October

October...

With the cooler weather and shorter days upon us, we tend to spend more time indoors than out. And although it's important  to keep our bodies active, it's also important to keep our minds active as well. What better way to ensure a sharp mind than by reading!!!

For some, reading can be a challenge while others look forward to time spent with an armful of good books from the library.  For those reluctant readers, try reading books with the same theme. I've found that when I read a certain type of book to the students, they will ask me the following week if I'm going to read another book of the same author, plot, series etc.  The magic number is usually 3.

Try three books in a row, perhaps one each night before bed if it's a picture book, or three chapter books from the same author or genre, for the older kids.  Remember those Nancy Drew or Babysitter Club books from your childhood? I couldn't get to the library fast enough to keep up with my reading.

Just remember that not all children are avid readers. Some are more reluctant or less confident. It's important to help them choose books that are at their level and that will capture their attention. For emerging or beginner readers, use the 5 finger rule; have them read to you while counting the words they can't read on the fingers of one hand. If they get to 5 fairly quickly, then the book is not right for them. It's important to help them with the words they struggle with but you should also help them choose another book that they are comfortable with.

Each student is coming home with a book from our Learning Commons here at St.Anthony but you can always supplement that with a quick trip to the Ottawa Public Library or perhaps you would prefer to browse their collection on-line and simply put your books on hold so you can pick them up later.  Remember, it's completely free!!
biblioottawalibrary.ca. 

Here are a few suggestions for a Halloween theme which are available in our Learning Commons:



Other great themes this month are:

Thanksgiving

Autumn

And if you prefer an eBook for your IOS device go to:
www.http://library.ocsb.ca

• Select St. Anthony from the list.
• Enter your child's username (6 digit student number preceeded by the letter "s".
• Select Follettshelf, which is our eBook library and select your eBook.
• We have over 1900 titles to choose from.
• Open the book and preview it or "checkout" on your device for two weeks. 
• The book can be found by clicking on the little "backpack"at the top right hand side of the screen. 
• There is no need to return the eBook as it will simply disappear after 2 weeks.

Welcome back to the St. Anthony Learning Commons. Our 2014-2015 school year is off to a great start and the LC is looking great!

We have many new books, including the latest Dork Diaries: Tales form the NOT-SO-Glam TV Star, generously donated by Andrea Silva from Mrs. Hubert's grade 5/6 class. Thank you Andrea!!
I've already created a Waiting List to deal with the popularity of this new release.



We also have a new series in our LC. The very popular 39 Clues is here!! Although the series has been around since 2008, it remains a very popular choice, especially for boys. Borrowers will also be able to use the clue cards (which I have removed from each book and keep in my desk) and use them to log into the 39 Clues Website to search for clues to each mystery.




Have you seen our new Wonder Wall?
Ever wonder how many teeth a shark has?? Or, how many eBooks we have availble in Destiny/Follettshelf?  You can now put these "wonderings" on our Wonder Wall and I will help you find the answers, either using books, websites, Google etc... You can ask me directly or send me your requests in DestinyQuest.

New!! We now have a chess Board available in our LC! Feel free to have a quick game after you've done your book exchange.



Be sure to check out our What's New shelf often, as I am constantly adding new material.



Watch for my next posts in October.
Thanksgiving and Halloween are just around the corner

:) Mrs. Iverson

50 Of The Best Kids' Books Published In

The Last 25 Years



http://www.pinterest.com/pin/153474299776504858/

Did you know?

Did you know that the following books are celebrating anniversaries this year?

75 years – Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

 

 

45 years – The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

 

 

25 years – The Mitten by Jan Brett

 

 

20 years – Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

 

                      Book clubs

As promised, here are a few suggestions for starting a reading/book club:

1.   You will need members of course. Two to six members would be good but ideally four.

 2.  A place to meet. It could be your house, backyard, the park, local community centre or library.

 3.  A book selection. You could decide all the books your going to read in the first meeting, or simply decide at the end of each book.

 4.  A library card. It would be much better if you could borrow the books instead of buying them.
 
5.  A snack would be great also.
 
6.  And finally a love of reading.

 

These are just a few of the books found on TumbleBooks from the Ottawa Public Library.

 

 

This is a collection of children's books that have been animated and had sound added to them to allow you to read them on-line. No username or password necessary.

So, no time to get to the library? Have access to a computer? You can spend as much time as you like reading great books, playing games, doing quizzes and puzzles.

This service is free and all you need to do is go to:
 
 http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/book_details.asp?Category=Story+Books&isflash=1&offset=40

Today's post will be the first of my new blog section called DID YOU KNOW?


Did you know, that we have 83 Dual-Language books in our Learning Commons?
We do indeed.  They consist of books in the following languages:
Vietnamese
Tamil
Tagalog
Chinese
Mandarin
Bengali
Spanish
French
Arabic


Why not borrow one?
Happy reading:)

Welcome!

Welcome to St-Anthony Catholic Learning Commons Blog

With our School Board's focus on 21st Century Learning, perhaps it's time to start blogging and tweeting.

Join me as I embark on this journey for the first time. Let's see where it takes us. I will write as often as I can about all things "Learning Commons". New books, eBooks, authors and more. I hope that some of you will become avid followers and perhaps even, contributors. I always appreciate your efforts, your engagement and of course, your opinions. I will try to keep you informed about what's happening in our Learning Commons, the OPL and libraries around the world. Isn't it wonderful how small the world really is, now that we have the technology to move us to the farthest, most exotic places on earth?


"Summertime and the livin is easy..." (song by Gearges Gershwin, c1935)

With summer right around the corner it's time to start thinking about warm lazy days curled up with a good book, trips to the Ottawa Public Library, rummaging through piles of used books at Yard Sales (sometimes for .25 cents each) and maybe starting your very own Lending Library with a group of friends.

Of course you will still have access to your DestinyQuest account over the summer months and you could very easily borrow an eBook from the Follettshelf (that's our "virtual" ebookshelf in DestinyQuest). Remember, when you borrow an ebook, you have two weeks to read it and then it will simply disappear from your account. POOF!!!! It's gone, and now you can move onto another.

Perhaps you will even start a Book Club.  You could certainly make good use of your OPL library card, as they have multiple copies of most novels. When you've all read the book, collaborate on Book Review and hand it in to me in September so that I can post it on the Blog

I will post instructions on how to start a Book Club AND a Lending Library in my next post.