BIS Newsletter

November has been a busy and exciting month at BIS!

We want to thank everyone who joined us for our Veterans Day Assembly—the students did an incredible job honoring our veterans, and we couldn’t be prouder of their performances. Last week our 4th grade students who participated in drama club performed their production for classmates. We have so much talent at BIS.

The Scholastic Book Fair and Parent-Teacher Conferences were also big successes, and we appreciate all of you who took the time to participate. We hope you found those to be helpful in supporting your child and teacher(s) this school year.

Inclement Weather Notifications: As we head into late fall, a quick reminder that inclement weather may be on the horizon. Please see the linked letter below for the district's response to inclement weather this winter. This includes information about how the district will plan and communicate snow days, delays, and early releases.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday! Thank you for your continued support of our school community.

Mrs. Nadeau

Don't forget these events on your calendars!

November

• Tues, Nov 26 - Early Release (Dismissed @ 12:00pm)
• Wed, Nov 27 - Fri, Nov 29 - No School

December

• Thurs, Dec 5 - Fri, Dec 6 - BIS Dental Clinic
• Wed, Dec 11 - Early Release (Dismissed @ 12:00pm)
• Fri, Dec 20 - Fun Friday (Pajama Day)
• Mon, Dec 23 - Jan 1 - No School (Winter Break)

Miss L's 3rd-grade class participated in a science experiment on Halloween! Students decorated plastic cups to look like pumpkins and monsters. Then, they used water, cooking oil, food coloring, and effervescent tablets to create their own lava lamps! The students discussed the hydrophobic properties of oil, as well as how the effervescent tablets released carbon dioxide to create a chemical reaction.

Ms. Leclerc's third-grade students learned about different landforms by designing their own islands. They used tortillas to represent the land and added candy to create mountains, rivers, forests, and other features. The students then presented their islands to the class, explaining the different landforms they included and how each one was formed. This hands-on activity helped them understand geography while having a lot of fun building and decorating their edible landscapes!

Third Grade - Third grade students have learned an African song called Che Che Kule from Ghana. Students can sing the song, play the beat on an African drum, and perform the movements. We are starting to prepare for the next unit in music class - piano lessons!

Fourth Grade - Fourth grade students have learned an African song called Fanga from Liberia. Students can sing the song, play the beat on an African drum, and perform the movements. We are reviewing the piano lessons we learned last year so we can continue our piano lessons.

Chorus - Our chorus club will be performing 4 mini concerts the first week of December. Parents - please reach out to Ms. Wollstadt (awollstadt@biddefordschool.me) if you would like details about attending.

We started November off with another successful Scholastic Book Fair! Thank you to all the wonderful parent volunteers and to everyone who came to the fair. We are now beginning 3 new programs in the library. One group will be learning about Food and Nutrition, a second group will be doing MakerSpace activities, and the last group will be learning about the 5 layers of the ocean with the LEGO/OCEAN program. We will rotate the groups every 6 weeks so that everyone can experience all 3 programs.

Third Grade: Empathy helps students perceive and understand what others are feeling. This month, we are focusing on the critical next step: putting empathy into action by showing compassion. Empathy makes a difference in students' lives by motivating them to use caring words and actions toward others. Students can channel their empathy into compassion to help peers feel less isolated, provide emotional support to peers under challenging circumstances, and strengthen friendships. Students who are bullied can experience fewer difficulties if other students are compassionate and show them support. Increasing students’ compassion skills helps create a caring and positive school climate.

Fourth Grade: Once students can use empathy skills to understand others’ feelings and perspectives, they will be better able to interact respectfully and thoughtfully with others. A straightforward way to communicate respect for and interest in another person is to compliment the person. Complimenting is a positive way to begin or end a conversation. Making conversation is a crucial social skill students can use to build friendships. Having friends at school increases a student’s feelings of connection and belonging. Feeling connected to school is a protective factor that helps students avoid problem behaviors. This month, we are working on complimenting each other and using kind words.

We’re making great strides in PE trying to fill up our “toolbox” of games and activities for students to be able to use almost anywhere or anytime. Recently added to our growing list of small area games was Slow Motions, a slower paced yet very challenging and physically demanding activity that students sure are excited about! Ask your student to challenge you to a “last place race” and enjoy the fun! Also on the list of awesome new games is the fast paced Zombie Graveyard that uses many different locomotor skills and movements for students to use while trying to avoid being tagged. This action packed thriller is fast becoming a favorite here at BIS!

Art to Remember order forms have been sent home! These items, personalized with your child’s beautiful artwork, make great gifts for loved ones. Ordering online is easy! Orders received by Nov. 15th will arrive before we leave for our winter break.

Art class has been happening outside this fall! 3rd grade classes went outside after watching a video about land artist, Andy Goldsworthy. They created their own lovely works of art in Goldsworthy’s style. 4th grade classes went out to collect and draw fall leaves. They later made gorgeous masterpieces involving fall leaves. Some of these are on the hallway bulletin board now!

Next both 3rd and 4th grade students learned about the color wheel, an important tool for artists. 3rd graders were introduced to the primary and secondary colors, while 4th graders learned about the tertiary colors.

Small group counseling is continuing at BIS! We’re working on being a good friend, learning about coping skills, practicing mindfulness, and how to deal with our worries and changes in our families. If you would like your student to participate in the next round of groups, please reach out to our school counselor, Ally Guay at aguay@biddefordschools.me or Jessica Aberle at jaberle@biddefordschools.me .

Each month, BIS focuses on a theme at our team assemblies and throughout the month. In November, we’re learning about loyalty. At our assembly, we talked about how being loyal means standing beside someone or something no matter what. We have encouraged our BIS Tigers to be loyal to their friends, families, and themselves!

We continue to celebrate our students here at BIS! This month some students were surprised with their Somedays. Some of our celebrations included a basketball game, a lunch with a special friend, a movie with the class, and a nature walk. We are excited to be able to continue celebrating our Tigers all year long!

BIS is partnering with Tooth Protectors Inc. to offer Preventative Dental Care here at school on December 5th & 6th. Services are available for students WITH or WITHOUT dental insurance.

Services are FREE to those with MaineCare, self-pay fees are listed on the permission form, and other dental insurance can be billed. To participate, please fill out this form or click on the below button to complete it online.

Mainers can now view, download, and share their immunization records from Maine's Immunization Information System (IIS) using a health record mobile app called Docket®.

Docket® is an application that searches Maine’s Immunization Information System (IIS) using basic demographic information (name, date of birth, and sex) to display immunization record information on a mobile device. Phone number verification is required. The app displays vaccination history to anyone with a record in the IIS whose identity has been verified through the Docket® app. This application is not a vaccine passport.

You must be 18 years of age to use Docket®. You can also access vaccine records on behalf of someone for whom you are the parent/legal guardian or authorized personal representative, usually for a minor child or vulnerable adult. You can export PDFs of your records by clicking the “share” button and clicking “Download PDF” within the Docket® app. You can then show or send the PDF as you choose.

To get started, click Here or scan the QR code to download the Docket® app and learn more.

Lindsey Nadeau, Principal

Email: lnadeau@biddefordschools.me
Website: www.biddefordschools.me
Location: 335 Hill Street, Biddeford, ME, USA
Phone: (207) 282-5957
Facebook: www.facebook.com/biddefordintermediate