We hope that everyone had a good Thanksgiving break, and that the holidays were filled with joy and laughter. As you might have noticed, we did not do a Decembernewsletter because of the recent week-long break. And, because of the extended winter break we have coming up that extends through January, this newsletter will serve as the last one for the year, so keep an eye out for the next one coming up in February 2020.
Below you’ll find news and updates covering the past month, and highlighting upcoming important dates for when we ring in 2020! I also wanted to highlight that in each newsletter we always have parent, teacher and student contributors who take the time to complete the write-ups, and send pictures so that we can all share in the experience, so a big thank you to all those who make these newsletters informative for the readers.
Our warmest wishes to everyone for a fun-filled winter break, and we look forward to all the new memories, stories and adventures that the kids will come back with in the new year. Please take the time off to reflect back on this past year, and use the memories as thought-starters for what we can improve on for 2020. Feel free to share any feedback and suggestions.Always,
Jean (mom to Max, second grader)
In November, our fifth graders had a field trip to the La Ballona wetlands to explore the following habitats:
Saltwater marsh
Dune wetlands
the La Ballona creek
Students made observations about Golden Bush with magnifying glasses. They also learned about Dune Lupins, which adapted to have seeds in pods that appear like edamame but are actually toxic. They also observed Coyote Bush and a Cottonwood Tree and learned that Arroyo Willow plants have seeds that can be ground up and used as medicine.
For the second station, the kids learned to simulate an El Segundo blue butterfly trying to gather nectar in the dune buckwheats, which represents what happened to these butterflies at La Ballona with the negative impact of invasive non-native plants.
The third station included binocular usage. They observed and discussed Arrow Goby fish, California Fiddler crabs, California Horn snails, birds and other wildlife that have adapted to living in this ecosystem. They also discussed how Pickleweed plants have adapted to saltwater.
On this field trip, the kids learned about the impact that trash has on the creek, which is also an estuary, how volunteers restored habitats to bring back endangered species and why Pickleweed plants are red and what they taste like. If you find some time during the break, ask them to share what they discovered and learned during this trip.
Our second and third grade parents, don’t fret. Your two field trips are scheduled for this coming spring.
La Ballona wetlands is an ecological preserve near Braddock. A special thanks to La Ballona for sponsoring our field trip. Please consider visiting La Ballona wetlands, volunteering there, or attending an event.
This month, we had another Enrichment Works assembly, thanks to a LAUSD grant. We heard the story of Odysseus through an interactive one-man play with our very own students as volunteer participants. Check out the photos above.
Update from parent Lili Tran:
On Friday, Dec.13, we had another engaging Enrichment Works assembly called, Everyone Can Improvise. Creative exercises included: singing dialogue, speaking (and translating gibberish), telling a story as a group, and playing mirror. Students and teachers were called upon as volunteers. It was a fun and interactive assembly.
Update from parent Sasha Wolfe:
We had a wonderful tour at the Annenberg Photography exhibit, learning about walls and the role they play in our society. It was a great chance to learn about history and cultures around the world. The students were engaged and enjoyed their time at the exhibit.
More about the exhibit:
The gallery is a historical look at civilization’s relationship with barriers, both real and imagined. The exhibit explores the various aspects of walls – artistic, social, political and historical – in six sections: Delineation, Defense, Deterrent, The Divine, Decoration, and The Invisible.
Thank you to Lili Tran and Sasha Wolfe for organizing.
On Tuesday, Dec. 10, students across the school were recognized for various academic achievements. A huge congrats to all the kids for their work and hard efforts. Here is a photo of students from the magnet second grade class.
Update from parent Lili Tran:
Families and friends gathered together on Wednesday, Dec. 11 for the school’s yearly Braddock Winter Social & Potluck, themed Science Wonderland.
On hand were sponsored activities, such as ASTEME’s liquid nitrogen experiments, reDiscover’s Wind Tunnel, EDS My Classroom art table, SteamBot Workshop’s Robotics and Scratch demo, LAPL’s balancing dinosaur activity, and UCLA‘s gravity demo or pocket solar system.
We also had lovely parent-led activities, such as making slime, ornament making, gingerbread houses, dreidel game, Kwanzaa activity, coloring, stocking decorating. The evening culminated with festive songs from Westside Chinese Choir, followed by a Grinch and Santa skit that involved parents that represented all of our three Braddock programs.
Thanks to a lot of generous donations and hard-working volunteers, we had plenty of food and wonderful activities for our kids. It was lovely to meet parents from different parts of our school.
Update from parent Lili Tran:
Saturday, Dec. 14 was the Braddock Garden Beautification Day. We made progress revamping our Reading Garden while some kids picked up trash around the school and parents removed wood borders. Everyone dug up dirt in preparation for a new layout.
Keep your eyes out for more Garden Beautification days to make this a truly useable reading and learning space for our kids.
A huge thank you to all of our families and kids who showed up and contributed to this school-wide effort.
A special thank you to our very own third grade Zeithammer family for hosting the special viewing event.
On Saturday, Dec. 14th, families attended a meteor shower and sipped on hot chocolate while they identified constellations, saw some shooting stars and found craters on the moon. Unfortunately it was at nighttime so it was difficult to capture some clean photos.
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Mark it as a favorite on your mobile device and make sure you use it to buy all of your upcoming holiday needs.
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Classroom update from our teacher Ms. S.:
Please find some photos of some of the dioramas that our students completed. We are continuing to learn about a character’s point of view in the stories we read in Unit 4. In January, we will read exciting and new articles in our StoryWorks Jr magazine such as life of a pirate, history of teeth, and rescuing seabirds.
Some of the students are learning how to multiply with multiple digits. We continue solving CGI problems involving multiplication and division.
We created a beautiful poster for the Holiday Program. It is on display in the auditorium. You will be able to see it on Friday, Dec. 20 when you see the Magnet classes sing I Heard the Bells.
Students were honored with certificates and medals during our Awards Ceremony. Math Awards, Citizenship Awards, Reading Achievement Awards, Overall Academic Achievement awards were given to various students.
-Ms. S
Classroom update from our teacher Ms. Hart:
In November, Room 11 continued practice writing opinion essays and giving evidence for information in different kinds of texts. We have finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and will begin the first book in A Series of Unfortunate Events when we return from winter break in January.
Our grade level math continues with multiplying and dividing 11s and 12s and our above grade level math continues with CGI equal sharing modeling and adding and subtracting fractions.
Last month, our class went with their families to view a performance of the musical, Into the Woods, at Harvard Westlake Upper School in Studio City. It was really fun for students to see others performing the musical we have been working on and there was a lengthy discussion the next day on what they observed and what they took away from the experience. Our Into the Woods musical is fully blocked now and students are working hard to practice performing the musical from beginning to end. In addition, we have been working on the song for the Winter Holiday program.
November has been a blast for Room 9. Our projects and class work have been very interesting and fun. Here are the highlights of the month:
Math: Students have been solving word problems with multiple strategies. We have also been reviewing our long division and multiplication. Recently, we learned how to solve for “x” in an algebraic equation.
We also finished a real-life math project. We calculated the total amount of money we needed to live in Los Angeles. Then, we chose a part-time job and figured out whether we could afford all our necessities and recreational activities. When we were done, we wrote a reflection based on our calculation.
Health: We have been continuing our mindfulness practices along with our morning movement. Students recently finished reading their health and wellness textbooks.
Word study: Earlier this month, we started a new activity for word study. When Mrs. Afridi decided that we needed a break from our word study groups, she let us do our “word study choice boards.” Our word study choice boards offered a lot of fun games and challenges like “triangle spelling,” “ghost words,” and “code creation.”
Additionally, we learned to touch type on a website called Typing Club. Typing Club is web-based and is fully customizable, so students could practice in class, at home, or wherever an Internet connection could be found. Each lesson provides helpful feedback that encourages students to continue practicing.
Art: There were many different forms of art that we did this month. We illustrated a picture to go with our historical fiction novels, and are currently finishing up our Native American Tribe posters. Students who were in the orchestra continued to go to their classes on Wednesdays.
Stem: we’ve learned about natural disasters and brainstorming for solutions. Three of the natural disasters we did was hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides. For volcanic eruptions we did a science project to see which volcano (shield and cone) had thick or thin lava. Hurricanes were also interesting, from what we all learned hurricane hunters are important to us. Landslides were fun because we had been brainstormers for solutions. In the subject of writing we have celebrated finishing our historical fiction genre and started a new genre of nonfiction.
Reading: During reading we have started a reading a book about the Tainos tribe book called Morning Girl in recognition of Native American Heritage Month. Reading workshop is always a pleasure to everyone, so we do it everyday.
Every now and then, we have a dance along for our morning movement. We also practiced the song “Better Together” by Jack Johnson for our winter performance. Let’s hope we have a good winter and no more hailstorms in one of the hottest states! Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Diwali.
– SK and JR
Classroom update from student JT.
Hello parents of room 10, this is the our class update. We started our new novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond. In Project Lead the Way we are doing germ related activities. I like them because we are doing hands on experiments. In math, we did a Noetic test and are creating an advertisement for a shop which is either sells candy, snacks, or baked goods.
In the near future, we are going to be starting informational writings. In science class, we are doing another Mosa Mack unit about your carbon footprint.
That is about it for this month, see you next time!
– JT
As always, dates and times are subject to change.
Monday, Dec. 16 – Thursday, Jan. 31 – 10th annual Read-A-Thon. This is an opportunity to help raise funds for the program while encouraging kids to read.
Friday Dec. 20: Winter Show
Dec. 23-Jan. 10: No School, Winter Break
Friday, Jan. 17: 8:30am: GeoBee Finals in Auditorium, 4th/5th grade. Parents are welcome
Editor-in-Chief: Jean Yoo
Contributors: Ms. Serdoncillo, Ms. Hart, Ms. Afridi, Sasha Wolfe, Lili Tran, and students JR, JT, and SK
Seal of Approval: Eva Lopez
Header Design: JoAnna Reyes Walton
Magnet Logo Design: Myshell Tabu
Special thanks to all the parents who submit photos and write-ups to be included in the newsletter.
Want to submit something to the paper? Email me at: [email protected]
