Many students guessed correctly…it was Mrs. Jones! She delighted us with not 1…not 2…but THREE Robert Munsch books! Munsch is certainly a favourite Canadian author among many of us!
We loved participating in the reading of each book and laughed and gasped at all the right spots.
Thank you, Mrs. Jones! You were fantastic and we loved you visiting us today.
On Friday, we had our most recent mystery reader come and visit with us. We welcomed Mrs. Fitzpatrick! She did a fabulous job reading the book called Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and illustrated by Robert Lawson.
It was originally published in 1936 so this is a story that has been loved and read by children for many years! It tells the story of a Spanish bull named Ferdinand that does not follow or define himself in the way other bulls do. Rather, he is quiet, peaceful, and happy just sitting under the cork tree, enjoying nature. When he is selected to fight in the bull fights in Madrid, you can imagine what he did…or didn’t do.
The story reminds all of us that we all should be our own unique selves and not who others think we should be.
Here are some fun facts about the book you may not have known:
Today, we read a wonderful biography called Meet Viola Desmond by Elizabeth MacLeod. Viola Desmond is considered by many Canadians to be a hero. The book tells the story of Viola’s rather famous moment in history when she bought a ticket to the movie theatre in 1946 in Nova Scotia. Viola bought a ticket and sat in the whites-only section of the theatre. She was told to move to the balcony where black people were supposed to sit. Instead, Viola was determined to sit where she wanted, and as a result, she was jailed, went to court, and found guilty. Viola died in 1965 at age 51. In 2010, the government of Nova Scotia pardoned Viola and apologized for what happened to her.
A few students connected Viola’s story to Rosa Parks from the U.S.A. Indeed, their experiences are very similar!
Years later, Viola’s sister, Wanda, shares her story and is proud to hold the new Canadian $10 bill where Viola’s portrait will be printed starting next week.
Check out this article from the London Free Press!
Who is someone else that you think should be on a Canadian bank note?
Our most recent Mystery Reader was…Jake’s dad! He did a fantastic job reading to us a wonderful story called The Book of Gold written and illustrated by Bob Staake. It tells the story of a boy named Isaac who isn’t a curious boy until he meets an old shopkeeper who tells him about The Book of Gold. This special book, hidden somewhere in the world, holds all the answers to every question and turns to solid gold when opened. Isaac hunts all over the world for this book, thinking it will make him rich. As Isaac ages, he continues his search for the golden book but along this journey, he learns a whole lot more! Read the book for yourself! You won’t regret it.
Thank you to Jake’s dad for spending time with us today!
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:
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?? 🙂
Today our class was treated to another Mystery Reader and that guest was…Mrs. Woods!
She read us two different books. The first one was called Let There be Peace on Earth by Jill Jackson & Sy Miller. This book also comes with a CD so we played the first song “Let There Be Peace on Earth”.
The second one was called What Does Peace Feel Like? by Vladimir Radunsky. We all shared what we thought peace smelled like, felt like, looked like, and so on. We had some great ideas!
A big SHOUT OUT to Mrs. Woods for coming in and sharing her time with us. How special!
What do you think peace feels like?
We had not one but TWO mystery readers visit our classroom on Oct. 30. How lucky were we? Our mystery readers were from Mrs. Sullivan’s class last year and were so delighted to read to us.
The first book was The Boo Hoo Witch by Janet Palazzo-Craig and the second book was called Clifford’s Halloween by Norman Bridwell.
Both of our guests did a fantastic job! Thank you E.B. and B.D.
As you know in our class, we are reading the Global Read Aloud book called A Boy Called Bat. Here is the second video from Elana K. Arnold, the author. Perhaps she has now answered some of the question you may have been thinking about.
I’ve also included a super cute baby skunk video I found on Youtube. What questions do you have about skunks?