National Aboriginal Day, June 21st, First Day of Summer

Canadians across our country are celebrating National Aboriginal Day.  Check out the links and get involved in your community!

• Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
• Three YouTube Clips by this ministry
• Photos on Flickr
• YouTube Channel
• Aboriginal Events local and around the province - listed by First Nations Health Authority (scroll down)
• CBC News QUIZ - 10 questions to get you ready for National Aboriginal Day

Reply below to let us know your plans and report back about events!

Frank Oberle, Alberta Minster of Aboriginal Relations

Aboriginal Day in Winnipeg, Aboriginal Day at The Forks National Historical Site

Men's Traditional Dance - National Aboriginal Day Celebrations 2010

Summer Reads & Brain Muscle Work

Alrighty, how are you going to keep that all important brain muscle stimulated this summer?  Using your five senses: touch, taste, smell, hearing, and the ever-so-popular viewing!  Did you know that playing is a great way to learn?  Truly it is.  Also, of course, reading is wonderful for your brain.  Let's start a dialog together about great summer reading options and where to continue our learning on a daily basis.

Try these reading suggestions:
Calgary Public Library Staff Picks (scroll down a little)

The Next Chapter's summer reading list for kids - CBC Radio

Corporate Business Suggestions:
SUMMER READING CHART Random House Publishing
Summer Reading Picks by Mallory Lewis (Random House), June 11th, 2014
TD Reads

OTHER COOL IDEAS FOR READING AND LEARNING:
Custom Reading Book List!  Yes, the Okanagan Regional Library (ORL) will give you five personalized reading suggestions.  Just fill in the form.
Summer Reading Club - ORL

Tips for Parents: Reading (or being read to) helps children maintain and improve their reading skills while school is out. Even reading15 minutes a day makes a difference. To keep kids reading regularly, it’s important to make it fun. Invite them to read whatever they want, whether it’s a book, audiobook, ebook or magazine. Need help finding great reads? Your library can help your kids find just what they like.

Kids' Corner - ORL
Teen Shelf - ORL

Reply below for some more ideas ...

Baby Chicks Have Hatched!

Raising Chickens

 

Mrs. Rokosh's kindergarten class is learning about life cycles just like Ms. Quinton's class (Painted Lady Butterfly post below).  Mrs. Rokosh's class is learning about the life cycle of chickens.  See & learn below

Hatching chicken eggs in an incubator

 

Teachers, there is a strong video resource through our DRC, "Learning 360" video streaming resources entitled
Chickens Video Link (sign in with First Class Logins)
 (10:28, pre-k-2) or go to the District Resource Centre.

How Do I Get Informed About Current Educational Issues?

Well, that's a good question and the answer is through a variety of perspectives and sources.

I hosted some diverse links on my professional blog entitled "The Ardent Librarian" rather than on my elementary school library blog.  Please click here for those links

The Painted Lady Butterfly has hatched!

Mrs. Quinton's class has been learning about the life cycle of a butterfly.  Check out teacher Kay Little's time-lapse video (Lakeside, California) about this amazing process:

 

 

To learn more about the fascinating learning topics in Ms. Quinton's class, scroll down the right side bar to the link for Ms. Quinton's class or click here

Cat Adopts Ducklings! Be Kind to Animal Month, SPCA continues

Cat gives birth to kittens and then also adopts ducklings - Ireland.  Read more at "Good News/The Lighter Side" by Nadine Kalinauskas.

Thank you Rhonda for this story about a lion by the name of Christian raised by two men, John & Ace, in the 60's who eventually released the lion into the wild in Kenya, Africa.  Eventually they went back to visit the lion not knowing if Christian would be completely wild or remember them.  Watch the following to find out (2:52):

 

For a longer documentary on Christian's life and the historical context of when Ace and John bought Christian home from Harrod's department store (1960's), watch this YouTube clip (45:06)

 

 

 

Thank you Mrs. Rokosh for the next two suggestions: May 21, 2014

"One little cub in Canada has a "beary" great mother! Video shows a mama bear in Canada pulling her little cub to safety after it found itself stranded along a busy highway in British Columbia's Kootenay National Park."

 

 

 

Her second animal news was about Dudley the duck from Sicamous who will be getting a new prosthetic leg ...

 

 



 

"Be Kind to Animals Month" continues; be kind to animals today and always.

Red Cedar Titles for 2014-15!

 

Yes, your summer reading list awaits you.  Check out next year's "short list" (thus not the final list) of scrumptious Canadian fiction and non-fiction reading lists for Red Cedar below:

Red Cedar 2014-15

Fiction




Non-fiction




Budget cutbacks may mean scaling back the Red Cedar order to just the fiction or non-fiction genres, or sadly none at all.  So give me your feedback if you would like to have this approx. $400+ order a priority in the tight budget.  Respond in a post below and/or email or drop by: parents, students, staff feedback always welcome.