Santa is Coming to Canada

This week we have been reading a book called, "Santa is Coming to Canada," written by Steve Smallman, illustrated by Robert Dunn, and finding the places mentioned in the book on the Google Earth app. Students were excited to find they could go inside the Peace Tower in Ottawa when they used the street view feature. They also discovered that our school, Katzie Elementary was not even built when the map of our neighbourhood was made!

Genius!

Genius hour is happening in the Library Learning Commons! Some of our Grade 6 and 7 students are exploring their questions.  Here's an example of what some students are working on:  sending a rover to Ceres! They are naming it "Dusk" because it will help Dawn (the Nasa orbiter) study and learn about Ceres.   Who knows what we will find!

Deck the Halls!

Our school is beginning to look very festive and the Library Learning Commons is getting in the spirit of the season! Check out one of our Christmas books! Or try making a Christmas tree out of Lego!

Are you getting ready for Christmas? 

The Man with the Violin

This week we are reading "The Man with the Violin", by Kathy Stinson. This book is a story based on a real event and reminds us to stop and listen to the musical moments in life.  Students are enjoying watching and listening to Joshua Bell play the violin and learning about how a violin is made.

My personal treasure:  a violin made by my grandfather, Tom Tourand.

Here are some pictures of some parts of the violin.  It takes many hours of careful work to make a violin.

When I was young, I made my own stringed musical instrument with an empty tissue box, a paper towel roll and some elastics.  See how you can make your own too! You will need help cutting the hole for the neck.  This video will give you some ideas.   http://safeshare.tv/w/eFbrVQEOJM

Here's another example: 

This is an example of a tissue box guitar.  Have you ever made one?  This site from wikiHow has great step by step instructions.   http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Tissue-Box-Guitar

                 

Lost Cat

This week we are reading "Lost Cat" by C. Roger Mader. We have been talking about our pets, including pets we have lost because they have run away, died, or we had to give them up. Students have really enjoyed this story and have been delighted with the ending.

All About Those Books

Look for the poster up in the Library Learning Commons.  It shows you all 10 books we will be reading.

This week we are starting our Surrey Schools' Picture Book of the Year program.  This is a readers' choice award program.  There are ten books nominated.  We will read all ten and students will vote for their favourite in the spring.  Votes from across the district will be collected and the winner will be announced in June!  Read more about the program at http://surreybooks.co.nr/


Here's a great video about reading for you to enjoy!

http://safeshare.tv/w/OqCOBNSWlx

And I love this one by a middle school:

http://safeshare.tv/w/YrwdwezfAD

We also have a readers' choice book program for intermediate students. Look for the poster and books in the library learning commons.

These are the 10 nominated books for the Surrey Schools' Book of the Year.  Read 5 to be eligible to vote!

Our windowsill garden

I was cutting up celery for my lunch last week and decided to try and regrow it. As a child, I loved growing things on the kitchen windowsill. I remember growing carrot tops, avocado, sweet potato and even orange seeds! One orange seed grew into a small bush I had for many years but I never did get any oranges!

Have you ever grown plants on your windowsill? Tell us about it in the comments below. I will add pictures of our windowsill garden as it expands! 

We are going to overwinter this geranium plant on our windowsill.  I wonder how long the bloom will last?