Light a Candle

This week Melissa is back reading "Light a Candle" by Godfrey Nkongolo and Eric Walters, illustrated by Eva Campbell and published by Orca Publishing. This online recording was made with permission through the Read Aloud Canadian Books program. "Light a Candle" is part of the Forest of Reading program and has been nominated for a Silver Birch Express Award. If you read this book be sure to fill out the tracking sheet for the Forest of Reading!

As always, once you have listened to the story there are some questions below to get you thinking about the story and a few activities that you can do at home. If you are interested in participating in the Forest of Reading; voting is still open, you can find recordings of all the Blue Spruce books here, when you are ready to vote fill out the tracking form here.

Thank your for participating! We would love to know what you think of this program as well as your suggestions for improving this program. If you have a few minutes to fill out a brief survey, your feedback would be greatly appreciated! To fill out the survey click here.

Enjoy the story and activities! Have a great week!

Questions

1. At the beginning of the story Ngama sees a car, this is unusual it his village. Do you think this suggests that this story takes place in the present or the past? Why do you think that?

2. Would you go with Ngama to climb the mountain? Why would you go?

3. What would you bring if you were to climb Mount Kilimanjaro? Remember that it is very hot at the bottom of the mountain but there is ice and snow at the top!

4. How do you think Ngama felt climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, even though he knew his father asked him to stay in the village?

5. Why was Ngama's father angry and proud that Ngama climbed the mountain?

Fun Activities:

1. Learn some Swahili: Learn some Swalhili words from this short video.

2. Check out Mount Kilimanjaro: Click here for to learn more on Mount Kilimanjaro, there are some great pictures of the mountain, which I learned is actually a inactive volcano!

3. Take a hike: With the help of an adult plan a hike, make sure you look at a map first so that you have a good idea of where you are going. Make a list of everything you will need for your hike and pack your stuff in a backpack. Pretend you are Ngama hiking up Mount Kilimanjaro.

4. Paint or draw a picture of Mount Kilimanjaro: After looking at some of the pictures of Mount Kilimanjaro on the website link above, create a picture of Mount Kilimanjaro, be sure to add Ngama and the men of his tribe hiking up to the top and the fire that they lit at the top of the mountain!

Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden

Wow! Today's book is the tenth and final book from the Blue Spruce category in the Forest of Reading program and is read by the author himself! Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden is written by Andrew Larsen and illustrated by Anne Villeneuve, published by Kids Can Press. I am really enjoying these author readings, it is a real treat to hear an author read their book!

Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden is a story of summer, friendship and how a garden changes a community, three things that are close to my heart! I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did!

As always, once you have listened to the story there are some discussion questions below to get you thinking about the story and a few activities that you can do at home. If you are interested in participating in the Forest of Reading; voting is still open, you can find recordings of all the Blue Spruce books here, when you are ready to vote fill out the tracking form here.

Thank your for participating! I would love to know what you think of this program as well as your suggestions for improving this program. We miss being able to ask you after the program. If you have a few minutes to fill out a brief survey, your feedback would be greatly appreciated! To fill out the survey click here.

Enjoy the story and activities! Have a great week!

Discussion Questions

1. Did Vincent (the main character) think dirt balls were a nice present from a secret admirer at the beginning of the story? Do you think he feels the same at the end of the story?

2. What was in the dirt balls that made them so special?

3. How do the seed balls change the people who live near the vacant lot in the story?

4. What kinds of things do Toma and Vincent like to do during the summer? What are you looking forward to doing this summer?

Extended Learning Ideas:

1. Go for a flower walk! April showers bring May flowers, have a look to see what flowers are blooming in the forest, gardens or vacant property near you. Some of the flowers you find will be wildflowers; if you want to identify wildflowers, this website has a great list of which wildflowers are likely blooming right now in Northern Ontario, and lots of pictures to help you identify any wildflowers you find. If you want to identify garden plants there are a number of apps you can download to your smart phone that allow you to take a picture and then app will try to match the image.

2. Make dirt balls! Just like in the story, you can make dirt balls. You will need some soil, modeling clay and seeds. Follow the directions the author gives in the video above. Then spread some flowers!

3. Plant some seeds! It's a great time to start some seeds indoors so that you can plant them outside when the weather is warmer. If you use a clear plastic container you might be able to see the roots grow down into the dirt as well as how the shoots sprout from the seed. Some of my favourite seeds to start indoors are sunflowers, beans and any kind of sprout (like alfalfa) - then you can eat them! Keep your planted seeds in a warm sunny location for best results.

The Reptile Club

Hooray! We're back with another virtual Raising Readers! I miss seeing you all each week and I really look forward to reading books and crafting with you all again!

Today I picked another Forest of Reading book so that you can continue to participate in the Forest of Reading. The Forest of Reading has moved online and voting will continue until June 1, 2020, for more information and details you can click here.

Below you will find a link to a video of the author Maureen Fergus reading "The Reptile Club". I think you will really enjoy listening to Maureen, she does a fabulous job! Once you have listened to the story I have included some discussion questions that you can share with others, or just think about yourself. If you want to learn more about reptiles I have also included some links to some great eBooks and websites. Finally, because I know this is your favourite part I have included instructions for a craft idea to go along with the story! Please enjoy today's reading and as always please share and thoughts or creations with us, we would love to hear from you!

The Reptile Club Read by Maureen Fergus

Discussion Questions:

1. What are your favourite things? Do you remember what Rory's favourite things were? (Mine are: sunny days, turtles and reading good books!)

2. If you were going to start your own club what would it be? What what your password and secret handshake be?

3. What is a reptile?

Here are the characteristics of a reptile:

• breath air

• they have bones

• muscles

• nervous system: made of the brain, spinal cord and nerves the nervous system controls actions

• they have special skin made of scales or bony plates or both

• reptiles are the same temperature as their environment.

Can you think of some animals that are reptiles?

4. What is your favourite reptile? Why is it your favourite? I already answered this question! My favourite reptile is the turtle, because I think they are cute.

Resources:

Reptile Club Activities by author Maureen Fergus

Reptile books available on Overdrive

World Book Student Website - Reptiles

DK Findout Website - What is a Reptile

National Geographic KIDS Website - Reptiles

Reptile Club Craft:

This week we are going to make our favourite reptiles. Egg cartons and toilet paper tubes are great for making snakes, turtles and crocodiles, but you can make anything you want! Be as creative as you can and use anything that you can find around your house. Here is a picture of Tanya the Turtle I made my turtle out of an egg carton but of course you can use anything you want!

Have fun!

Melissa