NEW SCHOOL PREPARATORY DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 2011

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In The NewsDates to Remember

December 17 (Friday)Half-Day11:30am - Dismissal

December 20 (Monday)Winter Break BeginsSchool Closed

January 3 (Monday)School Resumes

January 17 (Monday)Martin Luther King, Jr. DaySchool Closed

from the Director

Dear parents,

Most recently I entered the Grade 1-2 classroom. Their building was transformed into an Egyptian museum that displayed every aspect of ancient Egyptian life.

There were the mummies the children had made. No, they were not cardboard cutouts. The students had taken natron, a dessicant to dry out their hotdogs, chicken, and eggplants so that bacteria would not form, just as the Egyptians had done to human bodies. Then they wrapped their “bodies” as the Egyptians had done and adorned them beautifully.

Twists and turns in the museum brought viewers to the sphinx and its ante-chambers and annexes or displays produced by the children of The Book of the Dead story. In yet another area of the museum, hieroglyphics and the Egyptian calendars showcased the genius of the people. Because the access to the museum was by invitation only, many of you might want to see how the children presented their museum. Just click on this link to go inside Grade 1-2 Egyptian Museum.

As the New Year approaches, you will be able to see many more learning activities that take place in our classrooms. The Middle School math classes are completing a long project on Bridge Building that includes design and accurate mathematics in their scale models. The parents will be invited to view the displays and participate in judging the bridges.

Our Middle School will also take part in the We the People- The Citizen and the Constitution competition in January. This competition is sponsored and run by the Florida Law Related Education. New School will be the only Middle School represented in this High School competition.

Our Renaissance Fair will take place in February.

I look forward to seeing all of you at these events and wish everyone a happy and very healthy New Year 2011.

Morris Sorin

NEW SCHOOL PREPARATORY DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 2011

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KINDERGARTEN

The end of November found the Kindergarten/Pre-K feasting on foods made by the Wampanog Indians. The children made “fruit leather” out of apples, corn bread, popcorn, butter and pumpkin bread. The class created a Wampanog village with wigwams and canoes as well as musical instruments and decorations.

The month of December we will spend in Dr. Seuss’s world surrounded by books by the prolific author, and will focus on characters and rhyme. They will see that stories can be written about wild and whacky creatures and that imaginary adventures can be created. A bulletin board will be created by the children depicting eight of Seuss’ stories and the creatures they make will be decked out in feathers and sequins.

The children will read and be read to from some of Seuss’ most famous books; “The Cat in the Hat”, “Hop on Pop”, “One Fish, Two Fish”. They will also hear some of Seuss’ lesser know works like “McGilligot’s Pool”, “The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins”, “The Sneetches” “Yertle the Turtle” and the classic story or preservation, “The Lorax”.

Our Science unit is about “The Properties of Matter.” They will learn about and do experiments with solids, liquids and gases. We will, of course, have some cooking (and eating)

experiences as the children watch the change from liquid to solid, and in some cases, the solid reverting back to a liquid. We will read the story “Bartholomew and the Ooblek” and will do a science experiment in which they observe and list the ingredients and then make a hypothesis about the end result. Will it be a solid or a liquid (or neither!)? A month full of wonders.

Computers- The Kindergartners are writing a story about a Native American boy. They will be turning their tale into a digital story utilizing various programs in our lab.

In Language Arts the enjoyment of reading takes us in a journey following Elmer Elevator into the dark and mysterious Wild Island. He has proven to be a very good trickster by out smarting the animals with the contents of his knapsack. We are having fun trying to guess how Elmer will get out of trouble. Who would have thought chewing gum would rescue him from the ferocious tigers? But...will he ever get to the baby dragon on time? Ask us for updates.

In Social Studies we will look into the history of peoples of many cultures to explain the customs related to important winter holidays and ceremonies. It will help us understand culture and historical

developments of societies in Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe. Holidays and their stories will be discussed: Hannakah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Posadas, Chinese New Year and others.

In Math most boys and girls are developing the concept of regrouping. To understand the process of grouping and regrouping, we will begin the exploration by playing games with small groups of 4, 5 and 6. Next, we will discover the number patterns that occur when they record each step of the process of forming groups. This will provide a foundation for understanding base 10 so our students will be able to make sense of the rules they learn and determine for themselves that they are following proper procedures for getting reasonable answers. As always we will proceed at their own pace and level. Timed mathfacts and doubles remain a priority in helping us with the addition and subtraction of two digit numbers.

What does a pinwheel, a helicopter, a paper glider, a parachute and an airplane have in common? They will provide our little scientists with the experiences they need to understand several principles about air as well as an introductory demonstration of the basic forces involved in flight: weight, lift, thrust and drag.

Computers - Grade 1-2 will be making a music video utilizing an original song and several creative programs available in our lab.

FIRST and SECOND GRADE

NEW SCHOOL PREPARATORY DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 2011

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Language Arts

Students will begin reading Shakespeare's comedy "Twelfth Night." They will identify with themes such as mistaken identity and the folly of great ambition. Reading Shakespeare ties in with the Renaissance theme in Social Studies, and leads into a study of Elizabethan Times. Besides "Twelfth Night", we will also be busy furthering comprehension skills by continuing to work with non-fiction news stories as well as further work in sequencing information. Grammar skills will continue to be sharpened as well, continuing with the correct use of singular and plural possessive nouns. Social Studies

Third and Fourth Graders studying the Medici family. Students are learning about the rise of this important Renaissance family from simple wool merchants to the first family of Florence. Besides learning new concepts involving humanism and political power, students are applying previously learned knowledge including hierarchy of the Catholic Church and the ideas of Galileo. Students will be introduced to several members of the Medici family and enjoy their adventures through Renaissance times.

Math

Grade 3-4 are learning how to make generalizations about numbers. Each week a problem is presented that challenges thinking. For example, students were given the consecutive numbers:

1,2,3,48,9,10,1142,43,44,4577,78,79, 80

They were told that if you subtract the 1st digit from the last digit the answer would be 3. Students studied other consecutive numbers and agreed that this is true. The challenge was to come up with other generalizations involving 4 consecutive numbers. As each group of children explored a possibility, another group checked to see if the generalization worked. One group found out that if you add the outer 2 digits, the answer is the same as the result of adding the inner 2 digits. Another group discovered that if you multiply an even number by an odd number, the result is always an even number. As one student commented, “Here’s where double digit multiplication comes in handy!”

Another problem of logic requires the students build as few firehouses as possible to service a town. The fire trucks should not have to drive more than one street. Where should these firehouses be placed? So far the students have saved the town money by figuring out how to place 7 firehouses that meet all the demands rather than a more expensive plan requiring 9 firehouses.

!

THIRD and FOURTH GRADE

NEW SCHOOL PREPARATORY DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 2011

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Language Arts

Students are very excited about our Writing Workshop. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the lights are lowered, the desks are rearranged, and all is quiet and focused on our individual writing tasks. Some students are writing songs, others are writing stories and memoirs, but all seem to relish the chance to get their thoughts onto paper. On Fridays, we pop some popcorn, share what we’ve created and offer constructive criticism. Each student will choose their best works, revise them, correct them for grammar, spelling and punctuation and formally add them to our class collection.

Social Studies

Fifth and Sixth Grades will continue the study of law by examining the Bill of Rights. Once students are introduced to individual amendments, they will be working with landmark cases. Each case will be examined in depth as students identify the key issues of each case and apply their knowledge of the Constitution to better understand the Supreme Court decisions made on these cases.

Math

We’ve done some interesting challenges so far this year. In addition to our bridge building and budgeting, students have had to use geometry and algebra to solve problems like—how can we tell how many pieces of candy are in a large container without opening it? They’ve used geometry teamwork in a contest to determine the exact square footage of the school in the most efficient way. They’ve even solved concentration percentage problems involving syrup and chocolate milk. Students are discovering that Math can be both hard work and fun.

FIFTH and SIXTH GRADE

NEW SCHOOL PREPARATORY DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 2011

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Language Arts

We’ve begun reading a collection of short stories by Roald Dahl. This renowned children’s author (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) wrote some wickedly incisive short stories for the older crowd. In one story, for example, a garage-based inventor develops a machine to hear ultra-sonic vibrations and discovers that the plants around him have feelings and scream when they are cut. In another story, a young man takes a room with a mysterious landlady whose hobby is taxidermy. He finds that her last few boarders have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Dahl’s stories are spectacular examples of suspense and suggestion, and we’re de-constructing each to investigate his methods.

Social Studies

Students are continuing to prepare for the January 7, 2011 state Congressional Hearing competition. Students are learning about the powers granted to each branch of government by the Constitution and will now focus on the judicial branch. Concepts surrounding the Supreme Court will be highlighted - judicial review, the ways in which the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution, and how the Supreme Court uses the Bill of Rights to determine court cases. Students will be working with landmark cases in order to better understand how the Supreme Court comes to its decisions.

Math

Students are progressing nicely in their math groups, with the General Math group getting into complex operations, the Pre-Algebra group learning the basics of factoring monomials, and the Algebra group learning several ways to approach the solutions to complex equations and inequalities.

We’re getting practical experience too, as all students are involved in the hot lunch business. They must keep track of orders and bank deposits, determine our profits, solicit new vendors, and, of course, serve the food and keep the customers happy.

SEVENTH and EIGHTH GRADE

NEW SCHOOL PREPARATORY DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 2011

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SCIENCE

Grades 3-4 Have enjoyed learning about Sir Isaac Newton’s genius and his quirky personality. From optics, motion, gravity, and religion, to alchemy, Newton has inspired our students to become “Junior Alchemists” creating a text (recipe) and a key to decipher it. The hardest part has been keeping it secret from the other team! Next great mind; Charles Darwin.

Grades 5-6 are completing their physics projects and some of the students are also working on the Future City competition with the 7th and 8th graders. We will begin exploring Charles Darwin’s ideas and implications of those ideas over time. There will be 2 eCybermission teams from grade 5/6 that will be using science, math, and engineering to solve a community problem.

Grades 7-8 have been introduced to some of the terms and principles of physic through vectors, scalars, and calculations for average change and instantaneous velocity, acceleration, and position. Future City deadlines are swiftly approaching and the city of Oceanopolis is taking shape. There are three phases of the competition with separate deadlines and committees have been formed to address each one. Anyone who is, or knows, an engineer that would like to act as mentor for some of the planning or building (scale model) aspects of the city, please contact me (drmomisin@aol.com) as soon as possible. We would love to have a variety of expert consults in the various components; transportation, residential, commercial, recreation, utilities, waste, sustainability, renewable resources, etc.

Thank you to everyone that has participated in our recycling program. Since we began collecting, we have diverted over 3000 drink pouches, 400 chip bags, 300 cookie bags, 300 candy wrappers, and 400 ziploc style bags and containers from the landfill. We are now also collecting beverage bottles and cans (plastic or aluminum) to recycle as part of the Dream Machine Rally. Send them in with your student and we will receive points for each piece. Reducing waste just makes sense and stewardship of our planet is our responsibility.

NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL (SPANISH NEWSLETTER)

Grades K-4 will continue expanding their vocabulary as well as speaking and writing abilities through conversation, readings, games, songs, stories, and other in-class activities.

Fifth and Sixth Grade will learn how to talk about some of their leisure-time activities, make plans with friends and accept or decline invitations. Students will continue working in grammar, present tense verb Ir (to go) and Estar (to be). Students need to study the new vocabulary every day.

Seventh Grade will learn how to describe vacation choices and activities. Students really love talking about vacation, so we will pretend that we are going to a country in Latin America. They will talk about the weather, discuss what to take on the trip, and what places of interest they will see and visit in the Spanish-speaking country.

Eighth Grade will start talking about TV shows and movies, telling when events begin and end, and how long they last; we will also continue working with the preterit (past tense) of the verbs; they will learn how to express and defend an opinion.

NEW SCHOOL PREPARATORY DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 2011

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