What's happening at the library

Read about what we have learned in Lower School and what students wrote for their portfolio reflections.

Preschool Juniors

Preschool Juniors had a collaborative Library and UOI unit “Once Upon a Time” in preparation for the Book Week “Telling Stories through different Media”.

Fairy tales are, in a sense, the first examples of classic literature that students encounter. Every country has stories that are so old; people cannot remember where they came from. Long time ago when people did not have books, radios, TVs, or computers stories were told for fun and entertainment, but also to teach a lesson or warn children of danger. Stories were told to one another over and over again. Nowadays popular fairy tales are written down in books and turned in films for children and grown-ups to enjoy.

In the library we shared popular fairy-tales through different media. We explored the tales of “The Little Red Riding Hood”, “The Three Little Pigs” and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” through flannel-board media, listened to audio- and watched video stories. We also read traditional printed books.

We talked about what these stories teach us, how they make us feel.

Students showed enthusiasm and curiosity during class time. They showed confidence joining in at the repetitive parts. Students eagerly waited for their next Library class to see what the next tale was about.

Preschool Seniors

Preschool Seniors have learned about book care - why is it important to take good care of books and what are some ways to care for books?

In preparation for the book week we focused on listening to audio stories of “Jack and the Beanstalk” and preschool’s favourite “Tacky and the Three Bears” among other activities.

Students displayed cooperation while quietly listening to the audio stories. They showed creativity and commitment while completing their activity sheets, and sharing their ideas with the classmates.

Reception

In Library class Reception students have learned about library behavior, fiction and non-fiction books and read lots and lots of stories.

“I like looking at the books the best even though I don’t know how to read.” Gabe 

“I like to draw. I like books, too. I mostly like scary books and pretty books. There is a scary book about Ghosts in the library.” Hadley 

Grade 1

In conjunction with Gr 1 UOI “Just Imagine” and preparations to the Book Week we talked about what authors do, why writers write, and looked at different media to share stories e.g. audio books, video stories, e-books on iPads. Of course during the year, in almost every class we have read traditional, printed books as well.

“I enjoyed watching the video story “Where the Wild Things Are”. I liked the way the video story was made using pictures from the book not making a cartoon. “ Amelie 

“I learned that writers write because they like to do it. They think it’s nice to share their ideas. And we can learn.” Dora 

“I learned that we put books on the shelf in an alphabetical order. If the author’s second name starts with B the book goes in B section.” Marco

“I have enjoyed reading e-books on my iPad. I like these because you can do extra activities, touch something to make things happen for instance the car changes color. I liked “Dino-Store” e-book the part when the dinosaurs worked in the store. I have learned to use e-books in the library.” Philip

Grade 2

Grade 2 students learned about different parts of a book, and how each part can be helpful. Working as authors and illustrators we made Grade 2 Best Books book including parts learned about and shared it during Book Week. Grade 2 favourites are Captain Underparts by Dav Pilkey, The BFG by Roald Dahl, The Dragon in the Library by Kate Klimo, Dork Diaries: Tales of Not So Talented Pop Star by Rachel Russell, Bailey by Harry Bliss and Moosetache by Margie Palatini.

Grade 34

In Library we learned that book recommendations are a way to express and share your ideas and thoughts about a book. You can use a book report, review, talk or trailer format to share your reading and learn about books. Grade 34 students wrote a book report to inform about their reading. Their reports along with books are on a display in the library.

“When I was writing “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” report I liked that I used exciting words. Next time I will write a bit more. I think that Charlie and the chocolate factory is an outstanding book!”  Mike Gr3

“To recommend a book you can make a book trailer, a book report, a book review and a book talk. A book report includes the author, the title and your personal thoughts.  I think you don’t always have to include the thoughts that are bad because if you do, people might not want to read the book but the job you are trying to do, is to get more people to read it. I also think you should always be honest when you write a book review because sometimes you have to write it about a book you do not like, and you can’t make it sound more interesting or worse than it actually is. I am a curious student who likes asking questions and reading books.” Amelie Gr4

“A report is when you write about a book you like and want to recommend it. I always read what I have to read. I show the attitude of appreciation because I am happy to learn.” Glenn Gr4

“A book recommendations are helpful if you friend doesn't know what to read so you recommend your friend a book. The elements that are always included in a book report are the title, author and the summary of the book plus your thoughts.” Rasmus Gr4

Grade 5

Grade 5 completed a unit on plagiarism and citing. We learned what plagiarism is and how to avoid it. We know now that when you do a research project you must give credit to the sources from which you found the material you used in your project.