PANTHER PRESS PARK SCHOOL

Volume 3 , Issue 8

Apri l 2012

Park Public School 217 Main St. E. Grimsby, ON L3M 1P5 905.945.2445 http://park.dsbn.org/

Park—the small school with the big

heart!

MISSION

STATEMENT

We at Park believe that all students can learn.

It is our purpose to facilitate that learning. Education Week  is  the  time  that we  celebrate  the wonderful accomplishments of  the 

staff and students in the District School Board of Niagara. At Park, we are very fortunate to have an excellent  team who work each day  to ensure the best possible educational experience  for all of our students. We  thank our School Council  for  their hard work  in supporting  the  students. We  also  continue  to  thank  parents/guardians,  grandparents and volunteers  for  their ongoing  support and help  in maintaining a  strong  connection between home and school, ensuring that we are truly Achieving Success Together. 

E D U C A T I O N W E E K , A P R I L 2 3 T O 2 7

S P R I N G I S I N T H E A I R ! With  the days getting  longer and  the air  starting  to get a  little warmer, we all can feel that spring weather is on its way. However, it is still  important  to remember that students need  to be dressed  for comfort  and  safety  each  day.  Please  remind  your  children  to wear clothing to school that will keep them warm and dry  for the day. Boots help to keep the school clean and free of mud. It is essential that all children have dry, clean shoes to wear indoors and for Physical Education.  

S P R I N G C O N C E R T U P DA T E We  have  scheduled  our  Spring  Concert  for  the  evening  of Thursday, May  10th  at  Nelles  School.  Classroom  newsletters will  have more  detailed  information  as we  get  closer  to  that date.  Students  will  be  participating  in  a  production  called “Welcome to the  Jungle”. The production  is based on Aesop’s fable,  “The  Lion  and  the  Mouse”.  If  parents/guardians  are interested  in helping out with  the Spring Concert,  feel  free  to contact Mrs. Munro at the school. 

T H E DS BN R OA D R AC E I S B AC K ! The 2012 DSBN Road Race takes place on Sunday, April 29 at the DSBN Educa‐tion  Centre.  Money  raised  supports  nutrition  programs  in  DSBN  schools 

through the Education Foundation of Niagara, Niagara Nutrition Partners, and PenFinancial Credit Union. The Road Race is a fun family activity that 

promotes a healthy  lifestyle.  In addition to the 1km fun run and 5km road race, there will be a BBQ and a fun fair. Participation and volun‐

teer  forms are available at  the school’s office. You can also visit http://www.efnonline.ca for more information and links to the participation forms. Please mark Sunday, April 29th on your calendar!

S U N M O N T U E W E D T H U F R I S A T

1 2 D A Y 1 0

Running Club

3 D A Y 1

Art Gal lery Workshops

4 D A Y 2

Running Club JK/SK Fish Scient is ts in Schools

5 D A Y 3

JK/SK Coles Scient is ts in Schools 11 :35 Last Mad Science Pizza Day

6

Good Friday Holiday

7

8

Easter Sunday

9

Easter Monday Holiday

1 0 D A Y 4

1 1 D A Y 5

Running Club

Juniors to Car-ousel Players at Nel les 1 :45 PM DSBN Chess

1 2 D A Y 6

1 3 D A Y 7

Pizza Day

1 4

1 5

1 6 D A Y 8

Running Club

1 7 D A Y 9

1 8 D A Y 1 0 Running Club

1 9 D A Y 1

2 0 D A Y 2

Pizza Day

2 1

2 2

2 3 D A Y 3

Running Club

2 4 D A Y 4

2 5 D A Y 5

1500m Run at 12 Noon Admin. Assistant Day Thank you, Mrs. Zavarel la

2 6 D A Y 6

Park Track and Field AM Grades 3-6

2 7 D A Y 7

Earth Day Pizza Day Track and Fie ld Rain Date (AM) Shar ing Assembly 10 :45

2 8

2 9 DSBN ROAD

RACE

3 0 D A Y 8

1 D A Y 9

5/6 Herbert Scient is ts in Schools PM

2 D A Y 1 0 11 :35 Running Club

3 D A Y 1

4 D A Y 2

Pizza Day

5

A P R I L 2012 Character Focus: Self Discipline 

D S B N E d u c a t i o n W e e k

Page 3 Volume 3 , Issue 7

N U M E R AC Y C O R N E R

G R A D E S 3 & 6 E Q A O

A S S E S S M E N T D A T E S

During  the  week  of  May 30th  and  June  4th, students  in  Grades  three and  six  will  write  the p r o v i n c i a l   E Q A O assessment.  It  is essential that  students  in  those grades  be  in  attendance at  school  every  day during  these  weeks  and on  time.  Please  do  not schedule doctor or dentist appo in tment s   nor vacations  during  that period.  If  appointments have  been  already scheduled,  most  doctor’s offices,  even  specialists, are  able  to  reschedule, given  sufficient  notice. Thank you. 

A Few Problems to Try at Home  The Broken Calculator! You have a damaged calculator where the 3‐key isn’t working. Explain how you could still use the calculator to solve the suitable problems below: 3 + 4  13 – 11 333 + 222  310 – 103 3 x 8  12 – 3  65 x 3  320 – 5 Have everybody in the house come up with a few different solutions to some of the problems. Do one at a time. Don’t rush. Give lots of think time. See how many you can all get.  Be creative! Compare your solutions. How are they the same? How are they different? Think and talk about if they would all work. Why would they work? If not, why wouldn’t they? Listen to your child’s thinking and focus on helping them understand the process of the mathematics involved rather than just the right answer. Then punch them into the calculator to check. Make up a few of your own. Have fun with it! 

S C H O O L C O U N C I L M E E T I N G

Park School Council has set  its  next  meeting date  for  Tuesday, May 22nd  at 7:00 pm in the Library.  Please  plan  to join us.  

P A R K C H E S S T E A M This year Park had a very active Chess Club. Many decided to go  into the Park Chess Tournaments. The winners were: 

Grade 3 Colter S. Tyler T. Jesse S. Connor M. 

Grade 4 Connor H. Matthew C. Nathan B. Mason G, 

Grade 5 Kaden H. Ethan C. Carson B. Brandon W. 

Grade 6 Alex W. Connery V. Julian T. 

Grade 2 Alexander A.  Matthew D. Abri W. Carter F.  

The Chess Team headed to Smith Public School on Friday, March 30th. They competed against  16  other  schools.  Seven  students will  continue  on  to  compete  in  the DSBN Tournament in St. Catharines on Wednesday, April 11th. They are  Alex W., Kaden H., Connery V., Brandon W., Connor H., Tyler T., and  Jesse S. Congratulations boys and best of luck on the 11th! 

Page 4 Volume 3 , Issue 7

‘U N C R A T E T H E S U N ’ D A N C E - A - T H O N A G R E A T S U C C E S S !

The  last  session  for Mad Science  is  Thursday, April 5th.  

M A D S C I E N C E

Although our Kindergar‐ten Open House has come and gone, there is still time to register new Jun‐ior or Senior Kindergarten children for September 2012. Please contact the school office if you, a friend or neighbour re‐quire a registration pack‐age. 

Thanks for Supporting Our 3rd  Annual Park School Council Dance‐a‐Thon!  The  Park  students  thoroughly  enjoyed  themselves  as  they danced  the day  away on March  8th! Together we raised almost $2600 for the Park School Council and our students. Thank‐you to the organizing committee, comprised of School Council members, who volunteered their time to make it a highly successful event! Congratulations  to Mrs. Bassegio/Mrs. Langdon’s Grade 2 class  that earned  extra  time  in  the Dance‐a‐Thon  for  their  fundraising  efforts.  Special  congratulations  to Amelia  D.,  Hanna  C.,  and  Andrea  H.  who  won  special  prizes  for  being  top  ‘pledgers’  in  their respective divisions. Well done girls! Special thanks goes out to DJ Mrs. Debbie Sobota and Mrs. Lori Kossek for all of their efforts. Also, special thanks to all of the parents that helped  the day of the Dance‐a‐Thon. Awesome job again this year. 

A RT WO R K S H O P S On Tuesday, April 3rd, artists from the 

Niagara Falls Art Gallery will once again conduct art workshops in each of our 

class‐rooms. The chil‐dren will be led by an instruc‐tor as they 

continue to ex‐plore a variety of me‐dia and art forms.  

Kindergarten   Self Portraits–Pastels  

Grade One  

From Mud to Art clay 

Grade Two  

Animals in the wild oil/pastel 

Grade Three  

Animal Totems clay 

Grade Four  

Ourselves & Cartoons   

Grade Five/Six  

Self Portrait paints 

 Tues. April 3 Workshops  

Page 5 Volume 3 , Issue 7

L I T E R AC Y CO R N E R N O N F I C T I O N M A T T E R S

We read different genres for different reasons. We read fiction primarily for enjoyment, to connect the text with our lives, to let our imagination carry us away, to hear the sound of narrative language, and to explore age-old themes. Most of the reading people do in life, however, is nonfiction. Nonfiction writing is the most widely read genre in the world. (Kamil and Lane, 1997) We read nonfiction to learn. Elementary school children of both genders (not just boys) will choose to read non-fiction over stories nearly half the time, a finding that surprises many people. (Kletzien and Szabo, 1998)

Content literacy is the ability to read, write, create, interpret and present a range of media, in subjects such as science, social studies and mathematics. It includes the use of informational text, that is, print and electronic media that present factual and conceptual content. Content literacy is essential for success in both secondary and post-secondary education, where most of what students read will be nonfiction. Studies have shown that academic achievement in a range of subjects and fields relies heavily on informational reading and writing. (Duke, 2004)

If students are not familiar with informational text forms, such as persuasive and explanatory writing, content literacy is more of a challenge. These texts include vocabulary and technical concepts that are abstract and impersonal. Most are densely written, presenting several concepts in every sentence. Additionally, some content reading takes place on the Internet, which is especially difficult for younger readers to search and select material from effectively.

The goal is for students to understand informational text independently. Good readers do this by using strategies. Before reading difficult texts, they set goals for reading by asking questions about the topic. They make predictions about what they will find in the text and skim through it in order to become more familiar with its structure. They purposefully try to picture what they are reading in their imagination, select key ideas and compare their predictions to the text. As they read, they ask themselves whether they understand the material, and if they do not, they reread and apply new strategies. After reading, they may summarize the text for themselves and evaluate it critically.

Teachers promote non-fiction reading in their classroom in a number of ways:

• Reading nonfiction aloud. • Giving nonfiction book talks. • Studying the work of a particular author. • Forming nonfiction book clubs. • Forming informational study groups around a common interest. • Reading the newspaper and following magazines. • Balancing fiction with nonfiction reading materials in the classroom library. • Using real-life observations and hands-on experiments as bases for reading and writing. • Explicitly teaching students strategies for comprehending informational text. • Using learning logs in subjects such as science, social studies and mathematics. • Explicitly teaching students how to write informational texts, such as reports, procedures (instructions),

arguments (persuasion) and explanations. • Having students write a variety of kinds of texts in science and social studies

Page 6 Volume 3 , Issue 7

A P R I L I S . . . O R A L H E A LT H M O N T H Although  preventable,  cavities  are  the  most common chronic disease of children aged six to 19 years.  Cavities  can  lead  to  difficulties  sleeping, pain, discomfort, and  infection which  for kids can lead  to  decreased  school  attendance.  In Niagara, fluoride  is  not  added  into  our  water  supply. 

Therefore,  it  is  recommended  that  all residents brush their teeth twice daily 

with fluoridated toothpaste to prevent cavities.  

Children  three  to six  years  of  age 

should  be a s s i s t e d 

with brushing their teeth by an adult using a pea‐sized portion of  fluoridated  toothpaste until  they can tie their own shoe laces.  

Regular flossing is the single most important thing you can do to prevent gum disease. Most children will need help flossing until they are about eight to 10 years old. 

Niagara Region Public Health has two programs to assist  children  and  youth  with  no  insurance  in getting the dental health care they need. For more information  please  call  the  Public  Health  Dental Program  at  905‐688‐8248 or  1‐888‐505‐6074  ext. 7399.

Please return to Park School by Monday, April 10 , 2012.

Skill Testing Question: What is the website address for Park Public School?___________________________________ Students(s) Name(s):___________________________________________________________________________________________ Teacher(s): ________________________________________________Grade(s): ____________________________________ Parent/Guardian Signature: _______________________________________________________________________________

P A R K SC H O O L NE W S L E T T E R BA L L O T