Scholastic Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair has come to an end.  The students had a wonderful time buying books, diaries, pencils, erasers and bookmarks.  The most popular item by far was the UV secret spy pen.  There will be many invisible notes and letters written very soon.  What will appear to be a blank piece of paper to you may just be a top secret letter your child has written which can only to be read with a UV flashlight.  Very exciting!

All items that had to be back ordered will arrive at the school on Tuesday, October 23rd.  I will distribute them to the students on that afternoon.  

The book fair was a great success.  Thank you for your continued support.  This fundraiser is integral in supporting the library budget and continuing to put new literature in the hands of your children.

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Did you know that the Canadian and American Thanksgiving holidays have very separate histories? Or that the original Canadian Thanksgiving meal consisted of venison and fish and not turkey?  Turkeys were traditionally kept as guard animals before the Europeans arrived in North America!  These are just a few of the fun facts we have discovered learning all about the history of Thanksgiving.  

Of course, we have also been reflecting upon all that we have to be thankful for.  We have been discussing what we "need" versus want we "want" and reading about children who have very little.  Not everyone is as fortunate as we are.  We sure have much to be thankful for!

Scholastic Book Fair

 

Maple Green is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair from October 9th-18th.  The book fair will be selling books for children of all ages in addition to posters, pens, pencils, erasers and other school supply items.  The book fair is a significant fundraiser for the library program; all funds raised go towards purchasing new reading materials for the students.

Students will be given the opportunity to visit the book fair and make "wish lists" on October 10th and 11th.  Should they wish to purchase any items, they can do so the following week during their scheduled library time.  All prices include tax.  Please note that cheques are not accepted. 

Parents and carers are welcome to visit the book fair with or without their children on October 16th and 17th from 2:20 until 3:20.  Credit and debit card facilities will be available for your convenience. 

See you at the book fair!

SPBOY Website is Live

Once again, our school district has generously sponsored the Surrey Picture Book of the Year (SPBOY) program.  Each elementary school in Surrey has been gifted ten new books that have been chosen as top reads by a committee of Teacher Librarians from our school district.  In May, students from all across Surrey vote for their favorite book and it is always an exciting time to see which books wins!

The website for the Surrey Picture Book of the Year is now available for students, parents and teachers to visit.  It provides links to each of the nominated books that includes further information that will help readers to make more meaningful connections to the stories.  I will be making reference to this website when we read these books together and I encourage you to do the same.   

http://surreybooks.co.nr/

Home Reading Program

The home reading program kicks off on Monday, September 17th.  As in previous years, the Kindergarten through Grade 3 students will be working towards reading ribbons and reading certificates while the intermediate students will be earning prizes. Our goal is to complete 250 nights of home reading and be invited to the home reading pizza party at the end of the year.

The students will be coming home with home reading sheets.  Please ensure that you are signing these sheets so your child can receive ribbons or prizes. All students receive a free book when they reach both 100 and 200 nights of reading.  

Home Reading Schedule

Are you reading at home every day?  If so, these are your reading targets:

Nights	Date
25 nights	October 11th, 2012
50 nights	November 5th, 2012
75 nights	November 30th, 2012
100 nights	December 25th, 2012
125 nights	January 19th, 2013
150 nights	February 13th, 2013
175 nights	March 10th, 2013
200 nights	April 4th, 2013
225 nights	May 24th, 2013
250 nights	June 18th, 2013

Welcome Back to School!

September promises to be an exciting month in the library.  I look forward to meeting the new students who have joined us in addition to seeing the friendly faces of our returning students.  The home reading program will start very shortly and the new nominees for the Surrey Book of the Year (SBOY) and the Surrey Picture Book of the Year (SPBOY) await the eyes and minds of our eager readers. 

In library classes, we will be focusing on learning or reviewing library routines for the first two weeks and then we will be focusing on the strategy of making connections to literature.  Our topics will include friendship, new relationships and empathy.

Please feel free to join your child in selecting books after school in the library.  The library is open after school until 3:15.