World Book Day

 For World Book Day staff in school have been decorating their doors with images of their favourite childhood books.

Mrs Aitken, the Librarian, has chosen The Stronghold by Mollie Hunter as her favourite book from her youth. It was the book that sparked her interest in Scottish pre-history and history in general. The image below is of Mrs Aitken's door (the School Library, Room F21). The Stronghold is set in Orkney in the first century BC and imagines the idea of building the brochs - as protection from Roman slave-ships. Brochs are tall towers build of stone and can only be found in Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides.

The book is a wonderfully imagined adventure with a touch of romance as well as depictions of the fear and terror of living in a time when life was harsh and violent. For more information come along and chat to Mrs Aitken in Room F21.

World Book Day

 Happy World Book Day! I hope everyone will have a great day and find some time to settle down with a good book, whether fiction or non-fiction, physical book, audio book or e-book. The benefits of reading for pleasure even for twenty minutes a day are many. So however you read and whatever you read, Read Your Way and enjoy.

World Book Day

 

                                                                             

This year World Book Day is  on Thursday 7th March. There are lots of activities going on around the school to celebrate the joy of reading for pleasure.

 The theme for the day is 'Read your way'. There will be the opportunity to do this when the school holds a DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) session on Friday 8th March during period 2. Make sure you have something to read at that time. You can always come along to the Library in Room F21 to borrow a book, be it fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel, manga or comic book.

There will be a decorate the classroom door competition for staff, the theme is your favourite childhood book. Look out for lots of fun ideas and maybe help create a colourful/funny/unusual book visual.

The English department will be having World Book Day challenges for students in the classrooms.

The Library has a display of books set in different countries, so you can 'read your way around the world. If you would like to borrow one of these books, or indeed any book for the DEAR session please come along to the Library in room F21 where Mrs Aitken will be happy yo help you choose something to read 'your way'.

Remember to collect your WBD £1 token from your English teacher, to swap for one of the books issued specially for World Book Day.

World Book Night

World Book Night is held on the date of William Shakespeare's death - the 23rd April and is an annual  celebration of books and reading the main aim of which is to encourage everyone to read more. 

 2021 is the 10th anniversary of World Book Night and the events are being led by the lead ambassador Sandi Toksvig and are based around the theme 'books to make you smile'.

For more information and resources visit the World Book Night website

National Puppy Day

 In America today is National Puppy Day. To celebrate below is a picture of my new cocker spaniel puppy Lyra and some books with the word 'dog' in the title!!

Alex the dog and the unopenable door by Ross Montgomery; Wild thing gets a dog by Emma Barnes; Girl with a white dog by Anne Booth.

When Mr Dog bites by Brian Conaghan; Notes from a liar and her dog by Gennifer Choldenko; Dog days by Jeff Kinney.

Soldier dog by Sam Angus; The dog Ray by Linda Coggan, How to look for a lost dog by Ann M. Martin.

 

#invyreads

 Mr Sharp of the Geography Department shares his love of the Scots language and unusual books in this week's #invyreads teachers' video.

#invyreads

 Mr Dunlop of the Mathematics Department has made a video talking about his love of reading and sharing some of his best loved books with us. Enjoy!

Michael Morpurgo

 February marks Michael Morpurgo Month - so celebrate the incredible range of brilliant books written by one of the country's best-loved children's authors. Curl up somewhere warm and comfortable and enjoy one of his amazing books.

Private Peaceful, The butterfly lion, Shadow

Flamingo boy, Kensuke's kingdom, Why the whales came,

Cool, Outlaw, War horse.

Or listen to Michael read the beginning of 'The butterfly lion' 

Or listen to 'War horse' being read

#invyreads

 Mr Krausen, Head of Maths, shares some thoughts on reading and listening to podcasts in this video:

#invyreads

 Social Subjects teacher, Mr MacKenzie, shares some of the books he has enjoyed reading recently in this video.

#INVYREADS

 To add a bit of variety to your leisure reading with the #invyreads programme, the Edinburgh Book Festival has many free online events including DrawAlongs on their FaceBook page and author events via their Learning Site You might enjoy a discussion between authors Eoin Colfer, Cressida Cowell and Kiran Millwood Hargrave about the joys of escaping through reading and creative writing:

January 2021

 It's the start of a new term and once again the Library is closed. However there are still many different ways to connect with books and reading. Below are a few examples. Keep coming back to the blog for more ideas in the days to come.

Scottish Book Trust has lots of book reviews, recommended reads, resources for writers, competitions and much, much more. Always worth a look!

Author websites can provide lots of information about the author and all their books. If you are a fan of Jeff Kinney's wimpy kid books check out the official wimpy kid website. There is a whole host of interesting stuff there including info about the next book in the series.

You could also search You Tube to see if your favourite author has uploaded any videos. You can usually find interviews, book trailers, and information about illustrations. Search by the author's name and see what you find. For example here is a video of Jeff Kinney reading his 'Diary of a wimpy kid'

Summer Reading Challenge

It's the last day of term today and naturally the weather looks as though it is set to turn cooler and much wetter. If you are reading over the summer why not try and complete the bingo game. Whatever you do, whatever you read enjoy the summer holidays and I look forward to seeing you in August.

1. Read in bed        2. Read a book with a one word title.   3. Read to a pet or stuffed toy.

4. Read wearing sunglasses   5. Read under an umbrella.   6. Read while eating a snack

7. Read a comic book.  8. Read a book that makes you laugh.  9.Read a book recommended by a friend.                                                                                    

Daily Reading Challenge

Research a topic that interests you and read an article about it online. Share a fascinating fact from your research with a friend or family member. Hint: try to avoid using Wikipedia.

I am interested in Scottish pre-history and am especially fascinated by brochs. Brochs are huge stone towers that were built mainly on Orkney and the Western Isles some 2000 years ago. Archaeologists are still not exactly sure who built them and why.
My ancestors, the Morrisons on the Isle of Lewis, back in the 1500s were discovered stealing cattle from a rival clan, the MacAulays. The Morrisons fled and took refuge in Dun Carloway broch. Unfortunately Donald Cam MacAulay managed to scale the outer wall of the broch and threw burning heather down on the Morrisons smoking them out to meet their fate.
If you found this interesting find out more about broch building here Find out more about Dun Carloway

Brochs also feature in Minecraft:

Quick Reading Challenge

Another art challenge today. Look for a description of your all time favourite character in the book(s) they appear in. From THAT description draw a picture of the character. Or look for an image of the actor who you link would be able to play that character.
 If you have been following these challenges you may have worked out that King Arthur is one of my favourite characters. Unfortunately I cannot draw to save myself. However my ideal image of King Arthur does exist in the form of the actor Bradley James who played Arthur in the BBC TV series 'Merlin'. I have MANY issues with their interpretation of some of the myths however I cannot fault their imagining of the once and future king!

I

Daily Reading Challenge

It's Friday, so let's do another craft challenge. This time reuse old books to create a book sculpture. The picture below shows some amazing examples of book sculptures. If you would like to make something slightly simpler (to begin with anyway) then watch this video It is just one of many available on You Tube. Watch this to see a book sculptor at work - incredible! For further inspiration simply search 'book sculptures' on You Tube, Pinterest or Google.

Quick reading challenge

This afternoon or this evening why not  'Drop everything and read' (DEAR) for twenty minutes with everyone in your family? Organise it however best suits your family. You could all read individually, or someone could read a story while everyone else listens. How and when you do it is up to you, just make sure everyone can be together for 20 minutes. Then make it a weekly occasion. Enjoy!

Daily Reading Challenge

Read something that was one of my favourites when I was younger and which inspired my lifelong love of Arthurian legend. Read 'The once and future king' by T.H. White. You will find it free to read at Project Gutenburg  and Google Books

And, a cute still from my favourite Disney movie based on the books by T.H. White: 'The sword in the stone', just because!

Quick Reading Challenge

Read a book for twenty minutes before you go to sleep. Try to switch off all your devices - phone, tablet, computer. Get comfortable and relax in your. Then simply read for twenty minutes!

Did you know that reading for just twenty minutes a day for a year is the same as reading non-stop for five whole days!!!