Readathon 2017/18
We will be celebrating our READ-A-THON month this year in MARCH! It will start on March 1st and end on March 31st. More information will be sent home with the children later in February.
Book Night 2017/18
We are combining the READ-A-THON with our annual BOOK NIGHT celebration, which will be held this year on WEDNESDAY MARCH 7, from 6 pm-7:30pm, with a book fair at the school and an evening literacy celebration. Another Story Book Shop has confirmed that they will run the book fair for us, in the foyer of 58 Spadina, for the whole day and evening. For the evening celebration, we have invited beloved story-teller, Dan Yashinsky, to spin a few yarns for families in our very own J. Fraser Mustard Assembly Hall. The Glee Club will perform and students will be invited to share literacy projects. This will be a wonderful community event, an important fundraiser for the Library program, and a perfect opportunity to purchase books for your avid and aspiring readers during March Break! Please let Krista know if you are interested in volunteering with this event.
The Library Collection
We have successfully moved back to the front room, into the original Library of the Leighton McCarthy home, and are working with a number of furniture providers to find perfect additional low shelving for our folk and fairytale collection as well as cozy seating spaces.
Teacher Librarian Krista Spence continues to cultivate our special collection of books. Our Indigo fundraiser raised $500 to be spent on books from Indigo. Krista has been de-colonizing the collection, removing books that were written about First Nations’ Metis and Inuit without consultation. There are many better options now and we are making room on our shelves for all the authentic indigenous and diverse voices now in print!
Some of the purchases made for the collection this year have included:
Indigenous stories featuring Metis and Inuit characters
novels that represent gender diversity
picture books featuring culturally diverse characters
non-fiction texts featuring sports teams, holidays computers, coding, and hobbies
graphic novels and early chapter books
beautiful stories with characters who are from a visible minority, (where their race has nothing to do with the story)
The Library Program
Class time in the library has included a focus on stories from the North, including traditional Inuit and modern elements. Students have shared stories of what our grandparents or older adult friends have taught us. We have explored the Metis culture.
Current topics being explored in the library include : Funny stories about the same characters in Nursery, JK, and SK; immigration and the experience of ‘otherness’ with Grade One and Twos; learning how to access non-fiction resources in the Library with the Grade Threes, and connecting ancient stories to lessons in digital citizenship and online behaviours with Grade Four, Five, and Six.
Krista recently presented about her work at the Ontario Library Association's SuperConference in a talk titled: Deepening Students’ Understanding of Digital Citizenship Through Ancient Stories From Around the World
