Literacy at EWS:

Stepping Up with 7B and 7F: Ms. MacKinley Curran's English classes sold cupcakes to step up and make a positive change as part of our Language Arts STEP UP theme.  $100.00 was raised for Ronald McDonald House and 125.00 for The Humane Society!! Congratulations to the students of class 7B and 7F. "How beautiful a day can be when kindness touches it.” -George Elliston 

8D with Mr. Phelan: This past month the students in 8D have been working on a novel study The Outsiders. The students have really enjoyed the novel and we have had quite a few good discussions about the conflicts, divides and social classes that are found in the book. Besides having discussions, the students have also worked on a few activities and assignments which have included: a poster to show what it would take to become a member of the Greasers and the Socs, a newspaper article describing an event that took place in the novel and writing a letter that would change a person’s opinion about making harsh judgments about an individual. 

Brain Rules with 8G:  8G has been watching videos and creating posters on Brain Rules. Brain Rules are facts that molecular biologists, such as John Medina at www.brainrules.net, know for sure about the brain.  The students paraphrased the rules and then created posters to be put up around the school to advise other students about the Brain Rules and how they can affect learning:

Brain Rule #1 Exercise: The more we exercise, the healthier our brains are.

Brain Rule #2 Survival:  Adapting to walking upright made our brains bigger and now our brains are capable of dual representation. That is when we can see one thing and it can mean multiple things, like a straight line can mean a “1” or an “i” or an “L” or a musical note.

Brain Rule #3 Wiring: Every brain is the same, but different. Every brain has different wiring.  What you do and learn, especially when you are young, physically changes what your brain looks like.

Brain Rule #4 Attention: Most brains have a ten minute rule. After ten minutes we will zone out unless something exciting grabs our attention.  Also multi-tasking is impossible for the brain; our brains just switch tasks. Doing stuff while “multitasking” makes what you’re doing take that much longer, and you make more mistakes.

Brain Rule #5 Short-term Memory: We have to repeat things in order to remember them.

Brain Rule #6 Long-term Memory: It’s much easier to remember new things if you can make a connection to something you already know or a good memory.

Brain Rule # 7 Sleep:  Our brain needs sleep to function well and it works while we sleep.  The Homeostatic Sleep Curve and the Circadian Arousal Curve control our sleep patterns and in the afternoons, between 2-3:00 pm, they want us to sleep so it’s the worst time to learn.

Brain Rule # 8 Stress: Stress hurts every kind of learning.  Stressed brains are different that non-stressed brains. Stress actually kills brain cells.

Brain Rule #9 Sensory Integration: If we combine more than one of our senses while learning, like audio and visual, we will remember better.  Smell is the most effective at helping long-term memory.

Brain Rule #10 Vision: Vision triumphs over other senses. Being shown something visually makes us remember it 3 times better, and if it’s visual and oral we remember it 6 times better.

Brain Rule #11 Gender:  The brain functions a little different for males and females. For example, men and women handle acute stress differently.

Brain Rule #12 Exploration: Babies are a model of how we learn-by active testing through observation, hypothesis, experiment and conclusion. 

Library News

For the first time in many years, the Library held a February Book Fair.  The event was a huge success thanks to all the support of students, parents, teachers and our Library Monitors. We were able to get over $600.00 in free books from Scholastic because our sales were so good.  Thank you to everyone who participated in the Book Fair.  It was a lot of fun and we were able to get almost all the books requested by students. 

Invite the world home ~ Be a host family

Looking for an experience where the whole family can have fun and grow together?

Ten Japanese youth aged 12 to 16 are dreaming of spending a month this summer with an Island family. Host Families are simply asked to welcome the exchange into their home and treat him/her like one of the family. We provide lots of support for this volunteer opportunity. Develop a friendship that reaches around the world.

For more information call: Michelle 887-3299 or Nola 859-3684 

Girl Guide Information

Would you like to volunteer with girls aged 5 -6 years? Looking for fun, friendship and adventure? Guiding in Cornwall is looking for a Sparks leader to help run a fun and educational program. Cornwall Sparks meet at Cornwall United Church on Thursday evenings between 6 and 7pm. For further information please contact 902-892 4936 or info@girlguides.pe.ca www.girlguides.pe.ca

Healthy Eating Tips:

Eating Together as a Family

If you feel like your family doesn’t have time to eat meals together, you are not alone! Many families have difficulty finding time to eat meals together because of being busy and having conflicting schedules. Despite everyone’s hectic schedules, it’s important to find some time during the week to get everyone together for a family meal.

Getting Everyone Together at Mealtime

Brought to you by the Healthy Eating Alliance www.healthyeatingpei.ca