Olympic Fever

The library is getting into the Olympic Spirit. Aunty M has created a beautiful 3D display in honour of the games. Here are a few fun facts about the Olympics that you might not know....

Did You Know....

• The first Olympic games were held by the Greeks in 776 BC (which is over 2700 years ago!) The games were dedicated to the god, Zeus, and only had one event, a sprint.
• At the Ancient Olympics, winner's were crowned with a wreath of olive branches (in Greek, this is called a kotinos). Nowadays, winners receive medals.
• The Olympic flag was first used in 1920 and consists of five interlocking rings. The five rings stand for the five parts of the world that were united by the Olympics: Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas.
• Some events in the Summer Olympics include: archery, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, soccer, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, kayaking, marathon, pentathlon, ping pong, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, taekwando, tennis, track and field, triathlon, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling 
• The 2012 Summer Olympics will be held in London, England and will begin on the 27th July. The motto of the London Olympic Games is: "Inspire a Generation".
• Below is a picture of the 2012 Olympics logo

Olympics info found here.

Term 3 Begins with a Bang

Library has gotten off to a successful start this term. We've completed a stock take, had our first Book Club on Wednesday, added a lot of wonderful new books to the shelves and we've started our Term 3 class projects. Here's a taste of what each grade will be doing when they visit library this term:

Grade 1 Aesop's Fables

There are morals to be learned and stories to hear in Grade One this term. The Grade Ones will find out exactly what a fable is and will be hearing some stories from a famous fable writer, Aesop. They will then illustrate selected fables and will write down the moral they learnt from each of the short stories.

Grade 2 What Trees Do For Us

Trees are not just there to look pretty, as the Grade Twos will soon be discovering. They will begin learning how to use the library to find information by looking at different sources to find out five things that trees do to help humans. Their findings will be presented creatively in the form of a tree with five leaves holding a fact. 

Grade 3 The Planets

The Grade Threes are travelling to outer space in library this term. They will be completing fact files by using the books in our library for research. They will also be learning how to acknowledge books as sources by adding a bibliography to their project, a task that can often be daunting!

Grade 4 Southern Right Whales

The Grade Fours will be looking at Southern Right Whales. They will be creating posters,  which will include information about these amazing creatures. They will be using books and the web to find facts to include on their posters.

Grade 5 Movie Reviews

The Grade Fives think they have it easy this term by getting to watch a movie during library. What they don't know yet is just how much they'll be learning about crafting a review and forming an opinion. 

Grade 6 Blogging

The Grade Sixes will be working in groups to write articles for the library blog. They will be focusing on creating interesting, well-researched web content. The topics of their blog posts will be book-related and will be up here on Birdie Bookworms very soon. 

Grade 7 Digital Book Trailers

Books have gone digital too. The Grade Sevens will be looking at how publishers have found a great way to market books online, through digital book trailers. After seeing a few examples, they Grade Sevens will be creating their own trailer for a book they've read, using Windows Movie Maker. (Go here to see the book trailer for Cabin Fever)