Author Terri Mack visists Randerson

Author Terri Mack joined us at Randerson today to share her new book Mouse Celebrates Winter Solstice.  I joined Mrs. MacDonald and her Gr. 2/3 class to learn why Terri wrote this book and the meaning behind it.  We learned about winter and summer solstice, about the 13 lunar moons each year and why Indigenous Peoples call North America Turtle Island.  Students showed keen interest in Terri’s lesson and loved looking at the detailed pictures drawn by artist Bill Henin.  We really liked how Bill included the constellations exactly how the stars will align in the northern hemisphere on December 21^st, the winter solstice.  We are going to look closely to try to find the crab that Bill hides in all of Terri’s books.

Author Terri Mack @ Randerson

Did you know the Bill is the first and only artist whose work has travelled to space?  Canadian Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk took Bill’s art up to the International Space Station.  Wow we thought that was pretty cool!  Thanks Terri Mack for coming to Randerson.

 

 Comments from the students included:

“I am very impressed with this book.” Aana

“The detail is so good it made me want to look closely at each page.” Natasha

“I like the story telling.”  Dylan

“I like how the sky and moon have First Nations art.” Sam

“I like how the snowflakes move with the wind.” Anu

“I like how she talks about everyone coming together.” Hirsh

Author Marty Chan visits Randerson

Randerson K-3 students and teachers welcomed Marty Chan as part of Bookfest 2014.  Marty is an Edmonton author and playwright who has written numerous books from picture books, to YA and adult books. Marty entertained our primary students with stories, jokes and his inspiration of how he became a writer.

Marty Chan visiting Randerson



Our grade 1's talk about Marty's visit.

Marty Chan made me laugh.                        by Addy

I liked it when Lilly hit Marty Chan with  her hair.  She was very funny and silly. She even stepped  on Marty Chan's foot. I like Marty Chan.    by Haohao

Marty Chan is funny. I liked it when Lilly went up. 
                                                                     by Jessica

Marty Chan has written a story.  It was funny because the cats were silly.  My other favourite part was Lilly performing something funny.       by Esmee

How many books have you written?  My favourite part was the little stage thing. I also liked the jokes. You are very cool Marty Chan!        by Alex

Picture by Alex

Have you heard of Marty Chan? He came to my school.  What I liked about him is he told funny stories.                                                         by Daniel

What I liked about Marty Chan was that  he picked me for a story.          by Lilly
PS You are very funny Marty Chan.

Marty Chan came to our school.  He is funny. He told us about his cats. One of the cats stole 39 pens.                                                              by Lucas

Marty Chan is cool. He rites funny books. Good job Marty Chan.  By Madison

I like wen Lilly went up with Marty Chan.  By Michaela

I was happy he came to our school because he tells funny stuff.   By Yash

Grade 3 & 4's talk about Marty's visit

 

 

Marty's books :)

 

I liked how he acted out how when he told his mom about him making fun of his mom was funny.

 

by Alex

 

Marty Chan is silly and fun and also he is very creative.   by Faith

 

I liked Marty Chan because he was really funny.   By Liam

 

I liked Marty Chan because all his stories are funny and interesting, like the story of Frozen Brains.  by Oliver

 

I think he does good magic tricks that are funny.

 

Rule #1 he is not allowed to pee in the tent! Marty Chan is a great author.  by Luke

 

Have you ever had Marty come to speek at your school? He describes him and his books.  He is a funny man.  I like Marty.   By Jenna

 

Marty Chan came to our school.  He was SUPER funny!!  He told us how he came up with some of the ideas for his (some of) books.  Like how he got his idea for Frozen Brains.  It was HILARIOUS!!!  And his idea for his bigfoot series when he went camping with his best friend Jay.

The #1 rule was NEVER pee in the tent!!! They ended by getting so scared.  Jay broke rule #1. 

 

by Samantha

 

 I liked Marty Chan because he can do majic.  By Courtney

 

Marty  Chan has a good sence of humer.  I think he has a good imagination.  By Serena

 

Marty Chan came to our school he was so funny he did funny jokes his books are really cool my favourite book was frozen cow brains.     by Avary

 

Marty Chan was hilarious.  He enspired me to read a lot since last week.  I recommend it for all ages.

by Trey

 

Have you heard of Marty Chan. My favourite part was his card tricks.  By Carson

 

Marty Chan's book is all funny I like the book 'frozen brains'   by Hannah

 

Marty came to our school he was very funny and I learned that big foot is real.   by Maren

 

I think Marty Chan was awesome and I like his self stories.

 

Marty Chan is a really funny guy.  My favourite book was the Big foot ones and how he told us the story about when he went camping with Jay.  And he thought it was Big foot that was chasing him.  I also liked how him and Jay found frozen cow brains in his freezer.  by Leah

 

Have you heard of Marty?  I liked him he was really funny.  by Kiana

 

I like Marty Chan's attitude.  He's really His books are awesome!!   by Jaden



Author Eric Walters visits Randerson

Randerson Gr. 4-7 students and staff enjoyed a visit from Canadian author Eric Walters. Author of more than 90 books, Eric took us on a journey from his teaching days in the Peel School District of Toronto, where he penned his first novel, to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, where Between Heaven and Earth sprung to life.  Eric's enthusiasm for life, social justice, and the power of reading was prominent in his presentation.  Student's learned of how his books come to life through ideas, research, experiences, and involvement in his community. We saw pictures of Eric with two Siberian tigers at a school, walking/running the Sahara Dessert in an ultra marathon and fending off poisonous snakes, elephants and lions in Africa.  Eric brought us into his stories through his tales of adventure, his great visuals and his dynamic mannerism.

Creation of Hope is an orphanage in Kenya that Eric and his wife Anita began after a chance meeting with a young boy in Kikima, Kenya. He spoke of the important role we all play in becoming global citizens. He talked about how small acts of kindness go a long way and how respect begets respect.  

Thank you Eric Walters for visiting Randerson. 

* Remember our next book club is on October 30th where we will be discussing the Series 7 created by Eric Walters and written by Eric and six other Canadian authors. 

Author Visit with John Wilson ~ A great afternoon

Randerson Division's 1-4 enjoyed a visit from author John Wilson this week.  John is an excellent storyteller sharing stories of his Dad's experiences growing up in India and going on wild boar and crocodile hunts. John shared how he got his ideas and how he bases all his stories on historical fiction.  We learned so much about his process of writing, where he gets his ideas from and how we can all be authors.  We enjoyed learning about the Series 7 written by seven Canadian authors. Our copies of all 7 books are in huge demand.  Today our Gr. 6's chose the Series 7 for our June book club. What a perfect choice! 

Comments from our students included:
“I liked how funny and entertaining he was with his stories. “

“I liked how he told stories of his dad and showed us how we can become authors.”

“I have never read any of his books but now I want to.”

“I like how the 7 series is written by seven different authors and how John and Eric wrote their characters like they were talking to each other.”

“It was amazing. He can really tell a story.”

Thanks John for visiting Randerson