Happy Book Weeking

I love Book Week and this year my dance card is overflowing. There are two things I am sure of - 1) I'll reach the end of my seven days absolutely exhausted and 2) I will be totally exhilarated and inspired to write. (I have also just learned how to spell exhilarated. I really thought there were two 'i's!)

So where am I off to, on The Pointy Sticks and Loud Noises Tour, waving my bokken, blowing my shakuhachi flute and banging my gong? Willoughby City Council Library, Mosman Library, Stanton Library North Sydney, Lane Cove Library, Kogarah Library, Oatley PS, Blakehurst PS, Carlton South PS, North Sydney for a Video Conference, Warrawee Ps and Ultimo Ps. Whew!

I am madly making origami samurai hats for all the new friends I will meet.

CBCA BOOK WEEK 2009

While I was preparing my Book Week Resources for Polar Boy I found many great site chock full of useful information and activity ideas. These sites also contain multiple links to other sites offering various resources to support individual titles or the Safari theme.

Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) - activity sheets, display ideas, craft, ideas for uing shorlist books in the classroom and much more

Mrs Mac's Library Site - activities and a mega list of useful links

Children's Book Council of Australia website - loads of ideas and even a loink to a Maths activity book based on shortlisted titles for Early Readers and Picture Books

Mrs B's Interactive Literacy - ideas, quizzes and fun jigsaw puzzles

And last, my own contribtuion - a Teachers Resource Kit for Polar Boy including Interactive Whiteboard Resources here

CBCA Book Week Resources - Polar Boy

I had heaps of fun creating Interactive Whiteboard activities for Polar Boy. Hopefully they will be useful during Book Week 2009 and beyond. Here's another sample - a quiz about arctic animals. Click on ice block to answer a question about an animal or bird found in Polar Boy. The notes also include ideas on how to play the quiz as a team game.

BOOK WEEK RESOURCES - Mrs B's Interactive Literacy Website

Lately I've been finding lots of wonderful new websites. So I thought I would share them around. The best websites are often found by pure chance (Stumble Upon is so well named!). And so it was that a casual tweet mentioning my recently completed Polar Boy Teacher's Resource Kit led me to Mrs B's Interactive Literacy. It's the Internet home of Irene Buckler who confided she had been a teacher for many years and did I think it showed? Yes it does. Irene is clever, talented, passionate about Australian literature and knows just how to present it to kids. I'm shouting it out to the world becuase this is a site worth a vist. You will find all sorts of resources and activities promoting this year's CBCA shortlisted books. Of course, I am incredibly biased towards the Polar Boy jigsaw. I have been a jigsaw enthusiast for as long as I've loved books. But there's lotsof other fun in this imaginary classroom. I played spelling word hangman, built an imaginary snowman (Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle by Glenda Millard) and brushed up on my knowledge about red foxes (Nobody Owns the Moon by Tohby Riddle). I'm really interested in red foxes at the moment as there' s one in the next Samurai Kids book.