NEWSLETTER
December 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome IB Learner Profile: Open-Minded Staff Spotlight: Mrs. Chen New WP Members Cultural Corner WP TV Studio News Holiday Preparations Nurse News-Hearing Screenings Important Dates and Events Barnes and Noble WP Book Fair Student Ambassador Ceremony Skating on the Ice Rink WP Bake Sale Coding Academy Athletics: Soccer and Basketball Thanksgiving in French Pre K-3 Pre K-4 Kindergarten PYP-Charlotte’s Web Field Trip 1st Grade 2nd Grade PYP-Children’s Festival Field Trip 3rd Grade-ESL Respect Rap Video 4th Grade PYP Spanish MYP-Renaissance Festival Field Trip MYP-ExxonMobil Field Trip MYP Cookbook DP Mathematics Department and the Psychology Department
CAS CORNER: Alejandra Cordova A Note from our College Counselor
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WELCOME The month of November and the beginning of December have been full of exciting events, projects, field trips, and holiday cheer. As the end of the semester approaches, students have been busy finalizing their projects and preparing for the big holiday event, our Christmas Concert! We hope you enjoy getting a peek at the many fun activities!
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IB Learner Profile Attribute of the Month
As an IB World school, one of the tools that guides our philosophy is the IB Learner Profile. This profile is made up of several key attributes that we strive to develop and reflect in the character of our students. Each month, a different attribute takes the spotlight and, as a whole school, we try to incorporate the attribute into our activities and think of ways of putting it into action. The attribute of the month for November was:
OPEN-MINDED Being open-minded means being flexible and open to approaching problems and challenges in different and unconventional ways. It also means being able to understand and respect other people’s perspectives and look at things through different points of view. What better way to practice being open-minded than learning a new language or learning about a new culture? For this reason, we’ve highlighted several activities from our Language Departments throughout the Newsletter. Creativity is another element of open-mindedness, and several of our units and field trips have involved delving into the creative process. As George Bernard Shaw once said, “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
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Staff Spotlight: Mrs. Yixing Chen- MYP Coordinator and Mandarin Teacher This month’s Newsletter, we’d like to tell you a little bit about our MYP Coordinator and Mandarin teacher, Mrs. Yixing Chen. Mrs. Chen has been working at Woodlands Prep for 5 years, and she has a total of 10 years of teaching experience in IB schools. Mrs. Chen received her masters degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. At Woodlands Prep, Mrs. Chen teaches DP and MYP Mandarin for native speakers and Personal Projects. As our MYP coordinator, Mrs. Chen works closely with teachers to develop curriculum, monitor student performance, and standardize assessments to create a positive and rigorous learning environment. She also organizes monthly coffee morning with MYP parents to share information about the IB and hear parent feedback. If you see her around the school, make sure to say hi!
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New Staff:
We would like to introduce to you our newest WP members! Mr. Frank Ansari studied Physics and Pharmaceutical Technology and has over 16 years of experience Teaching Mathematics and Physics. He also speaks 4 languages. Mr. Ansari will be our MYP and DP Physics Teacher. Mr. Paul Silva has extensive experience in the field of technology and design, including areas such as Web Design and Programming, and with a focus on educational technology. He is also a distinguished violin player. Mr. Silva will be our MYP Design and Technology Teacher. Ms. Kimberly Oluwafemi studied Biology, Chemistry and Biomedical Science and has taught Chemistry and Sciences for many years. She has also been involved in several scientific research projects. Ms. Oluwafemi will be our MYP and DP Biology and Chemistry substitute teacher while Mrs. Ojo is on maternity leave. We look forward to working together with our new WP members.
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CULTURAL CORNER During the last couple of months, our Cultural Coordinator, Mr. Cervantes, has been in contact with different IB schools around the world with the purpose of initiating exchanges of students and staff in order to enrich our diversity and multiculturalism. Several schools in Spain, South Korea, Mexico and Italy are collaborating in this great project. Our Cultural Coordinator has also organized a presentation by the Director of the Museum of the Americas, Mr. Raul Oyuela. During the talk, Mr. Oyuela will give us insight about the wonderful meaning of the Mural for Peace and the relationship of WP with the Museum of the Americas. This talk will take place on Thursday, December 13 at 12:45 in our gallery. In addition, as part of the academic development of our students and in order to encourage the habit of reading, this year’s Book Fair took place at the popular Barnes & Noble bookstore in The Woodlands Mall. Students, parents, and teachers enjoyed a family-friendly environment as they socialized and exchanged opinions about their favorite books. Finally, in collaboration with our music teacher, Mrs. Larisa Kholodnaya, our traditional Christmas Concert has been organized to take place in our gallery on December 13th at 1 pm. This magnificent concert will highlight the diversity of traditional Christmas music of many different countries.
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WP TV STUDIO NEWS As always, we’ve been busy in the WP TV Studio, covering all of the special dates, events, and news every morning! The months of November and December have brought us many interesting topics. Some of the topics covered include:
Some of our featured guests so far have been: •Mrs. Kimberly Hewitt - 1st Grade
•Nov. 13th- The History of Veterans Day •Nov. 15th- Artificially Intelligent News Anchors •Nov. 16th- The History of Thanksgiving
•Mr. Rodrigo Gonzalez- 4th Grade
•Nov. 26th- The Opening of King Tut’s Tomb •Nov. 27th- The Creation of the Nobel Prizes •Nov. 28th- Shrödinger’s Cat and Quantum Particles •Nov. 30th- The History of St. Andrew’s Day •Dec. 3rd- The History of Hanukkah •Dec. 5th- World Soil Day and George H. W. Bush Day of Mourning •Dec. 7th- Pearl Harbor
•Mrs. Larisa Kholodnaya- PYP and MYP Music
Aside from the morning news activities, our WP TV production students have recently been interviewing special guests for our WP Spotlight segment. These special guests happen to be our very own teachers and staff! Make sure to watch our WP Spotlight Segments. You’ll get to know a little bit more about some of our teachers and staff, and you’ll definitely enjoy the Behind The Scenes” sections. Also, don’t forget to check out our WP TV Youtube Channel by clicking here!
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Anyways, for now this is WP TV signing out!
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HOLIDAY PREPARATIONS The holiday spirit began early at Woodlands Prep with teachers and students working hard on all of the holiday preparations. The music classes have been practicing their numbers for the Christmas Concert coming up, and our Student Council spread the cheer around the school with beautiful holiday decorations. The WP TV studio also joined in spreading the holiday spirit by presenting segments about the history of several holidays, including Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, and, of course, they’ll be covering Christmas and how it is celebrated around the world. As you can tell, everyone at WP is excited for the holidays!
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Nurse News-Hearing Screenings Hearing screenings are currently going on at WP. The importance of hearing has a profound effect on a child's development. Hearing loss often cannot be detected by simple observation. This is why screening programs are so important. Identifying even a slight hearing loss early on can be impactful. If a hearing problem is detected through the screenings a child will then be referred to their primary physician for further examination, evaluation and treatment if necessary.
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Important Dates and Events Dec. 12 - Holiday Silly Gift Exchange Dec. 13 - Christmas Concert Dec. 14 - Final Day for NHS Toy Drive collection Dec. 18 - Last Day of Classes Jan 8- Back to Classes
Jan 24- Open House Woodlands Prep will be hosting an Open House on January 24, 2019, from 5:30 - 7:00 pm. We look forward to seeing many new faces!
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Barnes and Noble WP Book Fair Every year, Woodlands Prep organizes a Book Fair, but this year, we decided to host it at Barnes & Noble! The Book Fair took place on November 7th from 6 to 8 pm at the Barnes & Noble in the Woodlands Mall. The bookstore staff gave us a very warm welcome and assisted us at all times, helping us find all the books we needed.
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hey even invited Scott McCall, author of the book “Ted the Friendly Frog and the Tale of the Diamond�. Scott read his book for all of the children and parents, and he even brought a friendly Ted the Friendly Frog character for the children to meet! Students had fun getting their picture taken with the author and, of course, Ted The Friendly Frog, and everyone enjoyed getting to browse books and socialize.
RECOMMENDATION: Ted the Friendly Frog and the Tale of the Diamond, by Scott McCall
http://scottmccallbooks.com
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Student Ambassador Ceremony On Tuesday, November 27th, a special ceremony was held to induct and award the new Student Ambassadors for the 20182019 school year. This year we welcome 9 students representing all three IB programmes, to the WP Student Ambassador Program! The Student Ambassador Program is a rewarding experience that allows our students to share their enthusiasm for WP. Through this program, WP recognizes student leadership and involvement with our school. As Student Ambassadors, they work hand in hand with the Admissions Office to promote and represent our school in different ways, such as hosting school
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tours. They will become part of the Greeters Committee which greets special guests during school events and Open Houses, and they will help promote WP by spreading the word within the community. Being a student ambassador brings classroom lessons into real life experiences. It builds confidence, helps develop communication and presentation skills, encourages international mindedness, and creates unforgettable memories.
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Skating on the Ice Rink
On Sunday morning, December 2nd, students, teachers, and s got together to ice skate at Ice Rink at the Woodlands T Center. Students from all grades had great time on the ice. Even Santa and our Wolverine paid a visit and took photos with everyone, and Santa even had go at skating, though h probably more comforta driving his sleigh. Thank you to the PTSA organizing such a wonde event!
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Student Council Bake Sale “This November, our student council organized their first bake sale. Although it might have been a tiny bit rough to handle at first, we really managed to have fun with it and sell almost all of our food items. Dollar snack mixes were being sold outside to the car line and brownie bites and cupcakes were sold inside to parents and children. It looked like everyone was having a great time enjoying a little snack before going on their week long thanksgiving break. Thank you to all of our Student Council for organizing this event and to Ms. Michel for helping us with the tables!� - Angel Maita Ruiz Student Council Vice President
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Coding Academy One of our After-school Academies is the Coding Academy. In today’s age of computers, coding has become an invaluable skill that offers opportunities in countless industries. Our goal is to teach young students at Woodlands Prep that that computers are not only tools for play, but to understand that they are tools for creation. We wish to create a sustainable habit of coding that will challenge their critical thinking skills through life. Have a look at some of our students having a fun time coding! Did you know? T h e fi r s t c o m p u t e r programmer was an English woman named Ada Lovelace, who was also a mathematician and writer.
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ATHLETICS: Soccer and Basketball Soccer season began this month and our Wolverines soccer team kicked off to a great start! They won their first game against Connection School, 14 points to 0! Our Wolverines will be playing 6 more games within the Texas Christian Athletic League (TCAL) and will be having plenty of practices. Our WP Basketball season also began this month. Our Wolverines played their first basketball game vs Cornerstone Christian Academy on December 6th and will be practicing all throughout the month.
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Thanksgiving In French In honor of Thanksgiving, Madame Baird and her French students recited a heartfelt poem about the things that they are grateful for. With the help of Mr. Fernando, they put it all together in a short but charming video, dedicated to everyone who has helped to make this a great year.
Academy on December 6th and will be practicing all throughout the month.
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Pre K 3 We are currently learning how to use our imagination through loose parts. We collected toilet paper rolls (loose parts) and used our little imaginations to come up with another use for them...binoculars! We spent a day painting and constructing our awesome binoculars. After they were done drying we decided to test them out. The kids really enjoyed exploring the world around us with their newly made binoculars. We looked at the clouds, an airplane, insects and nature.
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Pre K 4 In Pre-K 4 we are working on our fine motor skills and being risk t a ke r s . To d ay we w ro te o u r numbers and letters with shaving cream. A lot of our class was hesitant about getting their hands dirty, but we talked about how we could all be risk takers and have the courage to try something new.
Kindergarten Our Unit of Inquiry this month has been How We Express Ourselves.
Students
acted out and completed a writing assignment based on the book by Judith Viorst, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
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PYP - Charlotte’s Web Play This month, some of our PYP students took a field trip to see a play! Our Kinder and 1st Grade Students watched a live performance of “Charlotte’s Web”, based on the popular book by E. B. White. They enjoyed getting to see real actors give life to this classic and beloved story, and they even got to meet some of the performers! It was a wonderful way to experience literature!
Recommendation: Charlotte’s Web, a Novel by E. B. White
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1st Grade
We Got The Beat We wrapped up our second unit, “We Got the Beat - How We Express Ourselves� on Friday by being inventors of our own musical instruments, writing about how we felt while we played them, and ended by going to different classrooms to show our inventions and even play a little jig. It was exciting to watch the students as they looked at their diagrams they created at home, worked on their instruments in class, and had a few minor changes or completely changed their instrument as they worked on it. They were all very creative and risk takers as they undertook this project on their own.
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2nd Grade: Storytelling and Creativity Presentation As part of our Fairy Tales Unit, Mr. Fernando J. Moguel, from our WP TV studio, recently visited the 2nd-grade students to talk about creativity, poetry, and storytelling and he presented his own illustrated poetry book, Mr. Pendlum's Compendium of Illustrated Verse from the Multiverse, which is a poetry book that mixes fictional and fairy tale elements with many interesting and educational topics, such as history, mythology, philosophy, psychology, literature, and even quantum physics, with a goal of inspiring curiosity and wonder. During the presentation, he explained the entire creative process behind his book, from researching and brainstorming to finishing a poem, drawing sketches to creating the digital illustrations, and putting all of the elements together to finally printing and making book copies. He also explored ways of mixing creativity and storytelling using different media and art forms and showed the students his own animated music video for his poem and song, "Siddhartha". The students really enjoyed the presentation and learned a lot about storytelling and creativity.
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RECOMMENDATION: Mr. Pendlum’s Compendium of Illustrated Verse from the Multiverse by Syne https://www.syneverse.com/syneprojects
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PYP-Children’s Festival This month, our 2nd and 3rd grade students visited the Children’s Festival at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, where our students enjoyed many awe-inspiring and eye-catching shows and activities. The Children’s Festival kicked off with a Pep Rally hosted by DJ Spirit Crew. The performance was full of music, dance, and plenty of fun! In spite of the chilly weather, our students were full of energy and participated with much enthusiasm. After this performance came the Story Pirates, who narrated stories written by students of different ages and from different US states. The stories were also role-played by a wonderful group of theatre artists.
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RECOMMENDATION: The Music & Comedy of JunNK
http://www.junnk.co.uk/
Last but not the least came the performance by The Music & Comedy of JunNk, a highly talented, award-winning music and comedy group. Using various items commonly found in junkyards as their foundation, the four hilarious and energetic performers combined superb a cappella singing, captivating percussion, innovative musical creations and mesmerizing gymnastics to produce a dynamic and seriously entertaining show. From using bottles as panpipes and watering-cans as trumpets, to playing well-known tunes on drain pipes with flip flops and PVC tubes as didgeridoos, this rubbish-powered variety show was a sensational whirlwind of pure entertainment that blew everyone’s minds.
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ESL Rap Video During our “How We Express Ourselves” Unit of Inquiry, third grade students learned about different forms of poetry, including the very expressive lyrical rap style.
We had so much fun learning and
performing the “R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Rap” to a rhythmic beat. The lyrics emphasize the importance of respecting each other at school and treating people the way you want to be treated. Students were able to share personal experiences and discuss different ways to show respect to others and how to avoid bullying. The most meaningful part of this assignment was that students realized how easy it is to implement respect in their lives and make the world a better place to live in! Watch the video put together by Mr. Fernando and the ESL class!
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4th Grade This month, we’ve been continuing with our unit, How The World Works, inquiring about how energy and matter are in constant transformation. We practiced research skills and learned about the identification and classification of living organisms by trying to find information about the fish in the school's aquarium. We learned t h a t t h e re a re d i f f e re n c e s a n d similarities between organisms and that there is a classification system. We also learned about polymers and the properties of plastic through an experiment with a ziplock and some pencils.
We all learned about density in liquids and solids, molecules and units of volume, and also about chemical elements, compounds, and chemical reactions. We even witnessed an acid-base reaction in the form of a Volcano. The students' interest in volcanoes began after watching part of the documentary series Forces of Nature, through which we have been exploring the concepts of energy and transformation in several different ways.
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PYP Spanish Every Friday, students from 1st through 4th grade have the opportunity to have a "Viernes de Diversion" Fun Friday. On this day, students take ownership of their learning by choosing from different activities, such as reading, group games, technology integration. With these activities, the PYP attitudes of cooperation and curiosity are promoted.
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MYP- Renaissance Festival This month, our 8th, 9th, and 10th graders visited the Texas Renaissance Festival! Students stepped back in time as they entered the New Market Village, an authentic recreation of a 16th century European village. Students interacted with hundreds of costumed characters representing the courts, culture, art, science, and literature of the Renaissance Period. Students also enjoyed jousting knights, musicians, jesters, and magicians as they performed on stages and arenas .
Did you know?: The Texas Renaissance Festival started in 1974 and sits on 55 acres of land.
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MYP - ExxonMobil On, Nov. 8th, our 5th, 6th, and 7th grade students visited the ExxonMobil campus in Spring, Texas. Students were taken on an extensive tour of their innovative facilities, which including seeing vintage gas pumps, a Formula 1 race car, a research laboratory, and several historical and educational exhibits. They also got to see their state-of-the-art “Catalyst CAVE Visualization Room� where they used 3D glasses to view an interactive presentation, and they finished off by learning about energy and used the lesson to build and race their own balloon cars!
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Then, on Nov. 30th, our 8th, 9th, and 10th grade students also had the chance to visit the ExxonMobil campus, which by then was sporting many holiday decorations including a LEGO Christmas tree. They were given the campus tour and, in addition, they had the opportunity to participate in a discussion about career opportunities in the oil and gas industry. They also learned about the history of ExxonMobil and the energy-saving technology in the architecture designs. Thank you to our teachers, Mrs. Chen, Mr. Edwards, Mrs. Sudberry, and Mr. Koehnle for helping to coordinate the field trip and, of course, to our WP parents at ExxonMobil, Mr. De Clercq, Mr. Melendez, Mrs, Kayupova, Mr. Al Amin, Mr. Juraszek, and Mr. and Mrs. Wieczynski, for helping us organize such productive trips and for welcoming us and showing us around. It was truly an unforgettable experience!
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MYP Cookbook MYP students in grade 5, 6, and 7 are working together to compile an original digital cookbook to share tastes and memories! Our cookbook will include: Favorite family recipes with images and memories Photo essays with commentary on food in various cultures (shopping, markets, locally grown) Info about Farmers Markets and locally grown food sources in or around The Woodlands Students are looking forward to sharing this digital project with you before the end of the semester.
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DP Mathematics Department and the Psychology Department On October 30, 2018 the Mathematics Department and the Psychology Department met with all seniors to discuss statistical methods that are needed for their Internal Assessments. A development of the methods of Inferential Statistics including Hypothesis Testing and Confidence Intervals were discussed by Mr. Adornato and Ms. Young. The students enjoyed and benefited from this interdisciplinary discussion.
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CAS Corner
Student Project: Alejandra Cordova Alejandra Cordova is a senior this year who has focused her CAS projects on service and creativity. Alejandra is our student leader at the WP TV Production Studio. As student leader, Alejandra supervises and teaches other students how to perform the different roles and responsibilities in the studio. She oversees the Control Booth during the morning news segments to make sure each segment runs smoothly. The studio also happens to be one of her CAS activities. As part of her project, she chose to start a production club, which so far this year has produced a Halloween video that featured on the news during Halloween. The club also participates in filming school events. For service, she is very active in the Montgomery County Women’s Center where she is a part of a youth advisory committee that spreads awareness about healthy relationships. She has
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been involved at the center for almost three years now and has planned film screenings and trivia nights and has participated in walks and fundraising events in collaboration with the group. Her CAS group project is the community service club, G.O., which focuses on spreading awareness and taking actions through service. The G.O. Club is led by Alejandra and another WP senior, Tyra Magnuson. Alejandra continues to actively reflect on her projects and is excited to continue her CAS journey.
A Note From our College Counselor We have been busy during the last few weeks ensuring that the seniors have gotten their applications in to their preferred colleges. The good news is that we have already had two students accepted, one to UTSA and one to Temple University. Congratulations to them both. As one class ends the application process, the next one begins preparing. I have been visiting with the juniors to discuss what they could be doing this year to help them get a head start for their Senior year. We talked about putting together a resume to give to teachers whom they plan to ask for letters of recommendation. Teachers need at least two weeks notice and the request should come sometime in the spring semester. Thank all of you for being such an asset as our students work toward reaching their goals.
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-Cara O’Neil
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Happy Holidays! Well, that’s it for this month’s Newsletter. As always, thank you for reading and supporting our community. Thank you to all the teachers, staff, parents, and students that contribute to our Newsletter. On behalf of everyone here at the Woodlands Prep, we wish you Happy Holidays, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!