ELROSE COMPOSITE SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
March 6, 2015 #19
Principal’s Message – Ms. V. Moore
Isn’t it funny what a little sun and warmer weather can do to the spirits! Let’s hope Old Man Winter has finally hit the
road. Speaking of good things, badminton season has officially started. It was so nice to hear runners squeaking on
the gym floor this week. Without basketball and wrestling this year, things were a little quiet in the gym. I am hoping
that is a temporary thing and we are able to get our athletic activities back on track next year. So, Russ, if you are
reading this, no pressure, but we miss you!
Thank you to the SRC for the great noon lunch today. It is nice break for parents to get a day off from making
lunches.
Student- Led Conference are coming up again. We will have appointment times out next week. These conferences
are meant for students to share with their parents learning goals, work samples, and their reflections on how they
feel they have been doing in meeting their goals. Other concerns or issues we have about students is communicated
with parents as needed. We understand that communication with our families needs to be timely and ongoing;
therefore, please know you, too, are welcome and encouraged to contact us at any time with any question or concern
you have.
Spirit Week is Coming!
March 23 – PJ Day
March 24 – Dress Like They Did in the 60’s
March 25 - Dress Like They Did in the 70’s
Student Led Conference
March 18 and 19
5:00 – 8:00
Appointment Times To Be Sent Home Next
Week
March 26- Dress Like They Did in the 80’s
March 27- Dress Like They Did in the 90’s
K-9 Report
Cards
March 12
Reminder
No Classes March 13 and 16
Kindergarten/Grade 1 – Ms. Chilliak
This week in Health, the K/1 class has been busy learning about their body. We have learned about
the importance of both the heart and the brain. In Art we started our St. Patrick's Day projects. We
have finished hoola hoops in Phys Ed and will be moving on to soccer. Kindergarten has finished their
Itchy Alphabet books and will be moving on to some practice with printing their letters. The Grade
Ones will be finishing their Math unit on Numbers to 100. They all practiced their skip counting by 2’s,
5’s and 10’s. Ask your child to skip count for you
Grade 2/3 – Mrs. Doucette
What's Hoppening in Grade 2 & 3?
In math, students have been busy learning all about equations! They have been busy adding and
subtracting to find missing numbers. They are learning how to balance equations too. We even got
out the scale and used blocks to see how it worked! (example 4+3=8-1 & 5+6=4+? and students
solved to find the ?) Next week, we will move on to learning more about addition and
subtraction. Coming soon-math homework! (Parents, please don't worry it will be addition and
subtraction-nothing complicated) :)
The new guided reading groups have begun and the students are working on learning a variety of
reading strategies. The students also learned about homophones this week. Ask your child if they
remember what they are and have them tell you an example. Then you can share an example with
your child. Have a fantastic weekend!
Grade 4 & 5 – Ms. Minish
The grade 4 and 5 students have been working hard on their "passion projects". They are almost
complete and many of the students have been practicing presenting. In science we looked at simple
machines. They built a lever and shared what they learned on their blog. Make sure to ask your child
about their post!
ELA 6/7/8 with Miss Sampson
Our class is having a great time reading the novel, Number the Stars by one of my favorite authors,
Lois Lowry. It is the story about Annemarie Johanson and her best friend, Ellen Rosen, a little Jewish
girl living in Denmark during WWII. The students have all received workbooks with questions,
activities and vocabulary. Remember, it is always important to do your best work and to answer your
questions in complete sentences! Our grade7/8’s are working on creating their own fables. Yesterday
we had an interesting discussion about morals and shared some of our favorite fables and now
they’ve begun writing. I am very excited to read the stories that they’ve written!
Biology 30 – Ms. Minish
This week we have been busy studying photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Next week the
students will be writing their unit 2 test.
Foundations of Mathematics 30 – Mrs. Lehmkuhl
Foundations of Mathematics 30 students have completed their unit on the borrowing aspect of
financial mathematics. They have determined how to calculate the total amount of interest, how long
it takes to pay off a loan depending on interest rate and compounding periods, and the total cost of a
loan. We have explored how much money can be saved if debt is consolidated and compared the
differences between buying, renting, and leasing. With these skills, students should be capable of
making informed decisions regarding borrowing in their futures.
Upcoming Exams/Reminders:
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Grade 9 Linear Equations and Inequalities Exam on Wednesday, March 11
Grade 10 Factors and Products Exam on Wednesday, March 11
For all grade 9-10 students, please remember to bring your pies for Pi Day on Thursday, March
12
WEEKLY PUZZLE CHALLENGE:
Using the digits from 0-9 only once, fill in the squares below to make the equation true.
Hints:
1. The first number is 97.
2. Both sides of the equation multiply to give a number that is a multiple of five.
3. There are three different solutions.
Last Week’s Solution
IP 10 - Mr. Kingwell
In our Information Processing class, students are currently just finishing up their Scratch video
games. The students all came up with some very creative ideas. I even managed to re-create the
classic Atari game of Frogs and Flies, and, so far, I am the undefeated champion! It is a very cool
program to use as it encourages students to be creative and to put to use their problem solving skills
to get the game to run smoothly and do what they want it to do. Coming up, we will be moving into
a unit on video production. Students will learn the basics of capturing video and editing video to put
together basic video projects.
Communications 20 - Mr. Kingwell
! Our Communications Media 20 class started off by learning about the Communications Media
industry and the theory associated with it. This included things like copyright, project management,
production stages, and the different areas of communications media. Since finishing that, students
have moved on to our study of audio production. For this, students will be using the program
Audacity to edit and produce their audio productions. To begin, students were tasked with creating
a short sound clip of them telling a joke, and adding in a rim shot sound effect that often
accompanies a joke. They seem to be having fun with this and I hope their enthusiasm continues
through the rest of the course!
Library News -Ms. Thomspon
This week in the library the Kindergarten to Grade 3 have been
talking about random acts of kindness and how it doesn't have to
cost money or take up a lot of time to be a caring
individual. Every week we will be thinking of different things we
can all do to be kind in our community. We read a book about
everyone's invisible bucket and how to fill it by showing them
kindness. Ask your child about how they can fill your bucket and
what might empty it.
Senior Badminton – Ms. Moore
It is great to be back in the gym. It has been far too quiet in there this winter. Time
to get back in the ‘swing’ of things. The senior badminton team has been practicing
and are off to Rosetown tomorrow for our first tourney. Below is our season
schedule. Keep an eye on the newsletter to see how we do.
March 7 – Rosetown
March 21 – Ponteix
March 28 – Swift Current
April 18 – Biggar
April – 20/21 – South Section Playoffs in Elrose
April 25 – Districts in Rosetown
May 2 – Regionals TBA
May 9 – Provincials
Jr. Badminton - Mr. Kingwell and Mrs. Calwell
Our Jr. Badminton season is now officially underway. This past week, we have had two
practices in preparation for upcoming exhibition games and tournaments. Students were
sent home with a parent consent and information form, so please get this signed and
returned as soon as possible. Practices will be Mondays and Wednesdays from
3:30 – 5 pm. We will also be participating in a league with teams from Kyle, Dinsmore, and
Beechy, and this will begin sometime in the near future. Stay tuned for dates and more
information.
We Care Club – Amber Thompson, Zakia Alam, and Emily Sather
Mini We Day was sure a blast! A small group consisting of Zakia, Emily,
Marguerite, Mackenzie, Amber and Mrs. Marchand headed over to
Marengo on February 27, 2015. The event started at 3:00 p.m. and
wrapped up at 9:00 p.m. We participated in many different activities
including creating a lemonade stand, listening to different speeches by
wonderful people about travelling and volunteering in different places
around the world as well as the value of education, and a performances
by the Brad Johner Boys.
This year, the main focus was leadership. A couple from Kindersley, both
entrepreneurs, brought “The Lemonade Game”, an entrepreneurial
activity where students joined together to create the best lemonade and
stand. Groups had to prepare commercials, slogans, posters, and
purchase all their materials with only $100 (fake money, of course)! After
one hour of preparation, students were judged on their product and
overall presentation. The winning team took home $200 (real money this
time)! Overall, it was a great way to demonstrate leadership, teamwork,
and creative abilities.
All of us had a really fun time and we hope to go back again next year!
Hats off to Westcliffe School for hosting such a great event!
Correction….
SCC Meeting
March 17th
7:00 PM
Melting Snow =Wet Kids
It will soon be that time
again. Please send
splash pants and rubber
boots on warm days for
your student for
recesses play.