Blagons: The Blair Book Dragons

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2012-03-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

Dr. Seuss' birthday is on March 2 and people all over the world celebrate a love for reading. Students in divisions 8, 9 and 10 enjoyed exploring some of the interactive ebooks by Dr. Seuss that we have on the iPads. The students can have the stories read to them or they can read along. There are interactive components to each book so that students can make things happen or vocabulary words appear with a touch to the screen.

~Ms Novakowski

Red Cedar Book Award Book Reviews

2012-03-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

Over the last few weeks, the intermediate students a Blair have been using different forms of technology (digital and video cameras and iPads) to create advertisements/commercials for some of the Red Cedar book award nominees. The students wrote drafts of their "commercials" and focused on developing voice in their writing. This is a persuasive form of writing, trying to convince someone else that they should read this book.

The students were given the choice of how to represent their commercial. Students could choose from different apps on the iPads. Some of them were visual and others also included audio of the students' voices.

The following are some examples:

Division 5 created some video book reviews as well:

And from David...a commercial encouraging reading, particularly Red Cedar books!

~Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: The Little Hummingbird

2012-03-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

Our last Chocolate Lily Picture Book Award nominee is The Little Hummingbird. Although illustrated by a Haida artist, the story and artwork draws upon aboriginal cultures from around the world. The style of illustrations really interested the students. As we read the conclusion to the story, the message of "do the best you can" was very clear to the students. They were able to connect to this and explain that the story also showed us that little things can make a difference and we should all help out and do what we can.

After reading the story, we went back and looked at the illustrations of the hummingbird throughout the book. The students were then given a piece of black construction paper and were asked to create their own hummingbird. We attached these to bamboo skewers and used them to act out the story as we read it a second time. Each hummingbird was so unique and the student really enjoyed the dramatization of the story.

Comments from the students included:

We learned "do the best you can" by Sean (div 10)

I liked the shapes. by Kayla (div 10)

I liked that the hummingbird tried the best she could. by Alicia (div 10)

I like how the illustrations had secret messages. by Rosie (div 8)

I like the hummingbird because he tries to help the forest. by Vinchy (div 11)

The pictures were interesting. by Annika (div 6)

I like that the hummingbird tried. by Tamar (div 6)

I like the shapes in the illustrations. by Creighton (div 7)

I like the message in the story. by Marlena (div 7)

~Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Great Lakes & Rugged Ground~Imagining Ontario

2012-02-23T15:41:00.000-08:00

Last week, I read this book to the K/1 and 1/2 classes. It was a little abstract for them...none of the students knew what Ontario was although one student knew it was a place. Before I read them this book, I did briefly go through the book about British Columbia like this by the same author. This seemed to help with the understanding of what a province was and about a historical timeline. We looked at a map of Canada too.

The book is written as a series of haiku poems that capture a period of time in Ontario's history. At the end of the book is extra factual information about each time period along with a list of items to "Seek and Find" in the illustrations.

Comments from our younger primary students:
I liked the parade picture. -by Alicia (div 10)
My mom's been to Toronto before. -by Harrison (div 10)
I learned something about the boats. -by Sean (div 10)
I really like how the pictures look real to me. I know what Ontario looks like. -Kayla (div 10)
It was really interesting because I learned things. -by Carissa (div 9)
I liked the pictures. -by Ginger (div 9)
It was first, then second. I liked that. -by George (div 9)
It was colourful. -by Zoe (div 8)
I liked the describing words. -by Quizzy (div 8)
The pictures are nice. -by Kai (div 8)
The Seek and Find was fun. -by Evan (div 8)
I liked the extra information at the back. -by Jayden (div 8)

This week the kindergarten students from division 11 were showed a map of Canada and we acted out some of the scenes from the book to help the history of Ontario come alive for them.

Their comments included:

I like the pictures. -Shannier

I like the painting page. -Adrian

I like the fall leaves on the first page. - Derick and Jonathan

This week divisions 6 and 7 (grades 2 and 3) also read the book and because they are studying Canada and are a bit older, these students had a much better grasp of the concept of what a province is and what "history" is. Division 6 created timelines, choosing four events from the book.

Comments from the students included:

I liked the book because it has lot of details and gives you information. -Caroline

I liked the pictures. - Annika

Division 7 discussed the illustrations and then dramatized the scenes from the book, creating "tableaus" (actors frozen in action to create scene). They particularly like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Caribana parade scenes!

Comments from the division 7 students included:

The details are very good. -Calvin

The illustrations are spectacular. - Sharon

I like the Seek and Find and the poems. -Creighton

The colours are awesome. -Bobby

~Ms Novakowski

Scholastic Book Fair

2012-02-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

The Blair PAC is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair in the library on Wednesday and Thursday this week, before and after school and at lunch. We had a great turn out on Wednesday! It is so great to see so many students rushing in to the book fair to check out all the books.

Thanks to Sabrina, the Blair PAC and all the parent volunteers that work hard to make the book fair such a success at Blair!

~Ms Novakowski

Press Here

2012-02-09T21:23:00.000-08:00

This week all the classes at Blair, from kindergarten through grade 7, have enjoyed a unique new book called Press Here.
This book has an interactive component and the reader is asked to press, tap, shake, tilt, blow and clap to transform the illustrations. The older students "got" the big idea of transformation and it captured their imaginations as they created their own minibooks inspired by Press Here. The younger students played with the idea of giving instructions for an action and making something happen to their illustrations.

The students from division 4 brought their iPads from their one-to-one iPad project. The students had the choice of creating a minibook or using one of the drawing or animation apps on their iPads to create their own Press Here-inspired project.

The kindergarten students from division 11 took turns coming up on at a time to "do something" to the book as required by the author's instructions. The students then created their own little books with great attempts at writing instructions for the actions!

The intermediate students thought these little minibooks would be great to read to their little buddies.

I was amazed by all the students' creativity! We had bubbles popping, candies being eaten, dragons emerging from eggs, hearts being broken, butterflies coming out chrysalids, etc.

The primary students were fascinated by the book and at first, really thought it was "magic" in some way!

The students at Blair seem to really like little minibooks...we've had Pete the Cat, Sam books (The Library Mouse) and now these Press Here books.

We have two copies of Press Here available for circulation so it may be coming home soon!

~Ms Novakowski

displays at the Blair Library

2012-02-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year! We have quite a growing collection of books that provide information, tell stories and celebrate this important time of year in many of our students' lives.

The 398.2 section from our non-fiction/information book section has been moved to one of our new rolling display shelves. 398.2 is the section that contains traditional stories, folktales, fairy tales, myths and legends from around the world, including those of Aboriginal peoples. When students think of information books, they don't think "fairy tales" should be over in that section and it just seems to make more sense to have them in our fiction section.

We also have a new banner up highlighting some bookjackets from new books we have in our collection.

Come visit the Blair Library...it's open before and after school on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays!

~Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Where Are You Bear?

2012-02-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

This week the primary classes read the book Where Are You Bear? A Canadian Alphabet Adventure. In this picture book, a little girls leaves Newfoundland with her family to visit her grandmother in Vancouver but thinks she leaves her stuffed bear behind. Bear follows her across Canada and they have all sorts of adventures in each province and territory. Finally, they are reunited in Vancouver.
Before reading the book, we looked at a map of Canada and found Vancouver on the map as well as St. John's in Newfoundland which is where Sophie lives.

Some of the student comments about the book were:
I liked the pictures. -Shota (div 11)
I like the ending when Sophie and the bear get back together. -Cathy (div 11)
We learned some new things about Canada. - div 6
I liked how they went across Canada. -Mya (div 9)
It's an ABC book. -Kevin (div 9)
I liked the animated pictures. -Ifrah (div 8)
It is bright and modern. -Jayden (div 8)

Division 11 created handprint Canadian flags after reading the book.

This book was more popular with the younger students and was an interesting contrast to the book we read last week - Singing Away the Dark. Both Canadian in context, but very different styles of writing and illustration!
~Ms Novakowski

Red Cedar Book Reviews: Division 3

2012-02-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

Two students from division 3 did video book reviews for 2 of the Red Cedar Book Award nominees.

From the information book category, Ryan reviewed 100% Pure Fake by Lyn Thomas.

From the fiction category, Areesha reviewed Rex Zero the Great Pretender by Tim Wynne-Jones.

We're looking forward to more reviews from out intermediate students!

~Ms Novakowski

Drawing Frogs on the iPads

2012-01-31T22:48:00.000-08:00

We have a new series of drawing books in the library published by AV2Books. They have some factual information about each subject followed by step-by-step drawing instructions but what makes these books unique is that for each book there is a special book code that your enter on the website and then you can access more information. There are website links, videos to watch, etc.

On Monday, division 4 brought their one-on-one iPads to the library and I shared the Pets book from the series. We drew the tree frog step-by-step using one of the drawing apps. The students needed to make decisions about what drawing tools and effects they would use. They also searched Google Images for photographs of different tree frogs.

I'll be watching to see how the students are using these new books at home and at school to see if we should be ordering some more!
~Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Singing Away the Dark

2012-01-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

This week's Chocolate Lily Book Award picture nominee was Singing Away the Dark by Caroline Woodward. The primary classes all really enjoyed the book. They appreciated the illustrations and the rhyming storyline.

Before reading the story, I felt the students needed to understand the context a little as it is so different from where the students live. I told them a bit about the author's childhood and described rural settings in British Columbia. Because our school is in a city and we are surrounded by neighbourhoods of houses, the log cabin home isolated from other homes was hard for the students to understand. I also needed to describe the weather of northern BC to them to help them understand the daily snow and cold in the winter which is so very different from what we experience in the Lower Mainland. I had the student recall what it was like walking to school in the snow last week (and they all have 5 minute walks or less or their parents drive them!) in order to help them understand the story better.

Comments from the students included:
The pictures were the best. -Zoe, div 11
It was a good idea for a book. - Julia, div 11
I liked the part when she is singing and the day comes out. - Tyler G., div 10
It looked so cold in the pictures. -Mia, div 10
The pictures are lovely. -Mya, div 9
The pictures are realistic. -Kylie, div 9
I learned that not all homes are in neighbourhoods. -Areej, div 9
I like how she got her "freaks" out. -Emily, div 9
It should win because it captures real life. We learned about a different part of BC. -Ifrah, div 8
It reminds you not to be scared of the dark and to do something to make you feel better. -Cathy, div 8
It reminds you of the old-fashioned days. -Evan, div 8
I like the style and details in the illustrations. -Victor, div 7
I like the silhouettes of the animals. - Sharon, div 7
There are lots of extra details in the illustrations. -Stuart, div 7
The story was good. -Calvin, div 7

I think this picture book opened the children's eyes to a different way of living. I think they could really relate to the six year old main character and her feelings.
~Ms Novakowski

storytelling with wordless books

2012-01-23T18:45:00.000-08:00

Wordless books provide opportunities for students to "read illustrations" and create their own stories. Often, much detail is packed into the illustrations but sometimes they are more basic and much is left up to interpretation or inference. Our main school goal is developing ideas for writing and wordless books provide opportunities to visualize a story. We have been providing opportunities for students to orally tell the story they are viewing. Today, division 4 (grades 4 and 5) read the book The Museum Trip in the library. I stopped showing the students the illustrations after the first few pages and had them turn to a partner and "tell the introduction to the story". We continued looking at the book and stopping and telling the story. The students were captivated, wondered aloud, made predictions and inferences and were surprised by a few plot twists....all from the illustrations.
Four students volunteered to share a part of the story...
The Introduction

Part 1 of the Middle Part of the Story

Part 2 of the Middle Part of the Story

The Ending

Oral storytelling provides opportunities for students to synthesize their ideas, think about the flow of a story and use expression and emotion to enhance the story experience.

-----

Divisions 1 and 2 (grades 6 and 7) also looked at a wordless picture book today, called DUDE. Actually, it had one word on each pages - Dude. The manner in which you read/say the word depends on the context of the story and the emotions of the character. Throughout the book, there are examples of the character being scared, embarrassed, being distraught, excited, etc. We paid special attention to the typography used for the word "dude" on each page...font style and size, colour, etc which gave us cluses to emotion being expressed in the illustration. This is a writing technique that students can add into their own writing to add interest and expression.

~Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Stanley's Little Sister

2012-01-18T14:57:00.000-08:00

Today the primary classes read Stanley's Little Sister by Vancouver author, Linda Bailey. Many of the students remembered the Stanley book that we read last year for the Chocolate Lily awards, Stanley's Beauty Pageant. A new cat named Fluffy is brought into Stanley's home and although he is not sure he wants a "little sister", he keeps trying to be a good dog and make friends.

Here are some of the comments from when I asked the students why this book should be an award-winning picture book:

"I love it because it has a good ending" - Tyler T. (div 10)

"The colours are beautiful" - Ginger (div 9)

"Stanley was nice He kept trying to be a friend" - Quizzy (div 8)

"It has good details/words" - Thomas (div 7)

I think what the students liked most about this book is that they could relate to the main character and his feelings.
~Ms Novakowski

Red Cedar Book Awards 2012

2012-01-11T18:41:00.000-08:00

This week, all the intermediate classes were introduced to this year's Red Cedar Book Awards nominees in both the fiction and information book categories. Red Cedar is a long-standing tradition at Blair. Many of our intermediate students will read many of the titles, complete book reviews and roundtable discussions and then participate in voting for our favourite titles which then will be submitted by April. The students record and rate the books they've read on the recording sheets in the library.

A special thank you to the Blair PAC for the funding that allowed us to purchase two copies of each nominated book for our collection.
~Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Compost Stew

2012-01-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

This week, the primary classes read Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth. We had great discussions about composting and what kinds of things can be composted, what can't and why.
Their comments about the book included:
It's a rhyming book!
It's an ABC book!
The illustrations are nice.
I like the words and the pictures.
We learned about composting.
I liked the part when they took the lid off at the end.

The students then needed to think of something from the book (there were 26 things mentioned!) or something they knew could be composted (we talked about natural, from plants, etc) and they each contributed one item to our compost stew!

~Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards 2012

2012-01-11T18:29:00.000-08:00

Last week, the primary classes were introduced to the Chocolate Lily Book Awards and the picture book category winner from the 2011. The Chocolate Lily Book Awards acknowledge the talent of BC authors and illustrators in three categories: picture books, chapter books and novels. At the Blair Library, we began the picture book program last year as a way to involved the primary students in a book award program. We read all the books in the picture book category and the students reviewed, discussed and responded to the books in different ways. After reading all of them, we voted for our favourites and submitted our votes. Votes from all across BC were tallied and last year's winner was Fred and Pete at the Beach by Vancouver author and illustrator Cynthia Nugent, which happened to be our first choice as well!

We read Fred and Pete at the Beach and discussed what made it an award-winning book.

A special thank you to our PAC who contributed the funds to the library so that we could purchase two copies of each of these books.
~Ms Novakowski

thank you to our library monitors!

2011-12-14T14:44:00.000-08:00

We have a dedicated group of students in grades 4, 5, 6 and 7 who help out in the library. The check in books on the computer, shelves books and help put labels on books. On Tuesday at recess, I had a special snack for them in the library to say thank you for all that they do...bookworms and hot chocolate!

Thanks library monitors!
~Ms Novakowski

our paperwhites are blooming!

2011-12-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

Divisions 8, 9, 10 and 11 were so excited today to see how much their plants had grown! We even had some blossoms to look at and smell! Some students thought the flowers smelled yucky while others thought they smelled like honey!

Some students noticed that the roots were getting longer just as the stems and leaves were getting longer. Some students also compared the plants and noticed that the plants with more buds and flowers had more roots. Very observant little scientists!

Ginger from division 9 thought the flowers are called paperwhites because they are white, smooth and thin like paper.

The students in division 10 created labelled diagrams of their plant and the students in division 11 used the KidPix in the computer lab to create drawings of their flowering bulb and then coloured them.

The students were so excited to see the entire growth cycle of this plant and to learn the scientific names for the different parts of the plant.

We also read a picture book called Paperwhite by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace which showed the preparation, caring for and growth of a paperwhite flower.

~Ms Novakowski

musical books

2011-12-07T15:13:00.000-08:00

To introduce the primary students (divisions 8, 9 and 10) to some new books and maybe some titles they didn't realize they might enjoy, we played some rounds of musical books today. A book was placed on each chair and I played some music and the students starting walking around the circle.

When the music stopped, the students picked up the book at the chair they were by, sat down and starting reading it (reading all the words, some of the words or looking at the pictures) for a few minutes before we started the music again.

And around and around we walked and read!

~Ms Novakowski

bulb inquiry

2011-12-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

Last week, divisions 8, 9, 10 and 11 each planted (in water) a flowering bulb. They made observations of the bulbs by zooming in and looking closely at it, including using magnifying glasses! They thought the bulb looked like an onion and noticed that it was shiny and brown but the stems were white with green at the top. They're not sure exactly what kind of flower they are growing and had all sorts of wonder questions about it...how tall would it grow? what colour will the flower be? what does the bulb look like inside?

This is what the bulbs looked like on the day we planted them:

One week later, the students were surprised how much the stems and roots had grown.

I wonder what they will look like next week?

~Ms Novakowski

magnets inquiry

2011-11-30T22:35:00.000-08:00

Divisions 8 and 9 have been doing a science study of magnets for the last few weeks. Near the beginning of their study, both classes spent some time in the library working through some magnet exploration stations.

The students were asked to focus on the inquiry question "What can you find out about magnets?" as they explored different materials with magnets. There were discovery bottles, paperclip races, making faces with iron filings and exploring the strength of different magnets. At the end of our time together, the students shared some of their findings.

In their classrooms, the students kept track of what they had been learning and also what they wondered about as they did several science investigations with their teachers. Today, both classes brought their "we're still wondering about" questions about magnets to the library. Many of these questions could not be answered by "doing" science but instead involved researching and reading for information. We went online to www.worldbookonline.com and used the Kids version of this site to search for an article on magnets.

As we read through it together, many of the students' inquiry questions were answered around concepts such as invisible forces and magnetic fields and how magnets attract or repel each other. The site did not give the specific information about what metals magnets attract so we then googled this question and read a few different sites which all confirmed that iron, nickel and cobalt were magnetic.

The students still had some questions about how magnets really work. We looked at the book, What Makes a Magnet? and found some diagrams that showed how the internal structure of a magnet looks.

A sense of wonder is such an important thing for students to have. It contributes to critical thinking, creativity, curiousity and a tendency to persevere with learning. Whether students are exploring with magnets and paperclips or reading information about scientific concepts, an inquiring mind will take them places!

~Ms Novakowski

a trip to egypt

2011-11-25T20:28:00.000-08:00

On Monday, division 1 visited the pyramids of Egypt and the Giza plaza on the iPads. We placed ourselves at the base of a pyramid or the Sphinx and took a 360 degree look at our surroundings. Using several different 360 degree panoramic photos from www.360cities.net, the students were able to imagine what being amidst the pyramids might be like, either today or hundreds of years ago.

Some of the images showed camels carrying people in traditional attire while others showed parking lots of tourist buses as part of the scene. Using the touchscreen, students could zoom in to examine parts of the landscape in more detail, including the blocks used to create the pyramids. The photographs also helped to provide a sense of scale and give the students a perspective on how enormous the pyramids are.

The students were asked to write a descriptive paragraph focusing on using powerful words, sensory details and point of view.

For the following student, the panorama photos inspired his sense of wonder.

Although not the descriptive writing I had expected, my heart sang a little when I read this. A spirit of inquiry is what I hope to inspire when students visit the Blair library!
~Ms Novakowski

the power of words

2011-11-25T19:48:00.000-08:00

Last week divisions 2 and 3 listened to me read the book The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter. It's a story about a boy (and then an adult) who is passionate about words...finding just the right word to describe something or finding joy in a word just because how it feels on the tongue when you say it.

As I read the book, the students each had a little post-it note to record powerful words either from the story or words inspired by the story. This little collection of words for each student was taken back to their classes to use in the students' writing pieces and to remind the students to use specific words in their writing that capture the details and feelings that they want to.

One of our favourite words, and one that was new to all of us was mellifluous which means pleasant to the ear. Oh, the power of words!

~Ms Novakowski

astronomy fact writing

2011-11-25T19:36:00.000-08:00

For the past two weeks, divisions 6 and 7 have been reviewing nonfiction text features such as We looked at a variety of information books about space and astronomy and the students identified the features and explained their purposes. The next step was for the students to work in groups, choose a topic and read at least three books or selections on that topic. To practice note-taking and writing information "in your own words," the students were asked to read, then close the book, then just record key words or phrases so they could remember the important information.

This past week, division 6 began creating mini-posters with their information. They were asked to include at least three nonfiction text features and to write out their facts in complete sentences and "in their own words".

Division 7 had an opportunity to use the iPads and we used the app Writers Studio. Each student typed in a title and at least one informational sentence and then used the drawing feature of the app to draw a coloured picture that corresponded to the fact.

This class was the first to use the new wireless printer in the library that is designated solely for printing from the iPads. It was so easy for the students to go to AirPrint and print their pages. We now have a collection we can compile into a class book.

~Ms Novakowski

Library Mouse Team Writing

2011-11-20T22:16:00.000-08:00

Last week I read the second book about Sam, the library mouse called Library Mouse: A Friend's Tale. In this story, one of the boys who visits the library discovers that Sam is a mouse. He leaves him a story by his mouse hole and then Sam creates the illustrations for a book based on the story. He signs it as story by Tom (the boy) and pictures by Sam. I discussed the terms author and illustrator with the students and then told them they were going to work as teams to create a story. One student would write the story and the other one would draw the pictures. The students were so excited to be in "teams"!

The motivation to write was so high for these students. They chose their own teams and that all seemed to work out. They also loved that they could write any kind of story they wanted. Some wrote Sam the Library Mouse stories or Pete the Cat stories but we had all sorts of original ideas too!

It's so great seeing young authors and illustrators in the library!

~Ms Novakowski

speed booking

2011-11-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

Last Monday, divisions 1 and 2 took part in "speed booking" where they were introduced to 4 or 5 books for about 2 minutes each. I put a collection of about 20 books on each table. Some of the books were new to the library, some were classics that the students might not be familiar with and some were from series really popular a few years ago when this group of students would have been too young to read them.

The idea was to "introduce yourself to a new book" and read the front and back covers and then start reading the first chapter. Then, time was up after a couple of minutes and each student put their book back and chose a new one. After 4 or 5 introductions, the students at each table discussed the books and decided on one or two to recommend to the whole class.

At the end of our "speed booking" event, I asked the students if they had met any new books that they would like to continue reading, and most raised their hands to say they had. Mission accomplished!
~Ms Novakowski

poppies

2011-11-07T21:32:00.000-08:00

Over the past week, the students at Blair have been thinking about why we wear poppies for Remembrance Day. We read the book A Poppy Is to Remember and learned about the history of World War 1, the history of the poppy and the poem, In Flanders Fields.

Most of the students in the intermediate classes wrote Postcards for Peace to Canadian veterans that are living in care facilities here in Richmond.

The primary classes discussed the history of the poppy and what it represents. We looked at images of real poppies and fields of poppies and the students used the iPads to draw their own poppies.

As the students summarized:

Poppies are to remember.

Poppies say thank you.

Poppies are for peace.

~Ms Novakowski

Monster Math

2011-10-31T14:57:00.000-07:00

Last week divisions 1 and 2 explored the book You Can Count on Monsters by Richard Evan Schwartz. This book focuses on the math concepts of prime and composite numbers.

The students designed their own prime number monster bookmarks...can you tell what prime number each bookmark represents?

(clue...the monster above still has one more tooth to add)

Could you tell how many teeth that one monster had? That would be 101!

Today, the students solved a math problem involving cookies and monsters. The focus of the task was for students to approach the problem in different ways and communicate and represent their mathematical thinking.

The problem goes like this...
Three tired and hungry monsters went to sleep with a bag of cookies. One monster woke up, ate 1/3 of the cookies and went back to sleep. Later, a second monster woke up and 1/3 of the remaining cookies, then went back to sleep. Finally, the third monster woke up and ate 1/3 of the remaining cookies. When she was finished, there were 8 cookies left. How many cookies were in the bag originally?

The students worked in groups to talk about where to start with this problem and approaches such as "work backwards" and "guess and check" were used. The students reasoned that the original number of cookies needed to be a multiple of 3 or 9. Here's a couple of example of how students represented how they solved the problem:

-Ms Novakowski

Writing Scary Stories

2011-10-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

In support of our school's writing goal, a new series of books have been acquired called the Writer's Toolbox. Each book contains an example of a specific genre of writing (fairy tale, letter writing, etc) and then explains what "tools" a writer uses for that kind of writing.

Today, I read division 3 the book Share a Scare: Writing Your Own Scary Story. The scary story that we read included elements such as sensory details, imagery, suspense, a dark setting and foreshadowing. After discussing these elements, the students began writing their own scary stories.

Some introductory paragraphs follow:

I can't wait to read the finished stories!

~Ms Novakowski

Go Away Big Green Monster!

2011-10-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

This week all the primary classes enjoyed the book GO AWAY BIG GREEN MONSTER! by Ed Emberley. It is a fun book to read aloud with great paper engineering that captivates the students.

There also is an iPad app with different versions of this book. The students loved listening to Ed Emberley read them the story and watching parts of the monster being animated. We also listened to a jazzy song that was written based on the book.

The Kindergarten students in division 11 listened to the story and then used the iPads for the first time this year. They used the Doodle Buddy app and working in partners, they took turns to draw the big green monster, learning how to change the colour of their drawing tools.

The students in division 10 made big green monster masks and snuck up on Ms Loewen and scared her with their scary monster faces and voices!

The students in divisions 6, 7, 8 and 9 made monster bookmarks...they could make them scary, silly, happy, sad or mad. The students had all sorts of great ideas and started using their bookmarks as soon as they checked out new books!

So if you see any monsters around the school...you'll know where they came from!

~Ms Novakowski

BONES by Steve Jenkins

2011-10-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

Divisions 4 and 5 are learning about the human body and have been looking at the skeletal system. They know so much about bones already! Some of the things they told me they know are:

They know the human body has 206 bones.
They know that babies have more bones than adults (and they know why...do you?).
They know the smallest bone and the longest bone in the human body.
They know about bone marrow.
They know about joints.
They know about the function of certain bones, such as the ribs and of the skeleton in general.

This week in the library we explored the book BONES by Steve Jenkins. The author/artist presents bones and skeletons of animals, many in actual size.

We learned that the human hand has 27 bones and the students had fun trying to find the 27 bones in each of their hands and then looking at the pictures of the bones in the arms and hands of other animals.

Several animal models were displayed such as a bat, a crow, rats and a snake. The students were asked to apply what they had learned about skeletons and think about what the skeleton of one of the animals might look like.

The information in information books can be so inspiring!

~Ms Novakowski

Library Mouse

2011-10-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

We've had a special visitor in our library and his name is Sam. He has had an effect on all the students in the school in some way or another. Sam is the Library Mouse, a character created by Daniel Kirk.

Last week, I read all the primary classes this book. In the story, Sam lives in a library and comes out at night to read and read and read. One night, he decides it's time to write his own book so he writes a little book and leaves it on a shelf in the library. The book, and two more, are found by children in the library and shown to the librarian. She posts a note to Sam that they all want to meet this author! He is very shy but comes up with a clever way of helping students see themselves as authors.

After reading the story, imagine the students' surprise when they went off to select books to take home and they found several little books by Sam! It was a thrill a minute in the library and students were searching high and low for more books and for the possible location of Sam's residence. So fun!

Having Sam visit our library was so much fun! Thanks to divisions 4, 5 and 1 for helping to make it happen ;)

We have a little authors' centre in the library now where students can "meet the author" just like in the book and there are blank books for them to write stories in.

~Ms Novakowski

Blair does DEAR

2011-10-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

This morning at 11:00am, Blair Elementary joined thousands of students across Canada in participating in DEAR (Drop Everything And Read), an initiative in support of Canadian School Library Day.

Students and staff all over the school read together for twenty minutes, some in the library, some in their classrooms, some using novels and ebooks on the iPads side by side, some using special reading glasses and some older students read with their kindergarten buddies.

What a great show of support for reading!

~Ms Novakowski

Pete the Cat stories

2011-10-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

One of our school-wide goals at Blair is helping students to develop and extend their ideas for writing.

Over the last few weeks, the primary students at Blair have been writing their own Pete the Cat stories. The students started with a character (Pete) and style of writing that they were familiar with from the books and then added their own touches and adventures for Pete to have. Some of our students told their stories in pictures while the more experienced writers often chose to make their own little Pete the Cat books.

What was being assessed for these writing tasks was for the student to come up with an idea and develop it in his or her story. We didn't go back and proofread the writing for spelling, punctuation or grammar errors for these stories in order to keep the focus on the students' ideas.

Some of Division 11's Pete stories:

The Kindergarten students drew their stories and then Mrs. Grisdale and I asked the students to "tell" us their stories and we wrote their words down on the back of their drawings.

Some of Division 10's Pete stories:

The Kindergarten and Grade 1 students in division 10 told their Pete the Cat stories in a variety of ways. Some stories were a series of pictures and others were little books with some words included to help tell the story. Some of the students played with the language from the Pete the Cat books in their own stories.

Some of Division 9's Pete stories:

Can you find Pete the Cat in this picture? (He's heading out into space in a rocket!)

This student included a little preview on the back of her book to get the readers of her book

thinking about what it might be about!

These grade 1 and 2 students from division 9 told their stories in drawings with captions and in little folded books.

Some of Division 8's Pete stories:

In this class, many of the students told their Pete stories by using a map!

Many of the more experienced writers in this class of grades 1 and 2 chose to create a book cover for their story and then focused mostly on telling the story with words.

Some of Division 7's Pete stories:

The grades 2 and 3 students of division 7 had fun playing with the language from the Pete books. The students' personalities, interests and sense of humour really came through in their own Pete the Cat stories. The students also demonstrated a strong sense of story development and flow.

Some of Division 6's Pete stories:

The grades 2 and 3 students of division 6 told their Pete the Cat stories in lots of different ways - drawings with text, mini-books and comic strips.

~Ms Novakowski

Pete the Cat photobook

2011-10-14T19:34:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

Scaredy Squirrel visits the Blair Library

2011-09-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

Last fall, all the primary classes enjoyed reading the Scaredy Squirrel books by Canadian author Melanie Watt. The students created and produced a movie about Scaredy Squirrel visiting the Blair Library. The students came up with the storyline, acted it out, created the sets, props and special effects. This week, all the classes have been watching it. Some of the new students have exclaimed, "That looks just like this library!" ;) Click HERE to watch the video if the image below doesn't work for you.

This week was the first week students have been able to choose books to check out and take home and this little video was a great reminder of the vast collection and variety of books we are fortunate enough to have at Blair. Thanks to the Blair PAC for their continued support of the library program at Blair.
~Ms Novakowski

welcome back to the Blair Library!

2011-09-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to the Blair Library!
We are getting things up and organized. Students have been getting their library cards ready and the primary classes have been enjoying listening to the fun books about Pete the Cat. Pete is an easy going cat and doesn't let little things bother him...he often says, "it's all good!" which is a good thing for all of us to remember!

The books are really fun and we sing along as we read them. The songs and videos, as well as other activities are available HERE (click on the link).

I'd also like to introduce you to our new Library Fish. We will be taking a school-wide vote next week to give our fish a name. The children come in to the library early in the morning hoping to be the first in, which means they get to feed the fish!

This year I am at Blair on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and the library is open before school on those days unless I am in a meeting. Looking forward to seeing you in the library...we have lots of new books coming in!

~Ms Novakowski

what have you been reading this summer?

2011-08-25T22:46:00.000-07:00

Hi there Blair students, parents and staff!
I hope you have had a lovely summer with family, friends and a few good books.

I really enjoyed reading the novel The Help and then seeing the movie with some friends. The book inspired me to re-read the Pulitzer Prize-winning, classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which I haven't read since my early university days. Other than novels, I've enjoyed reading Food Network magazines and some of my university reading with fun titles like Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy!

As a family, we all enjoy the Harry Potter books. We often listen to the audio book versions when we go on road trips. This summer we listened to the fifth book on our way to and from Oregon and then watched the movie when we got home. We also enjoyed the final Harry Potter movie in the theatre. The movies can't beat the books but I love how the movies provide such rich visuals, sounds and music to the stories I love so much. My sons have had some lazy afternoons in the backyard, reading books in their hammocks which makes my heart sing!

What great books have you read this summer?
Ms Novakowski

happy summer reading!

2011-06-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

The Blair Library is closed for the summer!

Have a wonderful summer with your families and I can't wait to hear what great books you've read over the summer when I see you in September!
Ms Novakowski

butterflies!

2011-06-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

Our little caterpillars made themselves chrysalids and within a week, emerged as butterflies! It's been an exciting process to observe.

The students have been representing the life cycle of the butterfly in diagrams and most recently, using drawing programs on the new iPads.

Today, most of the classes gathered on the back field to watch 10 of the butterflies be released.

Ms Novakowski

summer reading program

2011-06-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today we had the children's librarian from the Brighouse branch of the Richmond Public library visit our Blair library to share information about the summer reading club. The students were shown this year's record-keeping book, bookmarks, stickers and posters with the theme Savour Every Word. There are lots of free programs at the library this summer and registration begins June 22nd.

Students in grades 6 and 7 can also register for the national Teen Reading Club online at www.teenrc.ca

I hope we have lots of Blair students reading this summer!

Ms Novakowski

creating recipes

2011-06-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Cookbooks have been very popular in circulation this year and I have ordered several new titles to keep up with the demand! The students have enjoyed the Roald Dahl and Star Wars cookbooks in particular.

Mr. Hoath is working with divisions 1 and 2 on creating healthy recipes as part of the Health and Career Education curriculum. The following websites are useful tools as you can enter the ingredients you would like to use to make dinner, for example, and a collection of possible recipes using those ingredients is shared.

www.allrecipes.com
For this website, go to the ingredient search on the top tab bar and enter multiple ingredients. You can also add ingredients you don't want to use which is great for families with food allergies or other necessary food omissions.

www.recipematcher.com
On this website, you can search by selecting one ingredient at a time at the bottom of the page and then once you have a list of ingredients compiled, you can search for recipes including those ingredients.

www.supercook.com
On this site, you can enter one key ingredient and see what recipes come up!

Following recipes is a specific type of reading that students need experience with and of course, there are all sorts of opportunities to use mathematical concepts and skills when cooking and baking!
Ms Novakowski

the caterpillars are growing!

2011-06-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

25 little caterpillars were delivered to the Blair Library on May 26. When they arrived they were about 5 days old and were so tiny! By June 1 they had grown so much and the students from K-7 have been observing the changes and growth. Intermediate students have been reading for information about this life cycle and doing some note-taking while the primary students have been reading some stories about caterpillars and butterflies and comparing the stories to information/science books about these insects.

Come by for a visit!
Ms Novakowski

Red Cedar Book Awards

2011-05-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

Students in grades 4-7 have been reading the Red Cedar book award nominees since the fall. There are 12 nominees for fiction and 12 nominees for information books. Information about the Red Cedar book award program can be found here.

During Canadian Children's Book Week, we held our official Blair Library Red Cedar voting on Thursday, May 5th in the library at lunchtime. Eligible students (students who had read at least five of the books) filled out their ballots, had a cupcake with the Red Cedar symbol on it, received their certificates and then we tallied the votes together as we discussed the different books.

Although we submitted our vote totals to contribute to the provincial totals we definitely had some favourites here at Blair. The Curse of Akkad was the favourite information book and the favourite fiction books (novels) were Graveyard of the Sea, Libertad and Starclimber.

On Monday, May 15th, the winners of the Red Cedar Book Awards were announced. Over 2000 votes came in from all across BC. The information book award winner is: Everything But The Kitchen Sink by Frieda Wishinsky and Elizabeth MacLeod. The fiction award winner is: Libertad by Alma Fullerton.

We're looking forward to hearing what books will be nominated for next year!

Ted Staunton visits the Blair library!

2011-05-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

As part of Canadian Children's Book Week, the Blair library hosted acclaimed Canadian author Ted Staunton today. In preparation for his visit, the girls from division 8 helped me put together a book week bulletin board and three boys from division 2 created a welcome banner.

We also read Ted's book Puddleman and the first chapter from his latest Morgan book, Music by Morgan. Today during the primary library times, I read the book The Day Eddie Met the Author by Louise Borden to help the students think about "big" questions they could ask the author.

Ted did two presentations this afternoon. During the first session, divisions 8, 9 and 10 listened to Ted play the banjo and they sang along with him as he sang She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain.

Ted read his picture book, Simon's Surprise with the students and had them all joining in.

Ted then showed the students his first version of Puddleman with his own drawings which the students could really relate to...it looked like a book they could make! Victor, from division 8, got to participate as the main character, Michael.

Divisions 6 and 7 listened to Ted read excerpts from some of his novels for older students. One that the students really enjoyed was Forgive Us Our Travises and the episode with the can of soda pop! I bought the book today for our library and I am guessing we'll need to do that experiment next week in the library! He also discussed the writing process a lot with these two classes and highlighted that writing is all about making choices - choices about the best words to use, choices about what makes the story interesting, choices about the order of events, etc.

Again, he showed the students his first version of Puddleman (which he originally called The Revenge of the Puddleman) which really inspired the students.

During our lunch together, Ted opened his email and found that his publisher had just sent him the final proofs of his next Morgan book. Ted hadn't seen the illustrations yet and he didn't know what the final title was to be until he opened his pdf document. He decided he would like to show it to the students so we hooked up our projector and divisions 6 and 7 at Blair Elementary were the first readers in all of Canada to read parts of the next Morgan book. So cool!

Ted finished off his presented with a fun song from the jug bottle band he plays in back in Ontario.

We had a great afternoon celebrating Canadian Children's Book Week with Ted Staunton!

Ms Novakowski

Puddleman by Ted Staunton

2011-05-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

Last week, the primary classes read the picture book Puddleman by Ted Staunton. It seemed appropriate with all this puddley weather we've been having! Also, Blair Library is fortunate to be hosting a visit by Ted Staunton next week as part of Canadian Children's Book Week!
I told the students that when Miss McPherson and I went to university together to do our Bachelor of Education degrees, that this was one of the books we learned about in our reading course!

The students LOVED this book! I asked students from each class to do short video book reviews.

From division 7, Sarah and Liat:

From division 8, Andy and Areej:

From division 9, Creighton and Thomas:

And from division 10, Conner and Emily:

Hopefully, we won't have any puddlemen coming into the school!
Ms Novakowski

red cedar book award video reviews by division 5

2011-04-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

Students in grade 4-7 have been reading the fiction and nonfiction nominees for this year's Red Cedar Book Awards. These awards honour BC authors and illustrators. Today, some students from division 5 did video book reviews of some of their favourite Red Cedar books.

Ashley reviewed The Girl in the Backseat by Norma Charles:

Angelina reviewed Graveyard of the Sea by Penny Draper:

Dominic M. reviewed Alien Invaders by Jane Drake and Ann Love:

Students will be voting for their favourites next week!
Ms Novakowski

cherry blossoms at Blair

2011-04-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom at Blair. We read Have You Seen Trees? by Joanne Oppenheim with all the primary classes. There is a beautiful illustration of a cherry blossom tree on the cover.

Division 7 went outside and took some photographs of our trees with the school cameras.

We also read some of the winning haiku poems from the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival and then wrote some of our own!

pink cherry blossoms
all over the ground
like pink snow
~by Riley and Tommy, div 7

climbing the tree
pink everywhere
picking cherry blossoms
~by Liat, div 7

recess outside
running around the trees
pink petals on our cheeks
~by division 7

running cherry blossoms
following the wind
after me
~by Tommy, div 8

I love cherry blossoms
they love me
I love cherry blossoms following me!
~by Mya, div 8

the cherry blossoms
are so beautiful
and I like them all
~by Bobby, div 8

Aren't our young poets inspiring?
Ms Novakowski

Blair's Chocolate Lily Picture Book Award Winner!

2011-03-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

After weeks of reading and discussing the Chocolate Lily Picture Book Award nominees with all the primary classes, we did our big vote this week and the overwhelming winner at Blair was Fred and Pete at the Beach by Cynthia Nugent.

The second place winner was Stanley's Beauty Contest followed by Viva Zapata.

We'll be sending in our nomination for the big Chocolate Lily gala this spring along with some of our iPad drawings of Fred and Pete!

Ms Novakowski

Pi Day in the Blair Library

2011-03-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

On Monday at lunch hour, we celebrated Pi Day (3.14) in the Blair Library. We had about 20 students attend this event and they participated in some math tasks and then enjoyed some Chocolate Pi Cupcakes or Cherry or Strawberry Pi.
The students measured the diameter of hula hoops and plates and then cut their pieces of yarn and saw about how many times around the circumference of their hoop or plate was, in relation to the diameter. For the younger students in particular, this was a real connection to the concept of what Pi is.

We had a little "contest" to see how many digits of Pi the students could remember. We have some students with AMAZING memories here at Blair. Victor, a grade 1 student from division 8, memorized 100 digits! Watch the little video below or link HERE to see his amazingness!

Vansessa from div 2 and Christy from div 1 had many many digits memorized. Allison from div 2 had over 200 digits memorized and Lili from div 2 was our grand champion with over 400 digits memorized! Crazy! The older girls didn't want to be videotaped ;) The top five participants each won a little Pi pin and a copy of the book Sir Cumference and the Dragon and the Pi.
It was a fun Pi Day in the library!

-Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Fred and Pete at the Beach

2011-03-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

This week the primary classes enjoyed our last Chocolate Lily Book Award nominee for picture books. Fred and Pete at the Beach is written an illustrated by Vancouverite Cynthia Nugent and takes place in the Kits area of Vancouver.

Many of the students made text-to-text connections between this book and the first Chocolate Lily Book we read, On My Walk.

Students from each primary class wrote some comments about the book...the illustrations in this one were very popular!

After listening to and discussing the story, the students used the Doodle Buddy app on the iPads to draw a favourite illustration from the book. We looked at the brush strokes and colours the artist used and found ways to replicate her style on the iPads.

As you can tell, after some misadventure, Fred and Pete had a great time at the beach!

Ms Novakowski

iPads in the Blair Library

2011-03-02T20:23:00.000-08:00

Blair is taking part in an iPad Inquiry through CUEBC and we are investigating the different ways students can learn and create using the iPads. Each class at Blair has now had the opportunity to use the iPads.

Today, the primary classes (divisions 7, 8, 9 and 10) explored interactive Dr. Seuss books in honour of Dr. Seuss' birthday and the students learned how to swipe to turn pages and to interact with the touch screens.

On March, 1, Divisions 4 and 5 first looked at the book Canada from Above: A Photo Journey and then explored Google Earth to find the Arctic and to find Blair Elementary.

Division 3 created simple circuits to light little lightbulbs and then diagrammed their circuits using the Doodle Buddy app. They learned how to change colours and add text using the touch keypad.

Division 6 used Doodle Buddy to create rockets in response to the children's book Sheep Blast Off! They learned how to change backgrounds and to add chalk, glitter and text effects.

Division 1 explored some math and word game apps, Google Earth and then used Doodle Buddy or Writer's Studio to represent and African folktale.

Division 2 explored some math and word game apps. Chicktionary was particularly popular with this class and some students also explored Flipboom Lite, an animation app.

The students are all looking forward to another chance to use the iPads!

Janice Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Stanley's Beauty Contest

2011-03-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

Today we read Stanley's Beauty Contest by Linda Bailey. Linda is a local Vancouver author who has written 23 books for children. There are 3 other Stanley books which the students were familiar with.

The students really liked this book, particularly the dogpile part! They made connections to their own dogs and to other stories and cartoons. Several students made connections to an episode of Martha Speaks on Treehouse TV and how a birthday party is ruined in a similar manner.

We had a good discussion with each class about the message in the book as it ends with a line that suggests that dogs know what is really important - and it isn't winning beauty contests!
Janice Novakowski

Visit from the RPL librarians

2011-02-25T11:22:00.000-08:00

On Thursday February 24th, two librarians from the Brighouse branch of the Richmond Public Library visited our library to do book talks about all the Red Cedar Book Award nominees for this year. They did two presentations. The first was to divisions 4 and 5 and the second was to divisions 2 and 3.

We have lots of copies of the Red Cedar books in our library thanks to support from our PAC. Additional copies may be borrowed from the Richmond Public Library.

Red Cedar book reviews coming soon!

Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Penelope and the Preposterous Birthday Party

2011-02-23T20:41:00.000-08:00

Today the primary classes read Penelope and the Preposterous Birthday Party. The students appreciated the humour of the situation and compared the story and the illustrations to "Robert Munsch" books. The students made connections to their own personal experiences (text-to-self) with parties and having large groups of friends over to their homes. Some students also made text-to-text connections and thought this story had similarities to Moira's Birthday by Robert Munsch.

The students recorded their reviews on a chart in the library:

I think this one will be another favourite!
Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog

2011-02-18T17:17:00.000-08:00

This week the primary classes read Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog by Tim Beiser. The students thought this story was quite funny and they enjoyed the rhymes. There was lots of great vocabulary to introduce and lots of personal connections about the different foods that animals and people eat!
The students wrote their reviews this week on a chart in the library.

I have a feeling this one might be a contender for our school's nomination for the award!

Ms Novakowski

Photography Club

2011-02-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

A group of grades 4 and 5 students meet in the library on Tuesdays at 12:30. The students are learning to use the school's new digital cameras, upload and save photos on the computer and create photo projects such as photo collages and photo books.

Each week, we have a little photo design lesson and then travel around the school and outside to take some photos around a specific theme. The students then download their photos and save a favourite from that week.

Zoom-In/Zoom-Out photos

Circle photos

Love photos

Some of the students' LOVE photos (taken through a paper tube squished to be heart-shaped) will be shared at the school assembly on February 25th.
Ms Novakowski

Scholastic Book Fair

2011-02-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

Sabrina Ji and many other wonderful parent volunteers hosted another successful Scholastic Book Fair in our library.

We were able to acquire many of the books requested by the students for circulation in the library. This time around we also took some of our profits in "cash" to save for some special purchases for the library.

Thanks to the many parents and student volunteers from divisions 1 and 2 who helped make this book fair a success!
Ms Novakowski

Division 2: Book Podcasts (audio books) and Trailers (like you know, movie trailers for books)

2011-02-10T09:44:00.000-08:00

Hey people!

Check out the book audio podcasts and trailers posted on the Division 2 blog page!
Click on the division 2 tab above this post...

posted by Allison, division 2

Scholastic Book Fair

2011-02-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

Sabrina Ji and her group of parents have worked magic again and have set up our second Scholastic Book Fair of the year. The students have been so excited to come into the library to check out all the available books.

The Book Fair will be open to parents and students on Wednesday, February 9 and Thursday, February 10 before school, over lunch hour and after school.
Profits from the book fair enable us to purchase more books and resources for the school library.

Thank you for your support,

Ms Novakowski

Blair Book Fair Preview

2011-02-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

The books that are going to be in this book fair include the favorable

"Earthquake Terror" by the awesome author Peg Kehret!
or perhaps the exciting and adventure-filled "Forbidden Sea" by Sheila A. Nielson!
No-one can miss the "Prom and Prejudice" by Elizabeth Eulberg, also author of "The Lonely Hearts Club".
"Ghosts of the Titanic" the spooky book that no-one could call dull boasts to be writen by Julie Lawson who has never yet wrote a boring book.
In "Finding Danny" join a devastated 12 year old in the search for his missing dog, this books author is none other then Linzi Glass.

Check this site regularly for updates on all the cool books that the book fair can-not and will not leave out.

Brian Div. 2

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Viva Zapata

2011-02-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

Viva Zapata by Emilie Smith of Vancouver and Margarita Kenefic Tejada of Guatemala, is a fictional story about Mexican revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata's childhood.

Mini book reviews from our primary classes...

division 6
The main character was brave. -Cindy
The illustrations are black and white but they are still detailed. -Summi
It was based on a true person. -Julaine
It was different because it had no colour. - Sophie
The main character was kind and cared about other people. -Jen

division 7
The pictures are cool. -Annika
Emiliano is very kind and helps others. -Sharon
I liked the story. - Sarah
Emiliano was brave. - Eddie
The story is a guide to life. - Liat

division 8
It's very nice that he save the horses. -Areej
The bandidos were like the Club Penguin polar bear. -Mya
We all liked the pants part.

division 9
I liked the part when he rescued the horses. -Thomas
The illustration with the bad guys splitting their pants was funny. -Alexander

division 10
It's nice that he helps people. -Carisa
I like the cover and the illustrations in the book. -Declan
I liked the part about saving the horses. -Kylie

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Bubble Homes and Fish Farts

2011-01-27T09:15:00.000-08:00

Bubble Homes and Fish Farts is a nonfiction book explaining the many ways that animals make and use bubbles. It is the only nonfiction book in its category. The title elicited a few giggles from the primary students!

Mini book reviews from our primary classes:

division 6
The title is funny and there is lots of cool information. I learned new things. I liked the illustrations and the thinking bubbles. The cover make the book look like a storybook.

division 7
I think it's funny and interesting and the colours are watery. - Liat
The title is funny. - Phoebe
It was cool and interesting. -Calvin

division 8
The name of the book is funny. - Victor
It's about animals that live in water and make bubbles. - Andy
The pictures are funny because they talk. -Bobby

division 9
I liked learning about the sea otter. - Quizzy
The title is funny. - Alexander
I learned about humpback whales. - Thomas
The words are funny in the bubbles. - Kaz

division 10
It was interesting how the dolphin made the bubble rings. - Declan
I learned that some animals live in bubbles. - Madelyn

Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: On My Walk

2011-01-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

This week, the primary classes read On My Walk by Kari-Lynn Winters. It is about a dog and his family who go for a summer walk on a beach in Vancouver and then it starts to rain!

Here are some mini book reviews from our primary classes:

division 6

I noticed that the illustrator outlined the characters and the dog. It made them stand out against the background. -Summi

Both of the pages are fully illustrated (double-page spread). The sound words are funny and rhyme.
-Raamtin

I think this book would be interesting for younger kids. The illustrations were cool. -Jennifer

division 7
The book is funny and uses silly words and sounds. -Riley

It’s a book that’s easy to read. I liked the colours of the pictures. -Sarah

It was pretty cool. The dog was funny. I liked it when he was eating the ice-cream. Some of the words are not really real – they are gibberish, but that’s what makes it fun to listen to. -Will

division 8
This book is nice for little kids because it is short. There are lots of colours in the illustrations. -Victor

The pictures are nice. There are lots of animals. -Max

The words are funny. -Lynch

division 9
I liked that you could see Stanley Park and Vancouver. - Thomas
The dog was cute. - Quizzy
I like the details like the raindrops, trees and logs. - Creighton

division 10
The flippity-flop words are fun. -Josh
The dog eating the ice-cream was funny. - Emily
I like the raindrops. -Mark

Ms Novakowski

Chocolate Lily Book Awards

2011-01-17T18:06:00.000-08:00

The Chocolate Lily Book Awards are an awards program for children's books by BC authors and illustrators. Registered schools are able to submit their "votes" for what book in each category that they think is most deserving of the award. The Chocolate Lily is an actual flower that only grows in woodland areas on the westcoast of BC.

This is the first year that Blair is participating in the Chocolate Lily Book Awards program and thanks to generous funding support from the Blair PAC we purchased all the nominated books in the picture book category. Each week, I will be reading one of the nominated books to all the primary classes and we will discuss personal connections we made to the books as well as do mini book reviews.

During the first week back at school in January, we read last year's winning picture book, Penguin and the Cupcake. All the classes thought it was so funny and thought the collage-type illustrations were really unique. It reads a bit like a graphic novel for younger students. The author/illustrator used really interesting text features and styling in the design of the book.

After reading the book, each class discussed why they thought this book was given the Chocolate Lily Book Award for 2010. Division 7 established criteria for us to evaluate this year's nominated books.
The students seem excited to be part of the group that "votes" for the winner!

Ms Novakowski

December in the library

2010-12-15T21:31:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update about some things happening in the library...
We received two new shelving units which are on wheels which makes them very useful both in the library and within the school. Right now, one is full of seasonal/holiday books but after the holiday break, we are going to load one with folk tales and fairy tales and the other one might hold seasonal titles or topics related to school initiatives.

The Primary Science Club planted an amaryllis bulb on November 16th. It is almost ready to bloom! The students have been checking in out regularly to see when the blossom will burst open!

Today four primary classes (divisions 7, 8, 9 and 10) compared fiction and nonfiction books by first looking at gingerbread cookbooks and looking for nonfiction text features. They noticed photographs, step-by-step instructions and captions. We then read the story Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett and the students discussed how the two books were the same and how they were different. Many students commented that they were both about gingerbread, icing and candies. Some students commented that in the story, the gingerbread baby talks and that there are other characters such as the cat and the mother and the father. Some of the students also noticed that the story had a "world" or setting in which it took place and that there was a problem and a solution in the story.

A big thank you to the library monitors who have helped check in and shelve all the returned books this week. Our library is looking very full again!

Enjoy your holidays with your families!

Primary Science Club

2010-12-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

Since the beginning of November, students from grades 1-3 have been meeting in the library from 12:30-1 for Primary Science Club. Each week we have been looking at the science behind some of the toys we play with. Our first week together, we investigated the effects of friction on spinning tops:

The next week we investigated the effects of different forces (pushes and pulls) on toy cars/jeeps:

Next, we investigated the laws of motion and experimented with Newton's cradle

and created our own version with marbles:

And this week, we investigated the effects of gravity on balls and the arc that occurs when throwing balls. We made our own version of traditional wooden cup and ball games:

Our last session together will be Tuesday, December 7th in the library!

Division 2 and Arthur Slade

2010-11-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

Division 2 walked down to the Brighouse Branch of the Richmond Public Library to participate in an author event. Arthur Slade, award-winning, sarcastic Canadian author. He shared many of his books including the book about when a cursed family got struck with lightning (Jolted). This story was inspired by a true story of when Arthur Slade's cows got struck by lightning.

Arthur Slade shared about his interview with Dracula for his book Monsterology and talked about many of his books.

He showed a video book trailer about his new series, The Hunchback Assignments. You can view the video HERE or watch it below.

Check out Arthur Slade's books in our library!

Welcome to the Blair library blog!

2010-11-18T12:06:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Blair Elementary Library blog. Division 2 (grades 6 and 7) have created this blog to share news, events and book reviews from the library. Blair Elementary is a school in Richmond, BC, Canada. Our school mascot is a dragon, hence the name of our blog is a mash-up of our school name Blair and our mascot, Dragons....Blagons!

Check back regularly for updates!

Blagons: The Blair Book Dragons

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Red Cedar Book Award Book Reviews

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: The Little Hummingbird

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Great Lakes & Rugged Ground~Imagining Ontario

Scholastic Book Fair

Press Here

displays at the Blair Library

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Where Are You Bear?

Red Cedar Book Reviews: Division 3

Drawing Frogs on the iPads

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Singing Away the Dark

storytelling with wordless books

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Stanley's Little Sister

Red Cedar Book Awards 2012

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Compost Stew

Chocolate Lily Book Awards 2012

thank you to our library monitors!

our paperwhites are blooming!

musical books

bulb inquiry

more astronomy posters

magnets inquiry

a trip to egypt

the power of words

astronomy fact writing

Library Mouse Team Writing

speed booking

poppies

Monster Math

Writing Scary Stories

Go Away Big Green Monster!

BONES by Steve Jenkins

Library Mouse

Blair does DEAR

Pete the Cat stories

Pete the Cat photobook

Scaredy Squirrel visits the Blair Library

welcome back to the Blair Library!

what have you been reading this summer?

happy summer reading!

butterflies!

summer reading program

creating recipes

the caterpillars are growing!

Red Cedar Book Awards

Ted Staunton visits the Blair library!

Puddleman by Ted Staunton

red cedar book award video reviews by division 5

cherry blossoms at Blair

Blair's Chocolate Lily Picture Book Award Winner!

Pi Day in the Blair Library

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Fred and Pete at the Beach

iPads in the Blair Library

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Stanley's Beauty Contest

Visit from the RPL librarians

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Penelope and the Preposterous Birthday Party

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog

Photography Club

Scholastic Book Fair

Division 2: Book Podcasts (audio books) and Trailers (like you know, movie trailers for books)

Scholastic Book Fair

Blair Book Fair Preview

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Viva Zapata

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: Bubble Homes and Fish Farts

Chocolate Lily Book Awards: On My Walk

Chocolate Lily Book Awards

December in the library

Primary Science Club

Division 2 and Arthur Slade

Welcome to the Blair library blog!