Category: Literacy

Freedom to Read Week

Do you believe that you should be able to choose what you read? Or should other people be able to decide for you what you can read? Freedom to Read Week celebrates our fundamental freedoms as citizens of democracies and our fundamental rights as human beings. Freedom to Read Week also asks to to beware of the forces at work which erode and seek to destroy your rights and freedoms.

Do you take your Freedom to Read for granted? These are books that are available in our libraries which have been challenged, and in far too many cases, removed from shelves, and banned. Many of the books pictured here are on the list of the top 20 most banned books in the U.S. for the 2021-2022 school year.

This isn’t just happening in authoritarian states such as North Korea, Iran, China or Russia. This is happening in the so-called free world. This is happening in the United States. So far it hasn’t been as bad in Canada, but challenges are growing here and there are too many who want American censorship to come to Canada.

Find out more:

Freedom to Read Week

Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools

Challenged Works List

World Read Aloud Day

When parents read aloud to their children, they are making a profound contribution to the growth of their kids as readers, listeners and learners. Reading aloud to kids helps to introduce children to the wonders and magic of the world of stories. So many amazing things can happen when parents read to their kids. Parents reading to their kids is one of the most powerful factors in children becoming readers.

Source: School Library Journal
source: School Library Journal

Yet it doesn’t need to stop once kids learn to read to themselves. Indeed, it should never stop.  Adults, teens, people of all ages love being read to and reap the benefits when they get the chance to listen. High school teachers who give reading aloud a try almost always find that the kids love it and that it can be a powerful educational opportunity.

World Read Aloud Day is a chance to recognize the power of the joy of reading aloud.  Spread the word!

Find out more:

Songs of Peace: Zombie

Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken?

Written by Dolores O’Riordan
Performed by The Cranberries

One of the great songs of the 1990’s, “Zombie” by the Cranberries is also one of the great anti-war songs of all time. Dolores O’Riordan wrote the song in response to another atrocity of sectarian violence spilling out of Northern Ireland. In this case two young boys were killed, and over 50 people injured, after an IRA bomb exploded in Warrington, in the northwest of England. O’Riordan was sickened by the bombing, and like most people in Ireland, she had had enough of seeing violence carried out in the name of the Irish. “The IRA are not me. I’m not the IRA,” she said. “The Cranberries are not the IRA. My family are not. When it says in the song, ‘It’s not me, it’s not my family,’ that’s what I’m saying.” (source)

Find out more:

Guru Nanak Dev Ji Gurpurab

The founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak,  was born in 1469 in the north-west of India, (what is now Pakistan.)  He would go on to become the first of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism. In 2022 the celebration of the birth of Guru Nanak is November 8. The day is also referred to as Guru Nanak’s Prakash Utsav and Guru Nanak Jayanti.

Most Canadians of Indian heritage who live in Canada are Sikhs, including many students at Lord Tweedsmuir, and communities throughout Surrey and Greater Vancouver. If you are not Sikh, learn more about Guru Nanak, Sikhism, and the Sikh community. What a great way to better understand your friends, neighbours and fellow Canadians.

Find out more:

Sikh Wiki

Sikh Museum

Canadian Sikh Heritage

Sikh Net

BBC

The Guibord Center

Available at your school library

Games Hall of Fame

How many of these games from GAMES Magazine’s Hall of Fame have you played? There are some all-time favourites here!

Here is the list, including the year of publication:

  • Sorry (1934)
  • Monopoly (1935)
  • Yahtzee (1938)
  • Stratego (1947)
  • Clue (1948)
  • Scrabble (1948)
  • Blockhead (1954)
  • Mille Bornes (1954)
  • Twixt (1957)
  • Diplomacy (1959)
  • Risk (1959)
  • Acquire (1962)
  • Twister (1966)
  • Bridgette (1970)
  • Dungeons & Dragons (1974)
  • Pente (1979)
  • Civilization (1980)
  • Othello (1980)
  • Axis & Allies (1981)
  • Trivial Pursuit (1981)
  • Taboo (1989)
  • Tribond (1989)
  • Magic the Gathering (1993)
  • The Settlers of Catan (1995)
  • Apples to Apples (1999)

Sources:

The Board Game Family

Board Game Geek

Wikipedia/Games 100

Celebrate with us all month long as your School Library observes International Games Month!

International Games Month

First there was International Games Day. Then it grew to International Games Week. Now we have International Games Month.

Come down to your School Library in November to celebrate GAMES all month long. We will look at all things related to games and gaming, culminating in the return of Games Day @ Your Library. Visit us in person or online to find out more.

Drop Everything and Read on Canadian School Library Day

The BC Teacher Librarians’ Association, in conjunction with the BCTF, challenge you to join people all over our province as they “Drop Everything and Read” for at least 15 minutes today.

Put away the phone, turn off the TV, pause the video game or whatever else you are doing. If you are at school put away the textbooks and the homework. Even if you are at work, we challenge your employers to give you 15 minutes to enjoy some silent reading.

People who read for pleasure benefit in so many ways. Obviously, the primary benefit of reading for pleasure, is, wait for it… pleasure. However, there are so many more reasons how reading for pleasure if beneficial for you as an individual, and even for all of us as a society.

Why should schools give you time for reading? Students who read for pleasure do better in school. Why should your work care if you read? People who read for pleasure bring a multitude of skills and abilities to the workplace, including greater capacity for concentration and focus, along with more obvious benefits such as improved reading, writing and other forms of communication. Why should society care if you read? Readers are better prepared for responsible citizenship. Readers of non-fiction are better informed to effectively participate in our democracy, while readers of fiction develop understanding and empathy and a greater sense of our common needs as fellow citizens of our communities, our nations and our world.

These are just some of the reasons why reading for pleasure is good for you and good for all of us. Enjoy some reading today, and every day.

Coming Soon: Drop Everything and Read

Monday, October 24 is Canadian School Library Day, BC School Library Day, and the day for the BCTLA/BCTF Annual “Drop Everything and Read” Challenge. All students and staff at LTSS are challenged to use the Tutorial Block on Monday to read for pleasure.

source: BCTLA

Put away the homework and the text books. Shut down your phone and the computer. Ignore the marking and the lesson planning. Pick up a book and read for recreation. Read for pleasure. Read to learn something you are interested in (outside of school!). Read to escape. Read for fun.

Be sure to have some good reading material ready for Monday. Come down to the School Library where that is our number one job, helping you to get good reading material into your hands.

The DEAR Challenge is extended to all the citizens of our province! So pass on the word to your family and friends. Challenge them to take some time on October 24 to “Drop Everything and Read!”