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Why we Love Oceania (And you should, too!)

7/27/2016

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The animals!! Frogs, Kangaroos, Dingos, and more...

Oh my we had so much fun in our summer reading session. This week we visited the Oceanic region and read stories from Australia. I found a wonderful story in The Barefoot Book of Animal Tales from Australia. The story is called the GREEDY FROG. 

We  acted  out this story! 

We had so much fun - not just reading this story but ACTING out this story. I had a Greedy Frog, kangaroos, wombats, dingos, eels and more in my reading session today.
And we LAUGHED! ‪#‎autraliastories‬ ‪#‎summerreadingfun‬‪#‎laughingheelsallhardships‬
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Check  out our session

We had puzzles, coloring and our creative project was a boomerang. These kids created some awesome designs. 

Cookies, too!

Again, I asked our local cookie baker, Meryles Cookies, to make a traditional Australian cookie. I found a recipe for the Anzac Biscuits. She did a great job the children (and me) loved the cookie. The history about the cookie is below. We loved them so much she added to her cookie line and calls it "The Soldier" you can pick them up at the local farmers market in Port Jeff farmers market.  
"Anzac Day is a day of remembrance observed in Australia and New Zealand. It falls on the anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landing at Gallipoli, in Turkey. The day was originally observed to honour the soldiers who died in that conflict, but now commemorates and honours all Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women, past and present, who have served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations."
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Next week off to the Rainforest in South America...

I think you would agree Australia is a pretty great place with so much to do and see. Next week South America -- ​Check out next week's selection of stories here at this link. 
Keep turning those pages, 
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What Will Europe be lin in 100 yrs?

7/20/2016

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According to my summer reading class - Europe will still have castles but also have trains in the sky. So what do you think? Hey you never know I think  - anything could happen if we keep reading. 

Reading with the children in our summer session this week was filled with faery and folk tales. 
We had a great time in our Europe reading session. We talked about the countries and landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower in France and the Leaning tower of Pisa in Italy.

​The books in our reading session were tales from Ireland. 
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We were also glad that one of our readers brought in a book from home to share with the class. We read Fiona's Luck a beautiful story of believing in your own luck and finding a solution to outwit the person controlling the despair of other with thinking of others before herself. 

Both stories set a perfect tone for the children in understanding and learning about not only selfish wants but giving is better and everyone wins. 

​​The Faery's Gift


In this heartwarming Irish fairy tale, a woodcutter is given a wish as a reward for saving the life of a small faery. The woodcutter faces a dilemma: how can he use the wish in a way that will help all members of his family and change all of their lives for the better? 

Fiona's Luck

The greedy Leprechaun King has locked away all the luck in Ireland and the whole country has fallen into despair. Through clever charades, Fiona outwits the Leprechaun King and restores luck to the land. (Amazon)

A little glimpse into our session....

Stories, coloring, Apptime and FLAGS from the countries in Europe. 
  •  We read Irish tales
  • colored images of Europe
  • Found new landmarks and information on our Barefoot Books World App
  • Created our own Flags (no need to copy the countries we learned about flags during creative time - each flag is unique - we create our own flags)

My fav was the cookies...

Madeleines made by Meryles Cookies a local baker in our hometown. A little treat from France. The children (and me) LOVED this treat. So far my favorite from our World Passport sessions.
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"Madeleines are little cakelike cookies that are baked in special molds that give them a delicate shell shape. According to one story the name "Madeleine" was given to the cookies by Louis XV to honor his father in-law's cook Madeleine Paulmier. Louis first tasted them at the Chateau Commercy in Lorraine in 1755. Louis' wife, Marie introduced them to the court and they soon became all the rage at Versailles"

Looking forward to next week and our trip Down Under...

So if Europe in 100 years does have flying trains I sure hope there is a seat for me and you to sit back , open a book and enjoy the ride.

​Check out next week's selection of stories here at this link. 
Keep turning those pages, 
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Think you're Cut Out for Doing Asia? 

7/13/2016

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Asia here we come...

1.Do you mind long trips? Did you know how far is Asia from NYC? 7,255 mi Distance from New York, NY to Asia
2. Where would you find Panda's in Asia? Central China 
3. Do you mind cold weather? if you visit Northern Asia weather can be sub-arctic climate in the north Russia. 
We learned some fun facts in our World Atlas book. Each of us picked a favorite before we started storytime. We love the "Did you know" cards. 

Activities ....

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Storytime: We read The Girl with a Brave Heart.A story from Tehran. It was a beautiful story about really listening to a person when they aren't saying anything. The young girl listens to the true heart of the women and her world becomes beautiful. Then we learned that just wanting for self life could become ugly. Some of the children reflected it was like a cinderella story.

I think this one had a bigger impact of being mindful of what people keep inside without expressing how they feel and being able to understand and not react but be proactive to a situation. 

In the long run it works out best for both people. Life is beautiful when we just sit back and listen. 

next...

We broke out into groups - [kinder/preschool age and elementary]

The younger children colored pictures from Asia and the older children enjoyed APPtime. During Apptime we explore using the BarefootBooks app information about the continent Asia. 

Check out the app [click here] and let me know what you find. You can use this sheet to record your answers. 
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finally....

We created Chinese lanterns an inspiration from the book in our session Lin Yi's Lantern. [get your copy here AMAZING book - illustrations and message]

Ohh yeah .. snacks , too!

I couldn't resist we had Chinese fortune cookies... Not sure they really serve them in China but it sure was a hit with the children. We all read our fortunes and tried to learn a new chinese word. 

I was hoping for Book. But we didnt get it. We did look it up. 书 Shu  is book in Chinese. 
​

Looking forward to Europe!

Keep turning those pages!
​Much love,
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PS - Big shout out to my teacher helper Megan! She was awesome and so helpful with the children.  

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10 Quick facts about Africa!

7/7/2016

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Yesterday, we started the World Passport program at the BookNook Center. I spent the week preparing deciding on the books and activities for the session. We had story time, coloring for the under 6 students, apptime for 6-8 yr olds and then creative art for the whole class. 

Apptime was fun but might have to use 2 iPads for the session. I will work on that with the older children. But it was fun finding out the different foods, places and people in Africa using the Barefoot Books World Atlas app. A digital version of the World Atlas book. (which I l-o-v-e). Each student found something and shared with the group. 

Check out some of the books we read. Now we know how to count to 1-10 in Swahili. (moja to kumi)
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Africa - 10 Facts we learned

  1. We found the longest river - The Nile 
  2. The Highest mountain in Africa is - Mount Kilimanajaro
  3. The second largest lake in the world is in Africa - Lake Victoria
  4. Zalira is a Swahili Name - means understanding, peaceful and friendly
  5. A lion in Tanzania is called simba 
  6. Egypt capitol is Cairo
  7. Ancient Egyptians were architects, doctors, scribes and soldiers
  8. Table Top Mountain is in South Africa
  9. There is Coconuts in Africa 
  10. Madagascar is part of Africa (And we all saw the movies =)
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The class was so creative with the African Mask project. Masks are important part of tribes and communities used during celebrations and rituals. 

We used these supplies to make ours: 
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  1. card board
  2. paint
  3. markers
  4. glue
  5. feathers

Check out the final results. 
I can't wait for our next voyage to Asia. If you are interested in the books click the link here or below and get your 20% off with code LEARN. 
Keep turning those pages, ​
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  • Book Nook Center
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