Dates to Remember
April 5, Charlottetown Rural High School Parent Information Session, 7:00 pm
at Stonepark School
April 7, Grade 10 High School Registration for Charlottetown Rural High, 9:00 am
at Birchwood School
April 13 – 15, Cape Breton Band Trip
April 22. Good Friday, No Classes
April 25, Easter Monday, No Classes
April 26, Professional Development Day, No Classes
May 6, Area Association Day, No Classes
May 19, Grade 6 Parent Meeting at Birchwood, 7:00 pm
May 20, Grade 6 Student Orientation, No Classes for Grade 7
Correction!
In our last newsletter we recognized the wrong student(s) as the winner of
the Birchwood Lip Sync competition during our Winter Carnival. We would like to
congratulate the following students who placed 1st in the Birchwood Lip Sync and
qualified for the Wendy’s Provincial Competition: Kyla Sheehan, Danielle
Doucette, Kailee Casario and Hailey Carmichael. The following students placed
2nd in the Birchwood Lip Sync competition and 3rd in the Wendy’s Provincial
Competition: Kayla Paquet, Jade Myers, Ben MacAusland and Harini Balasundaram.
Congratulations to all!
Band News
Reminder to Concert Band members: Cape Breton Trip Wednesday, April 13 15. An
updated itinerary for parents will be sent out next week. Final payments are due
on April 6th. Students should be ready to commit to 30 minutes of daily practice
to ensure a solid performance at the festival in Cape Breton. Grade 7 Band will
be traveling to Summerside for Beginning Band Days, Friday, April 15th. The bus
will leave the school at 9:00 am and return at 2:20 pm in time for everyone to
go home on your regular bus. The event will be held at Athena Consolidated.
Students are to pack a lunch for the day. Jazz Band will be playing at Jazz Days
being held at Colonel Gray in April ( confirmation on dates will follow).
Remember you are responsible for learning the music then rehearsal can be spent
on ensemble playing.
Easter Seals Ambassador Tour
Birchwood staff and students look forward to welcoming Hannah MacLennan, this
year’s Easter Seals Ambassador, on April 19, at 9:30 am. Hannah is a grade 6
student at Stratford Elementary School.
Sports Update
Basketball
Congratulations to the Girls’ AA basketball team who finished their season
with a silver medal at the Provincials – 2nd overall for the Island!
Outstanding! Coaches, Mr. Gregory and Mr. MacCallum would like to wish Jamilyn
Trainor, Patti Nino-Esparza, Dana Trainor, Emily Winters and Jenna Murphy
continued success with basketball at the high school level. Also,
congratulations to Patti Nino-Esparza and Emily Winters for being named PEISAA
tournament all-stars.
Badminton
Good luck to the students trying out for the school badminton team. The Zone
Meet starts April 18 with Mr. John Brioux as coach.
Wrestling
Try-outs are underway Monday – Wednesday, 4:30 -6:00 pm in the cafeteria. The
Zone Meet will be end of April. All are welcome!
Spring League Basketball
Spring League basketball for students in grades 9 – 11 will begin Saturday,
April 2. For more info contact Jander Morrison at 368-2781.
Library News
5 Essential Reading Skills
- Recognizing and using individual sounds to create words, or phonemic
awareness. Children need to be taught to hear sounds in words and that words
are made up of the smallest parts of sound, or phonemes.
- Understanding the relationships between written letters and spoken
sounds, or phonics: Children need to be taught the sounds individual printed
letters and groups of letters make.
- Knowing the relationships between letters and sounds helps children to
recognize familiar words accurately and automatically, and "decode" new
words. Developing the ability to read a text accurately and quickly, or
reading fluency: Children must learn to read rapidly and accurately in order
to understand what is written. When fluent readers read silently, they
recognize words automatically. When fluent readers read aloud, they read
effortlessly and with expression. Readers who are weak in fluency read
slowly, word by word, focusing on decoding words instead of comprehending
meaning.
- Learning the meaning and the correct pronunciation of words, or
vocabulary development: Children need to actively build and expand their
knowledge of written and spoken words, what they mean and how they are used.
- Acquiring strategies to understand, remember, and communicate what is
read, or reading comprehension strategies: Children need to be taught
comprehension strategies, or the steps good readers use to make sure they
understand text. Students who are in control of their own reading
comprehension become purposeful, active readers.
Parents can help build these skills by reading often with their children.
Model good reading habits for your children to follow. Older children still
enjoy being read to and should read out loud to practice fluency.
Please, encourage children to borrow books from the library and to remember
to return them on time.
“A book is like a garden
carried in the pocket.” ~Chinese Proverb
Provincial Science Fair
Congratulations to Alexandra MacDonald, Laura Mohan, Emily Wight, Justin
Murnaghan, Emma Moore and Bobby Jaimeson who participated in the Provincial
Science Fair that was held at UPEI on March 29th. Birchwood Intermediate
was well represented with three of the top ten prizes going to our students.
French Week
French Week was a huge success at Birchwood! Students did morning
announcements in French, listened to “O Canada” in French and gave out French
clues about a mystery person. Students also had the opportunity to enjoy a
potluck lunch with French cuisine, watch a movie in French and have croissants
for breakfast! We all enjoyed celebrating French culture throughout the many
activities here at Birchwood Intermediate!
Birchwood Musical
Our students continue to rock here at Birchwood! We have been rehearsing for
our production of Jack and the Beanstalk- a rock n’ roll musical! We are set to
roll out this production with evening performances in early May. Students are
looking forward to sharing their acting and musical talents! Stay tuned for
times and dates of this production.
Community Events
Summer is right around the corner and we are very excited about this year's
program. We offer a variety of full week camps for students finishing grades 3-9
and a mini camp for students completing grades 1-3. New this year: For campers
and parents who may not yet be ready for an overnight camp, we have the option
for day campers! Check out the website for more information.
Welcome to the newly joined Winsloe Charlottetown Royals FC. The 2011 soccer
season is starting soon and it’s registration time again. Registration Dates are
on Saturday, April 9, and Saturday, April 16, from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon at West
Royalty Community Centre or Murphy's Community Centre. Also on Wednesday, April
20, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at West Royalty Community Centre ONLY. A $20.00 LATE
FEE will apply after April 20, 2011.