On Friday, our classroom was transformed into a sort of literary cafe as students were invited to their very first BOOK TASTING event. Book tasting gives students the opportunity to sample some juicy reads in a short period of time and come away with a wish list of titles. It’s a great way to let young readers sample different authors, genres, and series. After all, books are a lot like food—you won’t know if you like something until you try it!

We ‘sampled’ several different genres of books including:

• humour
• biography
• realistic fiction
  
• mystery

At each table sat a pile of 10-15 books of a particular genre.

After checking out the front and back covers and inside flaps, students spent a few minutes browsing through the book to develop their first impressions. When time (about 5 minutes) was up, students wrote down observations and made note of whether or not they want to add the book to their wish list.

They rated the book out of 10 and jotted some notes about various things including what they thought of the book, what did the author do to hook them, and so on. It’s a perfect way for kids to nibble on a book and decide if they want to devour the whole thing!

Students rotated through 5 different stations in total. Afterwards, we enjoyed some yummy refreshments!

It was so much fun and we all went away with perhaps a few books we would like to read, maybe even from a genre we have never explored before.

Our next Book Tasting will be sometime after Christmas.

As Remembrance Day, November 11, approaches, we remember those fallen heroes, those who lost their lives in service.

Today, we read a beautiful book called A Bear in War. It serves as a gentle introduction to war, to Remembrance Day, and to the honour of those who have served their countries. It is narrated by “Teddy” the bear himself. It is a true Canadian story about a young girl named Aileen who sent her teddy bear to the front lines of the war in Belgium to keep her dad company.

The book not only has beautiful illustrations but also real photographs of the actual people whom the story is about.

If you haven’t read the book, we highly recommend it. Our class learned some interesting facts about World War I, learned about trenches, the kinds of conditions the soldiers fought in, and the importance of keeping their feet dry. We learned how important letter-writing was and how different the times were back in those days.

If you want to meet Teddy for yourself, visit him at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa! Class trip, perhaps?? 🙂

Here is week 3 and week 4 of author Elana K. Arnold’s vlog about A Boy Called Bat. Elana answers many questions about the book. She may even answer questions that you’ve had!