a higher meaning.  The fading of colours the farther from the music Dylan walks. (picture)

LESSON IDEA: discussion and connections
Talk about why no one listened.  How many reasons can they think of.
Why did Dylan listen?  How did he feel?  How do you know?(colours in books)
What happens when we rush around?  we don't notice things?  Did you rush today?  What things could you notice if you didn't rush?

Monday Meme

Blue Spruce 2015: My Blue is Happy; Loula is Leaving for Africa

The Blue Spruce™ Award program brings recently published Canadian children's picture books to Ontario children ages 4 to 7 in kindergarten through to grade two.
This program promotes reading for enjoyment and begins to develop the reader’s skill in evaluating a picture book based on story, text and pictures. Students read 10 nominated picture books during the school year and vote for their favourite book in the spring. The best picture book is selected by student voting, and the winning author is presented with the Blue Spruce Award.

My Blue is Happy by Jessica Young
A lyrical ode to colors — and the unique ways we experience them — follows a little girl as she explores the world with her family and friends.  Your neighbor says red is angry like a dragon’s breath, but you think it’s brave like a fire truck. Or maybe your best friend likes pink because it’s pretty like a ballerina’s tutu, but you find it annoying — like a piece of gum stuck on your shoe. In a subtle, child-friendly narrative, art teacher and debut author Jessica Young suggests that colors may evoke as many emotions as there are people to look at them — and opens up infinite possibilities for seeing the world in a wonderful new way.

This is great for explaining the concept of perception or comparing different experiences without getting too complicated.  The  activities and questions you can involve students in practically leap off the page.  
LESSON IDEA: Great for exploring colours or feelings.
Explore what different colours mean to individuals. Try verbal comparisons; artistic interpretations of what colours mean (like in the book); or, word association games; etc.


Loula is Leaving for Africa by Anne Villenieuve
Loula has had enough of her terrible triplet brothers and decides to run away to Africa. Luckily, her mother's chauffeur, Gilbert, knows just how to get there. Together, Loula and Gilbert ride camels, cross a desert and, most important, use heaps of imagination in this heartwarming adventure.

Oh to have a chauffeur...and one who joins in on the adventures of the imagination (without turning creepy). Loula's chauffeur is a gem, thinking of thinks like needing a boat to get to Africa and tickets for the boat.  The best imaginary adventures have some detail to make them feel true!
LESSON IDEA: planning
Display a map of the world.  Plot your location and where Africa is.
Have the class suggest a list of what you would need for your trip (food, clothes, tickets, ship, food for whales, plane, sunscreen, postcards, etc).  They could also plot the route they would take on a map handout and draw items from the list where they think they would use them. 

iPod Friday

(Picture adapted from jamona_cl on flicker)

At the end of the week I give myself a treat and listen to my iPod at work while processing books or working on the database.   These are my picks for today.                          What do you listen to at work?

A Little Seasonal Music from Ella

Secret of Christmas

It's All Right with Me - with Nat King Cole

Winter Wonderland

Writers Will Need to Remember Freedom

I think hard times are coming, when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies, to other ways of being. And even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom: poets, visionaries—the realists of a larger reality. Right now, I think we need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art. The profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art. We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable; so did the divine right of kings. … Power can be resisted and changed by human beings; resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art—the art of words. I’ve had a long career and a good one, in good company, and here, at the end of it, I really don’t want to watch American literature get sold down the river. … The name of our beautiful reward is not profit. Its name is freedom.

-Ursula K. Le Guin

during her acceptance speech for winning the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the National Book Awards.

November 20, 2014 

wEIRD wORD wEDNESDAY

Vestigial: in trace amounts


Mondegreen:  a slip of the ear

Halcyon:  happy, carefree

Blue Spruce 2015: Young Frank Architect; The Highest Number in the World

The Blue Spruce™ Award program brings recently published Canadian children's picture books to Ontario children ages 4 to 7 in kindergarten through to grade two.
This program promotes reading for enjoyment and begins to develop the reader’s skill in evaluating a picture book based on story, text and pictures. Students read 10 nominated picture books during the school year and vote for their favourite book in the spring. The best picture book is selected by student voting, and the winning author is presented with the Blue Spruce Award.

Young Frank Architect by Frank Viva
Young Frank, Architect follows the adventures of Young Frank, a resourceful young architect who lives in New York City with his grandfather, Old Frank, who is also an architect. Young Frank sees creative possibilities everywhere, and likes to use anything he can get his hands on—macaroni, old boxes, spoons, and sometimes even his dog, Eddie—to creates things like chairs out of toilet paper rolls and twisting skyscrapers made up of his grandfather’s books. But Old Frank is skeptical; he doesn’t think that’s how REAL architects make things. 

Although sure of his opinions and critical of his grandsons methods, Old Frank makes an important discovery during the story.  I appreciate that the author included an elderly gentleman in the story without focusing on his age.  It is great to see people with some years on them represented in stories without being silly,  a punchline or a problem.  I found I really liked Frank, both the younger and the older. I am a fan of young Franks creations.  The back page includes info about some of the real designs Young and Old Frank saw at the museum.  Information on the designers and architects is included.

LESSON IDEA: create
Have students draw a structure (building, chair, etc) that they designed.  List materials to be used in  building it (can be fanciful such as a 58 lollipop bridge or a purple brick castle).


The Highest Number in the World by Roy MacGregor 

9-year-old Gabe (Gabriella) Murray lives and breathes hockey. She's the youngest player on her new team, she has a nifty move that her teammates call "the Gabe," and she shares a lucky number with her hero, Hayley Wickenheiser: number 22. But when her coach hands out the team jerseys, Gabe is stuck with number 9. Crushed, Gabe wants to give up hockey altogether. How can she play without her lucky number? Gabe's grandmother soon sets her straight, though--from her own connection to the number 9 in her hockey-playing days to all the greats she cheered for who wore it, she soon convinces Gabe that this new number might not be so bad after all.

My favorite part of the story? I'm almost exhausted with all the hockey themed books that I have seen lately (almost...I am Canadian!) but the final page got me: Gabriella and her hero both wearing their hockey jersey's.  Why?  Read the book.  It's worth it!
LESSON IDEA: discussion and draw
Who is your hero? Is it someone you have met?  WHY is that person a hero?  Do you have any heroes in your family?  What makes them a hero? Draw a medal (or provide medal template for them to personalize) for your hero, include something in the design that illustrates why they are a hero (eg. hockey stick, sport jersey, uniform, fireman's hat, etc).

Monday Meme

iPod Friday

(Picture adapted from jamona_cl on flicker)

At the end of the week I give myself a treat and listen to my iPod at work while processing books or working on the database.   These are my picks for today.                          What do you listen to at work?

Nickleback - What are You Waiting For?

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.  To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they'll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.~

It's a traditional haunted house tale in a contemporary setting, perhaps just down the road from your house.  The benign, cookie cutter layout of the store in the daytime feels a little creepy once the customers leave and the main lights are turned off.  Corridors seem longer, displays feel menacing, and noises that are absent during the open hours find their way into every nook and cranny.  As a reader who has visited a similarly styled self-assemble furniture store, it is easy to let the familiar layout and products surround your mind's eye.  Cautiously follow the apathetic Amy, company man Basil and a handful of colourful and typical employees as they patrol the corridors and investigate the increasing strangeness. Delivered in a catalogue style book, Horrorstör includes product pages, order forms, employee files and company mottos.   Highly atmospheric and tense, with dashes of dry retail humour to keep you from attacking the shadows in your own home, Horrorstör delivers.  It also looks great on that coffee table you bought and assembled yourself.  You may want to keep your hex wrench handy.

At Orsk..
We never stop.
We never sleep.
And now we're in your home.


I love the gimmick of this novel. Designed to look like an Ikea catalogue, complete with a store floor plan, staged furniture arrangements, product pages and order sheet. 

 

wEIRD wORD wEDNESDAY

Propinquity:  an inclination


Surreptitious:  secretive, sneaky

Wafture:  waving

More Library Memes

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