Lucinda's Library Notes

  Zoom!Zoom!Zoom! We're going to the Moon!  These are the opening lines of my favourite space song but this one follows close behind.  It is a book that has an accompanying CD with the story being the actual lyrics to the song.   The colours in this book are so bright and cheerful. It adds to the upbeat excitement of the book. The book starts off with a countdown from 10 to blastoff! Next, they set the context of the story. It is set in the galaxy called the milky way in the universe  Within the galaxy is our solar system where eight planets spin. In the middle is the burning sun.  Our blue earth is one of the planets that spin around it.  Around the earth orbits a moon and the moon impacts the tides on earth.  The big picture is that we are "Where the bright stars shine all around, all around, where the bright stars shine all around," This is the chorus to the song of the story.  It is a catchy phrase, easy for children to learn and mem...

                                                                        ⭐ You're a STAR! ⭐ Music : Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,    Zoom Zoom Zoom,   The Space Song     Books by Usborne: What are Stars?    Sun, Moon Stars        How Big is a Million? Gross Motor: Have an All Stars game (ie basketball tricks)                  Hop from a hula hoop to another hoop like jumping on the moon or from planet to planet.              Stand on a star and do yoga poses or 'star' jumping jacks Fine Motor:   Trace the Letter S.    Do a dot-to-dot star or rocket drawing.   Draw stars in the sand. Science : The su...

 Awesome! Amazing! Superb! Fabulous! Fantastic! Excellent! Astonishing! Extraordinary! Incredible! These adjectives are synonymous to each other.  However some are more suitable to describe one thing than another.  Selecting the right word can clarify your idea and improve the quality of your speech/writing. A synonym is a word that has the same or a similar meaning to another word.  The opposite of that is an antonym where the two words are in opposition to each other.  S is for synonym and S is for same which is a technique used to remember the meaning of 'synonym'.  It is a useful skill to practice listing out words that are similar. It helps to expand vocabulary and to improve speech and writing. A typical sentence for an early learner might be 'I like dogs.' Their typical sentences that follow are 'I like cats.'  'I like birds.' I like...'  Sample synonyms for like are love, enjoy, adore, admire, dig and appreciate. Synonyms for dogs would be...

Here is another great book, Jeremiah Learns to Read.  I choose this because it is such an encouragement for people of every age that it is never too late to learn a valuable skill in life!  Stereotypes exist but they should never limit your possibilities.  Keep reaching for the stars! Start with the positives....What did he already know how to do? (Match the phrases to the pictures) Recognize the variety of ways a person is talented! Is Jeremiah young or old?  How do you know?  He is old enough to be married and have a family. Did anybody stand in his way? No.   "Fine.  Learn to read!" (brother, wife, sheepdog) How do you find help to learn a new skill? Do you support the people around you as they try to learn new things? How do you show support? What did he do to get ready to go out?   Make a listing of things and circle what he did do and cross out what he did not do according to the book.  Make your own list of what needs to be d...

So I typed in rocks to search for my power point to share with you and came up with this hilarious picture of rocks painted like a bunch of M&Ms.  So cute! If anyone would like a slide show about rocks and minerals, please message me. The slides are to build discussion and begin with slides of famous stone buildings around the world, then types of rocks like quartz and jade, then gems along with the Crystal Gems and then rock based crafts and activities.  Here are some ideas... 1.  Three in a Row.  Mark X or O on 12 stones and chalk out a 9 square frame and have fun.  I do a variation of this by creating 9 square gameboards according to the season or theme. 2.  Paint designs on rocks such as the M&M idea above.  Some people sell their rock art at craft shows.  Others display them in community gardens.  Other gift them to teachers! 3. Place special gems and rocks along with a handprint or footprint in a garden stone project 4. Use a st...

📙Reading is a step by step process. After learning your ABCs and phonics (70 phonograms or patterns of sounds in English) you learn to combine the letters/sounds into words.  Words get put into sentences which can be put into paragraphs and made into chapters to comprise books. What starts as an alphabet ends with being able to access all material written in the English language according to your interest.  Reading literally opens up the world to you!🌎 Reading takes time and  practice to master it.  It is a skill that comes easier for some than for others.  Being exposed to both oral stories and a variety of written texts is a help so provide the child(ren) in your life with a rich environment full of text.  It is a fact that having books in the home makes a  difference.  Having regular opportunities to see the alphabet and practice writing skills also positively influences both their interest in reading and writing and their ability to do it we...

  My idea of a quiet book is what we made for our kids to keep them busy when they had to sit still for a long period of time and preferably be fairly quiet.  My quiet book was a variety of activities like dot-to-dot, spot the difference, word puzzles and colouring pages.  It was very beneficial and I would still recommend having resources like this on hand to utilize as needed. However, today I am presenting The Quiet Book.  It is a best seller along with it's counterpart called The Loud Book.  I have never opened the cover of this book before now so we can discover together what it is about.  The colour scheme and animation are very soft and quiet to set the tone. . Interesting.  It is a list of different reasons or occasions where you are quiet.  Simple yet impactful. Why I like it is because then you really think about the differences between the types of quiet you can be.  For example, for laughter, it could be nervous laughter, or excit...

Q is for a quota of quartz from the quarry! But rocks is next week's theme, not today's.          I considered the quandary the quadruplets found themselves in when they ALL wanted to qualify as the team's quarterback. That would make up a good story as would a recollection of 'quashing the quarrel between the quail' but these didn't fit my thoughts for today's blog. Another thought was reaching a quorum to begin the quiz of quality questions about kings and queens but they were covered under 'K'.  So, for today I settled on the theme: Q is for Qualities.  The activities are predominantly scenario based as they are not tangible items you can manipulate. Have a race to practice the quality of being QUICK and d iscover who is the most QUALIFIED to go on to the finals. Go on a QUEST to discover hidden qualities in you, to find treasure or to attempt acts of bravery characteristic of knights Play a game of hide and seek and find out who can be QUIET for ...

Question? Statement. and Exclamation!  These are the three main types of expression we use when communicating.  Today's focus is on questions and queries.  What's the difference? Good question lol! A query is a type of question where you are expressing doubt about the validity or accuracy of something. It is typically directed to a person/organization with the authority to resolve that doubt. A question is much more informal and generalized. So now you know! My first priority is this:  Be curious enough to ask questions!  Small children are notorious for their constant barrage of questions but they are also the ones rapidly gaining knowledge.  If we continued to learn at their pace throughout life, we would be so intelligent.  It is only wise to do as they do if you want to gain the results they are getting with all their questions. It helps to remember there are six main questions.  These should be answered whenever we write a story or analyze a ...

1n 2019 Kimberly and James Dean produced a new Pete the Cat book perfect for anyone who loves pizza, parties and/or the letter P.   Rhythm and rhyme help with the flow of reading as seen in the opening lines."Pete the Cat loves pizza. Pete the Cat loves parties too. Pete had an idea of what he could do!"  It is a great opening that naturally creates the question...."What do you think Pete will do?"  Note small details in the book as you read along.  For example, who is riding the skateboard with Pete? Ask about the artwork.  For example, what does the lightbulb mean?  (It represents an idea Pete has). Join in on the fun and plan your own pizza party using this book for inspiration.  If you plan to invite others for the party, maybe you can make up invitations like the one Pete made. What items would you put on your pizza?  If you want to do this as a craft or game activity, you can add shredded paper cheese and brown circles on a paper plate ...

Here are a few popular Pigs portrayed in comics, movies, games, books and cartoons.   Which one do you prefer? *Wilbur (Charlotte's Web)     * Piglet (Winnie the Pooh)     *Three Little Pigs         * Olivia         * Babe         * Miss Piggy (Muppets)          * Hamm (Toy Story)                  * Porky Pig (Looney Tunes)   * Pua (Moana)    * Pumbaa (The Lion King)     * Piggie (Mo Willems books)*Napoleon (Animal Farm)    *Peppa Pig I would probably choose Wilbur from that list as he best connects to farm life and is a gentle personality.  Every pig character has a purpose.  They are very commonly used in art to portray a wide variety of traits.  Piglet is timid whereas Miss Piggy lets nothing get in her way, Porky is optimistic, Hamm is funny and Pua is sup...

Do you struggle to read unfamiliar words or medication names?  Do you find it hard to spell complicated words with ease?  Today's massive topic simplified is "P is for Phonics." Phonics basically teaches how to sound out words and is a critical part of learning to read.  Production of these sounds is a key aspect of speech.  The base unit of speech is called a phoneme when a sound is spoken but is called a phonogram when it is in the form of written letters that represent the sounds. These are the units that are combined to form words. The English language has 26 letters but 45 sounds and 70 phonograms to write those sounds because there are more letter combinations that make a single sound than there are letters. Phonics programs exist to teach these letters/sounds.  For example, what sound does a 'c' make?  It could be a /s/ sound if followed by an 'e' , 'i', or 'y' or a 'k' sound if followed by an 'a', 'o' or ...

The author, Jane Yolen, wrote this book as a recollection of days her husband took their children out owling.  He was an active bird-watcher who shared his passion with his children. We should all share what we enjoy the most with those we love.  The author had their story illustrated by John Schoenherr in soft colours. The setting of the book is in the woods, late at night in the cold of wintertime. The human characters are a child and her father but personification makes many other components of the scene come to life. The trees stood still as giant statues, the moon made his face into a silver mask and  the train and the dogs  sang out. The sounds of the story are intense even though they are based in silence.  There was to be no conversation except the owl calls.  The girl listened so hard for them that her ears hurt and the reader is listening too for anything to 'jump out' from the cold, dark, shadowy night. What they hear is the story of nature and...