Princ ipa l ’s Message

Special points of interest:

Important dates for

February

Feb. 1—Coord. Day NO

SCHOOL

Feb. 15—Hot Lunch

Feb. 18—Louis Riel

Day NO SCHOOL

Feb. 20 Early Dismis-

sal @ 3:10

Bird’s Hill School

Bird’s Hill School

February 2019 Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Gr. 1 News 2

Gr. 1/ 2 News 2

Kindergarten News 2

3/4 News 3

Gr. 4/5 News 3

Gr. 2/3 News 4

Gr. 5 News 4

Counselor’s Corner 5

PAC News 5

Library News 6

Bulldog News 7

Dog House Canteen 8

Gr. 3/4 News 8

Music News 9

February 2019 Volume 1 Issue 4

Thank you to all students, parents and staff for the very warm welcome to Bird’s Hill School. It is

hard to believe that it has already been a month since my arrival. Time flies when you are having

fun!

School-Wide Positive Behaviour

At Bird’s Hill School we are safe, responsible and respectful! Our students have worked very

hard to earn a Pajama Day on January 31st. During a Behaviour Matrix “Blitz” students who were

“caught” following the school-wide expectations received a Dog Bone ticket. The dog bones

were then collected and put up on the wooden trim in the front foyer of the school. Our goal

was to fill the whole foyer with dog bones…and we did it! Congratulations to all students for

following expectations and helping our school reach our goal so quickly!

Please ask your child what it means to be Safe, Responsible and Respectful at Bird’s Hill School. All Visitors/Parents – Please Report to the Office For safety and security reasons we need to monitor people entering and exiting the school. All visitors and parents are asked to report to the office whenever you enter the school. If you are dropping your child off in the morning, please drop them off at the doors that they are supposed to enter. Your child will proceed into the building with his/her class. If you are dropping some-thing off for your child, we ask that you leave it at the office and we will make sure your child gets it during a time that is least disruptive to the learning in the classroom. If your child is leav-ing early or returning to school from an appointment, please complete the Student Sign In/Out book in the office. If you need to speak to a teacher regarding your child, please arrange a meeting by contacting the teacher in advance. At the end of the day, if you are picking up your child please wait near the office and ask your child to meet you there. The hallways are a busy place at the end of the day, any reduction in traffic will be very helpful in making dismissal more efficient. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Happy New Year! The Grade Ones have be-gun the year with new poems, more inquiry with Mrs. Dent Scarcello, characteris-tics of different mate-rials around us and learning to take care of their teeth. Reading and numeracy contin-ue to be a priority in our class. We are very

happy to have Mrs. Ingram, BHS's Numer-acy Facilitator, work-ing in our class every day to help us learn our numbers and Mrs. Geschiere supports us in our guided reading groups every other day. Guided reading is an essential part of your child’s reading progress but reading

with you is just as im-portant. Please con-tinue to support your child’s literacy growth by reading at home every night. When you read with your child, you are not only helping them build their skills in fluency, accuracy and stamina,

triangles, rectangles

and circles!!! Then

we used the infor-

mation that we

gathered to make

our very own shape

books for our class-

room library.

Detectives Wanted!!!!

The kindergarten students

have been learning all

about shapes this month.

They have become expert

shape detectives! The stu-

dents have been enjoying

their time looking around

our school to see if they

can find shapes. Squares,

consisting repertoire. Something new and exciting has been the start of a computer program called Prodi-gy. This has been a fun way for students to engage in math-related content while also participating in play during computer time.

Along with Prodigy,

we have been working

on math skills through

another new game

called Toothy. This

partner or small group

activity challenges

students to grow spe-

cific skills in a collabo-

rative setting. See

photo for this game in

action.

"Happy 2019 Bird’s Hill families!” As a classroom communi-ty, the students in room 3 have been settling back into the daily and weekly rou-tines after a well-deserved holiday break.

January was an engag-ing month for math as we have added to our

Page 2

Gr. 1 and 2 News from the Classroom Ms. Code and Ms. Scarff

News from the Kindergarten Class Ms. Henry

Grade 1 News from the Classroom Mrs. Tresoor and Ms. Moyer

you are also modeling to them that you value read-ing. Thank you for your con-tinued support! Be sure to check out our learning ad-ventures on Instagram @wonderingones and on our classroom blog: www.learningaswegrow1.blogspot.com

blogging as another for-

mat for publishing our

writing and sharing our

Room 31 activities.

Be sure to follow our

learning experiences on

Instagram:

@mswasneysclass or on

our class blog:

www.mswasneysclass.blog

spot.com

The students in 4/5W have

been busy creating Paper

Blogs in preparation for

starting their very own

online student blogs! We

have been learning about

gadgets, the importance

of creating “catchy” titles

for posts and leaving qual-

ity comments for others.

We were excited to launch

our blogs on “Kidblog” on

January 17th. We will use

could float and created a spaghetti and marsh-mallow structure! Room 26 alongside Mrs. Dent Scarcello had ap-plied for a $500 grant through the World Wild-life Federation (WWF). Just last week we got the notification that we had won the grant

which stretches across Canada!! Room 26 is very excited and can’t wait to start our project on beauti-fying Bird’s Hill School, as well as helping, the endan-gered Honey Bee!

In room 26 we have started to complete STEAM challenges. Each STEAM activity, chal-lenges the students to think creatively, follow instructions, put a plan in place and follow through with the design process. We have built a tall free-standing tower, created an object that

Page 3 Volume 1 Issue 4

Gr. 4/5 News from Room 31 Ms. Wasney

Gr. 3/4 News from Room 26 Ms. Chuckery

Home of the

Bulldogs and our

school mascot

BUDDY!

Snowmen at Night

Have you ever wondered

when you are tucked in nice

and tight, what do snow-

men do at night? – Alyssa

First, they go to skate on the

ice, they twirl once or twice.

– Ella

When snowmen get up they

get ready to fight all night. –

Shain

They see northern lights,

they are so bright. – Harlow

They play a baseball game

and get ready to aim. – Ty-

son

Then they do skating tricks

thing different - an

ABC Body Break chart.

Working in small

groups, the students

came up with 26 sim-

ple movement activi-

ties that could be

done in the class-

room. Each activity

(and the number of

repetitions needed)

was assigned to a

different letter of the

alphabet. Now when

our attention starts to

Sometimes you just

need to get up and

move! One of the fa-

vourite movement

breaks in room 30 has

definitely been the

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Train game. (Ask one

of the students, they’ll

be happy to teach you

how to play.) With

the start of a new

year though it was

time to try out some-

lag, we just think of a

catchy phrase like

“Iced January” and

exercise our way

through all of the

letters!

The grade fives have

also been studying

four of Aesop’s fables

with the end goal of

retelling these stories

with some 2019

twists. They have read

and discussed the fa-

bles, watched and

Grade 5 News from the Classroom Mrs. Dyck

Bird’s Hill School

on ice, it’s quite a sight.

– Halle

Mothers and others have

lots of fun. – Marley

They go to ice school, it’s

really cool. – Mercedes

After school they get a

pet and he is really wet. -

Brooke

If you go to Starbucks

make sure to get a coffee

with a toffee. – Camden

They go to gymnastics

and swing on the bars

and they do flips under

the stars. – Bianca

They have some scrim-

mages and there were

two captains they draft-

ed. – Ryker

The snowmen go snow-

mobiling at the park,

when it gets really dark.

– Blake

They make tall snow

blocks and snow stairs. –

Dwayne

Grade 2 /3 News from the Classroom Ms. Ga le

Page 4

In the moonlight the snow-

men fight. - Danielle

Finally they have a nerf gun

fight, it is quite a sight! –

Jacob

I was scared, I thought I saw

a flare. - Mihai

My snowman likes playing

hockey and bey blades. -

Colton

They play all night with no

fright with glee and with me.

- Marcus

The little ones are tired, so

mothers put them back in

bed to rest their sleepy

heads. – Adria

listened while their

teacher rewrote a fa-

ble and worked in

small groups to write

the beginning of one

of the stories. Now

they are working indi-

vidually to rewrite the

fable of their choice.

Electronics, social me-

dia, fashion and fast

food are all making

their way into these

new versions. Be

ready to enjoy – these

are going to be fun to

read!

For up-to-date

information check out our

website:

http://retsd.mb.ca/

school/bh/Pages/

default.aspx

With January comes

extra cold weather,

high wind chills, and

indoor recess! Indoor

recess is not a beloved

event for students. Stu-

dents are not able to

get the fresh air, and

body movement that

they need, and don’t

always enjoy the game

and activity options

afforded to them in-

side. Although the tem-

peratures outside are

edging towards -40°C,

tempers can quickly

rise between students

The next meetings to be held are

February 20 and March 20 at

6:30 in the Library. Come out

and see the exciting things PAC is

working on! The next hot lunch

BHS Parent Ad visory Counc i l

Bird’s Hill School

trying to have recess

in the classroom.

There are options at

school for where

and what students

can do during indoor

recess. Mrs. Rand

has a schedule of

intramurals during

specific recesses, the

Friendship Room

offers different

peers and games to

play with, and the

Makerspace allows

for building and cre-

ating. Even with

these options stu-

dents can become

stir crazy and can

start to make choic-

es that are not con-

sistent with the ex-

pectations laid out

by the school.

Teachers review and

remind students of

our Behaviour Ma-

trix daily. Going over

expectations at

home as well as

strategies for prob-

lem solving are great

ways to help reduce

arguments and neg-

ative interactions

between students.

Counselor’s Corner Ms. Lovetr i

Dress ing for the Weather

Page 5

Winter is here! We want to

remind you that it is im-

portant that children dress

appropriately for the cool-

er/cold weather. Weather

appropriate jackets, snow-

suits, mitts, toques, scarves,

boots, etc. should be worn

for recess & lunch hours.

Students are expected to be

outside before school, dur-

ing recess and before eating

lunch. During extremely

cold weather, we check

with the weather office for

temperature and wind

chill factors.

Children will sometimes

be kept inside during re-

cess times. However, it is

important that children

get as much fresh air &

exercise as possible, so

please ensure that they

are dressed warmly when

they leave for school.

Thank you!

Thanks for all your

support during these

FREEZING months!

School

Library News Mrs. Dent Scarcello

Page 6

Happy I Love to Read Month! We will be celebrating all month with a few events.

Reading Bingo will run all month. You can pick up your bingo card in the library anytime this month. Take the bingo card home and complete the activities with your family. Complete as many of the reading chal-lenges as you can. Ask an adult family member to initial the spaces as you complete them. You may see Mrs. Dent Scarcello each Thursday or Friday in February to collect a prize when you have a line completed. You may collect one prize per week. HAVE FUN!! The Tournament of Books also runs all month. Every class will read the same two books and vote for the one they like best. The book with the most votes will move on to the next week's battle. The bulletin board outside the library will track the votes and winners each week. Stay tuned to Instagram @thelibraryatbhs to see how it’s going from home! We will also have a progressive story going through the school again this year. Each class will have a chance to add to the story and we will hear the final product at the end of the month! I Love to Read theme days are as follows: February 5th - Wear a readable shirt. Wear a shirt that has words on it today. February 15th - Wear and share a kind message. Wear a shirt with a kind message, say something kind to someone (or lots of people), write a kind note and give it to someone today. February 28th - Dress like a book character.

The Bulldog News Mrs. Rand

Page 7

Extra-Curricular

Gymnastics club for students in grades 3, 4 and 5 has begun. Skill level is high and students are very excited about performing! Attendance is important. It is crucial for students to learn the skills in progression so they can execute them safely, learn the routines and be able to perform with synchronization a “polished” school routine. If a student has an appointment, or will be away on vacation please email Mrs. Rand (mrandgadient@retsd.mb.ca), write a note in the agenda book or leave a message at the school and Mrs. Rand will mark the student “excused.”

Intramural

With it being so cold outside, students are getting active in the gym at recess times. Both of Mrs Henry’s classes, Mrs. Tresoor/Mrs. Moyer’s class and Ms. Code/Ms. Scarff’s class have been playing Jailbreak. Mrs. Gale and Ms. Jeffrey’s classes are playing swampball, Ms. Chuckrey’s, Mr. Moffatt’s, Ms. Wasney and Mrs. Dyck’s class are all playing basketball.

Did you know Canada has come out with a new Food Guide! Check it out below!

Even though December was a short month, the Dog House Canteen was busy! Thanks to your support, we donated

$280.16 to the CNIB. The charity was chosen by the December staff: Leo, Taiya, Shelby, Joshua, and Allie.

We will be back up and running in February, with a new group of students working the canteen, and a new charity

to raise money for!

We will be open on the following days:

Tuesday, February 5 - Wednesday, February 6 - Friday, February 8

Monday, February 11 - Wednesday, February 13 - Friday, February 15

Tuesday, February 19 - Wednesday, February 20 - Friday, February 22

Monday, February 25 - Wednesday, February 27 - Thursday, February 28

Each item is $1.00, except for Menchie’s frozen yogurt; which is $2.00, sold

at the end of the week.

Thanks for your support!

Ms. Wasney

Gr. 3/4 News from Room 27 Mr. Moffat

The tremen-dous threes and fabulous fours in Mr. Moffatt’s room are cur-rently experi-menting with poetry. The

students enjoy the creative process and learn about syllables,

patterns, and poetic devices. We also spent some time learning about nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Poetry is al-so a wonderful tool for students to practice us-ing descriptive words to enhance their writing. We tried the following poems; Limericks, Hai-kus, Acrostics, Cin-

quains, Triplets, Allit-eration Poems, Char-acter Poems and Quatrains. Our next step is to prepare a portfolio of our good copies with some ac-companying artwork.

Page 8

Page 9

Music News Mrs. Walker

On Tuesday, January 15th, the grade 1 (Tresoor/Moyer) and the grade

1/2 (Code/Scarff) classrooms went on a field trip to the Centennial

Concert Hall to listen to a musical story called “How the Gimquat

Found Her Song” with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Imagine a

bird with no song…so sad and ashamed, this strange Gimquat bird lives

alone in a hollow tree. One day, she meets a magical wizard who takes

her on fantastic journey through space and time in search of the per-

fect song. We helped the wizard and the Gimquat by saying a magical

chant which opened the door to an amazing musical world.

At the concert we saw and heard a symphony orchestra! We learned

that an orchestra is a group of musicians playing different musical instruments under the direction of a con-

ductor. We heard instruments from four different families. ♪ Strings ♪ Woodwinds ♪ Brass ♪ Percussion

Our concert reviews:

“I liked it so much, it was the best. The play was funny. My favourite part was when she (Gimquat) said “But

Mine!”” By: Michael (grade 1)

My favourite part was when she (Gimquat) said “Sqwak, sqwak!”” By: Silas (grade 1)

"We went to a concert it was called "How the Gimquat found her song." It was really cool. It started and the Wizard came and say a chant and the wizard went back in time for the Gimquat and helped her get her song back. They said "Jimmy, Cricket, Raggetie Anne, Winnnie the Poo, Yosemite Sam" and brought them back in time. But then the Gimquat got sad. She then sang a song and cried but when she was crying she noticed she found her song and she was happy again and some nice music played." By: Ella (grade 2) "I love the Gimquat and the wizard and all the instruments. It was soooooo much fun. My teachers are soooooooo the best. I loved, loved it. I want to go again. I loved all the instruments and I loved the girl who sang in French. The Gimquat turned into a bird at the end." By: Chelsea (grade 2)

"I loved the show. I like when the Gimquat came out." By: Johnny "I also liked the part when the Gimquat turned into a swan." By: Logan

The Gimquat’s journey starts in the year 1003 and ends all the way up in the present. That’s a lot of time

travel!

Lord Wolseley Nursery School 939 Henderson Hwy.

Is now accepting registration for the 2019-2020 school year.

OPEN HOUSE

Tuesday February 19th from 6:00-7:00 pm and

Thursday February 21st from 1:00-2:00 pm.

THE PROGRAM RUNS SEPTEMBER THROUGH JUNE

Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 9:15-11:15 am.

Fees are $60 per month

Tuesday, Thursday mornings 9:15-11:15 am.

Fees are $40 per month

Mondays, Wednesday, Friday afternoons 1:00-3:00 pm.

Fees are $60 per month.

There is also an option to attend both morning classes for five

mornings a week for $100 per month.

All classes are three and four-year-old children combined. Children

need to be three by December 31, 2019.

Please call Liz @ 204-297-9938 or

email her at lwns-liz@outlook.com

Late French Immersion at Munroe Junior High

Do you feel like you missed the opportunity for your child to receive a French Immersion education? Or per-haps your child is looking for a new challenge at school? Munroe Junior High hosts the late entry French Im-mersion program in the River East Transcona School Division and may be what you’re looking for!

The Late French Immersion program at Munroe is open to all RETSD students entering Grade 6 and who have never been in an Immersion program before and wish to learn French. After three years in our program, stu-dents will have acquired the knowledge and skills necessary to continue their education at their catchment French Immersion high school.

Going in to Grade 6 and Looking for a

New Challenge?

explore the

Late Entry French Immersion Program

at

Munroe Junior High

405 Munroe Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Available to all RETSD students

Parent Information Evening

February 6, 2019 @ 6:00p.m.

For more information, contact: 204-661-4451

Celebrating Canada’s Diversity