September 2011 Grade 9 News

Energizing. Cheery. Intriguing. Intense. Hilarious. Enlightening.

This is just a sampling of the words yelled forth by this year’s Grade Nine squad when asked to describe the year thus far. We’ve started reading Romeo and Juliet, by Sir William Shakespeare. What a story! In Social Studies we’ve just finished making personal timelines. They’ll be on display in our class-room for awhile, so swing on in and have a look. (bring chips) Speaking of items on display, we’ve been working on painting the ceiling tiles. It’s a bit like the Sistine Chapel except with a little more Disney and Sports Logos.

Do you have any questions about finding the surface area of a Composite Shape? You can ask us now, because that’s what Mr. Herman is teaching us in Math. Can you imagine having Mr. Tyndall as a science teacher? Good Heavens. It’s a blast. Literally. He sure likes blowing things up. Our leader, Mr. Tucker is teaching us about leadership in Health class. Volleyball , welding and Kitchen Wizardry round out our daily schedules

September 2011 Grade 7 News

The year has begun wonderfully! The students are bright, energetic and a pleasure to work with. We have a few events on our horizon. On September 22nd we will be having a Float sale to help offset costs of our first field trip. We will be travelling to Saskatoon to bowl and swim on October 5. We will be travelling by bus and will return before the end of the day. On Sept. 22, we will be having a “Meet the Staff” night. It is always a great opportunity to get together and enjoy some social time. You have the opportunity to visit your child’s classroom and visit the staff who works with your child. On Sept. 28, we have our Terry Fox Day.

Academically, we have begun to look at Patterns and Relations in math, Science Fiction in English, Characteristics of Life in science, and we are currently working on mapping in social. We have a busy year ahead of us!

Joining us until Christmas, is Mrs. Kinzel. She is an intern from the University and a welcome addition to our room! Her enthusiasm and energy are a definite asset to our daily routines!

As always, should you have any question or concerns, please feel free to contact me at the school, 544-2511 or via e-mail (Nicole.Bain@spiritsd.ca). It’s going to be an amazing year!

September 2011 Grade 6 News

Grade six has gotten off to a good start. This year we hope to do many different fun and exciting learning experiences. Currently in math we are working on patterns and the difference between equations and expressions. Classification and organization are key for our new science unit, as the students know. Along with this we are learning about  mapping and Canada’s Atlantic neighbours in social studies. Last but not least, in English, we are taking rocketing off the start of the year with a sci-fi unit.

September 2011 Grade 4&5 News

I am so happy to be a part of the grades 4 and 5 class this year! On the first day of school we made mini individual time capsules which contain our likes, dislikes and goals we set for the year. On the last day of school we will see if our favourite things have changed and if we have reached our goals! (and remember… they are keeping an ‘eye’ on you all year long) We started the year off by doing a lot of review in Math and ELA, just to get everyone’s brains moving again. We are doing some practice writing paragraphs in ELA and will be writing an autobiography in a couple of weeks! In Science, we are working on ways to better the environment and doing a lot of research about Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We have come up with some great ideas that we can do as a class to make a good impact on the environment! Math has started up again, and the Grade 5’s are working with Mr. Woods-Fehr while the Grade 4’s are with Ms. Rancourt. We are having a great time in our class and look forward to what is ahead! Please check out our class website (www.msrancourtsgrade45.weebly.com) where you will find what we are learning, educational games and even student work that are is in the process of being created!

Feel free to stop by anytime to see myself or the class!

From the Office

Mr. Anderson and I would like to wish everyone a big Welcome Back to Hanley School this fall. We’ve had a great start to the year with a lot happening around the school for students to get involved in. Welcome to our new teachers, Mr Josh Watson (Grade 6 Homeroom), Mrs Colleen Trach (Senior Spec Ed), Ms Rachel Anderson (Home Ec mornings), and welcome back to Ms Angela Rancourt (Grade 4/5 Homeroom). Hanley School also is pleased to include four interns on our staff this fall. Welcome to Miss Jamie Rugg working with Mrs Sara Prakash, Miss Jessalyn Clark working with Mr Brett Kirk, Mrs Jennifer Kinzel working with Mrs Nicole Bain, and Mr Todd Cavanaugh working with Mr Heath Tyndall. Each of them are having a busy but very good start this fall we’re very happy to have you here. We have a number of extra curricular programs in full swing already this year to make you aware of: Senior and Junior Girls Volleyball, 6- Man Football, Cross Country, Senior 7vs7 Soccer, and Senior Golf. Good luck to all the teams on your efforts this year.

The Welcome Back Breakfast last week was a good chance to meet some parents, and we’re happy to announce that the School Community Council is again organizing the Meet the Staff supper and evening tomorrow, September 22, starting at 5:30pm. I want to invite everyone out to enjoy a burger with us so we can get to know each other better. To start it off here’s some information about me: your new Hanley School principal grew up in a few places around the province, but went to junior and senior high school at Outlook. My wife, Kara, works in Saskatoon at Brickers Shoes, and our son, Gavin, will be two years old in October. I’ve been teaching for 17 years and have spent the last ten working vice principal and principal positions, the last four years in Colonsay. I know already that Hanley School is an awesome school for each of your children to be in and I’m proud to be here. I can say this because the people I work with are genuinely concerned about all the students and their success, and the students clearly enjoy their school atmosphere. So, drop in to see Mr Anderson and me sometime. We’d love to say Hi.

Takecare and I’ll talk to you soon.
Mr. Chris Tucker

Show your school spirit!

September 26-30 is Spirit Week at Hanley School

Monday – Picture day
Tuesday – Super hero day
Wednesday – Wear your team colours for the Terry Fox Run
Thursday – Twin day
Friday – Saber pride day

September 2011 Grade 2&3 News

Wow, I can’t believe that we’re nearing the end of September already! In math, both  grades are learning about patterns. I am teaching the grade two math this year, while Mr. Woods-Fehr is teaching the grade three math. In science we are learning about magnets, in social studies we are beginning a fairly large unit on communities, and in health we are starting to learn about self esteem, and then delving into friendship. Mr. Cory will be teaching one of the three phys ed classes in a six day cycle. For the month of September, we have been focusing on co-operative games showing our sportsmanship, participation, and teamwork. In ELA, I would like to spend more emphasis on writing and reading strategies this year. I hope to get guided reading up and running by October and start some centers again. I will soon be sending some information regarding book reports, which we will begin next month. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’re finding that your child’s chapter book is not appropriate for them; the students really seem to enjoy selecting their own home reading this year!

I hope to see you all tomorrow night at the “Meet the Staff” barbeque starting at 5:30!

September 2011 Kindergarten & Grade 1 News

Welcome back, everyone! The K/1 class has gotten off to a great start! A special welcome to our new Kindergarten class and Abigail in Grade 1! This month we will be working on establishing our classroom routines. Grade 1s start their day by doing Daily Language Reviews, phonics and printing. We will also be starting the R.E.E. (Read Every Evening) program in the next week or so. In Math the 1s are starting the year off with patterning and in Social Studies we are discussing different types of families. In Art we have begun to sketch self-portraits and will paint them with water colours. The Kindergarten focus for the first couple of months will be fine motor skills and routine. They start the day off by doing a cutting or pencil activity. In Math we will be sorting and making patterns. The theme this month is Royalty, so we are doing lots of activities with the stories we are reading about kings, queen, princesses, dragons, and brave knights! During play time the K-students have been exploring our different centres. Toys and cars, the sandbox and the art centre are very popular so far! I look forward to seeing everyone at Meet the Staff Night!

Dates to Remember

June 23-28 Gr. 10-12 — Exams

June 28 Grade K-9 — Last Day of Classes and Report Cards

June 29 PD Day — No School for Students

June 30 Grade 10-12 — Report Card Pickup 9:00-10:30

August 31 First Day Back to School for Grades 1-12

September 2 First Day of School for Kindergarten

April Saber of the Month

Congratulations to our Saber of the Month winners for April

Grade K — Hunter & Trace
Grade 1/2 — Colby, Kailey & Haley
Grade 3/4 — Hailey, Kierra & Dane
Grade 5/6 — Carter
Grade 7 — Megan & Landon
Grade 8 — Emily
Grade 9 — Shaina & Joel
Grade 10 — Hailey
Grade 11 — Mikaela & Marshall
Grade 12 — Peter