BIS Newsletter
September 2024
Happy December BIS Families,
As the holiday season approaches, I want to thank you for your continued support and partnership. December is a busy and exciting time at BIS, and I’m proud of the hard work and kindness our students and staff show every day.
A couple of reminders:
- Schoolwide Pajama Day: Join the fun on Friday, December 20th!
- Winter Break: No school from December 23rd through January 1st. Classes resume on January 2nd.
- Snow Gear: In order to play in the snow students need to bring a coat, snow pants, snow boots, gloves/mittens, and a hat/hood. Without appropriate snow gear, they will still enjoy recess but will need to stay out of the snow. We do not have gear to borrow when students forget, however if you are in need of support with appropriate winter gear please reach out to Ms. Aberle (jaberle@biddefordschools.me).
Below is a link for our bi-monthly update for all of the events that have happened in November and December at BIS. For translated versions, please click the link at the bottom of the update.
Wishing you and your family a joyful holiday season. Thank you for being an important part of our school community!
Warmly,
Lindsey Nadeau
Chorus Club
Our chorus club performed at our monthly Den assemblies. Thank you Ms. Wollstadt for this wonderful opportunity!
Blanket Making
Miss L. and her students made blankets with UNE students to donate to children in local hospitals!
Mr. Hodgkins & Ms. Reynolds
Music
Third-grade students have been perfecting their skills at singing rounds. The latest round we’re learning is called “One Bottle of Pop.” We are also learning to read music by identifying the notes on a staff and we’re learning to play the piano!
Fourth-grade students are working on the newest spiritual called “All Night All Day.” We are continuing to improve our musical literacy by learning to read notes on the staff. We’re also improving our piano skills:)
Any student can request piano music to take home. If you have a piano, keyboard, or device with a piano app your child can ask for the sheet music and practice at home.
Chorus - Our chorus club had four amazing performances at our December assemblies. Watch for more information after the holiday break about an afterschool chorus club on Tuesdays.
Library
We have had a very busy month in the library! There are three programs going on, each lasting six weeks. At the end of the six weeks, we will rotate so that everyone has an opportunity to experience all three programs, which are Food and Nutrition, Maker Space, and LEGO/Ocean. In Food and Nutrition, they have been learning about the food groups. In Makerspace, they have been using their imagination to build and create using different manipulatives. In LEGO/Ocean, we have learned about the first two layers of the ocean, The Sunlight Zone and the Twilight Zone. The students then used Legos to create things that belonged in those two zones. Three more zones to go!
Social Emotional Learning
In SEL we are learning about Self Awareness and Self Management. We are learning to identify triggers that may set us off, as well as how to focus attention on our body for clues about how we are feeling. When we have strong feelings, it’s hard for our brains to think. The feeling part of the brain has taken over! When this happens, it’s like you “flip your lid” or lose control of the thinking part of your brain. We are learning different ways to bring our mind and body back by using mindfulness, movement, and breathing as part of an 8-week wellness challenge for the new year.
Physical Education
Art
It’s not too late to order from Art to Remember! Ordering is open through the end of the year. Did you know you can upload any of your child’s art to have it made into great gifts for loved ones?
We’ve moved on from ‘drawing from life’ to ‘drawing from the imagination.’
3rd grade students are working on drawing dragons and then adding a landscape. They’re all including a fore-ground, middle-ground, and back-ground and have learned to use overlapping to show depth.
4th grade students are drawing robots. We looked at a myriad of robots designed by other artists and listened to a read-aloud of Robot Rumpus by Sean Taylor. Each student’s robot is designed to do a specific task and has features that match that task. Students are getting a chance to apply the color pencil skills they learned last month, as they use metallic color pencils to finish off their robots.
Contact Us
Email: lnadeau@biddefordschools.me
Website: www.biddefordschools.me
Location: 335 Hill Street, Biddeford, ME, USA
Phone: (207) 282-5957
Facebook: www.facebook.com/biddefordintermediate