On Sunday, May 10th some of us will be celebrating the amazing female caregivers in our lives. For me, that will be my Mom but for some that person may be their Grandma, their aunt, a neighbour, a mentor, a cousin, or an older sister. So with these lovely ladies in mind, I wanted to share with you some of my favourite stories that celebrate these unique and special relationships.
1. Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty (Illustrated by David Roberts)
Rosie is a brilliant and creative engineer all her own, but it is her great-great aunt Rose who helps her realize this by teaching her to be brave and by offering her unwavering support and encouragement.
2. Possum Magic by Mem Fox (Illustrated by Julie Vivas)
The special bond between Hush and Grandma Poss takes the pair on a delightful adventure to undo the magic that has kept Hush safe, but also has made her invisible much of her life.
3. Someday by Alison McGhee (Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds)
This story is about a mother's love, and all of her hopes and dreams for her child as they grow.
4. Miss Maple's Seeds by Eliza Wheeler
Miss Maple takes exceptional care of little seeds, helping them grow and thrive. This book is a beautiful metaphor for a female caregiver who has nothing but patience, love and kindness for those in her care.
There are SO many great stories that celebrate caregivers and those who love us and help us grow, it was a challenge to choose just a few. I hope that this coming weekend you all can think of someone to be grateful for and that you are able to tell them what they mean to you.
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.
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:
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.
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 Willemsthrough 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:
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.
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.
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!
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:
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 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 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 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
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!
"Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen and illustrated Helen Oxenbury, is a classic children's book that reads like a song or chant. During library we talk about different ways to tell a story, song and rhyme are really fun storytelling elements that we don't always see in picture books. With this particular children's book, once you know the words it is difficult not to sing along - or at very least hum!
Enjoy this animated story of "We're Going On A Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen with illustrations by Helen Oxenbury taken from YouTube.
Below are some fun activities to try after listening to the story!
1. "We're Going on A Bear Hunt" Guided Yoga from Cosmic Kids.
2. Geocaching: Download the free app and go on an adventure of your own, minus the bear.
3. Experience bears at a safe distance by watching some live bear cams
6. Enjoy more books about bears online 7. Organize a neighborhood Bear Hunt. See how communities around the globe have been "hunting" bears on their own block in the video clip below.
Barbara Reid's children's books are some of my most favourite picture books, and I was so excited to introduce you to them after Spring Break. The stories are great, but my favourite part of these books are the pictures. Barbara Reid uses plasticine to create beautiful, and delightfully detailed images. They are so unique, and really bring the story to life.
Below is a video of Barbara Reid reading her book "Perfect Snow" taken from her You Tube Channel (BarbaraReidAuthor). I hope you enjoy the story, but if you're like me the pictures may just steal the show!
The pictures in a book can be such a powerful tool in storytelling, Barbara Reid's work always reminds me of this. I know each of you have a story to tell, so I wanted to give you each the chance to work with plasticine to create your own images. You can still do this from home. If you don't have access to plasticine you can use play dough. I will include a recipe for homemade play dough at the end of this post if you don't have any at home already.
Barbara Reid has many different video tutorials on her YouTube Channel that help guide and inspire art with plasticine. Below, I have posted the video about Spring trees. I hope it inspires you to get creative! I will be posting pictures of my plasticine art on my instagram (andersonslittlelibrary) and would love to see yours too! You can e-mail them to me (micanderson@sd73.bc.ca) or post them on Instagram (with an adult's permission) using the hashtag #andersonslittlelibraryart.
Homemade Play-Dough Recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
1 cup salt
1 tbs oil
1/2 cup cold water
2-3 drops liquid food colouring
Method:
1. Mix the flour and salt together.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
3. Once combined, knead the dough.
4. Add more flour if the dough feels too moist/ or more water if too dry.
It's been hard to keep up with all of the great, free resources and activities popping up in response to our schools closing, but Common Sense Media has created a pretty great list to help! The list is frequently updated, and includes links. Categories include virtual story times, virtual drawing lessons, music classes and performances, lesson plans, virtual tours, and fun games. Check it out here: Free Online Events & Activities
Also, our Destiny Home page now has some useful links for students, teachers and parents.
Although I miss being the one reading the stories, I have enjoyed listening to read alouds and joining in on virtual story times. I hope you find some that you enjoy too!
Until recently I have been using Instagram (@andersonslittlelibrary) as my main method of sharing library events. With all that is happening in our communities right now, I wanted to come back to this space and use it as another (more in depth) way to connect and share.
Right now so many things are uncertain, but here are some things that I do know for certain:
1. I care deeply about all of our students, and miss their presence in the library so, so much.
2. I am here and available to connect with.
3. The education community is AMAZING and so many educators, authors, illustrators, etc. are stepping up and creating digital content to keep us all engaged and learning while we need to be apart.
4. We can all do hard things.
I am still learning how to be your librarian digitally. So it may take me some time to get it right. Be patient. Be safe. Be kind.
