Dance Program up and running at Charlton

We are in the middle of our whole school Dance program here at Charlton P.S. Kreative Dance Kids began last week and will be engaging our classes for another week or so, with a culminating performance at 1.40 pm in our gym on Wednesday May 22nd.  The instructors are dynamic and

classes are very active in learning their dance moves. I'm impressed at how many students are participating fully in the dance activities...we have a few budding professionals in our midst!!

Scientists in the School in Kindergarten

This week, our Kindergartens enjoyed Scientists in the School. A scientist came in 3 days in a row and joined parent volunteers in each Kindergarten class to deliver 4 activities to groups of students.  Kindergartens learned concepts such as recycling (which items go in which container), water conservation (how much water is needed to brush your teeth), and the conditions seeds need to grow in soil.  Each Kindergarten student made a string of food to hang from a tree in order to feed birds.

As you can imagine, there was a lot of excitement in the room, and a lot of learning occurring.
Thanks to all the parent volunteers who helped deliver the activities to our youngest students - they had a blast!

Math games to support our mathematics program

Part of a comprehensive mathematics program is to use specific games to support the math learning in class.  Recently we have been trying out some new games in our mathematics classes.  Students have responded very well and have enjoyed engaging in these games.  Many have commented on how they better understand a particular concept after having played a game.

Here, 2 students and a staff member are playing a card game to support their learning.  Ask your son or daughter if they have recently played a game in mathematics.

Recently, through a connection with one of our parents, Mr. Granite.  The Chess Institute offerred a program to our Community Class to learn chess, and at the same time teach the students skills of patience and taking turns.  The program was offerred for free, and our students LOVED  it!

Here you can see some of our students playing with an oversized chess board.  What a great experience for them.
As well, we had numerous chess sets donated to the school by Mr. Granite.  They now are being used by our Chess Club twice a week.  The Chess Club is run by members of the Charlton Student Leadership Team.

Clothing drive

As part of our year-long focus on doing things for others, called Feed the Deed, Mr. Goron's class decided to organize a school-wide clothing drive, collecting clothing from each classroom to help those in need stay warm in the record breaking cold temperatures this winter (see the January newsletter article).  They far exceeded their expectations with the clothing that was collected.

 The photo above gives you an idea of the amount of clothing that was shipped to Goodwill this week. Over 945 items were collected - it was a job well done!  Once again, we see evidence of a true sense of caring for those less fortunate in both our student body and in our community.  Congratulations to our Gr. 6 class for all of their efforts, and to you for showing our students how much caring for others matters!

Today we host the Area Qualifiers for Girls Basketball here at Charlton. Teams from Glen Shields, L.H. Frechette, Brownridge and Wilshire came to compete with our Charlton team to determine which 2 teams will compete

at the Area finals.  All the teams played very hard all day, and showed considerable skill.  Charlton won their first game by only one point in a close contest with Wilshire.  In their second game they played a very strong Glen Shields team and lost.  In the third game against Brownridge, our girls sailed through to another win.  In the final round robin game, Charlton edged Frechette by 1 point, finishing 2nd in a 5-team pool.
On to the semi-final.  In that game against Frechette, the score was close all game.  In the final minute, Frechette moved to 2 points back of Charlton.  They threw up many shots in the final seconds, but none went in.
Charlton is off to the Area finals!!
Congratulations Girls!!!

Deep Freeze
For the last few days we have been under a 'deep freeze', with temperatures well below -20 degrees Celsius.  As a result, we have experienced many days without outdoor recess.  On the majority of these days, we have opened up the gym at lunch to give students a chance to run around for at least 20 minutes playing sports such as basketball and soccer.  This exercise, paired with our daily physical activity (DPA), helps burn some energy and allow students to better focus in classes.
Let's hope the last of the cold weather is left behind in February, and we can return to our usual outdoor activities twice daily.