Mustang Memo - September 29, 2023
This week we had a chance to reflect on how we can all contribute to acts of Truth and Reconciliation as a part of Orange Shirt Day. We learned about the origins of Orange Shirt Day and residential schools in a safe and supportive environment. Students also participated in an act of reconciliation by writing words on feathers to complete the sentence: Children should feel... The feathers were then attached to large orange shirt cut outs that were hung on the walls.
As our students wrestle with this tricky topic, we make it a priority to remind students that they are not responsible for this history. Our role is to understand what happened and why it happened so that we can move forward in a way that honours and respects all treaty people. We learn so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past and so that we can become part of the solution.
Thank you to all of our students who demonstrated respect, compassion and the desire to move forward with love and kindness in their hearts for all who share this country.
Helene Hewitt & Jay Robertson
Principal & Assistant Principal
A place where you belong!
Table of Contents
Week At a Glance
Action
- Smile! Picture Day is Coming!
- Family Literacy Evening is Almost Here
Opportunity
- Casino Volunteers Needed
- Counsellor's Corner
- Read In Week
Information
- Parents Make the Difference
WEEK AT A GLANCE
| Monday |
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| Tuesday |
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| Wednesday |
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| Thursday |
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| Friday |
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ACTION
Smile! Picture Day is Coming
Send your children to school with their best smiles this Tuesday as it is Picture Day! All students in kindergarten to Grade 6 will have their pictures taken on Tuesday. Our Group A kindergarten students and Gr. 2 classes Mrs. Drechsel, Mrs. Gilllis, Mrs. Oslanski, and Ms. Ennis will have their picture day on Wednesday, October 4! We can't wait to see those adorable smiles!
Family Literacy Night is Almost Here!
Our first ever Family Literacy Night is taking place this upcoming Wednesday! We had such a great response from our Family Math Night that we decided to have one for literacy!
Make sure to bring some cash for the book sale set up in the foyer where you can pick out one free book and then buy more for $1 each. Our parent fundraising group will also be running a concession and author, Sigmund Brouwer, will be selling and autographing his books inside the gym! All of our sales will be cash only, so stop by the bank before you come!
To make the night even more enjoyable, our talented DCE teaching team have created incredible 20 minute sessions for families to enjoy throughout the evening. You can sign up to attend three sessions throughout the evening using this link: Family Literacy Night Session Sign Up
Learn more about the sessions through this handy brochure or read the summaries below:
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Presenters |
Kindergarten Team |
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Session Title |
Alphabet/Letter Scavenger Hunt |
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Brief explanation |
Students will find the letter and write the letter in a multi-sensory way. |
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Location |
Kindergarten Classes/Hallway |
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Grade level focus |
K-1 |
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Presenter |
Mrs. Allen |
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Session Title |
Sing Me a Story |
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Brief explanation |
Music is Literacy! Come and enjoy some sing along stories and learn more about how songs, rhymes, action songs are important tools to help children learn and improve fluency and expression. |
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Location |
Music Room |
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Grade level focus |
K-3 |
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Presenters |
Mrs. Siminick, Ms. Breen, and Mrs. Clark |
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Session Title |
Raising Readers |
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Brief explanation |
Come and learn how to best support your children while reading at home. You will have the opportunity to explore and learn about decodable books together with your little one. |
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Location |
Room 118 & 119 |
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Grade level focus |
K-3 |
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Presenters |
Mrs. Gillis |
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Session Title |
Map the Snap |
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Brief explanation |
We will be learning exciting ways to develop reading and writing skills, at home. We will be demonstrating how to listen for the sounds in a word, identify how many sounds there are and match the sounds with corresponding letters and letter combinations. |
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Location |
Room 114 |
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Grade level focus |
Grade 1-3 |
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Presenters |
Mrs. Drechsel & Mrs. Oslanski |
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Session Title |
Rainbow Words |
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Brief explanation of session |
Learn a strategy to segment words into sounds and syllables to support children how to read and spell. |
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Location |
Room 113 |
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Grade level focus |
Grade 1-3 |
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Presenters |
Mr. Parker and Ms. Heidi |
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Session Title |
Word Ladders |
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Brief explanation of session |
Students will use orthographic mapping to work on word ladders. They will manipulate the sounds in words, identify the letter(s) to be changed, the letter to add, and the appropriate placing of the letter. Students will check their answers by blending or reading the phonemes in the new word. |
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Location |
Room 215 |
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Grade level focus |
Grades 1-3 |
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Presenters |
Mr. Lobe and Mr. Versteegt |
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Session Title |
Making Words |
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Brief explanation of session |
Making Words is a hands-on activity in which students learn how adding and moving letters can create new words. Can you guess the secret word that uses all the letters? |
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Location |
Room 218 |
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Grade level focus |
Grades 1-3 |
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Presenters |
Grade 4 Team |
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Session Title |
Word Matrix |
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Brief explanation of session |
A word matrix shows written morphemes (affixes, roots, and bases) that can be combined to construct words. Students use a word matrix to create known words and new words that use a common base or root and a group of affixes |
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Location |
Room 207 & location TBD |
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Grade level focus |
Grades 4 - 6 |
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Presenters |
Grade 5 Team / Julie Vandenberg, Strathcona County Library |
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Session Title |
Digital Literacy |
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Brief explanation of session |
This session will cover digital resources available at the Strathcona County Library and provide safe researching skills on the internet. |
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Location |
FS 209 (Mr. Miller’s room) |
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Grade level focus |
K-6 |
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Presenters |
Grade 5/ Mrs. Crockett & Ms. Pietsch |
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Session Title |
Library Tour |
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Brief explanation of session |
This session will show how our library is organized and the many books and resources that are offered to our students. |
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Location |
Library |
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Grade level focus |
k-6 |
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Presenters |
Mr. Brouwer |
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Session Title |
Book Talk |
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Brief explanation of session |
Overview of books used in the class as a read aloud or book clubs. Also a list/synopsis of student favorite's. |
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Location |
Room 234 |
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Grade level focus |
Grades 4-6 |
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Presenters |
Grade 6 Ms. Kotronis and Mrs. Coates |
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Session Title |
Book Talk |
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Brief explanation of session |
Overview of books used in the class as a read aloud or book clubs. Also a list/synopsis of student favorite's. |
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Location |
Room 235 |
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Grade level focus |
Grades 4-6 |
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Presenters |
Kohkom Linda |
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Session Title |
Indigenous Storyteller |
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Brief explanation |
Kohkom Linda will share stories as a knowledge keeper and elder representing her First Nation community. |
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Location |
Outside Classroom (cement circle in front of the school) |
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Grade level focus |
All Grade Levels |
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Presenters |
Author Sigmund Brouwer |
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Session Title |
The Power of Story |
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Brief explanation |
Join author Sigmund Brouwer for a fun and engaging session on how STORY not only gives great purpose to writing, but is a wonderful way to strengthen connections with your children and encourage their literacy skills. With over 5,000,000 books in print, Sigmund Brouwer is the award-winning author of more than 100 titles. (www.sigmundbrouwer.com) Some of Sigmund Brouwer’s books will be available for sale at Family Literacy Night. Cash only, please. He will be offering autographs after each session. |
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Location |
Gymnasium |
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Grade level focus |
Grades 2-6 |
We hope to see you and your family there!
Your DCE Literacy Night Planning Committee
OPPORTUNITY
Parent Volunteers Needed!
We need volunteers!!
We need a few people to run the concession for the literacy night taking place this upcoming Wednesday evening.
We also need a bottle depot volunteer/s. We need the bottles to be taken to the depot bi-weekly. We are looking for someone willing to do this twice a month. Or 2 people willing to commit to once a month.
We still need volunteers for the casino!! This is a huge opportunity for our school to make a large amount of money in one weekend. We need 5 more spots filled. If these spots are not filled, we will loose this opportunity!! Please reach out if you have any questions!!
Volunteering for these things helps raise money for the Fundraising Society. Money raised from fundraising supports programs at the school like lunch clubs, intramurals, new sports equipment, upgraded technology, the Christmas Concert and Summer Sizzler, and many other family and student events.
If you are able to help, please message me or email fpresidentdce@gmail.com
Robyn,
~ President of the Davidson Creek Fundraising Society
Counselor's Corner
Hello DCE Families,
This week we wanted to share some free, upcoming parenting and mental health courses available through Alberta Health Services. Sessions this month include the following topics:
-Supporting Children and Youth with ADHD (Parents and Caregivers of K-12 Students)
-Understanding Self-Injury (Parents and Caregivers of Youth in Grades 7-12)
-Understanding Anxiety-Settling Our Minds (Adults supporting their own wellness or the wellness of others)
-Understanding Anxiety-Overcoming Avoidance (Adults supporting their own wellness or the wellness of others)
Click here for more information and to register.
Read In Week 2023 - Reading Reimagined
Read In Week begins on October 2 with the theme "Reading Reimagined".
We will enjoy several fun activities throughout the week:
Daily contest: Guess the book title in the announcements. Listen to a teacher read an excerpt from a book or give a summary of the book without giving away the title. Kids can guess the name by filling out a slip of paper in the library with the book title name and their name and class. Will draw a prize each day.
Week of Events:
- Monday: Teacher Storytime Switcheroo (two teachers agree to swap classes for a short 10 minute read aloud)
- Tuesday: Giant Boggle Board on library glass (how many words can you make?) Paper copies given out in class to students who want to try the challenge
- Wednesday: Read to Your Stuffy Day (bring a stuffy and carry it and a book around all day. When you hear “read to your stuffy time” stop what you are doing and read for 10 minutes)
- Wednesday Evening: Family Literacy Night from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
- Thursday: Family Read In Lunch Event (families invited to come and read with kids over lunch hour) Morphology Challenge (give a word matrix on the video announcements) students complete the matrix and submit their longest word to the office for a chance to win a prize
We know that it will be a week of fun as we celebrate words, books and all things reading!
Wellness Committee
Oct. 4: First WOW Wednesday of the Year!
This Wednesday, October 4, is the first WOW (Walk or Wheel) Wednesday of the year! To participate all you need to do is walk, bike or scooter to school! For parents driving their kiddos to school, just park a little further away and walk in! For our students who take the bus, you are encouraged to walk or run around the soccer field twice at recess!
Davidson Creek will host WOW Wednesday on the first Wednesday of the month for the entire school year (same day as early dismissal). On Each WOW Wednesday, your teacher will tally all the students in your class who walk or wheel to school — AND, at the end of the year, the class with the highest total number of WOW Wednesday students wins a prize!
This is a great way to keep our bodies moving, learn the importance of prioritizing exercise and have fun!
INFORMATION
Parents Make the Difference
Here is this week's article with helpful tips for families:
Communication is the key to a strong family-school team
Research shows that family engagement in education has a positive effect on students’ academic success. When teachers and families work together, the results can be powerful. To foster effective two-way communication:
- Set the tone. It’s natural to have questions for your child’s teachers. When you ask them, show support for your child and the class. Encourage the teacher to keep you informed.
- Be positive. Talk with the teacher about your child’s strengths. But also prepare to hear about weaknesses and how to address them. You and the teacher both want your child to do well. Addressing struggles is the only way to find solutions.
- Role-play. Some parents are nervous about talking with the teacher. If this describes you, consider practicing with a friend. If you aren’t comfortable speaking English, have an interpreter join you. Still worried? Using email may put you at ease.
- Choose words carefully. It’s more effective to make polite requests than demands. A helpful tip is to use the word we instead of you. “How can we stay in touch to help Jordan?” works better than “Call me immediately if Jordan is falling behind.” You and the teacher are teammates, and effective teamwork is a win for your child.
Reprinted with permission from the September 2023 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2023 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.