Monday 18 December 2017

Winter and Christmas Cheer, 2017






















 Edmonton Mayor reads Dashing Through the Snow: A Canadian Jingle Bells by Helaine Becker, illustrations by Werner Zimmerman



FAMOUS SONGS:
"O Holy Night"
From the incredible humbling songs that touch our souls, to the "oh my cover your ears, but that's hilarious" versions, we humans can be so talented and, well, so entertaining.  Try out the various versions below of "O Holy Night:"

Original "O Holy Night" by Guy Penrod

Original singer who sang his version for some fun:


Sung by Steve Mauldin, "...worst rendition ever Funniest song on earth"
Merci Mme Anamachara (an amazing singer) for sharing this hilarious version.



Steve Mauldin's background story to "O Holy Night"



Music that brings tears to our eyes .......  Enjoy.



One of our Canadian gifts of this beautiful song


Another Canadian breath taking version ...

 Mariah Carey



In memory of Whitney Houston

A Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.  Mme. M-A.

Thursday 14 December 2017

Draft Figures for the English Book Fair Fund Raiser, Dec 4-8th, 2017

Great job everyone - we have a lot of purchasing power for some amazing books for the "200 Nights of Reading" celebrations in May and for more delicious purchases for our beloved Bastion Library Learning Commons.

Thank you to the thirteen parents and staff who helped with extremely busy sales times, poster set up and take down, supervision coverage, and "wrap it up and box it up" closure.  Thank you to all staff who did an amazing job promoting our 2nd book fair of the year.

Thank you to the many grade 5 Ss who helped set up the book fair, assisted young Ss counting money and making hard choices of what they could actually afford, keeping the fair tidy, and placing "last copy" on hundreds of books.

Lastly, thank you to all Ss, parents, and staff who made purchases and thus made our two Scholastic Book Fairs, once again, very successful.

Approx. $2560 earned in credit; $914 purchased from the fair by Ms. M-A = $1645 still to spend. 

We rock!



Wednesday 29 November 2017

Scholastic Book Fair, Dec. 4-8th, Mon-Fri, 2017

Image result for "saddle up and read" scholastic banner

SALES December 4-8th, 2017:

1. During Library Learning Commons Classes (LLC)
AND

2. Outside of class time:
Mon - Fri
7:45 - 8:10
9:55 - 10:12
11:55 - 12:45

2:15 - 4pm except

Friday sales will end at 3pm

for the "Pack it up, Clean it up, Ship it back" crew!

Sale Theme Days by Student Grade:
Monday = Grade 4 & 5s and Monday library classes (Mr. Styles & Caner, & Mme Weir)
Tue & Wed = primary classes kindergarten to grade 3
Thur & Fri = any and all grades

Image result for saddle up and read scholastic

PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:

- Book Fair Parent Volunteer Schedule
- Promotion Coordinator
- Cashiers
- "Pack it up, Clean it up, Ship it back" crew - Friday, 3pm - 4'ish pending #'es of helpers
- Posters: Thank you to Joanne Johnson for organizing the posters.

Scholastic Book Fair Flyer:


Scholastic Book Fair Book Reviews:


Kids and Family READING REPORT, Canadian Edition


Image result for saddle up and read scholastic
The Scholastic fund raiser is a great way to get extra books into our Library Learning Commons (LLC).  With approximately 120 students participating in the "200 Nights of Reading," it is the French and English book fairs that will make May celebration book prizes possible.

Thanks for coming out to support this much loved fund raiser. 

I looking forward to seeing & working with you! 

Children Wall Art, Reading Books Kids Wall Art Print, Boys Wall Decor, Kids Art, Reading Books "Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader", $21.00

Tuesday 14 November 2017

Kindies Learning About Wild Rabbits, Winter, Hibernation ... Wondering ...

Bastion kindergarten students are just learning about fiction vs non-fiction in the library.  They have been enjoying "E" Everybody picture books since September, but we are now moving onto
discovery / information books.

We are being detectives looking at book "call numbers" finding the "E" for picture books vs the number and letters for non-fiction information books.  I showed Ss the difference and invited them to sign out a non-fiction book today.

Ask your child if he or she chose an "Everybody Picture Book" or a non-fiction information book.

This week and last we learned about head lice from a storytelling book and an information book:
Story-telling "E" everybody book Bugs in my Hair David Shannon.


         E
      SHA

vs

the information book Lice are Lousy: All About Headlice by Margaret Tsubakiyama & illustrator Anne Canaveri Geeen

Picture 1 of 1
           616.5     (Dermatology dewey classification)
            TSU


Next week we'll look at wild rabbits (599.32) (rather than domestic ones [636.932) once again through storytelling and information books:
Storytelling book Snowboarding Bunny's: Mountain Adventure by Bonita Forsyth

Image result for snowboarding bunny's mountain adventure
                      E
                   FOR

vs

Nonfiction Welcome to the World of Rabbits and Hares by Diane Swanson


                      599.32
                       SWA

Below are some digital resources to further our learning about Arctic Hares:

by Wildlife Facts (3:21)


Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, & Ptarmigan (4:29)
Published on Dec 9, 2015

The above video got me wondering about what else happens to animals in winter?  
I wanted to know more about hibernation.  
Here's another SciShow Kids video about this topic:

Groundhog Hibernation (3:46)

And that is exactly what happens when we wonder about the world!  Questions pop into our heads & then we go out to find answers from sources such as books, digital resources, magazines, videos, experts, and more.  

While being entertained by a good story is terrific, learning about the world and all of the amazing things in it is also an incredible experience.  

Thanks for learning with me today.  Mme Murrells-Allaway (aka Mme M)
Kindergarten Library Learning Commons day is each Tuesday.  Currently we are signing out one book per session, but we will increase that to one fiction and one non-fiction in Dec. or Jan.

A reminder that 
BASTION FAMILY LITERACY DAY 
is each Wed after school 
2:15-2:45.  
Drop by to create an account with parent volunteer Morgan Brandle.  You can sign out up to 
5 books on your family account.  

Image result for quote about student learning

Thursday 2 November 2017

Remembrance Day & Peace, 2017

File:Poppies by Benoit Aubry of Ottawa.JPG
Source
Nov., 11th, Remembrance Day - a very mixed emotions day. 


  Halifax Seaport Farmer's Market Flash Mob produced by Veterans Affairs Canada.






Poppy with Canadian flag







2017 - Tales of Animals in War

                                Tales of Animals in War

                         Tower of London Poppies, 2014



Poppies and the Shard

Fallen leaves are seen on ceramic poppies

More BBC pictures of ceramic artist Paul Cummins' work
BBC Video of the Tower of London Poppies

Source

Poppies at The Tower of London, entitled "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red."  The work's title is taken from the first line of a poem by an unknown World War I soldier, which begins: The blood swept lands and seas of red, / Where angels dare to tread / (Source)

How the poppies were made

The poem that inspired the title for Paul Cummins' work:
Written by an unknown soldier poet it reads:
“The blood swept lands and seas of red,
Where angels dare to tread.
As God cried a tear of pain as the angels fell,
Again and again.
As the tears of mine fell to the ground
To sleep with the flowers of red
As any be dead
My children see and work through fields of my
Own with corn and wheat,
Blessed by love so far from pain of my resting
Fields so far from my love.
It be time to put my hand up and end this pain
Of living hell. to see the people around me
Fall someone angel as the mist falls around
And the rain so thick with black thunder I hear
Over the clouds, to sleep forever and kiss
The flower of my people gone before time
To sleep and cry no more
I put my hand up and see the land of red,
This is my time to go over,
I may not come back
So sleep, kiss the boys for me”



2014



Tuesday 31 October 2017

Halloween Poetry for You!

Halloween, Halloweenkuerbis

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

It`s late and we are sleepy,
The air is cold and still.
Our jack-o-lantern grins at us
Upon the window sill.
We`re stuffed with cake and candy
And we`ve had a lot of fun,
But now it`s time to go to bed
And dream of all we`ve done.
We`ll dream of ghosts and goblins
And of witches that we`ve seen,
And we`ll dream of trick-or-treating
On this happy Halloween.
Source: Family Fun

Also from Family Fun Magazine

GHOST BUS

Underneath the lamp post,
In the middle of the night,
A ghost bus make a silent stop,
A strange and fearful sight.
At the bus top at your corner,
Something big and green climbed down.
It’s looking for your bedroom,
And it has searched all over town.
You thought it couldn’t find you,
That you were safe and you were sound.
You thought that you could hide,
Where you never could be found.
But now it’s almost here,
You know it loves the dark of night.
There’s only one thing you can do,
Quick! Turn on the light!
Whew!
By Joe Wayman

Halloween, Pumpkin, Gourd, Creepy

Party


We're having a Halloween party at school.
I'm dressed up like Dracula. Man, I look cool!
I dyed my hair black and I cut off my bangs.
I'm wearing a cape and some fake plastic fangs.

I put on some makeup to paint my face white
like creatures that only come out in the night.
My fingernails, too, are all pointed and red.
There's no doubt I look like the evil undead.

My mom drops me off and I run into school
and suddenly feel like the world's biggest fool.
The other kids stare like I'm some kind of freak.
The Halloween party is not till next week.

--Kenn Nesbitt
Source: http://www.poetry4kids.com/poem-149.html (inlcudes audio reading)

Halloween Poem
Out of all the poems I have written, this is my favorite one. I wrote this about Halloween because I adore Halloween ...

Halloween Night

The corpse that walks,
its solemn line.
The vampire stalks,
finds blood to dine.
The werewolf howls
at the silver moon.
His human form
what's showing at noon.
The mummy's cries
of pain and loss.
His wraps that smell of must and moss.
The witch that flies,
upon her broom
casting curses
and spelling doom.
The black cat scurries,
hisses and claws
through the graveyard walks his paws.
#FamilyFriendPoems

Halloween, Helloween, Witch'S House

"A Trick of a Treat"

Dressed up little creatures
on a dark October night
run from door to door
giving everyone a fright.

They come and ring your doorbell
and before they will retreat,
they beg you for some candy
by yelling "trick or treat".

When their bags are full,
they run home to eat their fill.
They taste a bit of everything
and by morning they are ill!

So to keep the youngsters healthy,
I've figured out a deal.
This year instead of candy,
I'll give them all oatmeal!

Author: Nancy Hughes 



Pumpkin, October, Halloween, Autumn




Have safe and most enjoyable Halloween day and evening, Mme M-A, aka Tinker Bell's grandma for today!