Click here for a pdf version of the Current Newsletter
Our classroom has been buzzing with excitement as we prepare and practice for our Spring Tea performance! We look forward to seeing all of you there.
In Social Studies, we have been discussing and exploring what it was like long ago in Argyle and in other prairie areas. The students have enjoyed looking at how our communities have changed and stayed the same. It is so good to take some time to look at and appreciate how lucky we are to be a part of Argyle.
The K-2 students are starting a new Measurement unit in Math. They are now focusing on Solids, Liquids and Gas in Science. This unit links up with our previous Health/Science focus on the Air and Water in the Environment. Our Author Of The Month will be Barbara Reid. Happy Mothers Day!
Mrs. Klassen
What a busy month April has been! Badminton, Jump Rope, Portfolios, ATV Presentation, Town-Clean-Up! And now we’re on to May. Probably the ‘highlight’ for grade 7 and 8 is their Language Arts Assessment the week of May 14 – May 18th. Although ‘highlight’ might not be the word they would use to describe it!
In a way though the assessment does ‘highlight’ the work the students have been doing all year. It is ‘process’ oriented rather than ‘content’ oriented. This means that the work students do in reading comprehension; writing, editing, listening, etc. throughout the year makes up the assessment. A ’content’ approach would be studying and testing a particular time in Canadian history for example.
In a ‘process’ assessment therefore, there is not a set ‘block’ of material the students study and focus on prior to the assessment. We have been looking at certain areas and reviewing various components of LA in the past few weeks in our 7/8 integrated subjects classes. The students will not be burning the midnight oil, cramming over a set of notes as they might for a ‘content’ based assessment. If you have any questions or concerns over the LA assessment please give me a call here at the school.
Finally, we have the Argyle Spring Tea on May 11th. The students are preparing various displays and performances around the theme of Argyle’s 100 year Centennial. I look forward to seeing many of you there.
Happy Spring! Mr. Gillies
Hello everyone,
After having substitute taught in your lovely little school I am grateful to be teaching here every afternoon. I wanted to tell you all a little bit about myself. I live in Stony Mountain with my husband Kevin, our eight year old son Nolan and our six year old twins Carter & Ashley. We recently moved to the area from Moosehorn. I love horseback riding, playing sports, camping, reading and chocolate! I grew up on an equine ranch and grain farm in southwestern Manitoba 1km from the village of St. Alphonse with my parents, five older brothers and one older sister. Believe it or not, the school I went to for K-8 was much smaller than this one! I had the largest class in the three room school with eight of us in all. I still have very fond memories of my school growing up. I love and can appreciate small school settings with all that they offer.
I am very excited to be one of the staff here at Brant-Argyle School. You have a unique setting, a caring staff and a wonderful group of students. I look forward to working with you and getting to know you all better.
Mrs. Van Den Bussche
Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment. - Ellis Peters
Spring has definitely put a spring in our step. There is so much to discover in our environment as Mother Nature starts to wake up. During our morning walk, we get to stop by the enormous ant hill to see if the little creatures have made any progress since yesterday. We wonder about the berry we left them and why they didn’t eat it. We wonder whether they would bite us if they crawled up our pant leg. We wonder why bubbles burst when we let them drop onto our hands. So many discoveries, even before we set foot in the door for the day.
Not only was April a month of wonder, but also of reflection. We reflected on our learning as we were getting ready for portfolio night. Thank you so much to everyone who attended the evening to celebrate your child’s learning. We were very proud of the independence, pride and ownership shown by our students. After the evening, staff and students have reflected on the portfolio process itself. We discussed the parts of portfolio night we really like and improvements we can make for next year. I would also love to hear any feedback from our parents, grandparents and guardians.
We look forward to the month of May as we practice our Scottish brogue for the Spring Tea. Argyle turns 100 this year so we thought it was fitting to pay tribute to our roots and celebrate our history. You are most welcome to the Argyle Community Hall for some lovely treats and great entertainment for the annual Argyle Spring Tea on May 11th.
To wrap up I would like to extend a few thank-yous. First of all, thank-you to everyone who participated in our Vesey’s Bulb Fundraiser. Bulbs have been ordered and should be in shortly. We were able to raise just over $1100 which will be put towards school ground improvement. Secondly, thank-you to everyone who participated in earth day. With the help of some parent volunteers we spent the morning cleaning up the town. After a hotdog BBQ we participated in Jump Rope for Heart, raising $99 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Lastly, a huge thank-you to our students for being involved in their learning and in their environment. In so many ways, our students continue to demonstrate that they are enthusiastic, contributing members of our school community.
Mrs. L. Perrella
Ingredients:
½ cup butter
1 red bell pepper , sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 orange bell pepper, sliced
1 baguette
1 med onion sliced
3 tbsps olive oil
6 slices swiss or mozzerella cheese
3 - 4 oz steaks (cooked) sliced thin
Salt & pepper to taste
(left over roast beef may also be used)
Directions:
Heat oil in a medium pan. Saute peppers and onion until tender, add meat and season with salt and pepper. Stir until meat is heated through and flavours are combined; 5-10 min. Set aside.
Cut baguette into equal thirds and slice open. Mix butter and garlic. Spread garlic butter on open bread, and toast until golden brown. Put equal amounts of meat and pepper filling on each 1/2 of bread and cover with cheese slices, toast under broiler to melt cheese. Serve open-face. Optional: Serve with barbeque sauce.
Here at Brant-Argyle school we have an ecosystem that contains fish and… we don’t just have fish.
We have gold severums. They are fish that like to eat the others but they’re still cool fish. We have three plecos, short for plecostomus. They eat junk like fish scat and algae and suck up the bottom.
We also have turtles. They are our favorite thing in the ecosystem. One is named Sheldon and the other Shelly. People like to watch them which is nice for us so we know people like them.
We have a fire Belly toad his name is Tim. His cuddle factor is zero. He has toxin in his skin and not many people like him. His colors are green and red.
Last but not least are the crickets. They feed our fish and once a month we go to the pet store and get some more crickets to feed the fish. They sometimes escape and they have scared some gr’5s.
We have to say that we don’t just have fish.
Devyn C, Ethan L-C
We clean the tank by cleaning the sides and algae so our wildlife can live in a healthy habitat. We also clean the turtles. One of the turtles is grouchy so we have an expert to do it for us because they need the cleaning because they need a clean shell. The other turtle is sometimes calm so the rest of the grade 5”s take turns and clean him. The turtle’s names are Sandy and Sheldon. Sheldon is calm and Sandy is grumpy. We clean the tank monthly.
We feed our fish with omega one, just turtle food and fish food. We also put stuff in our composter and the food disintegrates and the fish eat it. We go to the pet store and buy crickets, meal worms and food for the ecosystem. Some other fish also eat the turtle food.
We take inventory through the school and give them a question that we know and if they get the right answer we give them a prize. We take the inventory every time we go to the library. We take the inventory to see how long the wildlife can live in the ecosystem. The inventory helps us see how long the fish can live. The inventory also includes kids in the school. They write down what they see when they go to the library and see what is happening in the ecosystem.
Hunter N, Owen T, Nick P
We share our information by doing PowerPoint’s, info sheets, observation sheets, presentations, and posters.
We are now sharing our information with you. By the way that is a good thing.
We share our information by doing games. One of the games was to ask people in our school how they think frootloop tetras get their colour? Three people got it right, so they got a prize.
We always tell people what they need to know about fish tanks so when we go to someone’s house, we will tell them our information.
Even by our ecosystem we have posters with all
the information about the fish and other animals in our tank.
The last thing we did was a presentation at the big showcase day. Our
audience was Interlake School Division Trustees.
We think it’s important to share this information because it helps other
people take care of their animals.
Audrianna B, Brooklyn B
Dear Parent/Guardian,
The Interlake School Division is committed to improving students’ engagement in their own learning. We are interested in knowing more about what our students have to say. To that end, we will survey students using a computerized tool called Tell Them From Me (TTFM). Manitoba Education has generously provided the financial support for all students in grades 7 – 12 to be surveyed.
TTFM is an online school survey that allows students to give their input into school improvement initiatives in an anonymous way. This spring and again in the fall, all students in grades 7 -12 will be given an opportunity to participate. They are encouraged to complete the survey, but may choose not to. Everyone completing the survey will be given a random username and password. Thus, respondents cannot be linked to their responses, ensuring anonymity.
The student survey will be completed online and will require approximately 35-40 minutes to complete. The student survey measures include such topics as student engagement, achievement in math, science, and English language arts, safety at school, and drivers of student outcomes (e.g. quality instruction, classroom context). The survey also allows students to give their thoughts and feedback in an open-ended question response.
TTFM was created by The Learning Bar, based on the work by co-founder Dr. J. Douglas Willms. Dr. Willms is widely known nationally and internationally for his work on the development of educational monitoring systems, including the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Since 2004, Tell Them From Me has quickly grown to become Canada’s largest national school survey.
The survey will be administered at school sometime during the week of May 7 - 11. If you would like more information, please contact Mrs. Perrella 467-2683.
Running Club will begin on Tuesday, May 1st. Students who have signed up will meet every Tuesday and Thursday morning in the breezeway at about 8:20 a.m. We will run and train until Thursday, June 14th. On that Thursday, we will have a Pancake Breakfast to conclude our year.
Students who signed up for the Marathon will be getting Marathon packages very soon. We will be running on Sunday, June 17th, Father's Day. Thanks for all of your support!
Mrs. Klassen
Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre is offering weeklong camps for children ages 5 – 13 in July and August. Camp is filled with fun indoor and outdoor themed activities that could include scavenger hunts, canoe adventures, outdoor cooking and nature crafts. For more information on weekly themes or to register a camper please visit: http://www.oakhammockmarsh.ca , or call (204) 467-3300.
May 1 - Bookmobile
May 3 - My Voice Meeting
May 9 - PAC Meeting @ 7:00 p.m.
May 11 - Annual Argyle Spring Tea -1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
May 13 - Mother’s Day
May 14 -18 - ELA Exam 7/8
May 16 - Gr. 4 & 6 Immunization
May 21 - Statutory Holiday - No Classes
May 22 - Bookmobile
May 25 Volunteer Appreciation Tea - 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
May 28 - Subway Day
May 31 - Gr. 5 Heritage Day
Friday, May 25, 2012 - 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
This is a formal invitation to all volunteers who have helped to make this another great year. Students and staff would like to take this opportunity to express their thanks and appreciation to all volunteers, whether it be parents, guardians, grandparents, or our neighbors in the community, who offer themselves willingly throughout the year. Your efforts not only make our school and community a better place, but your continued support enriches the lives of all involved. Please know that volunteers are an essential part of every school and community and that your support is very much appreciated!
Once again we thank you, and hope you can join us on May 25th for our Annual Volunteer Appreciation Tea. Please R.S.V.P. Mrs. Navarro by Monday, May 14, 2012 at 467-2683, if you are able to attend. Thank you!
The Staff and Students of Brant-Argyle School
“Volunteers are seldom paid; not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless! “ --author unknown