Starting Out Right

During this week's Starting Out Right early literacy morning we heard two special stories that were re-told by elders from our community.  Our first story of the day, Raven and Eagle as told by elder Ray Qwulshemut Peter, came to life with puppets and actions.  Listen and watch on this VoiceThread: (use the arrows on bottom right corner to turn pages - not available on some mobile devices)

 

After the Raven and Eagle story we took some time at our literacy stations practicing our fine motor skills.  We used fishing line and beads to made necklaces.  The children had to use a pincer grip and careful coordination to string the small beads onto the thread - this helps build hand muscles for writing. The children explored mark making with Donna using Eagle and Raven colouring sheets and everyone was encouraged to write letters from their names.

We also took some time to explore our selection of alphabet books.  It is always delightful to sit alongside a young child and watch them connect with a book.  Do you make time in your busy day to sit with a book in hand?  When children see us reading they too want to read. 

 Our second story was The Stolen Sun by Elder Ellen White with illustrations by Noel Brown. 
In this traditional tale Spa:l (Raven) comes up with a clever plan to retrieve the sun from Qwuni (Seagull). 

Can you remember how Spa:l got Qwuni to open the box?

How did the sun get into the sky? 

How did the animals feel once the sun lit up the sky?

Please join us for our final Starting Out Right morning on Wednesday, May 28th from 10:00-12:00 at the Boys and Girls Club on Fifth Street in Nanaimo.