Author Terri Mack visists Randerson

Author Terri Mack joined us at Randerson today to share her new book Mouse Celebrates Winter Solstice.  I joined Mrs. MacDonald and her Gr. 2/3 class to learn why Terri wrote this book and the meaning behind it.  We learned about winter and summer solstice, about the 13 lunar moons each year and why Indigenous Peoples call North America Turtle Island.  Students showed keen interest in Terri’s lesson and loved looking at the detailed pictures drawn by artist Bill Henin.  We really liked how Bill included the constellations exactly how the stars will align in the northern hemisphere on December 21^st, the winter solstice.  We are going to look closely to try to find the crab that Bill hides in all of Terri’s books.

Author Terri Mack @ Randerson

Did you know the Bill is the first and only artist whose work has travelled to space?  Canadian Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk took Bill’s art up to the International Space Station.  Wow we thought that was pretty cool!  Thanks Terri Mack for coming to Randerson.

 

 Comments from the students included:

“I am very impressed with this book.” Aana

“The detail is so good it made me want to look closely at each page.” Natasha

“I like the story telling.”  Dylan

“I like how the sky and moon have First Nations art.” Sam

“I like how the snowflakes move with the wind.” Anu

“I like how she talks about everyone coming together.” Hirsh

Shelfies & Book Talks

We used the Pic Collage app for our shelfies

Mr. Nixon's Gr. 5/6, Mr. Rosenau's Gr. 4/5 and Ms. Burnham's Gr. 4 classes shared their shelfies this week, prompting a run on certain books in our library. Top books reviewed include Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne,  A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass and Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney. Students book-talked their favourite books and discussed why their classmates might enjoy them. They shared their shelfies using the Pic Collage app on the iPad.

 What are shelfies?  Shelfies are a picture of

• three great books you have read recently
• stacked up like a book shelf
• in alphabetical and/or dewey order
• a picture of a book you want to read

Students led discussions on favourite authors like Wendy Mass and Kenneth Oppel, favourite series like Warriors and DOWK, and favourite genres ~ comedy, adventure, drama. Other students introduced their classmates to the mysteries of The Hardy Boys,  Inkheart and Conspiracy 365.  Various non-fiction books were also shared including 365 Things to Make and Do by Usborne and The Audubon Field Guides.