My mailbox has been visited by many postcards over the past month. Thank you everyone for your hard work in sharing a little information about your community with me. Below are some photos of the students's hard work.
So sorry for my delayed reaction to many of your emails and third quarter progress reports. My computer went kaplooie last Monday evening and my dad had a heart attack on Wed. night. Both my computer and my dad are up and running so to speak so I will be returning emails and completing progress reports shortly. Thanks so much for your patience. Blessings!
I am now recovering after a wonderful weekend at the BC CHEC. The keynote speaker for the conference was Debra Bell. She was real, honest, and inspirational. Because of her excellent seminars, I decided to check out her website when I got home. I hope that you will join me in visiting her website too.
Here is the link to some audio excerpts from her seminars. Audio Excerpts
Here are the links to some of her written articles. Click on the article's title.
Laid-back Learning for Non-readers
Non-readers Part 2 and 3
Setting Up a Learning Environment
Here is the link to her book. Click on the image of the book. 
If you are planning on re-enroling with Anchor Academy for the 2008-09 school year, you can access the forms by clicking here: Enrolment Forms. You will also be able to access the re-enrolment forms in the new 2008-09 school handbook. The handbook will be mailed out to all families during the next 2 weeks.
Please note: If your child will be in Kindergarten to Grade 3 next year and you would like to continue to have me as your contact teacher, please specify this on the top of the form. This will help the office staff keep track of which students go with which teachers.
Completed forms can either be faxed or mailed to Anchor Academy's office.
Fax: 250.832.4379
Mail: Box 3015, Salmon Arm BC V1E4R8
The BC CHEC is happening this weekend. Anchor Academy will have a booth set up in the main foyer area. You will be able to both re-enrol and get your PO# at the booth. Use your PO# to go shopping for curriculum to use next year! I will be attending the convention and would love to meet with some of you. If I don't see you at the Anchor Academy booth, then look for me carrying a baby in a sling:).
Asking questions before, during, and after reading is a useful tool in guiding your child’s learning when reading a book together. The questions below come from the BC Ministry of Education website and can be found in the section entitled “Student Achievement – PLOs and Achievement Indicators”. I have reformatted these questions to be a little more parent friendly.
Kindergarten – Suggested Questions/Prompts to Scaffold Learning
Before Reading:
· Look at this book’s cover/ pictures/ illustrations. What do you think this story/ poem/ book might be about?
· Is there anything in the pictures that reminds you of other books? From looking at the pictures, who might be the main character? Tell me what you think this character might be like.
· What do you already know about . . . ?
· What do you think will happen?
· When we are reading this book what shall we look/ listen for?
During Reading:
· What does this picture tell us about the story/ topic?
· What do you think will happen next?
· What are you wondering about as I read this page?
· Ask the question, “Does that make sense?”
· Which letter/ word do you think would fit here?
After Reading:
· Help me put these pictures in the same order as they happened in the story.
· Tell me about the pictures on this page. How did they help you read? What did you learn from looking at the pictures?
· Can you find the part where . . . ?
· Let’s look at our early predictions. What did we find out during the story that changed our ideas?
· Make a picture of your favourite part of the book/ poem/ story in your head. Describe your picture to me.
Grade 1 – Suggested Questions/ Prompts to Scaffold Learning
Before Reading
· Look at this book’s cover/ picture. What clues do the pictures give you about the story?
· Have you read or heard any other books before by this author?
· Is there anything in the pictures that reminds you of other stories?
· From looking at the pictures, who might be the main character? Tell me what you think the main character might be like.
· What do you already know about this topic?
· What would you like to learn about this topic?
· What do we know about this author?
During Reading
· Does that make sense? Is that the way we say it?
· Does that sound right?
· Does that look right?
· Check your prediction. How close were you?
· What do you think will happen next?
After Reading
· What did you learn from looking at the pictures?
· Can you find the part where . . .?
· Read me the part where . . . .
· Was there a word on this page that was hard for you? What can (or did) you do to figure it out?
· What can you tell me about . . . ?
Grade 2 – Suggested Questions/ Prompts to Scaffold Learning
Before Reading
· What clues did the pictures give you about the story?
· What do the illustrations tell you about the characters?
· What do you already know?
· What do you think will happen?
During Reading
· Does that make sense?
· Does that sound right? Is that the way we say it?
· Does that look right?
· What do you think will happen next?
· What connections are you making as you read this part?
After Reading
· Read the part where . . .
· Point to the words that were hard for you. How did you figure them out?
· What were some questions you asked yourself while you were reading?
· What questions do you want to ask the author?
· Tell about one big idea or piece of information you learned from reading this book.
Grade 3 – Suggested Questions/ Prompts to Scaffold Learning
Before Reading
· Look at the cover and read the title. What do you think this book/ selection will be about? What makes you think that?
· Look through the book/ selection. Show me a feature (heading, diagram, table of contents, index) that helps us. How does it help us?
· What questions do you have about (topic)? Tell me about it. What do you already know about . . .?
During Reading
· What are you visualizing from your reading?
· Were there any parts so far that did not make sense to you at first? What did you do to help yourself figure them out?
· What do you think will happen next?
After Reading
· Find the part that tells/ shows . . .
· What questions are still in your mind about this book/ selection?
· Look back at the questions you had before reading. Which of them can you answer now? What did you find out?
· What message do you think the author wants to send to the readers? What are some of the details in the book that helped you decide that?
In February, students in grade 2 and 3 were asked to communicate with Mrs. Holder by writing a sentence that used all (or at least most) of the letters of the alphabet. The students did a fabulous job! Here is what they came up with:
A buzzing bee climbs down the very big elephant's foot and with a quick jerk, expresses his feelings ~ Sarah (grade 2)
When I first saw our new house, I knew that it was almost done. ~ Jordyn (grade 2)
The quick figure skater performed awesomely at her competition placing third. ~ Jelisa (grade 3)
The big cat had little kittens with funny faces and pretty eyes. ~ Olivia (grade 2)
In May, the quick jerky zebra rescued a very nice fox that was left kicking around in a prickly bush. ~ Austin (grade 3)
The queen's name is Zecholoh and she is nice and agreeable because she likes dancing and juggling and she had a little duck and it was amazing and almost funny actually it was very funny because she liked to play her xylophone. ~ Daveena (grade 3)
Charmaine loves John's lazy pet goat's queen, Fox and Webber. The End. ~ Charmaine (grade 2)
Avi mixed some quail eggs and beef pate in a hot calzone wrap with wacky jam. ~ Matthew (grade 3)
