December Newsletter & Legos Marble Mazes

CALENDAR EVENTS

11/22 - 12/13 Heart to Heart Advent Toy Drive
12/6 View Marble Mazes at Morning Arrival, 7:55-8:15 AM
12/7 Christmas on Broadway, Including Gingerbread Workshop
12/8 Advent Family Mass, 4:30 PM Chapel
12/11 Holiday Snack with Mr. De Santis & Facilities Dept.
12/11 Gr. 5-8 Instrumental Concert, 6:30 PM in Syufy Theatre

12/13 Noels, Dress Uniform, NOTE: Friday Singing Practice is Canceled
12/17 Gr. 3-8 Vocal Concert, 6:30 PM in Syufy Theatre
12/18 Spirit Day: PJ Theme
12/19 Holiday Free Dress, Including Ugly Sweater
12/20 Holiday Free Dress & Midday Dismissal 
12/23 - 1/3/19 Christmas Break - School Closed
1/6/19 Classes Resume          
                                       

                 

                                        

LANGUAGE ARTS
Word study skills continue with introducing the v-consonant-e rule. Girls will have opportunities to practice in class and at home by building words with letter cards:

• CVCe (consonant•vowel•consonant•silent e )

Girls will be performing the Reader's Theatre, Looking for the Muffin Man.  This month's comprehension strategies include:
•  Make connections
• Make inferences, including predictions and conclusions from pictures and text

WRITING  

Our newest Writing Workshop Unit of Study, Nonfiction Chapter Books, introduced first graders to writing information. Mini lessons cover new concepts, as well as incorporating techniques learned in the previous narrative unit. Girls are practicing their craft of information/nonfiction writing by increasing the length of stories with chapters about their topic. They will also make a Table of Contents before publishing their books.

SOCIAL STUDIES & COMMUNITY
• December is filled with anticipation for the holiday season. First graders are introduced to winter holidays and cultural celebrations using lights. "All around the world there are festivals of light. The light shines for all the good in our lives. They honor wisdom, faith and love, and hope for brighter days." (from Celebrations of Light) by Nancy Luenn.
• Recognition for Who Works in Our Community
Girls will share a festive holiday snack on December 12th to show appreciation for our  dynamic Facilities team: Mr. Geoff DeSantis, Plant Operations Director, Plant Engineers: Danny Seibert, Hector Flores, Jared Moreno, and Tim Duckett, Events Coordinator, Jessica Jasso, Theatre Manager, Chris Miller, and Receptionists: Nancy McIntire, Sandra Stapleton. How do they contribute to the smooth running of the Broadway campus? 

SCIENCE  

Sound and Light investigations introduce how sound comes from vibrating objects. Using simple materials (cups, rubber bands, craft sticks) and instruments, girls explore how sounds are being produced. They'll explore ways to change sound: volume (loud, soft) and pitch (high, low).  Light investigations (in January) will explore shadows and reflections. Girls will be using flashlights and mirrors during their light investigations.

                                    
DESIGN/ENGINEERING
First graders are continuing to explore forces: gravity, friction, and push/pull. Girls built mazes with legos to move the marble through a maze successfully. How much force did you use? Too little or too much? Did the marble stay on the path?

Building with Partners

Testing Marble Mazes




Design & Engineering Notebooks

This week girls are building their own
marble mazes. After choosing a theme,
mazes will be constructed with paper.
We look forward to sharing the mazes
on Friday morning, 7:55-8:15 AM.

MATH

As part of our lessons about shapes,  girls will be exploring plane and solid shapes using sets of plastic (plane) and foam shapes (solid). As they work with the plane and solid shapes, girls will identify, classify, and describe attributes found in shapes. 

  

    Plane Shapes    &    Solid  Shapes

Girls will be making shape models in Spark Studio with Ms. Inchausti on Dec. 5th.