Nokomis School, Nokomis, Saskatchewan

Home of the Nokomis Knights October 2009

Principal's Message

The school year is now well underway. Staff and students have settled in well and things are moving along fairly smoothly. With any luck, the weather will turn nice again for a while yet, allowing everyone to complete harvest and any other outdoor projects they have on the go before the snow flies. We have had a great start. Let’s keep up the good work.

Some good news to pass on to everyone is that the Horizon School Division Board has decided not to do any school feasibility reviews for the 2009/10 school year. This means we will NOT be going through any review process this year.

- Mr. Koenig

Kindergarten, Grade 1, 2, and 3

There was lots of excitement at the school on the 22nd of September when 12 new students arrived at the school with lunch kits in one hand and backpacks in the other hand. We wish to welcome our new Kindergarten class: Tahnis Beaudry-Sanderson, Karlee Bedard, Cole Edwards, Owen Edwards, Aidan Emmerson, Kacee Evans, Caiden Hendry, Jocelyn Knouse, Camden McNichol, C. J. Ross, Raven Vermillion, and Tyler Walker.

Grade One has finished their patterning section in Math and Grade Two are close behind them. Grade One have been making booklets, rhyming, dramatizing, and learning beginning sounds while Grade Two have been working on short and long vowels, discussing pets, taking surveys and learning more compound words.

Grade One and Two were also pleased with the Kindergarten’s arrival as they now became the "older" role models.

- Mrs. Haskey-Mutch

Grade 4/5/6 News

September was a very busy month as we were all getting used to new routines and procedures.

The Grade 3 class participated in a Canadian Achievement Test. It took several days to complete. The students were tested in the areas of reading, word analysis, vocabulary, writing, math, computation, estimation, and spelling. The results will identify areas of strength and areas that may require improvement.

As a Thanksgiving treat, our class is eager to plan a potluck lunch that will be held October 9th in our classroom. Once the plans have been finalized, more information with be forthcoming.

October birthday greetings go out to Ashley Hards.

- Mrs. Koenig

Grade 7 & 8 News

Wow, did September ever go by fast! October is promising to be busy, so will probably be a blur as well.

We have started a novel by Carol Matas called Daniel’s Story. It is a story about a Jewish teenager during the holocaust.

In Math, the Grade 6’s are finishing their unit on Patterns and Equations and will be having an exam on Monday, October 5th. Sydney is working with decimal numbers, while the Grade 8’s are finishing up their unit on Ratios, Rates and Proportional Reasoning and will have an exam on Wednesday, October 7th.

We are continuing our studies of Pacific Rim Countries and Water Systems on Earth.

We will be learning about the process of electing municipal leaders and following local elections.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Tylan and Daniel.

- Mrs. Tait

Greetings from Mrs. Stratton

As the end of September rolls by and the weather is officially feeling like fall, the students are finishing up a number of projects.
- The CPT 10/20/30 class is finishing up their wix.com websites which are based on a fictional place;
- The History 30 students just finished a large assignment about The Great Law of Peace;
- The Social 9 students are done their Family Tree project and Unit One: Time;
- The ELA A30 students have completed the non-fiction novel The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson by Lois Simmie (a favorite among many students);
- The ELA 20 students have completed phase one of their Recollections Unit;
- The ELA A10 students have finished the short story portion of Unit One: The Unknown;
- ELA 9 students have completed the novel The Pigman by Paul Zindel (also a favorite) and are completing the final projects;
- Psychology 30 is finished Unit One and are beginning Unit Two: prenatal development;
- Wellness 10 is looking at body systems and
- Career Ed. 9/10 is finishing up posters about learning and study strategies.

Phew - We have been busy! Keep up the great work everyone – the year is flying by!

- Mrs. Stratton

Yearbook Reminder

Just a reminder that there are still copies of the 2008/2009 Nokomis School Yearbook for sale. They are $15.00 each. See Mrs. Haskey-Mutch or Mrs. Hards if you wish to purchase one. If paying by cheque, please make them payable to Nokomis School Yearbook. Thank you.

Note to Kindergarten Parents

We have had to change some Kindergarten days around in October due to activities happening during Education Week. The students were supposed to come to school on Tuesday, October 20th and Thursday, October 22nd. They are to come to school now on Monday, October 19th and Wednesday, October 21st instead. The attached calendar has the correct days on it that they are to come to school. The Fall Scholastic Book Fair is being held on Thursday, October 22nd (all day) and Friday, October 23rd (till noon). Even though the Kindergarten students are not scheduled to come to school on those days you are all still invited to come check out the Book Fair with your child on either of those days.

Picture Day

Just a reminder that school pictures will be taking on Friday, October 16th in the morning.

Term 1 Report Cards and Parent/Teacher Interviews

I know it is early yet, however, this information will give you a chance at some future planning. Term I report cards will be going out on Monday, November 2nd. Parent/Teacher Interviews will take place on Wednesday, November 4th and Thursday, November 5th. Both these interview sessions will once again take place in the evening from 6:00 p.m to 9:00 p.m. Hopefully this will give everyone an opportunity to attend.

Since we are conducting all of the Parent/Teacher Interviews in the evening, the school will be closed on Friday, November 6th. There will also be no school for students on Monday, November 9th and Tuesday, November 10th as the teacher’s will be attending their annual Teacher’s Convention. The school will also be closed on Wednesday, November 11th for Remembrance Day. School will resume on Thursday, November 12th.

Cross Country

The cross country season got off to a great start. The team increased by three this year. Returning were Joel and Melissa Styles. New to the squad were Tylan Holbrook, Cylus Zdunich, and Cory Bart.

Pre-Districts were held Tuesday, September 29th in Wynyard. Everyone ran very well and should feel proud of their dedication and commitment! Advancing to Districts on Thursday, October 8th in Wynyard are Joel and Melissa Styles and Cory Bart. Should they finish well, Provincials are slated for Saturday, October 17th in Wynyard. Good luck and keep running.

Education Week

Education Week this year runs from October 18th to 24th. The school has some great activities planned for that week.

Monday, October 19th – There will be a presentation by Stella the Skunk for the Kindergarten to Grade 5 students in the afternoon. There will also be a presentation for the Grade 6-12 students in the afternoon by Curtis Weber who was injured in an electrical accident 10 years ago.

Tuesday, October 20th – The Grade 1-8 students will travel over to Watrous at 9:00 a.m. to attend a Junior Drama Presentation. They will be back by lunch.

Wednesday, October 21st – The morning will be jam packed with activities as we welcome First Nations Educational Speaker Mike Pinay to our school. The students from Drake School will be joining us for some of the morning activities which include Teepee Teachings for Kindergarten to Grade 12 students; kit rattle, pipe, drum, and round dance fun for the Kindergarten to Grade 8 students and a talk on "Respect" for the Grade 6-12 students.

Thursday, October 22nd and Friday, October 23rd – We will be holding our Fall Scholastic Book Fair. Come on in to the library and check out the great selection of books. Remember, Christmas is not that far away.

News From The Library

September has passed quickly and we are looking forward to an exciting month ahead. The students from Grades 1-5 have been busy reviewing and learning new library skills and putting these skills to good use when looking for books and information. During Education Week (October 19-23) there will be many exciting activities for the students. We will be holding our Fall Scholastic Book Fair on October 22 from 10-3:30 and October 23 from 9-Noon. Watch for further details coming soon. We welcome you to join us at the Book Fair and look forward to seeing you there.

- Mrs. Nicholson

Speech-Language Screening for Kindergarten and Grade 1

The Horizon School Division recognizes that children’s speech and language skills directly impact their future academic success. As such, the Horizon School Division has implemented a division-wide speech and language screen for all kindergarten students. Areas screened will include language (eg. vocabulary, concepts, story retelling), phonological awareness (listening and manipulating speech sounds), articulation (producing speech sounds), connected speech, social/interpersonal skills, fluency and voice.

All kindergarten students will be screened for speech language difficulties prior to October 31, 2009. Current Grade 1 students who require additional screening based on their kindergarten results will also be rescreened by October 31, 2009. After the screen/rescreen is completed, a note will be sent home with your child.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s speech-language development and/or about this program, please contact your child’s teacher/principal or your school’s Speech-Language Pathologist, Christine Lewis, at 725-7658.

Rave About Reading

Vocabulary building is an important tool to help your child read. Here are a few tips to help you teach your children new words:

1. Comment on new words as they come up in stories, on TV or on the radio.
2. Introduce synonyms – words that mean the same thing. If your kids talk about "the day after today", introduce the word "tomorrow".
3. Find new books that your children like at the library. You can then use subjects they’re interested in to add new vocabulary to their conversation.
4. Open a dictionary and pick a word they probably know. See if they can guess the word by reading them the definition.
5. Write out pairs of opposites on bits of paper and get your children to match them up.
6. Introduce a new word and ask them to guess which definition is right? Is HALIBUT a fish, a game or a president? They’ll want to learn more when they’re having fun!

Pick a new word every day and teach it to your child. Use it so they hear it in context. Encourage them to use it, and use it yourself. Pick a word like ‘outstanding’ and use it whenever something is ‘good’.