Every year, a committee of Surrey School District teacher librarians choose 10 picture books to be shared with Surrey elementary school students. Creekside students in kindergarten to grade 4 will be reading one of these story books during library time each week. In May, Surrey students will get to vote on their favourite choice, which will then be awarded the title of Surrey Schools Picture Book of the Year for 2016-17.
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Almost a million students world-wide have signed to be part of this year's Global Read Aloud project. This global community building literacy project was started a few years ago by an American teacher, Pernille Ripp. Each year, a few selected books are chosen to be read aloud to students. By sharing a common story, students all over the world are able connect with other students about a similar reading experience. Teachers use a variety of methods to help make the global connections. These methods can include Skype, blogs, Google Hangouts, websites, Padlets.
Many students are Creekside are enjoying the reading selections for this year. The early primary students are reading a selection of books written and illustrated by Lauren Castillo. The grade 3's and 4's are enjoying Roald Dahl's story, The BFG, and upper intermediate students are reading about the adventures of a boy and his fox in PAX by Sara Pennypacker. Maker Monday is an exciting day in the Creekside Library Learning Commons. Students are invited to come explore, create, collaborate, and build with some of the learning commons' STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) equipment. Imagination and creativity sparks many interesting building designs and programs. The opportunity to "make" things and develop pride in one's own creations and accomplishments leads to a positive mindset for learning in today's world. The "hands-on" learning during Maker Monday sessions brings joy to many students and makes "learning" and "play" seem interchangeable.
Welcome back to school! As we start off our new school year, new changes can be seen in the Creekside Library Learning Commons. We are continuing our process of developing our library space into a learning commons area. Some tables have been removed from the library and a new comfortable seating area with couches has been added. This type of seating opens up the library space for groups of students and staff to be able to to collaborate in groups and work on a variety of projects. Traditional books continue to be an important and integral part of our school library, but as we continue to educate students in the 21st century, we also believe that information is not limited to being captured in print. Today's learning opportunities are vast and ever-changing as access to information is transformed from traditional print sources to on-line resources. The Creekside Library Learning Commons strives to be a place where access to and creation of knowledge is central.
Maker Mondays, Genius Hour, and Imagination Club our just some examples of activities that can be found happening in the library learning commons. Through our website, we will continue to share highlights of students' learning. Check back frequently for updates. You can also follow us on Twitter @CreeksideLC for updates. Search with the hashtag #creeksidelearns for updates as well. Canadian author, Eric Wilson visited our Creekside Library Learning Commons on Monday, April 11th. Mr. Wilson gave two presentations to students in grades three to seven. Students were entertained with Mr. Wilson's mystery stories and had the opportunity to learn about the writing process from a published author. What a great day!
Fans of the Amulet graphic novel series have been eagerly awaiting the release of book 7 in the series. Mrs. Koppensteiner is happy to announce that two new copies of Firelight - Amulet Book 7 are available from the library. If you are interested in reading one of the books, make sure you get your name on the "hold" list! A contest will be held to determine who gets to read the book first. The skill testing question is 2 X 10 - 13 = ? .
Every year, Surrey school students are part of a literary award project called the Surrey Schools Picture Book of the Year. There are ten nominees each year which are read aloud to students. Students rate the books and keep a record in their own Surrey Schools Picture Book of the Year booklets. In May, we conduct a school wide vote to pick our school's favourite book. These voting results are sent in to the district committee and one book is awarded the Surrey Schools Picture Book of the Year. In February, we read the first four of this year's nominees.
This month during our after school Imagination Club program, students have been creating their own marble runs out of peg board and recycled household items. They have had a lot of fun collaborating and as they created their marble runs. The marble runs will be on display in the library learning commons at our Open House - Creativity Fair on Thursday, March 10th. Make sure to stop by the library learning commons to try out the marble runs and explore the other "learn through play stations that will be set up for students and families.
There are new books available for check-out in the library! There are new non-fiction books, new picture books, new easy chapter books, and new novels. Mrs. Koppensteiner is giving each class a book talk this week to introduce the new books. Whether you grab a new book or take out an old favourite, just read!
For the last ten weeks, 20 intermediate students have joined Ms. Calimbas, Ms. Jhooty, Ms. Turnbull, Mr. Doig, and Ms. Koppensteiner in the library learning commons after school for Creekside's first ever "Imagination Club". Students were given weekly building challenges to encourage collaboration, communication, and creativity. Some of the challenges included the marshmallow challenge, the lego tennis ball challenge, the duct tape challenge, the jumping frog origami challenge, and the egg drop challenge. A lot of fun and learning through play occurred as students stretched their minds and their abilities to explore new and creative ideas. We will be starting Imagination Club up again in January. We will continue with new building challenges as well as learning about 3-D design as we explore Creekside's new 3-D printer. New students are encouraged to join the club! |
AuthorMrs. Koppensteiner is the teacher-librarian for the Creekside Library Learning Commons. Archives
January 2017
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