Bite-Size Life Lessons

I don't know about anyone else, but spending more time at home recently has lead to a whole lot of baking at home. With books and baking on my mind, this week's story inspiration was a no brainer. Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a book full of sweet (pun intended) reminders of some very important life lessons and values.

I am working on patience right now, and the author's words "I am waiting... still waiting... aren't I waiting so nicely?" really resonated with me this week. Let's all keep waiting nicely, and practicing optimism and hope. And while we're at it, a storytime and warm cookies couldn't hurt.

Enjoy the story below from The Teaching Nook's YouTube Channel. What bite-size life lesson can you relate to most this week?

After reading this story with my daughter, we decided to bake cookies using the recipe found in the back of the book.  We did not have any chocolate chips, and had no plans to leave the house so used chopped up Easter chocolate instead.  The cookies did not disappoint. Here is the recipe from the book:

How can baking be incorporated into our learning at home? Here are a few simple ideas:

1) Math: Basic measurement (ie: 2 inches apart) and metric/imperial measurement  (ie: cups, teaspoon, tablespoon, ounces), greater than less than (ie: 1/2 cup vs. 1 cup), and of course fractions.
2) Reading the recipe offers opportunities for new and experienced readers to practice. Are there any words that you aren’t familiar with? (Ie: semisweet) Look them up!
3) Procedural writing: Can you write out the steps to a recipe or an activity that you know how to do well? How many details are needed to make it easy to follow for someone who has never done it before?
4) Science: Research why we mix dry and wet ingredients separately.  Do you know any science experiments that can be done with baking soda? And just what do ingredients like baking soda and baking powder add to a recipe? What is the difference between the two? I bet Wonderopolis can help you out with these questions.

Happy baking, friends!

Earth Day

Hello friends, Wednesday, April 22 is Earth Day! If we were in the library together my story and activities for this week would be focusing on what that means.

You can learn more about Earth Day on the Earth Day official website, but my short interpretation of Earth Day is that it is a day that we all agree to try our best to respect, and appreciate the wonderful place we live.

Here are two great Earth Day read alouds for you to enjoy!

If you are interested in learning more about our Earth and how to protect it, here are some resources to check out:

Global Guardian Explorer

National Geographic Kids: Declining Biodiversity

Frontiers for Young Minds: Biodiversity

The Nature of Thingies: Learn About Earth


Earth Day 2020 is unlike any other as we learn to stay in one place, and find things that fill our buckets that we may not have otherwise had the opportunity to focus on. Here are some things I have been doing (and you can do too!) that are great for an unplugged, no screens Earth Day.

1) Puzzles

You all know I LOVE puzzles. They keep my mind busy, and they provide me with a challenge. We are working on a 2000 piece puzzle here at home, and have found it to be a great way to take a break from screens.

Don't have any puzzles? You can create your own puzzles by creating an image or finding one in an old magazine or newspaper, cutting it up and then challenging a family member/yourself to put it back together!

2) READ

This one is a no brainer!  Read. Read anything. Read everything. I have been sharing online stories lately, but since we are looking to unplug try and find something to read at home whether it's a book, a recipe, a newspaper, a magazine, just READ.

Looking to get out? Take a walk around your neighborhood, read and record all the words you see (on traffic signs, street signs, garden decor, etc.) See if you can use your list of words to create a poem, or short story. 

3) Create

Whether or not you consider yourself to be an artist or creative person, we all have the ability to create something that brings us joy. In our home we paint, draw, colour, craft, play with sidewalk chalk, sing, dance, garden, write, bake. All of these can be considered creating art in my opinion! Sometimes your art is a beautiful painting, or a lovely cake or even the perfect garden layout, be mindful that the outcome is not as important as the process.

4) Play

I think we all know how to do this! Get out and have some fun, or stay in and play some board games or card games with family.

More Mo Willems

Source: Google Images// The Daily Cartoonist

What's not to love about Mo Willems? The man behind our beloved Elephant and Piggie books, the Pigeon books and more, is not only a best selling author and illustrator but an all around GREAT guy.  Mo Willems, along with many other authors, has stepped up to help and entertain us as we all learn from home.

You can explore the wonderful things he has to offer at his website www.mowillems.com.

One of my favourite activities that Mo Willems is offering is LUNCH DOODLES with Mo Willems through the Kennedy Center. Here you can join Mo to learn some of the art tricks that he uses to make his characters so alive and engaging.

Source: Google Images

BUT FIRST, choose one (or ALL?) of the book title links below to listen to a Mo Willems read aloud from Storytime with Ryan & Craig:

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

The Pigeon Needs a Bath

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog

Knuffle Bunny

Source: Google Images// The New Yorker

Intermediate students, ever think about what makes an author like Mo Willems so successful? CLICK HERE to find and listen to some of his fantastic interviews about writing, storytelling and even his funny failures.

Keep Calm and Carrot On

Our Premier, John Horgan released this important memo for the upcoming long weekend:

Source: Google Images

What a relief! I hope everyone has an egg-cellent weekend celebrating however feels right to them and their families right now.

My personal favourite Easter Book is The Easter Egg by Jan Brett. As I have told some of you before, Jan Brett is one of my very favourite children's authors and illustrators. If we were together today, this is the book that I would absolutely be reading to you. Her books not only tell a written story but her illustrations often tell a second story all their own.  Often times there are clues or even a mini-story hidden into the art that borders the main illustrations. In my opinion, these details make her stories that much more engaging and wonderful. We have a Jan Brett bin in our library, so finding these lovely books is super easy.  Listen to The Easter Egg by Jan Brett in the video below.  

Here are some additional resources to help pass the time over the long weekend and get everyone into the spirit.

Read Alouds: 

Pete the Cat: Big Easter Adventure by Kimberly & James Dean

Happy Easter Mouse by Laura Numerof 

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Wolfie The Bunny by Ame Dyckman

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

Six Little Chicks by Jez Alborough

Head over to Book Flix and explore the categories  "Animals & Nature" and "Celebrations" to find a great selection of read alouds and e-books.

Explore:

Over Easter my family and I like to visit our extended family's farm to see some of the baby animals. This year we won't be able to, so we will be checking out the Farm sanctuary live cams to get our cute baby animal fix!

Learn about Passover with CBC Kids

Find answers to your Easter questions on Wonderopolis, like Can Easter Eggs Be Art?

Create & Play:

Draw an Easter Bunny Folding Surprise among other things, over at Art for Kids Hub.

Decorate some Easter Eggs, here are 8 different ways to make beautiful eggs.

Play a round of Easter Memory

Try your hand at some Easter baking, like these adorable chick cake pops.

You Hold Me Up

Today is the Day of Sucwentwecw, and I hope that we are all recognizing the day while we learn at home. I wanted to share with you some Indigenous resources today as we celebrate the wonderful diversity of our community.

More than ever we need to hold each other up. I adore the book You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith for it's simple, yet beautiful message of kindness and respect for all.  Enjoy the read aloud below featuring the author herself.

Storytelling is so important to me as a librarian, and few do storytelling more beautifully than our Indigenous friends. Below is a YouTube video from Kenthen Thomas, a secwepemc storyteller and community member speaking about storytelling and it's importance for sharing knowledge.

 To continue your exploration, and to help broaden your understanding of Indigenous cultures check out the resources below:

 SD73 Aboriginal Education Website 

CBC Kids

The Canadian Encyclopedia: Indigenous Perspectives Education Guide 

Big, Small, a Book for All

Source: Google Images

Intermediate friends, what are you reading!? As some of you know I have a goal to read 50 young adult novels this year so that I can better help you with book selection. Having the libraries closed has made this trickier (for all of us, I am sure).  I wanted to share with you how I am getting access to these novels right now so that you too can find good books that are a right fit for you.

Tumblebooks:

Tumblebooks doesn't just offer picture books, they also have an advanced readers section and a Kate Dicamillo section that offer some e-books that are novels. Tumblebooks also offers a graphic novel section for readers.  I will be reading my way through the Kate Dicamillo section as part of my 50 book challenge.

Audible:

Audible has opened up some free titles for students. I have enjoyed audible for a few years, and am so excited to be able to share it with students. The books are organized into helpful categories, and the titles range from classics to Audible originals. I have been looking at White Fang by Jack London, Squint by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown, and 90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis.

Our School Library Catalog:

Our school library catalog has audio books available to students. From the catalog search page, enter "audio file" to bring up the different titles available. Click "play" beside the title that you would like to listen to.  Each student has their own unique log in information:

Username: first name.last name
Password: Your 7-digit student number 

Overdrive:

E-books and Audio books are offered through partnership with the public library. This resource requires that you have a library card number from the public library to log in with. The selection is huge, and well organized into categories that help you narrow down your search. You are able to to type in a specific title to find exactly the book you've been looking for as well. The e-books are "borrowed" so they sometimes require you to place a hold if it is currently borrowed by another patron, and just like the library there is a due date where your loan on the e-book expires.

Overdrive offers a free app called Libby, making access to the books quick and easy on a tablet or phone.

It may just be the perfect place for me to start the Guardians of Ga'hoole series by Kathryn Lasky. 


I have been posting what I am reading and have read on a poster in the library, but because we can't be together in the library right now I have created a Goodreads profile so that you can check in on what I've read, and what I am currently reading. Also, you can help keep me accountable to my personal goal AND create one of your very own. If you'd like to join me on Goodreads, you can follow along here.

I hope you are all finding small magic in your days, and reading/listening to excellent books while we are apart. Can't wait to hear all about them!