Tag: literacy
Reading Aloud to Children is a Great Way to Build Literacy Skills
Reading to children is one of the most important gifts we can give children to help them grow as readers and learners
2020 Retirees: Diana Nason
Learn more about the outstanding contributions to SMUS by Diana Nason, Junior School librarian
Reading Takes You Places!
Teacher-librarian Sarah Bailey highlights the Middle School students who are representing Canada in "the sport of reading"
How to Help Children Fall in Love with Reading
Learn five great tips on how to support your child in developing a love of reading
Take a Reading Adventure this Spring Break
Middle School teacher-librarian Ms. Sarah Bailey offers some reading suggestions for Spring Break
SMUS in the News: Andrew Battershill ’06 Talks About His New Novel
Andrew Battershill '06 sits down with The Globe and Mail to talk about his new crime novel, Marry, Bang, Kill.
Grade 8 Student Brings Harry Potter Magic into the Classroom
The Middle School will soon be transformed into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, thanks to the passion and ingenuity of a Grade 8 student.
Jenna S....
‘SMUS Reads’ Event Brings Community Together Around Literacy
At the start of the school year, every Middle School student was gifted a book. And not a math textbook or a dense history...
Author Visits Brings Reading Excitement to Junior School
by Diana Nason, Junior School teacher/librarian
At the Junior School, we work hard to maintain a culture of reading. This means that reading for pleasure...
Middle School Donations Help Educate Youth Halfway Around the World
A library, like a yard, sometimes needs a good weeding (but for very different reasons). Unlike unwanted garden trimmings though, books that are no longer...
SMUS’s Club Hub: Buddy Reading Club
SMUS students have access to a wide variety of extracurricular opportunities that interest them. We offer more than 100 fun and rewarding clubs or councils that provide students...
The Outsiders Inspires Song Battle
by Dalal and Jiawan, Grade 8
Have you ever read the The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton? If you haven’t read it, you should and if...
Reading: A Milestone
We are very much a community that reads. I don’t know of another school (although I am sure more than one exists) where student...
Read a Book Over Break
Wondering what to do with your five-day break? The Middle School Book Club has put together a list of books you might want to...
Authors Inspire Readers to Write
The Middle School has hosted two authors in the past fortnight: Eric Wilson and Kit Pearson. Both writers spoke to students about what makes...
A Blind Date With A Book
by Eva Grant, Grade 10
The Book Club worked hard last week and the week before to prepare for our pilot project for Grade 9:...
Groupwork Goes in New Direction
by Ryan Dewar, teacher
During our study of Romeo & Juliet, the students used Google Docs to complete a set of analysis questions for each...
Buddies With Books
Our reading buddies program brings Junior School kids to the Senior School throughout the year to share their favourite books with older SMUS students....
Something to Talk About
by Tanya Lee, teacher
Literature circles allow students to develop their active reading strategies and “dig deeply” into their novels. By assuming different roles as...
Popular Merlin Author Inspires Students of All Ages
Last week, SMUS was honoured to host T.A. Barron, a multiple award-winning author whose Merlin series is being adapted into film by Warner Bros....
Making Time for Books
by Ricky, Grade 8
I believe the Drop Everything And Read program, or DEAR, at the St. Michaels Middle School is very enjoyable and gives...
Who has time to read?
I do.
It is a difficult time of year to say that emphatically, given the end of term sports, School musical (Guys and Dolls, starting...
Students and Parents Pick Up Literature Tips
by Melanie Edwards, parent
I was greeted with a warm welcome on Monday evening as I entered the Middle School library to attend Jocelyn Dimm's...
UVic and SMUS Students Swap Stories
by Heather Sandquist, Grade 4H teacher
Our recent field trip to UVic was the culminating piece of our study of elements of design found in...
Reading Makes Students Buddies
by Zeyn San, Grade 10
The buddy reading program is designed to instil a love of reading in young children. It takes place once a...
UVic Professor Studies SMUS Students
Teacher Heather Sandquist's Grade 4 class have been taking part in an interesting experiment. Dr. Sylvia Pantaleo, an associate professor from UVic's Faculty of...
Scholar in Residence Kenneth Oppel ’85
Alumnus and Governor General Award-winning author Kenneth Oppel '85 returned to SMUS this week to speak to students at all three schools about his...
Junior Students Make Books
Heather Sandquist’s Grade 4 class can now add author/illustrator to their resumes. The class is proud to announce the release of their professionally self-published,...
Reading
For the past few summers, my wife, Joan and I have gone to the south of France for two weeks’ vacation. We stay somewhere...
New Reading for the New Year
If you made a New Year's resolution to read more in 2011, you're in luck! The SMUS library recently acquired three Kindles (for eBooks)...
Junior School Students Love Buddy Reading
There is excitement in the Senior School library on Mondays, as the Junior School students arrive to meet their senior buddies for buddy reading....
Mrs. Snowden Reads to Kindergarten Class
by Mrs. Joan Snowden
I loved being able to read to the Kindergarten class. They were all so willing to share themselves with me: Hallowe'en...
Bookfest Fun for Junior Readers
Introduction
by Matthew, Donovan and Joshua
On Saturday May 1st, we went to Bookfest in Nanaimo. Bookfest is a celebration of authors and their books. It...
SMUS Drops Everything to Read
by Kelsey Bjola, Grade 11
Many students, once they reach high school, have absolutely no time to do what they please. Between English essays, science...
Sara Topham Keeps Shakespeare Alive
by Olivia Krusel, Grade 11
Imagine that it is a dreary Wednesday afternoon; halfway through the week and the weekend is only just peering from...
Senior and Junior Students Bond With Books
by Kelly Twa, Grade 12
Mondays are typically the worst day of the week: you’re tired after a busy weekend, you still haven't finished all...
SMUS Summer Reads
As summer vacation begins, both staff and students find themselves with more time to indulge in leisure activities, especially reading books that aren’t required...
SMUS Meets Shakespeare
by Eric Protzer, Grade 10
Monologues are strange but engrossing things to consider. For example, it is intriguing that a character can speak out...
Two Schools Buddy Up to Read
Our Reading Buddies programme resumed this month, with 15 Junior School students visiting the Senior campus library for reading sessions with the older students....
Imaginative Author Casts a Spell on Junior School
Visiting author Margriet Ruurs delighted Junior School students this week, teaching them all about how books are made and reading from a few of...
Junior Students Rewarded for Reading
This week at the Junior School, the students who participated in the summer reading program were recognized in a special assembly. Thirty-eight children reached...
Red Cedar Readers Visit Their Favourite Authors
Last weekend, Junior School readers hit the road to Nanaimo to help celebrate the Island’s annual Children’s Book Fest. After reading and voting on...
Students Buddy-up to Share their Love of Reading
Grade 12 student Oliver Bild has a passion for promoting literacy, and as the head of the SMUS Library Council he was motivated to...
Making Reading Magical
Last week, Kindergarten teacher Ms. Margaret Lincoln made reading more than just fun for her students – she made it magical.
Celebrating their success in...
Junior School Readers Help a Dragon
Since November, Junior School students have been reading more than ever before. A visiting dragon named Sam has been looking for some new scales,...
Middle School Ready for Recitations
After last week’s spectacular performances from the Senior School, the Grade 7 and 8 students presented their own memorized works in their Communication Skills...
Ron Broda Draws Children into the Art of Illustration
Junior School students received a hands-on lesson in drawing and illustrating from one of the top five illustrators in Canada this week. Ron Broda,...
