PRSD#10
December 2013
Dates to Remember
Dec 12 – Swimming
Dec 18 – Christmas Concert
Principals Message
Dear Guardian/Parent,
Dec 19 – Hot Lunch
Dec 19 – Family Fun Afternoon
Jan 6 – First Day Back
Christmas season is once again upon us. Judging from
the excitement in the school, both students and staff
are looking forward to a break, a break filled with
celebration, family and friends
The last four months have seen a significant number of
activities taking place. As we move into the New Year,
we will be looking at tempering down those activities
and instead allocating more time on core instruction.
Once again I would like to thank Dixonville community
members for all the time that they spend volunteering
in school. Thanks to those parents who continue to
help with school fundraising. Without you we would
struggle to offer activities that our students have
become accustomed to. A big thank you for making
and providing hot lunches for the students and those
who are taking time to “instruct” the students lifelong
practical skills. You are GREAT!
Please accept this letter as a personal invitation to this
year’s Christmas concert. It will be held in the school
gym starting at 7:00 PM. We sincerely hope to see you
all.
Once again may the Holiday Season be good to you
and your family.
Best Regards
Moses Garaba
Principal
Students have been working
hard keeping track of their
reading minutes for the Million
Minutes to Win It! Reading
Program. We are currently at
64 579 minutes!
If we reach 75,000 minutes by
the end of January, students will
be treated to a Seuss party! Keep
up the good reading!
By: Cameron Jackson
What do you want for Christmas?
Tattiana Lohr:
I wish for a
guitar from
Santa.
Shelby Klein:
I wish that
Santa clause
will give me a
quad.
Ms. Frizzley:
Peace on Earth
and Good will to
men!!
Sewing
By: Ronna Trueman
The grades 5-8 are taking sewing class. Their
teacher is Sandie Holden. She comes in every
Wednesday to teach us. In sewing we are
making pyjama pants. Some of the kids are
finished. With the scraps they are making a
quilt. We would like to give a big thanks to
Sandie Holden, Margie Sorensen, Mrs. Woods,
and Mrs. Russell for helping us learn how to
sew. Have a very Merry Christmas!
By Megan Russell
Allen Dumas is the grade 5-8 guitar teacher. We have guitar lessons every
Tuesday during the last period of the school day. We have been learning runs
between chords, the chords c, g, f, a, d, e, a minor, b7. Our class is also learning
the songs “Green Green Grass of Home”, and “Ghost Riders in the Sky”. We want
to wish a very Merry Christmas to our great teacher Allen Dumas. Thanks for
helping us learn to play the guitar.
Parents Matter Tea
By: Tattiana Lohr
The Parents Matter Tea was held at Dixonville School on Friday, November 22nd, 2013. It all started
with a welcome and opening by Mr. Garaba then there was a comedy minute. Comedy minute is a
short play. This comedy minute was by Xyla Zea Click and Tattiana Lohr and it was called “The Nobel
Prize”. After comedy minute grades k & 1 did an acrostic Thank you and then we had another
comedy minute. This one was by Cole and Cameron and it was called “Trying to Grow Chickens”.
The grade 2 class performed “The Best School”. Again we had another comedy minute. This one was
performed by Shelby and Ronna and it was called “Gathering Chickens”. The grade 2 class then had a
readers theatre after that there was another comedy minute which was performed by Cole and
Cameron and this one was called “School Marks”. The grades 3-8 then sang Sound of Silence, Boom
Boom Ain’t it Great to be Crazy and Grandpa’s Whiskers. Then last but not least there were closing
comments by Mr. Garaba. The students had a great time preforming for their parents and we hope
the parents enjoyed their special evening.
Family Fun Afternoon!
On Thursday December
19th, the school will be
hosting a family fun
afternoon. There will be
stations set up around the
school, and everyone is
welcome to come and
enjoy!
The school would like to
start utilizing the wonderful
skating rink! Students that
have skates and helmets
are welcome to bring them
in and keep them at school.
Skates and helmets will be
provided for students that
do not have any, or cannot
bring theirs.
Christmas Dinner
Wish everyone in our community a Merry Christmas
and Happy New Year!!
Students will be enjoying
a Christmas Dinner Hot
Lunch at the Seniors
Centre on Thursday,
December 19th, sponsored
by the Dixonville LIFE AG
Society
To have your name put up on the Community Christmas
Card, make a small donation to help Santa supply treat
bags to the children at the Dixonville School Christmas
Concert. Donations are being accepted by Rebecca at
the Post Office.
Winter Weather
Winter is upon us, and we
ask that parents send their
children to school dressed
appropriately. Students
should come to school
with hats, coats, snow
pants, mittens and boots.
Thank you for your
cooperation.
Christmas Concert
Join us Wednesday December
18th at 7:00 p.m. for our
Christmas Concert. With a
special appearance by Santa
Claus!
Remembrance Day Poster Contest Entries
For more photos, go to our website @ www.dixonvilleschool.ca
Growing Strong Readers: What is Phonics?
Thanks to the popular "Hooked on Phonics" television commercials
everybody has heard of phonics, but not everybody knows what it is. Phonics is a method of
teaching that emphasizes letter-sound relationships. Children are taught, for example, that the
letter n represents the sound /n/, and that it is the first letter in words such
as nose, nice and new.
In addition, and this is something that most people don't think about when they think of
phonics, children are explicitly taught the English spelling-sound "rules." Children are taught
things like "when two vowels go walkin' the first does the talkin'" and "when a word ends in a
silent-e, the first vowel sound is long." Since no letter in English, except for the letter V
consistently corresponds to a single sound, these rules are quite complex. Nose, nice,
and new all start with the letter N, but gnu, knife, and pneumonia certainly do not. There are
spelling and pronunciation rules, and then there are exceptions to the rules, and teachers who use the phonics approach try to
formally and explicitly teach both.
There are two important things to remember about phonics. First, phonics is an instructional strategy – a method of teaching
children to read. Second, phonics has to do with teaching the relationships between the sounds in speech and the letters of the
alphabet (both written and spoken). Typically, when somebody is talking about teaching children the "spelling-sound" relationships,
they are talking about teaching some form of phonics.
New educational apps for mobile phones and tablets can supplement what your child is learning at home or in school.
Top 3 Phonics Apps
We’ve found almost a dozen great apps that give kids practice with basic phonics skills, including recognizing the letters of the
alphabet, learning upper case and lower case letters, alphabet matching, and word building. To see the full list of 11 Apps, go to this
link - http://www.readingrockets.org/pdfs/Top-11-Phonics-Apps.pdf
iSpy Phonics
Simplex
Spelling
with
Reverse
Phonics:
Lite
ABC
Expedition
$1.99
Match phonic sounds with letters, through colorful illustrations,
pictures and accurate pronunciation, all this while playing the age
old game of I Spy. It provides a fun and highly interactive way to help
children learn to recognize letters and their phonic sounds. This app
allows children to match phonic sounds with letters, through
illustrations, pictures, and accurate pronunciation while playing the
game of I Spy. (Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod touch)
Free
Simplex Spelling Lite is designed to improve spelling and reading
skills in a fun and interactive way by using “reverse phonics.”
Simplex Spelling Lite contains over 50 high frequency English
words; it also enables students to build on each word, which goes
above and beyond the sheer memorization of words. Simplex
Spelling Lite enhances understanding in a variety of students as
it appeals to audio, visual and tactile learners. It is a great tool to
have for kids learning to spell, remedial students, or those
learning English as a second language. (Compatible with iPad,
iPhone, iPod touch)
This is an app designed to help children with their alphabet.
However, this app not only helps kids with their alphabet; it also
helps children learn various animals too. This is promised to be a
fun app for both parents and kids. (iPad only)
$2.99
Next Article: Jan. 2014 - Fluency: becoming a graceful reader – reading correctly, quickly and with expression.
Superintendent’s Message
Learning Supports
Peace River School Division (PRSD) is committed to meet the needs of all learners and ensure students experience
success. How do we do this? We do this by making sure students feel accepted, we focus on their strengths and put
supports and services in place that work best to support their needs and learning styles. We closely follow and put in
place practices and principles outlined in Inspiring Action on Education (Alberta Education) because we believe that
every student is unique and can experience success.
Below are two statements (from the Inspiring Action on Education document) that provide an overall summary of an
inclusive education system:
“An inclusive education system is one that takes responsibility for all students, focuses on their strengths, and
emphasizes what they can do rather than what they can’t do. “
“A commitment to meeting diverse student needs in all school settings so that all students experience a sense of
belonging and acceptance in their school environment.”
As you can imagine, in order to have an inclusive education system, there are many supports, services and
partnerships that need to be in place. Below is a list of learning supports in PRSD:
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Early Childhood Services
Learning Coaches provide support to teachers to create classroom environments that support differentiated
instructional strategies and universal design
An Inclusive Education Intervention Coach helps implement specific programs to meet specific student
needs
School-based Inclusive Education Coaches (I-Coaches) help to make sure that inclusive education practices
are integrated into our education system
Youth Education Support Workers and Success Coaches (Mental Health Capacity Building project) provide
preventative programming that support the social, emotional, and behavioural needs of students. These
supports are available through various community partnerships
Targeted and specialized services are provided for students as needed
Educational assistants provide a variety of supports
Assistive technology (such as speech to text software and an E-Library) provide all students with an alternative
means of accessing curriculum and resources
Release time and professional learning opportunities for school staff ensure that collaboration and growth
occurs, and that curricular outcomes for all students are discussed
Resources are provided as needed to support the work being done in classrooms
In PRSD, when specific student needs are identified, schools work with experts such as school psychologists,
occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech language therapists, or hearing/vision specialists to assess needs.
Parents, teachers and specialists work together as required to put a plan in place.
As education is being transformed in Alberta, parents are encouraged to continue to work closely with your child’s
school to ensure your child has access to learning supports to be successful.
Paul Bennett
Superintendent of Schools
December 2013
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Swimming
13
14
15
16
Drama Club
3:30-4:30
17
Bible Club
3:30-5:00
18
Christmas
Concert
19
Christmas Hot
Lunch
Family Fun
Afternoon
20
21
Christmas
Break Begins
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Jan 6 – First
Day Back