As we look towards the end of the school year, it's time to reflect on the year that was and begin to plan for September.
We've added a lot of new books to our collection and students have enjoyed weekly book exchanges. In fact, records show that 9287 books were borrowed from our library during this school year! That's fantastic, Crosby! Please check at home for any books that still need to be returned! Remember, our library depends on everyone taking responsibility for their resources. I hope you all continue to enjoy reading over the summer. Try to find at least an hour every day to read, or listen to audiobooks. Your brain is like a muscle in that the more you exercise it with reading, writing, creative tasks, and thoughtful talk, the faster, more creative, and efficiently it will work! Remember that the Markham Public Library is open throughout the summer for you to visit. Click this link (MPL) to access the library information. Sign out books, magazines, DVD's, and participate in summer library programs. Have a safe and happy summer. See you in September! Mrs. Hunt-Wells Every year the Ontario Library Association (OLA) nominates the best in Canadian children's literature in their Forest of Reading program. The Forest of Reading is divided into age-appropriate categories:
In addition to supporting young readers, the OLA promotes literacy in adult readers with the following nominated lists:
Further details can be found at the Ontario Library Association website: _www.accessola.org All of these books can be found at your local Markham Public Library branch. Students need to read at least 5 titles to be able to vote for their favourite! At Crosby, the Silver Birch novels are available for students to read on their own time. I have been reading the Blue Spruce titles to all of our Kindergarten to gr. 2 classes and, as always, they have really been enjoying them. I'm pretty sure I know which book will win the honour of best picture book this year! During the lesson, we have discussions about the themes in the books, the author's message(s), discuss our background knowledge about the topics, vocabulary, etc. For example, in the book A Good Trade, a young Ugandan boy named Kato needs to walk far from his family's village, past fields and soldiers to fill cans with water at a communal well for his family to use for the day. We looked at photographs of Uganda, water wells, and Ugandan villages and children. In each class, the students were fascinated with how different their lives and lifestyles were from Kato's. Many great discussions were started and have been continued from this short picture book. Here is a picture of the Blue Spruce titles that are on the nominated list this year (except for Willow Finds A Way, which has been borrowed by a student!) Happy reading!
Mrs. Hunt-Wells A few months ago I discovered a wonderful new app called OverDrive Media Console. It allows you to access the digital content available at hundreds of public libraries (as long as you have a library card). This app has been a great find for someone like me who can easily spend, spend, spend at the book store!
OverDrive allows you to access and download thousands of digital titles on the Markham Public Libraries (MPL) website. All you need is a library card and a password, access to the internet and off you go! You can download up to 25 titles at a time onto multiple devices. I love listening to audiobooks in the car on my phone and reading on my tablet at home. Just before March break, I downloaded several picture books and audiobooks for my kids to use during travel so we weren't carrying extra weight in our luggage. For that reason alone, I recommend digital content! Some MPL digital text stats: eBook fiction available: 13 625 titles eBook non-fiction: 7 355 titles Audiobook fiction: 1 377 Audio book non-fiction: 1 009 Children's fiction: 1 681 Children's non-fiction: 187 Teen fiction: 1 711 Teen non-fiction: 116 The best part of reading and listening to digital content provided by the public library? You can keep your titles on your devices for 21 days and either return them at the press of a button or they simply erase themselves from your device. No late fees or lost book replacement fees! If you have chosen a title that is currently signed out, you can place a hold (just like on a paper copy of a title) and the MPL will let you know via email when the title is available. For more information go to: http://omc.overdrive.com/ (I am not affiliated with OverDrive; I simply like to share resources with our students and families.) Happy reading! Mrs. Hunt-Wells Although it doesn't look like it, today is the first day of spring! I know that all of our students and staff are looking forward to warmer, sunny days ahead.
The gr. 6 Library Helpers have created a display of books for spring on the display cart and will continue to update our displays as we countdown to Easter, Earth Day, and other spring events. I am always adding new resources to our collection based on teacher and student needs and requests and I still have some budget money available. Please leave a comment below if you have any requests! (Remember to leave the title and author of the book you are requesting.) Happy reading! Mrs. Hunt-Wells |