Month: November 2015

C.S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis, the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, and much, much more, was born on this day in Belfast, Ireland, in 1898.  Jack, as he was known to friends and family, was a professor of literature at both Oxford and Cambridge, as well as a prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction.  More on C.S. Lewis.

source: CC / Wikimedia Commons

Advent

Advent Wreath and Candles.  source: Clemens (CC/wikimedia)

The Holiday Season in the western world has traditionally been synonymous with Advent, literally the period of expectation of an important arrival. For Christians the season of Advent is about the anticipation of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ. In the Christian Church, on each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, candles are lit as symbols of Advent.

Be sure to check out our display of books for “Holidays and Holy Days!”

Guru Nanak

The founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak,  was born in April of 1469 in north-west India, (what is now Pakistan.)  He would go on to become the first of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism. Although his birthday was in April, the Guru’s birth is celebrated in November on the day of the full moon. (As such, the date will vary from year to year on the solar calendar, like other lunar based holidays.)

source: SikhiWiki
source: SikhiWiki

Most Canadians of Indian heritage who live in Canada are Sikhs, including many students at Lord Tweedsmuir, and communities throughout Surrey and Greater Vancouver.

For more on Guru Nanak and Sikhism, check out the SikhiWiki, the online “Encyclopedia of the Sikhs.”

IGD@YL 2015

Over 500 kids had the chance to come down to the school library for a fun day of board games as we observed International Games Day @  Your Library. Thanks to all the kids who participated, and to all the teachers who brought classes in: Ms. Mason, Mr. Fournier, Ms. Overgaard, Mr. Jones, Ms. Dry, Ms. Saini, Ms. Smith, Mr. Lewis, Ms. Nicholls and Ms. Konradova.  Games on the tables today included Monopoly, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Chess, Taboo, Outburst, Settlers of Catan, Nowhere to Run, Cathedral, Stratego, Backgammon, Apples to Apples, The Game of Life,  Blokus, Things, Balderdash, Tribond, In Pursuit, Ticket to Ride, King of Tokyo, Mastermind and more!

IGD@YL 2015
IGD@YL 2015

Games Day: Board Games

IMG_0457International Games Day @ Your Library is coming up!  Public Libraries around the world will be celebrating on Saturday, November 21st.  Meanwhile School Libraries will observing the day tomorrow, Friday, November 20th.

Join us as we celebrate the immense educational benefits of gaming, especially the under-appreciated value of board games. The vast majority of our students are experienced with video games.  But for too many students today, they grow up unfamiliar with board games and the amazing rewards that come from board games.

Along with being fun, board games can be educational and can contribute to the development of valuable life skills.

IGD, library 048Read more about the benefits of board games:

eBooks: How to Borrow an eBook from your School Library

Source: CC BY-SA 2.0 Tina Franklin
Source: CC BY-SA 2.0 Tina Franklin

Through the school library, the district collection, and beyond to the public library system and other libraries, you have access to a large selection of eBooks that you can read on your tablet, phone, laptop or other device.

Here are the steps you need to follow to download eBooks onto your devices:

 

A. Find an eBook

  1. Go to our catalog.
  2. Sign-in with your district Username and Password.
  3. Search for a book.
  4. Follett eBooks will appear in the search results with a unique material type icon.
  5. If you wish, you can restrict your search to Follett eBooks.
  6. Select a title from the results.
  7. Or if you’ve viewed the record first, select “Open.”
  8. The eBook will open for viewing in your browser.

B. Download the eBook

  1. Download the Follett BryteWave app. (App Store.)
  2. Open the BryteWave app.
  3. Sign in with your Surrey Schools account username and password. Choose our school from the drop down list.
  4. Choose your book from the “My eReader” tab.
  5. If your borrowed books do not appear, click on the sync button.
  6. Open your book and select “Download this title” when prompted.
  7. Once the download is complete, you can read the entire book on your device, even if you are offline.

(The above instructions will work for downloading to an iPad or other IOS device. You may need to follow different steps for a different device.)

For an illustrated version of these steps, and more info, go here.