What is composting?

This week we are reading Charlie's Dirt Day, by Canadian author, Andrew Larsen, illustrated by Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli, also a Canadian. In this story, Charlie learns all about composting so I thought it would be fun to try composting in our Library Learning Commons!

I wonder how long it will take to make our compost?  We know that it needs brown (dry leaves, twigs), green organics (grass clippings, orange peel, banana peel), water (just until it's crumbly), and air.  We will have to give it more water and a stir every few days.  Now we wait!  Maybe we will be able to use the compost for our avocado seeds that are looking ready to sprout any day!

Can you tell what went into our compost?
We started with some dirt, twigs and dry leaves and added grass clippings, orange peels, banana peels, coffee grounds and tea leaves.  Then we added some water and mixed it all together with a gardening fork.  

The bottom picture shows what our compost looked like once it was mixed up.  The plastic container has small holes in the bottom and we put the black lid on top and put the compost in the window where it will get some sun.

Update:  May 2nd

Update: May 9th

Can you spot the mold?  What does the mold do? What do you notice that's different since last week?  Since the beginning?

Update: May 16th

What changes do you notice in this week's photo?  Do you think the compost is ready yet?  Why or why not?

Storytime and Lego Saturdays at Katzie

The Surrey Public Library staff will be at Katzie Elementary on April 16th, May 7th, and June 11th.
Please note the dates in May and June have changed from the originally published dates.

The Promise

This week we are enjoying reading "The Promise" by Nicola Davies. It is nominated for the Surrey Schools' Picture Book of the Year award. Have you ever planted a seed or grown something? I love plants and flowers and have created a windowsill garden where students will be able to watch plants grow. We have avocado seeds, a sweet potato, a pineapple top, and the cut off bottoms from celery and romaine lettuce. We've talked about the plants needing water and sunlight and look forward to watching the changes over the next few weeks! Here's a picture of the garden on the first day.

Update: April 11th

Update:  April 22nd, Earth Day

Here's what's still growing:  Celery is getting very leafy, carrots are growing taller leaves, avocados are starting to crack on the top, and sweet potato has tiny shoots starting on top.  Stay tuned!

Update: May 2nd

So after waiting patiently for a month, we can now see the leaves sprouting on the sweet potato!  So exciting!

Update: May 9th

Wow!  Look at the growth since last week!  We are still waiting for roots but the leaves are doing well.  

Update: May 16th

The sweet potato continues to grow well.  Still no sign of roots.  I've been talking to students and we are thinking that maybe it needs soil.  We may plant it in a pot soon.

Beginning to code

This week Grade 4's began learning about coding. We went to code.org and after a short introduction they were off to the races! As I walked from group to group, I heard, "Oh, I get it!" and students asking their neighbour for help. Students quickly realized they might not be successful on the first try but with persistence they were successful. There was much excitement and cheers when I told them we would be continuing coding next week!

www.code.org is easy to use in a classroom or library because it does not require a login to play the levels and provides personalized feedback to students as they work through the activities. And it works on the ipads! Why not give it a try?

Puppets!

Primary classes have been enjoying true stories about animals over the last few library classes. This week we read, "The Tiger Cubs and the Chimp", by Bhagavan "Doc" Antle with Thea Feldman. This is "the true story of how Anjana the chimp helped raise two baby tigers." After reading we talked about the other books we have read about animals, particularly the nominees from the Surrey Picture Book of the Year list. Then each student chose an animal face to make a stick puppet to take home. Students loved this activity and I encouraged them to raid their recycling box at home to make other puppets or theatres to tell puppet stories. Maybe this would be a nice change from watching tv or playing video games! Create! Invent! Play!