Good Things and the Week Ahead – March 9-13

Posted: March 9, 2020

Families of Shortreed,

We hope you had a chance to enjoy both some snow and some sunshine (and change your clocks!) this past weekend in our community. We officially closed out Term 2 with the distribution of report cards on Friday. Be sure to sign up for parent-teacher conferences online; conferences occur this Wednesday and Thursday (with an early dismissal at 1:30 on both days). Also, be sure to check out our Scholastic Book Fair that runs at lunch and after school Tuesday-Thursday.

If you have a child turning 5 in 2020 (or have a friend that does), this is a friendly reminder that they must register by March 31 to guarantee a spot in our school. We have had one of the highest kindergarten registrations ever so please let people know.

Enjoy the final week before spring break!

Our News Crew this week was Tristan, Sally, and Aidan! Please take a moment to read about the good things happening as well as some updates for the week ahead.


Good Things and the Week Ahead

A Musical Night – The music teachers in our Aldergrove community, along with their ensembles, all joined forces to put on a beautiful evening of music at ACSS this past week. Our choir sang “World of Difference” and then performed a dance to “Feel the Light” in front of a packed gym. A highlight for me was seeing our grade 3-5s observing and encouraging the “big kids” from BGMS and ACSS. Thank you to Mrs. Muller and all the music teachers for their efforts in putting on a great evening.

That There is Some Crazy Hair!  We had some AWESOME crazy hairdos, hats and socks for our latest spirit day. Check out our social media for some creative examples.

Flyin’ Bob! – He balanced, he juggled, he worked with the kids, and he even told “dad jokes”. Flyin’ Bob came to our school and put on an awesome show as he completely entertained all our students and staff (and made our palms sweat!). For his finale, he even put up a tightrope for him to balance and entertain us! Our cheeks hurt from laughing and clenching as we worried about a fall.

Eagles Basketball – Our grade 5 basketball team played their final league game of the year as they defeated Simonds in their gym. The focus of this team is to inspire a love of basketball and to see close to 25 students come out in the mornings and after schools shows that they are off to a great start! The team will travel to HD Stafford Middle School on Tuesday for a celebration playday that consists of 6 mini-games.

Frozen in the Gym – We had another great turnout for our Family Movie Night on Friday as our PAC showed the movie, Frozen 2. Thank you to all the volunteers and families who helped make it happen!

Music – Bring on the Chords – This week in music class the grade five students learned about chording on the guitar and how it is different than picking, which is what they have been working on so far.  They learned how to read and understand chord charts and played their first guitar chord (e minor) and played and sang a song with it.

ELL – Same Sound, Different MeaningThe students recently worked with Ms. Johnson and Mrs. Holst as they explored learning about homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings like to, two, and too, or I’ll, aisle, and isle).  They practiced their new learning by playing homophone blackout BINGO. 

Div 15 – Parachuting into GymOn Friday, Ms. Coghill’s class teamed up with Ms. Bain’s class in the gym and used the parachute to learn new games and skills. They also headed back out to the forest to learn and explore the outdoors.          

Div 14 – A Little Green Visitor? Miss Petersen’s class may have had a sneaky little leprechaun visitor, “Liam”, this past week. To help deal with him, the students created their own leprechaun traps, completed directed drawings of a leprechaun, and used the leprechaun to inspire artwork!

Div 13 – A Pawsitively Caring Classroom – Students in Mrs. Vleeming and Mrs. Kelly’s class really brought out their caring sides with their new “animal hospital” centre. They not only cared for the many stuffies and play animals in the classroom, but they also got to assess a live animal as our library dog, Piper, made a visit to the vets in Div 13!

Div 12 – A WEB of Learning – Mrs. Datema’s class continued their learning about penguins. They did a Scientific Project about the aspects of webbed feet and how this makes animals better at swimming. 

Div 11 – Learning With the Number of the DayThis past week, Ms. Manhas’ students learned about place value through the introduction of tenand ones for the number of the day. They also took time to practice their addition and subtraction based on the number of the day, such as 3+3, 2+4, 0+6 etc. 

Div 10 – Little Experts – Students in Ms. Bain’s class were keying in on their strengths and learning how to guild.  Students brainstormed in which areas they are experts (ex. how to make cereal and how to pack for a trip) and then wrote a step-by-step guild on how to complete that task. 

Div 9 – Inquiring About CommunityThis past week, Mrs. Zelter’s class finished up their inquiry project on “community”. They discussed their rights and responsibilities of being part of a community and realized and shared how very proud of the community they have in their class.

Div 8 – Leprechaun Learning – In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, Mrs. North’s students have been learning about leprechauns and shamrocks and doing some directed drawings inspired by their learning. They have also been practicing their subtracting facts and learning jumping and running skills in the gym. 

Div 7 – The Skill of Regrouping – When we move to adding and subtracting large numbers, it can become challenging for students. Mr. D’s students have been practicing their regrouping skills to help overcome these challenges as they worked with adding and subtracting 3-digit numbers. Regrouping 3 digit numbers. They have also been learning about monkeys and how they have evolved over time. 

Div 6 – Cursive Lives On! Students in Ms. Rafghi’s class have been practicing their cursive/handwriting. Handwriting can be very helpful for students who have difficulty knowing where to start when they are printing. In cursive, almost every letter (except capitals) starts on the line. Handwriting can also be helpful for some students who have some struggles with fine motor (for various reasons). Div 6 also did an individual art project inspired by their signature!

Div 5 – Land and WaterThis past week, Ms. Holmes and Mr. Touzeau’s students learned about the different types of landforms and bodies of water found in our local environment. The students demonstrated their learning by sorting and defining the different terms they learned. They were highly engaged in a Gap Activity where the students had to work together to fill in the information they were missing on their worksheets – they practiced asking questions, listening and recording the information they found.  

Div 4 – Speech! Speech! Speech! Ms. Fenech’s students have started getting ready for the school and district Speech Fest (happening in mid-April). The students worked on learning how to brainstorm so they can start creating ideas for their speeches. As a class, they created a giant graphic organizer as if they were to write speech about cats. Students then were given their own brainstorming web and started creating their ideas for their own speech. 

Div 3 – Explos Afternoons – Students in Mrs. Kirk’s class have had a chance to explore and share various strengths, passions, and interests in their explos afternoons. Students have had the chance to learn how to make slime, bake cupcakes and dog biscuits (which my dog thoroughly enjoyed), and observed nature and the great outdoors through a jewellers loupe (which magnifies).  

Div 2 – Out of Their Minds – Ms. Bedard’s students have also started to work on their speeches by considering topics and ideas to write about. They also recently finished the book, Out of My Mind, and started working on their final book project for the book. 

Div 1 – Living and Non-LivingThis past week, Mrs. Parsons’ students have continued to work on their movement challenge. They have also begun to work on preparing their speeches. In science, they explored the school property to observe living and non-living materials and how they interact together.

 

 


The Week Ahead

Monday, March 9 – Grade 5 Basketball practice 7:30-8:30, last day to sign up for parent-teacher conferences
Tuesday, March 10 – pizza orders due (for Thursday lunch – see info that was sent home last week or click here); Grade 5 basketball playday at HD Stafford (no morning practice); book fair open at lunch and after school.
Wednesday, March 11 – early dismissal at 1:30; parent-teacher conferences 2:00-4:30; book fair open at lunch, after school, and during parent-teacher conferences
Thursday, March 12 – early dismissal at 1:30; parent-teacher conferences 2:00-7:30; Spirit Day – THROWBACK THURSDAY (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s!); book fair open at lunch, after school, and during parent-teacher conferences
Friday, March 13 – assembly at 11:15, last day of classes before spring break


Month at a Glance

Monday, March 30 – Schools Reopen after Spring Break
Thursday, April 2 – Shortreed Community Health Fair 2:30-4:00 – Room 109 (see image below)
Monday, April 6 – Kinderstarts – Literacy 1:00-2:30
Tuesday, April 7 – Spirt Day – Jersey/Uniform Day!
Friday, April 10 – Good Friday – schools closed

Don’t forget to stay updated by clicking here to subscribe to the Shortreed School Calendar.


Important Reminders and Updates.

  • Toys at School – please have your child leave their toys at home. Card games and toys can be distracting and can be lost/stolen and cause problems with our students. Thank you for your help with this.
  • Cell Phones – we are seeing an increase in students bring cell phones and personal devices to school. As we have technology for students who need it at school, there is no reason a student should bring a cell phone out at school. If they do bring it to school, it must remain in their backpacks while on school property. Students will be asked to turn their phones into administration if it out of their backpacks while on school property (including before/after school during supervised time).
  • Emailing About Student Absences – To help parents to notify us about a child’s absence, you can now email shortreedabsent@sd35.bc.ca or click on the “Report an Absence” on our website
  • Picking Up Early – Our office is very busy with last-minute tasks and phone calls between 2:15 and 2:30 each day. If you need to pick up your child early, please organize this with the teacher and pick them up at the classroom. We will not be able to sign students out between 2:15-2:30 unless there are extenuating circumstances (illness, medical appointments, etc). We currently have some families asking us to call down their children for pick up at the office before the bell on a fairly regular basis and this is causing more work than we can handle at that time of the day. A reminder that our parking lot is CLOSED from 2:15-2:45 each day because buses and daycare vans need to access.
  • Kindergarten Registration runs from January 20 through March 31. To guarantee a spot in catchment area schools, students must register prior to March 31.
  • Free Counselling – Langley Community Services offers FREE counselling for a variety of needs. Please click here for more info.
  • Parking – Our parking lot is closed from 8:15-8:45 and from 2:15-2:45. We only have enough space for our staff and drivers with a disability. The parking area is only open for staff, school district buses, and daycare transportation during these times. Please park along 28th Ave or in the Catholic Church across the street who have once again graciously donated their lot to us

PAC Information

  • Shortreed’s Fun Fair is only a few months away!!! We have started the planning process and are looking for people who would like to help plan and organize the fair. There are lots of big and small jobs that need to be done before the big day. There are a few Fun Fair meetings coming up in February for those interested. (this call out is for helpers to help plan the fair, posts and emails for volunteers for the day of will be sent out in April)Volunteer coordinator positions that need to be filled.
    • Advertising- help get the word out
    • Dunk Tank- One of the kids’ favourites!
    • Escape Room- (this is our first year wanting to do an escape room. We need a coordinator that is willing to be in charge of this station from 2.30pm to 8pm. The company will teach you how to run the game and give you everything you need). We hope to find someone to run this station as we know how much fun our families will have at this new addition to our fair.
    • Without volunteers to run these stations we, unfortunately, won’t be able to have them at this year’s fair. Please email the PAC at shortreedpac@gmail.com for more information or contact Cashmere Roder.
  • A big thank you to all those who brought in Otter Co-op Receipts… this raised close to $500! Thank you to Debbie Perry for organizing this and to Otter Co-op for the support.

Community News and Events

Check out more great opportunities for kids and families in our community by clicking here.

 

 

Shortreed Community Elementary

27330 28 Avenue, Aldergrove
BC, V4W 3K1
Phone: 604-856-4167
Fax: 604-856-7523