Botha Buzz
November 2015
HOT LUNCHES WILL BE SERVED
IN THE MORNING NUTRITION BREAK
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Where does the time go? Summer seems like it was just here.
All of a sudden, temperatures are back in the negatives.
Seems like students were just leaving with their manila envelopes containing their year end report cards, and here we are
almost ready to send first term report cards home again. With
time flying by, everything continues to be going along well.
Just recently, Jack the Rabbit has returned to Botha School.
Jack took a bit of a vacation when Gordie and Brenda retired,
but he has since been found hiding in our classrooms. Oddly
enough, Jack always hides in the cleanest classroom, so we
thought, what better way to know which class to reward, but
those that Jack is found in. Last Friday, we celebrated everyone’s effort in keeping our school clean with ice cream sundaes
for everyone. Moving forward, the classroom that Jack visits the
most in each month will win a sundae celebration.
Thanks to our Grade 4-5 students, our school now has a compost bin. We will be encouraging students to compost what they
can in an effort to cut down on waste that we send to the landfill. Also, a big thank you to all of the parents that offered and
dropped off pallets for this project. We had plenty and will but
the rest to good use as well; Botha kids are always busy!
Looking forward, We are excited to be able to have students a
bit more involved in sports. Whereas last month we had students participate in Cross Country running, this month our
Grade 5-6’s have been invited to Stettler to participate in Newcombe ball against the “big” school as well as our county rivals.
On November 4th, Botha students will take part in a Remembrance Day ceremony. It is a bit earlier this year, however, this
is where the Legion slotted us in. We invite all community members to come out and be a part of the ceremony beginning at
11:00 AM.
Kindergarten!!!
Miss.Burton
Kindergarten has been zipping
through this month! We are loving
spending me with our buddies. If our
buddies are extra good for the month of
November we are having a cookie baking day with them! Our Project Learning
Day consisted of a lot of turkey things.
We got to make rice krispies that
looked like turkeys and did a lot of turkey cra)s. This month we have learned
the le+ers, sounds and acons for the
le+ers; d, g, o, u, l, f, b, ai, and j! In
Math we are sll doing our daily calendar, pa+erning and counng.
We had one October birthday (Hayley).
We are looking forward to our Halloween Project Day with the whole school.
These are our favorite days.
Miss Burton has bought our class library more books and audiobooks. Our
favorite Daily 5 centers are the wring
and the word work centers. Some of
our favorite End of the Day centers are:
building necklaces and the train. Our
favorite books are sll Pete the Cat
books.
Finally, on the academic side of things, students report cards
will go home on November 20th. We will host student led conferences the following Thursday evening. Mrs. McMillan will be
in contact in order to schedule an appointment with you to visit
the teachers. We look forward to seeing you!
Have a great month of November,
NOVEMBER 2015
27197Sun
Mon
Sunday
Monday
Tue
Tuesday
Wed
Wednesday
Thu
Thursday
Fri
Friday
1
3
4 Hot Lunch
5
6
11 Remebrance Day
12 No
School
13 No
School
No School
Fall Break
Day in Lieu
18 Hot
Lunch
19
20
2
Sat
Saturday
7
Pancakes
Remembrance Day
Service 11am
Send donation for
poppy
8
15
9
10
16
17
29
23
24
Cards
25 Hot
Lunch
26 Student
Subs
Conferences
30
HOT LUNCH MENU
November 4– Pancakes & Sausages
November 18—Chili
November 25—Subs
21
Report
Chili
22
14
Led
27
28
News from Mrs. Maxwell
News from Mrs. Melnyk
3/4 News
We’ll be focusing on comprehension strategies this
month and both grades are reading novels. Grade
four is continuing with Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr.
Fox and grade three is reading The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo by Judy Bloom.
We studied number sense in October and students
need to have good number sense so that they will
have a clearer understanding of operations. The operations we’ll be working on in November are addition and subtraction, grade three up to three digit;
grade four up to 4 digit. Students really need to
know their facts to 18 well in order to be proficient
at 3 and 4 digit addition and subtraction.
In Social grade threes are talking about the cultural
characteristics of communities through symbols,
monuments, stories, traditions and celebrations.
In Science we will be finishing our study of Small
Crawling and Flying Animals. It has been interesting
learning about different invertebrates! Magnetism
will be next.
Our class website:
http://bothagradethreefour.weebly.com/
.
October was a very busy
month! I went to the Math and Science teachers’ conference in Edmonton, attended some great sessions,
and had the amazing opportunity to
hear Cmdr. Chris Hadfield speak.
Then I waited in a very long line to
shake his hand, get my book signed,
and take a picture. It was a very educational conference, and a lot of fun!
Back in Botha, we are also having
educational and fun experiences!
After a year of bribery, everyone finally brought in reading minutes one
week, so I will bring in cookies.
Please continue to encourage
Home Reading Program participation, and initial reading minutes!
Students have been reminded that
they are responsible to use their
agendas to keep track of homework
and assignments. Students with incomplete (or late) work will miss recess to catch up. If work isn’t completed due to a family commitment, I
will grant an extension if there is a
note from a parent. These have been
my policies all along, but many students need a reminder.
We are continuing to work with a Fairy
Tale theme in ELA 5/6, using this as a
starting point for various assignments.
I will also be looking more closely at
some students’ reading habits, to
make sure everyone is reading at the
right level. There will be a couple of
important assignments this month, so
be prepared.
In Social 4/5, we are continuing to
study Alberta. I hope to move onto
our ‘big’ project early this month.
Students may require some support
from home for this project, so keep
your ears open!
In Science 6, we will shortly begin our
Flight unit and projects. Again, students may need some support from
home - primarily searching for materials - so be prepared. (Hmmm …
I’m noticing a theme!)
November means report cards
and student learning conferences. I am looking forward to
seeing everyone for those later
this month!
Grade 1 & 2 News from Mrs. Boxma
Grade Ones and Twos have been experiencing Canadian culture with the Grade 3 & 4 class. Both classes are learning
about different areas of Canada in Social Studies. We have been enjoying more French Canadian songs and dancing in our
big group. We also spent an afternoon remembering Patches, our class bunny, with a memorial that included songs, student
speeches and gathering rocks to build a cairn out in the pasture. Everyone enjoyed a hike at Circle Square Ranch after our
little service.
We all enjoyed following the federal election. The results allowed us to see some big numbers in the real world. We have
been ordering two digit numbers and practicing many different ways to show groups of tens and ones. Our class has just
begun to learn about addition and subtraction. Grade Ones will be adding up to 18 and Grade Twos will be working with two
digit numbers.
Our students have been working hard at their reading. A big “Thank you” goes out to all the parents, big brothers and grandparents who listen to the reading and record the information on the “Just Read” sheet. Students can also read about our daily
activities in their “Read Me!” duo-tangs. Each day we write a sentence to record a favourite activity. Then the week’s sentences are typed up, we illustrate the sentences, practice reading them and take them home to share with our families. So
many ways to practice reading!
In November and December we will be learning about hot and cold in Science. We will use some of the weather data we
collected last Spring and Summer to compare with the icy winter temperatures we will soon be experiencing. Don’t worry.
We will also learn how we can keep warm!
Hi Families!
I'm Cally, the Family School Liaison out at Botha School. I also work under the program called "CARS", which used to
be called Heart.
I'm out at Botha every Tuesday and can provide several services. Firstly, I'm able to provide assistance to students,
families, and school staff when a child is experiencing difficulties at school, home or in the community. Often, I provide one-on-one sessions for students to help them overcome whatever it is that they are facing. Sessions often consist of focusing on students' positive aspects, fostering a school connection, and most importantly making it fun!
I have also started running Boy's/Girl's Groups! These groups run at recess and are a chance for group members to
work on team building, self-esteem, and having fun in a group environment. These groups are on-going, informal, and run
on a drop-in basis.
Finally, I can also facilitate presentations/workshops in the classroom or for parents. My favourite program is "Zones
of Regulation. It's a great program that teaches students self-awareness with regards to emotions and how to manage
them.
The FSL/CARS program can be very beneficial for students, their families and the school!
I would love to hear from anyone that has questions about what my role is in the school. I will be happy to tell you.
Happy Halloween Everyone, stay warm!!
- Cally Strandquist, FSL
BA - Psychology
403-741-9939
Whats Happening in Mr. Flieger’s classroom
Grade 5-6 Math
I've been really impressed with the effort that students have been putting forth in Math. In Grade 5,
most students have completed their first unit (Multiplication and Division) and some have even finished their second unit, Mathematical Strategies. 6th Grade students are also doing well. We have
now moved through Numbers/Integers and Decimals, and most students are on to working with Factors and Fractions. Some students have really gotten the Math bug and have worked their way
through to Decimals, Ratio and Percents. In both classes, students are finding success and we are
easily on pace to get all of our work done!
Grade 6 Social Studies
In Social Studies, the Grade 6’s are still working on understanding democracy in our Canadian/Alberta context. Most recently students have been writing essays on the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms. Many of the students have given an extra effort and should be really proud to
show off their work at student lead conferences.
Science 4-5
In Science, we are wrapping up the Waste in Our World unit. Students have done some great work
over the course of this unit. All of the students have grown their understanding of environmental issues and working on some great projects that will help make Botha a “greener” place.
Passion Projects
This time continues to be well spent. While students are working on polishing their first round of projects and making them “pretty” their are learning about the reflection/revision progress. Many of the
students have shown a great deal of maturity in planning, carrying out, and revising their projects. I
look forward to the great work that is sure to come!