Beth Info

Have you seen the new carving in the Primary library? It was unveiled on 10 November at a special ceremony. Mr Beckett retold the story in a most interesting way!

The joys of being a librarian!

Do you want to know more about World War 1? Link to

http://search.digitalnz.org/cominghome

http://www.watton.org/clipart/christmas/christmas111.gif

Click on this link to open National Library’s suggestions for Christmas-in-the-classroom ideas

http://www.natlib.govt.nz/services/get-advice/school-libraries/christmas

Our National Library has provided several links to websites related to the Elections, on

http://www.natlib.govt.nz/services/get-advice/school-libraries/elections-2008-resources

Are you interested in statistics? If so you may want to know that we have added 1,361 new items so far this year. 585 of these were added this term.

Did you know that 32,121 items have been issued so far this year? Of those, 9,748 were issued this term.)

Our main task after adding new items to our collection, was ‘de-selection’! We have removed some of the old, tired books to make room on the shelves for the new books.

Have you noticed that the Teachers Library is now where the videos were? The Reference section is now in the former Teachers Library. The Magazines and Videos are therefore near the Entrance, readily available for you to enjoy.

What are your comments about all that?

There is a new series of books called Girlzrock and Boyzrule. They are advertised at this site: http://www.mac4kids.com.au Please visit the web site, read the synopsis for each title and tell the librarians whether you’d like to see them in our library.

http://www.consett-jun.durham.sch.uk/ has a child-friendly link to the year 1 unit about Ancient China, which follows the Olympics.

Hope the week has been going well and you’ve been watching the Olympics with interest as I have been.

For those who are doing something in the classroom below are some sites you may wish to visit:

• http://asia-knowledge.tki.org.nz/ – Y1-10 resource
• http://blogs.wsj.com/chinajournal/ –  Blog site for the Olympics
• http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/chinese_olympics.html – materials to support teaching of the Olympics

From The Ministry for Culture and Heritage website at http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/olympics tells New Zealand’s Olympic tale. Featuring:

·         A media gallery at http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media_gallery/tid/1842 showcases the best and worst of Olympic history

·         The Classroom at http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/olympics/classroom invites students to examine not only the place of the Olympics in New Zealand’s history but the many intersecting historical events that have contributed to the international fascination with the Olympics – the political wrangling, boycotts, controversy and tragedy.

·         “16 Olympic Stories” has one story one for each day of the 2008 Games.

·         An Olympics quiz tests sporting smarts with 20 questions and a virtual gold medal for those who score over 80%.

·         A Community Contributions section invites visitors to challenge well-known sports writer Joseph Romanos’ list of New Zealand’s best Olympians.

And thanks from Lyn Potter:

• http://www.open2.net/chineseschool/index.html – looking at China from a broader perspective – learning in China, the structures, the struggles, the economy vs the environment etc
• http://www.worldpulse.com/newsletters/2008/08/ – women leaders’ perspectives on China
• “Exploring China” – resource booklet with lots of activities for younger students. For more info visit http://www.userfr.co.nz/resource.asp?c=2&sec=5&id=1227

And more info:

·         Yang Ming 2nd International Children’s Painting Contest - A great opportunity to be part of an international art competition for 4-15 year olds: medals and trophies to be won! The art work has to be sent to Taiwan. The theme of this year’s contest is ‘Beauty of the Sea’. Deadline for entries: 27 September 2008. For more information, visit http://www.asianz.org.nz/education/opportunities

• Being Maori-Chinese: Mixed Identities  - a new book by Dr Manying Ip who uses extensive interviews with seven different families to explore both historical and contemporary relations between Maori and Chinese, a subject which has not been given serious extended study before. For more info visit http://www.asianz.org.nz/research/socialresearch/maorichinese.
• “Asians in New Zealand: Implications of a changing demography” a study written by New Zealand’s leading demographer Professor Richard Bedford and Dr Elsie Ho of Waikato University, explores Asian demographics in New Zealand. Uses previously unpublished data from New Zealand’s 2006 Census, this report closely examines Asians in New Zealand and presents for the first time remarkable data about the great diversity of New Zealand’s Asian population. Read highlights of the report at http://www.asianz.org.nz/research/outlook/fullreport or download a full copy of the report at http://www.asianz.org.nz/research/outlook.