Husky Howler

In a small school, the contribution of each individual becomes very important and the activities over the past month do indeed show that we can accomplish great things when we work together. As you read further into this newsletter, you will see that it is largely student created. Students from each classroom were given the task of reporting on a specific event in which their class participated. In addition to their written work, these students will be creating the second edition of the Holsgrove News, soon to be available on the TV in the front hall. During noon-hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, floor ball is happening which was organized by student leaders, with students acting as referees under the supervision of staff. Earth Day, April 22, gave us the opportunity to work together to clean-up our school yard and neighbourhood and May will begin with a group of students planting ten beautiful red maples in the school yard. It is wonderful to have the cooperation and enthusiasm of all staff and students as we work together to create a school of which we can be proud.

Last month the Junior Basketball teams participated in a tournament on April 18 and 19 at LCVI. There was a boys and a girls team. We practiced on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at lunch recesses. Thanks to Mr. K, and Matt and Jessica for their coaching.

Ball hockey is a fun game that most of us are playing. The games are hosted in the gym at lunch recess on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is for grade 3 and up. There are six teams: the Senators, the Flyers, the Flames, the Red Wings, the Maple Leafs and the Canadiens. Ball hockey is good exercise and you should try it!

My grade 3/4 class went out in the morning on April 24^th and we traced our shadows for a science project. At the first stage, the shadow was really long and skinny. The shadow at lunch was a lot shorter and wider. The third one, my favourite, was a little longer than the third one and it was in the middle between skinny and wide. The shadow experiment was really fun to do.

The regional track meet is on May 23 and the District track meet on June 10. Students who are interested should talk to these teachers about the events. If you are interested in long jump, see Ms. Arrowsmith. Mme Wight will be looking after triple jump and Mr. K will be doing the running events and high jump. Don’t worry, there will be time to practise! Practices will be held on Wednesdays and Fridays at 12:10. We will also be using FITT time to practise. So have fun and good luck to everyone!

Game one: the first game of the 2007-2008 Holsgrove season was the Maples Leafs vs. the Habs. Starter goalie, Brandon, let in four goals and little Braedan let in one goal. Patrick scored three times (not exactly sure), and Dana scored once.

Game two: Detroit Red Wings vs. Calgary Flames. Substitute player Myles scored four goals on Mat for the Red Wings and the flames goalie Charlie let in one goal by Jordan. The final score was 4-1 for the Flames.

Game three: Sens vs. Flyers. Starting goalies were Matt and Andy, with Corbin finishing for the Flyers. Mat got a shut-out, and the final score was 8-0 for the Sens.

Game four: Brandon let in one goal, while Braedan let in two goals. The Flames won, 2-1.

Game five: Sens. vs. Habs

Game six: Red Wings vs. Flyers

On April 22^nd the grade 5's were invited to Landon Bay. They taught us about leaving nature as we find it and that we should stay on the path and not litter. Web of Life was fun because we got to learn about the different things like non living and living food that animals need to eat to live. After all that we had pizza for lunch. The thing we didn’t like about it was we weren’t allowed to be together. There was a different type of art, and it was cool. There was a little dog there as well. While we were there the school picked up garbage. It was better than school! We learned alot!!

On Thursday, April 17^th, the members of Parent Council planned a movie night to raise money for the school and provide entertainment for the children. The movie that was chosen was Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. It is about a magic toy store and everything in it comes to life, including the store itself. Doors opened at 6:00pm and the movie started at 6:30pm. Everyone that came to the movie really enjoyed it, had a lot of fun, and are waiting for the next movie night!

 Museum of Civilization
by Zach, Noah & Alex

On April 24, 2008, the grade 5/6 class went to the Museum of Civilization in Quebec.  We saw many historic monuments and even saw a man shooting a movie.  We went to an exhibit about Ancient Peru and its trades.  After that we went to a museum for kids and got our very own passports (stamp book).  After we left the kids’ museum, we went to the gift shop for about five minutes.  Then we went to the IMAX to see ‘Creatures of the Deep’.  In the IMAX we learned a lot about sea creatures, and had a few frights.  In the end it was a great trip!

Pitch In Day

We had Pitch In Day at Westbrook Park at one o’clock on Tuesday, April 22, 2008. First the children in Ms. Elliott’s class got in groups with adult helpers. After that we put on our gloves and walked to the park. Next we picked up four huge bags of garbage! When we were finished we played on the playground equipment. We felt thirsty but happy that the park was so clean. We learned that if you pick up garbage you can help the environment.

Thank you to the parents who helped to supervise all of the students from Holsgrove as they cleaned up many areas of Westbrook.

Young Entrepreneurs

Ms. Arrowsmith’s grade 3/4 class will be fundraising for their end of the year field trip to Medieval Times. With the help of enthusiastic parents, the students will be selling milkshakes every Thursday, beginning May 6^th. They are also planning a pita & milkshake lunch. Watch for more information coming home soon.

Next School Council meeting is May 27th, 6:30pm at Mino's. 

 STANDING PROUD

Please RSVP, or get further information, from Madeliene Tarasick, at 613 544-6925, Ext. 220, or email at tarasickm@limestone.on.ca so we may plan for refreshments and seating.

Have you ever wanted to peer into the future to see how your child will learn and grow? Crystal balls and magic mirrors, though helpful to fairy tale characters, are not so reliable to parents of young children.

Research shows, however, that PEERing into the future is possible with a specific way of sharing books with children. PEER is an acronym for a strategy that, when used regularly, boosts young children’s spoken language skills and their ability to understand meaning in print as they grow older. What does PEER stand for?

Prompt your child with questions, comments and wonderings as you share books together. Rather than read a story straight through, pause to talk about the pictures, words, ideas and feelings throughout the book. (e.g. "I wonder why that elephant is looking sad.")

Evaluate the responses your child gives so that your child knows you are listening and feels his or her ideas are important. (e.g. "I think you’re right. He is feeling lonely.")

Expand your child’s responses (e.g. "That elephant is feeling extremely lonely.")

Repeat the new word you have introduced and encourage your child to say it aloud. (e.g. "That elephant is… and pause for children to chime in with… extremely lonely.")

Studies show that when adults encourage children to talk about the books they love, children’s ability with language and reading both have a better future.