From the Director Curriculum Corner – `tis the Season: Winter Holidays

Weekly Newsletter of the New Mexico International School
Volume II, Issue # 16
Monday, December 3, 2012
From the Director
Todd Knouse, School Director
In This Issue
From the Director
1
Kindergarten News
2
First Grade News
2
Second Grade News
3
Third Grade News
3
Music Notes
4
Cross Sticks
4
Parent Committees
5
Upcoming NMIS Events
6
Help Wanted
6
NMIS Birthdays
this Week

December 3
Renee Petrie

December 6
Emma Lane

December 7
Alex Mathena

December 9
Summer Vega
Parking Adjustments at NMIS
In the interest of the safety of NMIS
children, the School Advisory Committee has
recommended some changes to the NMIS
parking procedures. Those details are
included in a separate attachment. Please
be sure to review. These changes will begin
tomorrow, Tuesday, December 4.
NMIS & Roadrunner Food Bank
As part of our IB focus on “Caring,” please
consider participating in our food drive for
Roadrunnder Food Bank from now until
winter break. See page 5 for details.
Fundraising: Moms’ Night Out
It sounds like several NMIS moms had a great
time at the Moms’ Night Out event last
Saturday. If you were unable to make it, but
still need to get some holiday shopping
done, you still can participate. The
following vendors will be leaving their
parties open for further ordering. Place an
order from our vendors by following these
directions for a portion of the proceeds to
go to support NMIS!
Pampered Chef: go to
www.pamperedchef.biz/renesoiles and
click on "shop online", Choose option 1
(you have a host), Type in New Mexico
international for the host for NMIS to
receive credit for the purchase
Scentsy (sold by NMIS parent Magali
Preston) go to
https://magalipreston.scentsy.us/Scents
y/Buy?partyId=122107428 (Hurry! party
will close on Tuesday, December 4th at
6pm)
Gift cards sold by NMIS parent Christi
Vaupel: go to
http://shop4joy.mychoices.biz To ensure
delivery before Christmas, please order
by Dec 17 for standard delivery and Dec
19 for express delivery. Add "NMIS" into
second Address line for credit to the
school.
Arbonne (sold by NMIS parent LaJean
McCaig): Website to view products only call to place an order so that a
percentage can be donated to the school:
http://www.desirefreedom.myarbonne.c
om/ -Party will close on Dec 8th at 6pm.
PartyLite candles - order forms will be
available at the front desk (online
ordering not available). 50% of all
PartyLite orders will be donated to the
school!
Curriculum Corner –
‘tis the Season: Winter Holidays
As part of our focus on our IB Mission, I’d like to suggest that we all take a moment to consider the
many different holidays that abound in the winter season. Most winter holidays have a religious
significance (indeed, the word holiday comes from holy day). Although NMIS doesn’t endorse any
particular religion (or lack thereof), we do promote global cultural awareness. Here is a short list of
the many holidays celebrated around the world this time of year. Take a minute to look them over,
and if you’d like, do a bit of research yourself and share your findings with your child.
Hanukkah (date varies from late Nov – late Dec): A Jewish holiday celebrating rededication of the
Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Bodhi Day (Dec 8): A Buddhist holiday celebrating the enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama.
Shab-e Yaldâ (Dec 21): One of many holidays on the Winter Solstice: Yalda is a Persian festival
celebrating the birth of Mithras, the major deity in Mithraism.
Soyal (Dec 21): A Winter Solstice holiday of the Hopi people.
Pancha Ganapati (Dec 21-25): A five day Hindi festival in honor of Lord Ganesha
Christmas (Dec 25): a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus. Traditions of Christmas vary
greatly throughout the world. In some places, preparations begin four Sundays before Dec 25
(Advent), and the celebration continues for twelve days after, ending on Epiphany (January 6).
Kwanzaa (Dec 26-Jan1): A pan-African holiday celebrated mostly in North America
Page 2 of 7
Grade Level News
El Correcaminos
Kindergarten News by Mtra. Reyes & Mtro. Uribe
Hi everyone! We hoped you had a
wonderful weekend and shopping for the
Holidays.
This week we will be working with letter G (soft
and hard sound) and J. These letters have a very
strong sound in Spanish and it is different from
English. It will take a couple of weeks for
practicing this letter until children get use to the
sound.
We are doing small group instruction and
targeting same reading level groups. We will also
be doing it in Math. The purpose of these groups
is focusing on same level of instruction and skills.
Not all the children are at the same level and
they need to acquire different skills, some need
more practice, etc.
“The Earth does not
belong to us. We
belong to the Earth.”
-Chief Seattle
Before break we started working with addition
and counting arrays. Children need to learn to
count groups of objects, apparently is an easy
task but you have no idea how many times they
Snack time in
the ‘hood
do it wrong. Miscounting is a very common mistake
and they are not going to be able to add if they
don’t know how to count correctly. Please practice
this at home.
We are going to do Holidays Around the world. We
will visit India with the festival of lights, Hanukah,
Kwanzaa and Christmas. If you don’t want your
child to participate in any of these activities, please
let us know. You don’t want to give any reasons
why, just let us know and we will find something
else for your child to do.
First Grade News by Mtra. Cooper de Uribe & Mtra. Jiménez Moreno
This week in math, we will work more in depth
with the quarter, as well as spiraling back to
review number sense of more and less, as well as
tens and ones. We will also be taking a closer
look at two- and three-dimensional geometric
shapes to determine how many sides they have,
and if there are any commonalities between
shapes and sides.
In science, we will be studying the moon and its
phases, so be on the lookout for a letter home
about how you can help observe the sun, moon
and stars in the morning and evening.
student know what their area of focus will be, so
that they can bring in their findings on Tuesday,
December 11.
Maestra Jiménez will be traveling to Cincinnati at
the end of the week to immerse herself in the ins
and outs of the International Baccalaureate
program, so we will be prepared to begin our first
IB unit as soon as classes begin on January 7. We
are very excited about the upcoming unit of “Who
We Are!”
In language arts, we will be working on the letters
b and c, and dividing up words with that initial
letter into nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
In social studies, we will begin studying the
continent of Oceanía—where summertime is
nearly upon them! This week we will let each
¿Cómo es el tiempo?
Emilie McGirk running
morning calendar time
El Correcaminos
Grade Level News
Page 3 of 7
Second Grade News by Mtra. D’Amour & Mtra. López-Gastón
The Season of Advent is the beginning of a new year
for Christians while it starts the preparation for
Christmas Day for a lot of us. In our classrooms, we
will start discussing the different cultural celebrations
that brighten this time of year. Help your child to
prepare a short presentation on a special tradition in
your family to share with the class within the next few
weeks during community time. This week our learning
goal is I can use illustrations to tell a story and add
meaning to words. Language goal is I can speak and
write in complete sentences in Spanish. Students will
complete their Unit 2 assessment in math and begin
with place value in Unit 3. Friday is National Pearl
Harbor Day, a day to remember those who lost their
lives for their country; it is also a time to appreciate
the importance of peace and open-mindedness in lieu
of conflict as we discuss perspectives on our visit to
the Nuclear Museum.
Both of us will be taking an IB planning day on
Tuesday, but we’ll be back on Wednesday. Thanks
again for all your help and support. Enjoy this Holiday
Season.
Second Graders at work
Third Grade News by Mtra. Martini
Once again, our class was treated to wonderful
Science activities thanks to Mrs. Lira and Mrs. Wright.
The students visually experienced sound waves
moving salt by using a microphone and an amplifier!
We are beginning Unit 3 in Math: Linear
Measures and Area. This week’s lessons include using
nonstandard units of measurement, estimating length
of objects, and creating a standard unit for measuring
length. Students will also name the marks on a ruler
that divide inches into halves, fourths, and eighths.
For Language Arts we will be reading HomeGrown Butterflies. We will use this story to study
multiple-meaning words and how to effectively use
context clues while reading. We will also practice
spelling words with silent letters and the inflectional
ending –ed and -ing. For Writing we will focus on the
trait Word Choice. Good writers include interesting
details and descriptive words to help readers see what
is being described.
“Mr. Watson, come here. I need you.” Third graders Alyssa Sanchez, Eric Talamantes,
and Adam Lira experiment with sound using tin-can phones.
Social Studies work this week will revolve
around the continued country study of Ecuador. This
week students will explore the second geographic
thematic unit, Place, as it applies to Ecuador. Place
means the physical and human features of an area and
how they define a location.
Page 4 of 7
Music
Special Program Updates
El Correcaminos
Music Notes by Mtra. Hood
Happy December! In the remaining weeks of
2012, the students will be working towards the
goals they set last week. The kinder classes are
working towards completely their box skills
'test' so that when we come back from break,
they will have earned their real violins. The
newest and last skill they have learned moving
their elbows (chicken wings and monkey
swings).
First and Second grade classes have set goals to
be able to play three major scales (g, d and a),
Twinkle (theme for 2nd grade, peanut butter
sandwich style and reading for 1st), Lightly row
(2nd grade reading the notes), and Star Wars.
Third grade has upped the ante with the same
goals as 1st and 2nd, but writing the songs as
well as learning Allegro and starting Song of the
wind.
Cross Sticks
Ave Freeman playing violin.
We also will be getting violin repairs and more violins to
accommodate growing children, this is very exciting!
Hope you all have a wonderful holiday break. If you need
a gift idea, renting a violin is always a great present! Also,
I Can Read Music (Vol 1) by Joanne Martin and Suzuki
Book 1 (with CD). Safe travels and best wishes!
by Coach Baker
Last month we have just been
playing the game, this helps with
general motor skills and hand eye
coordination.
This month we will be doing the
same thing, but I will be asking
students to help me ref. Doing this
will allow the students to see the
goings on of the game from a
different perspective and force
them to pay attention to the game.
Goalkeeper Evan Sadek
El Correcaminos
News from Parent Committees
Page 5 of 7
Fundraising: nmis.fundraising@gmail.com
The fundraising committee would also like to give a special "thank you" to the following vendors, sponsors and volunteers
who made the event possible!
The Dugas family for hosting the event and providing the wonderful massage therapist
Committee members Alexa Verardo for organizing the event and providing refreshments, and Mandy Otter for her
assistance
Whole Foods for food and gift basket donations
LA Boxing (www.laboxing.com) for donation of a 1 month elite membership
Blissful Spirts Yoga (www.blissfulspirits.com) for donation of 1 month unlimited hot yoga
And thanks to our vendors, who generously donated a portion of their sales and/or items for our raffles:
Partylite (Devon Jones)
Scentsy (Magali Preston)
Premier Designs Jewelry (Bernadette Georgescu)
Arbonne (LaJean McCaig and Cassiah Anderson)
Pampered Chef (Rene Soiles)
Amway (Christi Vaupel)
Enrichment: April Freeman nmis.enrichment@gmail.com
Registration forms will be sent out this Wednesday and are due by Friday afternoon. Please take time to review class
offerings with your child and remind them there are limited spots available in each class.
Curious about the enrollment process? Let us enlighten you! We need a few volunteers next Monday and Tuesday mornings
right after drop off and next Monday afternoon. Please email the committee if you can help us out. We'd sure appreciate
it!
Interested in teaching a class as part of the Enrichment program? Now's the time to start planning! Contact us today!
Special Events: Brenda Vigil nmis.events@gmail.com
Yearbook: Brian Barlow nmis.yearbook@gmail.com
Library: Mary Stuart nmis.ourlibrary@gmail.com
A big thank you to the NMIS families who have recently donated books to our school library!
Uniforms: Cass Barlow uniforms.nmis@gmail.com
Uniforms: Uniform Shirts & Sweats order should be in, in about two weeks. Reminder, as per the uniform policy, any
color long sleeve shirt may be worn under short sleeve uniform polo. If you have any questions please feel free to email
mail us at uniforms.nmis@gmail.com.
Facilities: Amos Baca nmis.facilities@gmail.com
Humanitarian: Michelle Cate nmis.humanitarian@gmail.com
Roadrunner Food Bank Food Drive: 12/4 – 12/21. Donations of canned non-perishable food can be dropped off to bin in
NMIS front office.
Hunger is the loneliest number and many suffer in silence. How would any of us function ANY day of the week without
enough to eat? How do we solve our everyday problems on an empty stomach? Access to food shouldn’t be a privilege; it
is a basic human right. But many of our neighbors don’t have enough food to eat. Children arrive at school on Monday
mornings unprepared to learn because they didn’t have any food to eat over the weekend. Moms and Dads limit their food
intake so their children have food. Adults that lost their jobs with the recession still can’t find enough employment and
have had to drastically cut their food budgets. Seniors making difficult choices such as, do I purchase my life-saving
medication or buy food this week?
These are people you know. They are your friends, your neighbors, the children down the street.
Give a voice to people suffering from hunger. Give the gift that can change lives…food!
School Advisory Committee: Joy Wasson nmis.schooladvisory@gmai.l.com
Next SAC meeting is 12/12/12.
Page 6 of 7
General Announcements
El Correcaminos
Upcoming NMIS Events
New Mexico
International School
4261 Balloon Park Road NE
Albuquerque, NM, 87109
Phone:
(505) 433-3250
Fax:
(505) 433-3253
E-mail:
nmis.attendance@gmail.com
We’re on the Web!
www.nmis.org
Help Wanted!
NMIS is seeking volunteers for the following areas.
If you are able to help us, please contact our
receptionist, Cheryl.


Tuesday December 4 – December 21: Food Drive
NMIS collects food for Roadrunner Food Bank.

Wednesday, December 5 – Winter Enrichment Class Requests
available.


Thursday, December 6 – Committee Chair Meeting 4:30



Wednesday, December 12 – SAC meeting 6:30



Monday, January 7 – Winter Enrichment Classes Begin

Monday, January 28 – Friday, February 1 – Winter MAP’s
Window
Students take their second of three major tests in English

Monday, January 28 – Friday, February 1 – National School
Choice Week

Monday, January 28 – Intent to Re-enroll Forms available
Forms sent out to current families soliciting intent to re-enroll
students next year as well as any siblings.


Friday, February 1 – End of 2nd Quarter


Wednesday, February 6 – SAC Meeting 6:30pm

Friday, February 15 – Intent to Re-enroll Forms due
Form due to school to secure an enrollment spot for next year.

Wednesday, February 20 – Information Session for Prospective
Parents 6-7 pm
The first of three evening informational session opportunities for
parents considering NMIS for next year.



Thursday, February 21 – Committee Chair Meeting 4:30

Monday, March 11 – Friday, March 15 – No School
School closed for spring break.
Wednesday, March 20 – SAC Meeting 6:30


Wednesday, December 7 – Winter Enrichment Class Requests
due
Monday, December 17 – Winter Enrichment Class Lists Posted
Monday, December 24 – Friday, January 4 – No School
School closed for winter vacation
Wednesday, January 16 – SAC meeting 6:30
Monday, January 21 – No School
School closed in honor of MLK Jr. Day
Monday, February 4 – Tuesday February 12 –
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Each teacher has one full day this week to conduct
parent/teacher conferences. Exact days per teacher TBA.
Monday, February 11 – 100th day of school
A Kindergarten extravaganza celebrating our 100 th day this year.
Details to follow from kinder teachers.
Wednesday, February 27 – SAC Meeting 6:30
Wednesday, March 6 - Information Session for Prospective
Parents 6-7 pm
The second of three evening informational session opportunities
for parents considering NMIS for next year.
Thursday, March 21 – World Poetry Day
El Correcaminos
NMIS Sponsors
Page 7 of 7
New Mexico International School thanks these businesses for their support of the school.
Please return their support. Tell them “NMIS sent me!”
Aikido of Albuquerque
Philip Vargas, Sensei
5600 McLeod Road NE, Suite P
(505)850-8460
www.aikidoofabq.com
Harmony  Energy  Way
9780 Coors Blvd. NW
(505)890-WINE
www.nickyvs.com
$40 donation in exchange for one month’s advertising in our
newsletter!
Contact Karin at nmis.fundraising@gmail.com
$40 donation in exchange for one month’s advertising in our
newsletter!
Contact Karin at nmis.fundraising@gmail.com
$40 donation in exchange for one month’s advertising in our
newsletter!
Contact Karin at nmis.fundraising@gmail.com