Tumblebooks

We are excited to announce that Bobby Orr PS has licensed Tumblebooks for our staff and students. Please click the links below to access this great resource:TumbleBookLibrary is an online collection of TumbleBooks – animated, talking picture books which teach kids the joy of reading in a format they'll love. TumbleBooks are created by adding animation, sound, music and narration to existing picture books in order to produce an electronic picture book which you can read, or have read to you.

The TumbleBookLibrary is a collection of licensed titles from children's book publishers such as Simon & Schuster, Chronicle Books, Candlewick Press, Charlesbridge Press, Harcourt, Little Brown, Walker & Company, Lerner Books, amongst others.

The TumbleBookLibrary provides enrichment to students who are reading independently with a variety of high interest material. It also provides support to students who require skill building with a variety of exercises that can be matched with other areas of the curriculum. In general, TumbleBooks are a great addition to a reading program that can be worked on independently by each student or by the whole class. It has been exceptionally well received by ESL and Special Education teachers.

Direct link: www.tumblebooks.com/library/auto_login.asp?U=bobbyorr&P=books
Website:To log on go to http://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/
Username: bobbyorr
Password: books

www.TumbleReadables.com is an online collection of read-along titles for elementary, middle school, and high school students which features adjustable online text and complete audio narration. Sentences are highlited as they are being read and the pages turn automatically. The collection features chapter books, early readers, YA/Teen Novels, high interest/low level books for both middle school and high school students, plus classics of American and English literature.

Read-Alongs are great for emergent, struggling, and reluctant readers, as well as being an excellent tool for ESL. They are also well received by strong and accomplished readers who are excited to follow along to the narration of their favorite books. Children, who are now growing up with e-mail, instant messaging, IPODs, and text messaging are early and willing adopters to this innovative online reading experience.

Direct link: http://www.blogger.com/www.tumblereadables.com/auto_login.asp?u=bobbyorr&p=login
Or, you can access our collection by going to: http://www.blogger.com/www.tumblereadables.com
username: bobbyorr
password: login

A huge success

Thanks so much to all families who came out to support our Scholastic book fair. We sold $2000 worth of books and supplies - which means that we receive $1000 in books for our library!

Circulation has started this week. If you have any questions about book loans, please contact Mrs. Paterson.

A reminder that students are welcome to use the library for school work at morning recess Tues, Wed, Thur., with a pass from their teacher. Students are also welcome after school on Tuesday or Thursday for school work.

Welcome back!

We have made it through the first week of this new school year and it is very exciting. It will be exciting for staff and students to get to know the new staff: Mr. Callaghan, Mlle. McConachie, Mrs. Edge, Mrs. Storms, Mrs. Ridgely, Mrs. Dionne, and Mr. Brachmayer. Wow - that's a lot of change!

The library information centre is shaping up well. We have 'borrowed' computers from the intermediate and junior classrooms so that we have a full class set in the library - which means great opportunities for computer/media lessons and projects. We have also added loads of new books including non-fiction to help students with research and lots of fiction titles for pleasure reading. Watch for the "staff picks" display and the "Teamwork" book display!

Our first scholastic book fair will be arriving this week and classes will have a chance to preview the fair on Friday, Sep. 12. Our family event will be on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 16 to coincide with our curriculum night. I look forward to seeing all of you there!

Scholastic Book Fair

Join us for the Scholastic Book Fair family event and Evening of the Arts on Tuesday, May 27!

Wiki

What is a wiki? It's a collaborative website and the grade 5 class is learning all about it while working on their Ancient Civilizations project. Their wiki can be found here. For now you will need an ID to view their work, if you'd like an ID, simply post a comment to this entry, or catch me on the yard at school and I'll create one for you!

Literacy Night

Our 1st ever Bobby Orr PS Family Literacy Night was a huge success! We had around 48 families participate, our BBQ sold out, and we sold hundreds of books at our used book sale and exchange. Thanks to all families that came out!

Families with primary students had the chance to learn about making connections, made a retelling glove, questioning dice, and literacy games. Families with junior/intermediate students learned about avoiding plagiarism, Internet safety tips, using comics to promote literacy, and some great sites and software available to help with projects at home.

Congratulations to Braydon, Amber, and Bryce who each one a $10 Chapters gift certificate for participating and to Karan who won a stack of comics donated by Worlds Collide.

I'd love to have your feedback about Literacy Night and what you'd like to see change and what you'd like to see stay the same for next year.

One Friday in March

Can you believe that we were only in school for one Friday during the entire month of March? I'm trying to use that as an excuse for not blogging in the past month - between March Break and Easter break, we just haven't been at school that much.

This Friday is the deadline for Durham's Captivate Media Festival and I am thrilled that we will be entering a number of student submissions from grade 7 and 8. To learn more about the festival click here.

Later this week I will be working on a pioneer project with Miss Spencer's grade 3s. Their final product will be done in Photostory 3, which is a fun new program from Microsoft. This makes displaying and sharing photos really easy. The best thing about it - if you're already running windows, you can download it for free at home. Just click here.

More library fun...

I had the chance to travel with the grade 4s and 7/8A to the main branch of the public library today. The grade 4s were given a little library orientation, and the 7/8s learned how to use microfiche and the OPAC to find resources.

The library is back to normal again after our VERY successful book fair. We grossed over $2000. Thanks so much for all of your support!

What a week...

The book fair has been very busy this week and I'd like to thank all of the parents who supported us by connecting their children with great books. Special thanks to Judy, Kathy, Sue,and Terry who all helped with the set up and/or sales at the book fair.

I also had the opportunity to view and assess most of the grade 7/8 science presentations on environmental disasters - some were very impressive! We will be choosing some of the best quality presentations to enter in the Durham Captivate Media Festival.

Book exchange will be back to normal next week, so students can borrow some great books for March Break the following week.

Book Fair

Our book fair has arrived and it looks great. There are tons of titles to choose from and some books cost as little as $1.00. Tomorrow all of the classes have a preview of the fair, and they will be able to purchase items any time next week. This is a great chance to connect your child with quality books and help fundraise for our school library at the same time. We will be open until 5pm on Tuesday, February 26 - I hope to see you here!

The library's abuzz...

Wow - are we busy. Today Ms. Spencer's grade 3's came down and learned about static electricity - I hope they don't shock you! 7/8A were in to watch the beginning of the Frontline video "Tank Man" as an introduction to their novel study The Forbidden City and their study of the Tian An Men square massacre in 1999 - very powerful, and I could tell the kids were moved. Meanwhile students in grades 6, 7, and 8 have all been in and out of the LIC with a number of multimedia projects in Health, Music, and Science nearing completion. Their work looks amazing and I can't wait to share some of it!

Scholastic Book Fair

We are so excited to welcome Scholastic Book Fairs to our school. Students will have a chance to preview the fair on Friday, February 22 and the book fair will be open for purchases Mon. February 25- Friday February 29 from 9:00am until 3:30pm and until 5:00pm on Tuesday February 26.

Please check out the letter and highlights flyer that will be going home with your child on Wednesday, February 12.

100th day

This morning we had the chance to celebrate the 100th day of school with the first graders, second graders, and some third graders. In the library, the students worked very hard to read 100 books - and we accomplished our goal.

Way to go!