Monday, May 23, 2011

Kate Greenaway Medal Storytime

Taylor, Robert and Aaron reading from Ernest.
Marina and Terry-Ann reading Heart in a bottle.
Iain and John reading Jim, a Cautionary Tale.
Kalvin and Brandon reading Me and YOu.
Marina and Terry-Ann reading Heart in a bottle to another group.
Some S2 pupils looked at the Kate Greenaway shortlist and picked 5 titles which they felt were suitable for reading to Primary 1 and 2. After practising their presentations they invited the P1/2 class from Dalmellington Primary School to visit the Library and hear the stories. The pupils came and listened to all the stories very carefully and Ernest was the winner by a clear margin from Jim.
The winning team with Mrs Gormanley and some P1/2s.
The winning team being presented with their prizes by Mrs Gormanley.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Reading Week 2

S1 reading in Maths
S1 caught reading in Maths.
S2 reading in Maths.
May 16th - 20th was our second Reading Week where the whoile school spent 20 minutes first thing in the morning reading quietly. It is very popular with pupils and staff alike.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Carnegie Medal Videos

If you want to see video interviews of the authors on the Shortlist, click on the names below.
Theresa Breslin
Meg Rosoff
Marcus Sedgwick
Geraldine McCaughrean
Patrick Ness
Jason Wallace

The most popular titles so far seem to be White Crow and The Bride's Farewell.

I enjoyed The Bride's Farewell, it was a really good story with lots of things happening during the book.
I had already read The Death-Defying Pepper Roux before the shortlist came out and I loved the way it played around with the truth and how the loose ends tied themselves up nicely in the end, but other people who have read it didn't like it.
I liked Marcus Sedgwick's other books so I was looking forward to White Crow. Gothic supernatural isn't really my thing, so it was still a good read.
Prisoner of the Inquisition is a terrific historical yarn and we made a video of the beginning last year with some of the then S2.

I am about half way through Out of Shadows and really enjoying it so far, and lastly I still have to tackle Monsters of Men. It seems a bit unfair to put the last part of such a fat trilogy on the list!

The Little Stranger

The Little Stranger by Sara Waters was the Staff Book for April. Some people found it a compelling read and some who hadn't had time to finish it due to work pressures wanted to extend it so that they could. It's a gripping supernatural tale set during and after World War 2.