The Scholastics Book Fair will be coming to Finch Public School from November 27-November 30th! Students will have a chance to preview and purchase books during the school day. Families and friends are welcome to visit the book fair on November 29th from 3:30pm to 7:30pm. You will have an opportunity to browse the diverse selection of books as well as enter a draw to win $50 worth of books for your child ($25 for the home, and $25 for the classroom). Proceeds from the Scholastics Book Fair will go directly to the school, library and classrooms for new books. We hope to see you there!

For more information about the Scholastics Book Fair, please visit: www.scholastics.ca/bookfairs/promoting/familyguidetoreading.htm

By Elliya, Grade 3

As our society becomes more and more dependent on media for information, entertainment and communication, it is important that we teach students how to think critically about the messages- overt and hidden- that are presented all around us. Teaching students to be media literate is helping them to   think critically about the world, thus helping them to make better and informed decisions, especially when the media can potentially have a great influence over our choices.

Interpreting media texts and creating media works are ways to help students think critically about the messages that are being presented. Students at Finch are actively engaged in Media Literacy learning experiences including creating commercials, posters, pamphlets, presentations and slideshows that portray messages (i.e. healthy food poster). In addtion, they are looking at various forms of media with a critical angle. For instance, what is the message of the commercial or advertisement? Who is the target audience? How does this message affect me? The following websites have excellent information for teachers and parents on this topic. There are valuable resources and cool links that teach students to be media savvy. Enjoy!

Media Awareness Network www.media=awareness.ca
Center for Media Literacy www.medialit.org
PBS Kids: Don’t Buy It! http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit

By Brandon, Grade 4 student

Have you wondered what you can do to get your child more interested in reading? Why not try to make reading a FUN time at home? Here are few ideas on how to bring the reading spirit into your home!

1. Be Silly
Play with the words, make up nonsense words, discover rhyming patterns together.
2. Make Reading Together a Habit
3. Make Books come Alive!
If you read a story about the library, take your child to the library! Find ways to make reading
meaningful.
4. Enjoy reading together
When reading together as a family, focus on enjoying the message of the story, the illustrations and the experience of reading. Don’t worry so much about your child perfecting every word (it’s not a reading test)! Celebrate the enjoyment of reading together.
5. Read with a stuffed animal
6. Draw pictures to go with the story
7. Have books readily available around the home
Books At Home (Tips to make books a part of everyday life- pdf file)
8. Be enthusiastic!

For more ideas, visit:
http://www.familyreading.org/i-tips.htm

Finch Library Website: http://www.tdsb.on.ca/libraries/links.asp?schoolNo=3122 All Finch students, teachers and parents can have access to the TDSB Elementary School Library Web Site for Finch Public School. This site is created and maintained by the Instructional Leaders and Technical Support staff of the Library Learning and Resources department, with the help of teacher-librarians in Toronto schools.

This site supports the mission and goals of a strong school library program. It is designed to
improve learning and teaching by helping students and teachers:
• navigate to sites quickly within a user-friendly design;
• find quality online databases and Internet sites from dependable and safe sources;
• explore sites that are rich in content for Ontario schools;
• learn ways that Internet information is organized;
• use web-based information independently and responsibly.

The library has a growing selection of resources that can support teachers in your program. Over the past two years, our Language Professional Resource Collection has grown extensively. These resources are located in the Teacher Resource Room in the library, and they are coded with a blue dot.

We have just added a new collection of Graphic novels to our library! Graphic novels resemble comic books in that they have a lot of visual support and text primarily in speech bubbles. Graphic Novels usually come in series, and have a lengthy plot and storyline, which helps to engage readers to keep reading. They are

sometimes based on popular cartoon series. The visual support and high-interest titles are a great way to reach reluctant readers and readers looking to explore a new genre of literature. With the growing popularity of graphic novels, many new series have been developed that have curriculum links (i.e. Biographies of Canadians, Medieval and Ancient Civilizations etc.) as well as character building and anti-bullying messages for young readers. At Finch, we have selected Graphic novels that have themes that are appropriate for our young readers.

Welcome to our Finch Library blog!
In this site, you will find information and resources about our school library. Here, you will find:

1. Books @ Finch Library (Great Reads, Student Favourites, Graphic Novels, Teacher Resources and more)
2. Online resources available (recommended websites, Knowledge Ontario)
3. Literacy & The School Library
4. The School and Home Connection for Literacy – Strategies to encourage and motivate reading

and more!

Please continue to visit for more updates.