Sunday, April 27, 2025

30th April Honesty Day



Honesty Day is a special day celebrated every year, encouraging everyone to be truthful and open in all aspects of life! It is a challenge to us to be 
be truthful in all we do.

For young readers honesty means being truthful in words and actions. It means not telling lies, not taking things that don’t belong to them, and keeping their promises. It’s a simple principle that forms the foundation of trust and integrity.

It is also something that the young children I teach find hard at times. They are very used to getting what they want when they want it and they are reluctant to wait, persevere, own up or take responsibility for their actions.

Picture books focusing on honesty show children the importance of being truthful and handling difficult situations with integrity. Some of the books that are recommended are very dogmatic and/or heavy-handed. I would rather a story where students get to discuss what has happened and what could or should be done.

It’s Felix’s birthday tomorrow! His best friend, Fiona has promised to bake cupcakes to celebrate, and Felix can’t wait. But the next morning, Fiona arrives at the party with no cupcakes . . . and a tall tale that’s as colourful as raspberry icing with lemon sprinkles. Fiona’s little lie points the finger at three likely suspects, but Felix has a feeling that she might be getting in deeper and deeper. 


When Finn accidentally breaks his grandma's precious clock, he tells a teeny tiny little lie - and blames it on his sister instead! Soon, Finn's little fib is OUT OF CONTROL, and it's getting in the way of everything! Can he find a way to tell the truth?



When Little Croc and his friends find a purse filled with money, they must decide whether to spend the money or turn in the p



But being the best takes time and training, especially when it comes to having the loudest growl. Then, one morning, disaster strikes--Fred's GRRRRR is gone! Oh, no! Will Fred find his GRRRRR and realize that there's more to life than being a winner?


When Betty Bunny breaks a lamp, she has a brand-new idea: Blame it on someone else (like the Tooth Fairy)! Then a vase gets broken and Betty Bunny really didn't do it. But now no one in her family believes her. Honest lies, white lies, crying wolf—how can one four-year-old figure out the right thing to do?


The bear’s journey from forest to city and back home again is full of happy accidents, funny encounters, and sensory delights. The story is so engrossing, it’s not until the very end that we begin to suspect this is a TALL tale. 
 

Ruben sees a dollar bill fall out of someone’s purse. He picks it up and puts it in his pocket. But when he gets home, he discovers it’s not one dollar or even five or ten—it’s a hundred-dollar bill, more than enough for a new bike just like Sergio’s! But what about the crossed-off groceries? And what about the woman who lost her money?




Feeling lonely after moving to a new neighbourhood, Colette invents a story about a lost pet bird to gain the attention of the neighbourhood children. As the interest of her new friends grows, it leads Colette into a web of embellishments. 


An Emperor challenges the children in his kingdom to grow a seed. Ping tends to his seed but only has an empty pot when spring arrives. The king rewards Ping for his honesty by making him the next emperor.



“Nothing ever happens here,” the shepherd thinks. But the bored boy knows what would be exciting: He cries that a wolf is after his sheep, and the town’s people come running. How often can that trick work, though? 

There are many versions of this fable. It doesn't have to be this one.







Truth is a matter of perspective. 
Alexander T. Wolf tries to persuade readers that the mishap with the three little pigs is one big misunderstanding.




If your students are older or you want to take this concept further look for these two books.

In this spare, ingenious story that reads like a modern-day parable, follow a sad little fact that is locked away for telling the truth. In its underground prison, it meets other facts, all hidden away because they could not lie. Finally, with the help of a few skillful fact finders, the facts are able to spread truth--something that ultimately can't be denied. Though some people continue to ignore them, the facts are out in the world, ready for anyone who wants to hear, because "a fact is a fact," and that's that.


Do you know the difference between a fact and an opinion? It can be a hard thing to understand. Some things are facts--like the number of robots in this book. Other things are opinions--like which robot would make the best friend, or which robot dances best. And sometimes to tell the difference between a fact and an opinion, you need to wait to get more information--that's because facts can be proven true or false, and opinions are things you feel and believe--but that you can't prove. 







Saturday, April 26, 2025

28th April Teach Children to Save Day


There's some debate about exactly when this day is... the 27th, the fourth Thursday in April...but whenever it is. there's picture books to help.

There are stories where children are saving for something, stories where children are earning money to save and  there are stories that will give children food for thought about the value of money. Try these:


Last Sunday, Alexander's grandparents gave him a dollar--and he was rich. There were so many things that he could do with all of that money!He could buy as much gum as he wanted, or even a walkie-talkie, if he saved enough. But somehow the money began to disappear...



A lemonade stand in winter? Yes, that's exactly what Pauline and John-John intend to have, selling lemonade and limeade--and also lemon-limeade. An entrepreneurship how-to that celebrates the thrill of the marketplace.



"I emptied my secret money box, arranged the coins in piles and the piles in rows ..." The market is full of wonderful things, but Saruni is saving his precious coins for a red and blue bicycle. How happy he will be when he can help his mother carry heavy loads to market on his very own bicycle - and how disappointed he is to discover that he hasn't saved nearly enough! 


It's hard when there are soooo many great things to buy! You want a toy, some ice-cream, a donut but you can't have it all. Money doesn't grow on trees, you know! This book teaches the valuable lesson about where money comes from and where it goes!



Vera Williams tells of a young girl who, along with her waitress mother, saves coins in a big jar in hopes that they can someday buy a new chair for their apartment, the kind of chair her mother deserves after being on her feet all day in the Blue Tile Diner. Into the jar also goes the money Grandma saves whenever she gets a bargain at the market.



It's Grandma's birthday, and Ruby knows exactly what Grandma would love-a beautiful ballerina box. Max also knows what she'd love-a scary pair of ooey-gooey vampire teeth. Ruby has saved up a walletful of bills, but as unexpected mishap after mishap occurs, money starts running through the bunnies' fingers....


Honey Bunny Funnybunny has lots and lots and lots of money. Some she saves, some she spends on herself, and some she spends on her friends.




Sophie has just won $100 in an art competition. What is she going to do with it? Will she spend it or save it? What would you do?




These are a book from a series of books 


A Bunny Money Book  by Cinders McCleod





Money Matters  by Sue Graves





Money Box  by Ben Hubbard





The Maths Adventurers  by Sita Gorasia


26th April Hug an Australian Day


Really? What did we do to deserve this day? Easy to do if you live in Australia. Not so easy if you live elsewhere. I guess it doesn't have to be a person. So find something Australian and give it a hug! 

If it doesn't have to be a person, find your favourite Australian book and give it a hug! There's hundreds of books with 'hug' in the title, but not many of them are Australian. The Runaway Hug by Nick Bland and Freya Blackwood is and so is  I Need a Hug by Aaron Blabey. What a pity Blabey chose a porcupine instead of an Australian animal such as the echidna.

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

25th April World DNA Day


Did you know? If all the DNA in your body was uncoiled, it would stretch out to about  ten billion miles, which is from Earth to Pluto and back! 




DNA is known as the blueprint for life! Found in every cell of every living thing, DNA strands are packed inside a cell's nucleus carrying instructions and genetic information. This date was chosen for DNA Day, to mark the anniversary of the publication of James Watson and Francis Crick’s paper formally announcing their discovery of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the journal, Nature in 1953. The day also coincides with the completion of the Human Genome Project, which was declared finished on April 25, 2003.

Knowing about DNA allows students to explore genetics and understand why parts of you may appear identical to your  great grandparent. While discussing with a Year 2 class the subject of eye colour, I was very surprised how many questions they had about how children in the same family could have different coloured eyes.

For the students I teach there wasn't a lot in the library to help. We started with














and then went to the Junior School Library for 

I also encouraged the students to read these two biographies which also help explain how scientists discovered DNA, genes and heredity.




Blurb:

Gregor Mendel explains to children the theory of heredity in simple-to-understand language and examples. Regarded as the world's first geneticist, Gregor Mendel discovered one of the fundamental aspects of genetic science: animals, plants, and people all inherit and pass down traits through the same process.



Blurb:

Rosalind Franklin was a Jewish scientist with a remarkable talent as a chemist. Although there were few women working in this field in the 1950s, Franklin, using crystallography, captured an image that held the secret to unlocking the structure of DNA: the double helix.

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

25th April International Girls in ICT Day

Since 8 April 2011, the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) has celebrated Girls in ICT Day annually on the fourth Thursday in April. This initiative promotes information and communication technologies (ICT) to young women and girls and encourages them to pursue careers in the field.

Established through Resolution 70 at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in 2010, the event highlights the importance of empowering all girls and women through ICT for their educational and socio-economic development. 


Men continue to outnumber women in numerous technical STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields such as, engineering and computer science. Prior work demonstrates the importance of introducing girls to STEM content early on, before gender stereotypes are ingrained.

At this year's conference, a highlight will be an interactive intergenerational dialogue, bringing together girls, young women, women leaders, and experts in the ICT sector to engage in dynamic discussions on how to bridge the gender digital divide for a fully inclusive digital transformation.


Books such as these two encourage educators and parents to start early, early childhood being a critical time in development to reach girls and challenge the gender differences.





There are so many picture book biographies about Ada Lovelace that every young girl has the chance to be inspired by her story. These are in the library.




















There are other general books to try too













Then get started on beginning chapter book series such as 

• The Questioneers and the Ada Twist Why Files  by Andrea Beaty

Zoey Sassafras by Asia Cintro

Izzy the Inventor by Zanna Davidson

Ellie Engineer  by Jackson Pearce

Ada Lace  by Emily Calandrelli

Astronaut Girl  by Cathy Hapka

Libby; Cece; Vivi Loves Science by Kimberly Derring