Bennett’s Blog

By Mr. Brian R. Bennett, Principal

February 28, 2014

Students of the Month 2

Book Nook 3

Hook-a-Book 2

Student Olympic Thoughts 4

School Olympic Standings

Tips From Teachers 5

Boys & Girls Club Camp 6

Parent/Child Worksheet 9

Inside this issue:

March Calendar

The Heather Heights Herald

Heather Heights P.S. 80 Slan Avenue

Scarborough, Ontario

M1G 3B5

416-396-6305

Principal

Brian Bennett

Office Administrator

Sheri Berkaslan

http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/heatherheights

10

What an exciting month February has

been at Heather Heights and the VMA!

With the Winter Olympics taking place in

Sochi, Russia as well as Heather Heights

and the VMA hosting our own Winter

Olympics, we have had sports activities,

events and school spirit in every corner of

our school for over two weeks. What an

amazing opportunity the Winter Olympics

have provided to our students and staff in

building team spirit, school spirit, learning

about all of the different winter sports and

team work. Students have also learned

about different countries from around the

world including Russia, Sweden, Finland, China, Germany, Austria, Norway, Japan, the Unit-

ed States, and of course, Canada. During the past two weeks, students have been engaged in

their classrooms in rich conversations and they have participated in various activities promot-

ing the cultures of these countries. The Winter Olympics at Heather Heights and the VMA has

also promoted the importance of physical fitness, activity and health to our students who have

been enjoying playing a variety of sports outdoors including hockey, curling, bobsledding, ski

jumping, the skeleton and the biathlon. We were very fortunate to have had the media from

CP24 attend our Opening Olympic Ceremonies on February 7th and Global News cover the

Closing Ceremonies on February 24th. Both ceremonies were a very proud moment for all

staff and students as we showcased the many talents and accomplishments of our students

through song, dance and special speeches. The Winter Olympics at Heather Heights and the

VMA has created

special memories

for all of our stu-

dents and staff who

have had the oppor-

tunity to participate

in, and experience

the wonderful mo-

ments and events of

the past two weeks.

I am so proud of my

students, staff and

amazing community

that I serve and the

Winter Olympics

here at our school

will be cherished

memories that will

last forever.

7

Way to Go Team Canada!

2

Olik

SK

Prathna

Gr. 3

Anthony

Gr. 3 Nishaani

SK

Evan

Gr. 6 Ilakkiyan

Gr. 6 Vidhi

Gr. 6

Zayn

Gr. 2

FAIRNESS

Logan

Gr. 1

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH FOR FEBRUARY 2014

What is Fairness?

• Equal treatment of the behaviour and viewpoints of others

• Practising justice, equity, and equality

• Recognizing the uniqueness and value of each individual within our diverse society

• Playing by the rules

• Taking turns

• Treating people without favouritism

• Being open-minded

• Listening to others

Hook-a-Book Readers! Each month the School Advisory Council is awarding two

students from each class a “Hook-a-Book”

Certificate. Teachers will give council the names of

two students who have shown enthusiasm and passion for

reading. One male and one female student are be selected

from each class. Certificates will be awarded at the monthly

Character Attribute Assembly.

Heather Heights Staff member’s favourite quote about reading for February is Mrs. Geridis-Pollard’s pick:

"There is more treasure in books

than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."

By Walt Disney

I

LOVE

TO

READ

February’s most enthusiastic readers are:

Maximo and Arham from Ms. Pollard

Troy and Varsha from Ms. Boddaert

Hannah and Saheba from Mrs. Ferguson

Mateen and Dianne from Ms. Bacvar

Jaylan and Oviyaa from Ms. Tankard

Haley and Senthurri from Ms. Maharaj

Dushika and Ida from Mr. Mayo

Trey from Ms. Bridgeman

Zayd from Mr. Kochan

3

The Book N

o

o

k

By: Mrs. Hamouth Jones

February has been an exciting time in the Library. Once again, our Scholastic Book Fair

was a big hit. This great student event is always a wonderful way to motivate kids to

check out a new genre or author, as well as revisit some old favourites (e.g., Diary of a

Wimpy Kid, Geronimo Stilton, etc.). We even had Geronimo himself come for a visit!

Wonderful fiction and non-fiction titles were available for kids of every age. We also had

a great selection of adult books for parents too. My personal favourite was the cookbook

“Six O‟Clock Solutions” (chef not included).

Once again this month, one of our very own students who visited and recommended a

book on the Just Read It site on our Virtual Library was chosen to win a book prize and

postcard from our Director of Education. Congratulations to Ida in Mr. Mayo‟s Grade 5/6

class. Great work, Ida! Students can access the Virtual Library here at school in our

computer lab or from home by going on the TDSB website and entering our school name

to find the virtual library. Click on the green Just Read It logo.

This month, in addition to Mystery Monday announcements, we‟ve introduced Fairytale

Fridays and Fantasy Friday announcements. Students reflect on a fairytale or fantasy book

that they‟ve enjoyed reading, and write up the reasons for their recommendations. After

they practise, they read their announcement on the P.A. for everyone to hear. Congratula-

tions to our very first Fantasy Friday announcer, Sarina in Ms. Hopkins Gr. 5/6 class.

Well done, Sarina!

Forest of Reading activities promise to be engaging and buzz-worthy. Just as our Book

Fair ends, the Forest of Reading programme will begin. Activities will be for all age

groups, and will consist of open-ended reading activities that children will choose them-

selves. There will be a selection to suit every reading level, and different interests. Each

child will have fun completing activities that fill up his/her passport.

Here is to more excitement yet to come in our Heather Heights and Vocal Music

Academy Library!

HEATHER HEIGHTS BASKETBALL! By Mr. Kochan

The Heather Heights and VMA grade 6 basketball team completed a very fun and exciting season. There were a few thrilling wins and of course a few difficult defeats but all in all the students enjoyed every minute of it. After completing the regular season with two wins and two losses, the team had a great win in the first playoff round but fell short in the semi final game. The players really bonded together to play smart and as a unified team. It was lots of fun and we look forward to coming back even stronger next year! Goooooo Huskies!

4

ZUMBA LOVE! By Mme Petropoulos

On January 23, 2014, the boys and girls at Heather Heights and the VMA enjoyed an afternoon Zumba workshop with Zumba instructor Linda Raponi. Zumba® incorporates steps and move-ments which are choreographed to the sound of Latin music. Zumba® creates a fun workout for students at all levels of participation. The students had a blast dancing to the music, being en-gaged in interactive dance games and being exposed to international dance moves! It was a great way to get the kids moving and being physically active for 45 minutes! The students are

looking forward to their final Zumba workshop which will take place on March 27th!

Reminder!

March Break begins Friday, March 7th

Classes resume on Monday, March 17th

Have a safe holiday!

Heather Heights and the VMA hosted our own Olympic Games. Students participated in outdoor winter

activities that imitated some of the sports from the real Olympic Games. Sports played were Bobsled,

Skeleton, Biathlon, Curling, Hockey, and Ski Jumping.

We asked what our students liked best about the Olympics...

I liked the Olympics because

it showed sportsmanship and

teamwork.

Ms. Bacvar‟s Gr. 2 Class

I liked the Olympics

because it is fun and I

learned to work together

Makao, Rm 209

I thought the Olympics was fun, exciting and memora-

ble. One of my favourite events was curling. Who

would have thought throwing a ball into a hula hoop

would be so enjoyable? I can‟t wait until the summer

Olympics comes to Heather

Heights.

Thavakulaan

It was a wonderful experience.

I think it‟s great that children

young and old can participate.

Also, the activities are great

exercise! My favourite activity

was the bobsleigh, minus fall-

ing face first into the snow

while trying to pull my team-

mate to victory. I also enjoyed

the skeleton. Overall, the

Olympic updates about Canada

were interesting too. It is im-

portant that we cheer on our

Country. Go Canada and long

live winter!

Christian, Gr. 7

Many eventful things have happened during

the Heather Heights Olympic Games. During

Biathlon, many participants face planted in

the snow, but they jumped up and kept going

to give pride to their country. In Ski Jump one

team made the winning jump with a one cen-

timeter margin. In Biathlon, a team which

was behind made a great comeback and ended

up winning. Just like the real Olympics we

have learned a lot about teamwork, persever-

ance and good sportsmanship.

Justine Gr. 6

I loved the Olympics be-

cause I liked playing the

games with my friends.

Holland, Gr. 1

5

Gold Silver Bronze

Canada

Mrs. Geridis-Pollard

1 1 1

Austria

Mrs. Boddaert

1 1 1

China

Mrs. Ferguson

1 2 1

Finland

Ms. Bacvar and

Mrs. Bridgeman

2 1 2

Norway

Mrs. Tankard

1 1 1

USA

Mrs. Maharaj

1 2 1

Russia

Mr. Boyko

1 2 0

Japan

Mrs. Hopkins

1 0 3

Germany

Mr. Mayo

2 1 1

Sweden

Mr. Corvo

1 1 1

Bump, Set, Spike!

By Mme Petropoulos The Heather Heights and VMA Junior Girls Volleyball team has achieved great success this season! The Girls team made it to the pre-quarter finals which were played on Wednesday, February 12 against Iroquois PS. Unfortunately, our team did not win however, the girls demonstrated hard work, dedication and great team-work and played one of their best games yet! Mrs. Petropoulos and Mrs. Geridis-Pollard are very proud of team members: Hanna, Jadesha, Skylar, Darah, Genviève, Justine and Sangeetha and enjoyed working with them and watching them develop their volleyball skills. Good job girls!

6

Register Now for March Break Camps!

Are you looking for a fun March Break experience for your child? Then we have just the camp for you!

Registration is now open for March Break 2014

There are camp experiences for ages 2.5-12 years.

Register now at www.esbgc.org to avoid disappointment.

100th DAY OF SCHOOL By Mrs. Ferguson

This February the boys and girls in Kinder-garten to Grade Two celebrated the 100th Day of School. Our recognition of this spe-cial milestone in the school year began with students bringing in interesting collec-tions of 100 items. On February 10th we enjoyed a fun-filled morning of activities to celebrate 100 days of learning! We made crowns to wear with 100 stickers and stamps. The students displayed team-work building creative structures with 100 things like lego, building blocks, puz-zles, and snap cubes. We made t-shirts and used bingo dabbers to complete a maze of 100 numbers. Our Grade 5/6 helpers led us in 100 exercis-es, including jumping jacks and sit-ups. We feel 100 days smarter and stronger than we were in September!

7

TIPS FROM TEACHERS! Monthly Literacy and Numeracy Tips from Heather Heights Teachers

Math Tip Multiplying by eight

Count backwards by 2‟s from eight to zero and then repeat. Make a line after each repeat of the pattern.

8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0

On top of the first pattern, count from zero to four. After the line repeat the last digit and then continue

counting by one‟s. After the next line, repeat the last digit again and then continue counting by one‟s.

Do this one last time after the last line.

0 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 8 9 10 11 12 12 13 14 15 16

8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0

To use the table for 8 times 16, go to the 16 vertical column of numbers and the answer is 128.

0 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 8 9 10 11 12 12 13 14 15 16

8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0 8 6 4 2 0

How Can I Improve My Child’s Spelling?

By Ms. Hamouth-Jones

When we are checking over our children‟s writing work, there is a tendency to focus a great deal on their spelling. We believe that pointing out the

spelling errors in their stories or projects is helpful and will improve their spelling. This is not the case, however.

Spelling, like most things we learn in school, is developmental. Correct spelling patterns are learned over time, in various ways. Ages and stages. To

help our children gain confidence in their abilities, we need to understand that writing is a process and that spelling is not improved by memorizing the

spelling of lists of words. Spelling is improved by learning predictable spelling patterns, (e.g., -ee, -oo, -th, etc.) and by immersing and surrounding our

kids with print.

Emerging and anxious writers share several traits. These writers frequently stare at their blank sheets, appearing “blocked” and unable to write down any

of their thoughts. In fact, they may have many wonderful ideas that they‟d like to write down, but their fear of making spelling mistakes paralyzes their

creativity. Each time a child stops to ask you, „How do I spell….?”, or stops to look up a word in a dictionary, they pop their creative thought bubble. If

there are several unknown words in a sentence, writing may not ever begin. This sets a child up for that awful dread of writing across many curriculum

subjects.

Here are a few strategies for helping our kids (and us) overcome our spelling phobias.

1. Let them know that their first writing effort is called a Draft. Drafts are not perfect and drafts are for our eyes only.

2. Accept that your child‟s spelling will not look like yours during the first draft stage.

3. Encourage your child to write down any letters he/she hears (we call this phonetic spelling “approximate spelling”).

4. Let your child know that the first draft of a piece of writing is the right place to experiment with spelling.

5. Let your child know that spelling will be fixed up once the draft writing process is done (we call this revising and editing).

6. Primary children often find relief using the “magic line”. This squiggly line on their work stands for any word that they‟d like to spell but which they

find tricky. They write the first and last letters and any others they hear on the squiggly magic line, and you can change the spelling later (e.g.,

“m___th___r” for “mother”).

7. Above all, encourage your child to write, write, write. They can write lists, poems, songs, riddles, daily journals. Let your child know that his/her

spelling will look correct as time goes on. The approximate spelling stage doesn‟t last forever, but accepting it from our children‟s initial writing

efforts can free their creativity in wonderful ways.

8

Our school raised $1435.65 for the Terry Fox Foundation this past Fall.

Below is the letter the school received from the Foundation

9

HONESTY

Dear Parent, Guardian, or Caregiver:

Your child is involved in learning activities designed to develop good character and help children make good choices. Our focus this month has been on HONESTY.

Your child can show honesty by:

sharing his or her feelings and being truthful

telling the truth, even though he or she may know that there will be consequences

being reliable and responsible in completing a job Questions to discuss with your child:

What does it mean to be honest? Discuss different ways to be honest with yourself, with your peers, and with others.

What should you do if you need to tell the truth, but you know there will be consequences?

How do you feel when someone else has been dishonest with you? What would you do?

Once trust has been broken, what can you do to get it back? Have you ever lost someone’s trust? Has someone lost your trust?

What’s the difference between being honest with your own family and being honest with someone you’ve just met?

Projects to do together:

Watch TV shows or movies. Talk about the ways in which the characters were honest or dishonest with each other.

Read the story entitled The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and discuss the importance of being honest.

Encouraging honesty in your child:

Give your child opportunities to tell the truth.

Make sure that you explain to your child that you always want the truth, even though he or she may be afraid that you might be angry.

Encourage and praise your child when he or she is honest.

Model honesty by returning lost items.

Thank you for supporting our Character Development program.

What does honesty mean to you?

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