General
News
November 12, 2004
Remember
to encourage your friends and neighbors to attend our Admission Open House on
Sunday afternoon (more details below)! Enjoy your weekend.
Amanda
A. Burton
LS
Technology &
Communications
Specialist
Our FCDS Admission Open House is Sunday, November 14, 2004 from 1:30-3:30 p.m.
The Open House is for prospective students and families, so we encourage you
to invite your friends and neighbors to attend. For more information, please
e-mail jandiblasio@fcds.org.
Kudos to the following FCDS faculty members who presented
sessions at the NCAIS Conference which took place November 4-5
at Providence Day School in Charlotte:
Megan Lawson, Jeanette Smith, Carole Tobias, and Susan Grubb—“Time Capsule: A Research Project”
Cindy Stephenson, Carole Tobias,
and Kathy Starks—“I’ll
Give You an Owl for Your Octopus…”
Ronda Beck, Peggy Gallagher, Susan Boyer, and Debby Harrell—“Complementary Teaching: Meeting the
Needs of a Diverse Population Through Inclusion”
Rebecca Stone-Danahy—“Organizing
and Maintaining an Art Gallery in the School Setting”
Rebecca Shore—“Reaching All
Kinds of Minds in Secondary School”
Kathy Starks, Susan Grubb—“A
Portal to the World: Utilizing Web-Based Instruction”
Attendees
came away with new ideas and tools to enhance their own teaching, and Forsyth Country Day School
was well-represented by these dedicated professionals.
News from the Health
Room: With the recent shortage of flu vaccine, there is growing concern
about flu outbreaks for the coming season. In an effort to prevent illness at
FCDS, we will take a proactive approach to teaching students how to prevent
the spread of disease.
Grades Pre-K through 6 will receive instructions on hand washing, germ
control, and habits to stay healthy. This information will be presented
during the months of November and December.
The Middle and Upper
School students will
have flu prevention tips and hand washing addressed at their assemblies.
Please encourage all students to continue frequent hand washing, and to
remain home when ill. Periodic updates will be included in the Friday Update
throughout the flu season. Please feel free to contact Janet O’Neil, RN,
with any concerns or questions at ext. 329.
November 20, 2004 is our Fourth Annual Fury 5-K Cross-Country Challenge.
There will be a one-mile fun run at 8:30 a.m. and the 5-K will start at 9:00
a.m. There will be a 10K Mountain Bike Race at 10 a.m. for all ages and a
“Bike Rodeo” for Kindergarten through sixth graders at 10:15 a.m. Entry fees: $15 for the 5-K and $10 for the Fun
Run. The
fee will be $5 additional if you wait to register on November 20.
John Danforth is making a special request for all participants
to send in their registration forms before race day in order to make race day
registration go more smoothly and efficiently. You may pick up your packet in
the Dining Hall on Saturday morning, November 20. Don’t be left out—the
5K race is limited to the first 200 entries! Walkers are welcome for either
the fun run or the 5K—bring your entire family and help Habitat for
Humanity and the FCDS Alumni Association.
Is Your Child Ready for School?
What is the ideal cut-off date for school entrance?
How can parents know
when their child is ready?
Will waiting a year
to begin school damage a child’s self-esteem?
You are invited to hear Judith Kuhn, developmental placement specialist (and
our very own Assistant Lower School Director), answer these and other
questions. She has more than 25 years of experience as a developmental
examiner and kindergarten teacher. If interested, please make plans to attend
one of the following sessions:
Thursday,
December 2, 2004
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Dining
Room
Knollwood Baptist
Church, 330 Knollwood
Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27104
Monday,
January 10, 2005
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Brown
Lecture Hall, Johnson
Academic Center
Forsyth Country
Day School, 5501 Shallowford Road, Lewisville, NC 27023
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Athletics
Frank Spencer National
Basketball Tournament
The FCDS Varsity Boys'
Basketball team has been invited to participate in the Frank Spencer National
Holiday Classic, a prestigious tournament featuring local and national
teams. The tournament will take place December 27-29 at the Lawrence
Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Come out and support your Furies team -
tickets are available by calling Peter Huestis, Athletic Director, at
945-3151 extension 395.
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Fine
Arts
The Pegasus Players of Forsyth Country
Day School proudly present for the edification and
amusement of the Forsyth Community their lovingly rendered rendition of Murder
by the Book by Craig Sodara. Please come
and enjoy the acting talents of Jenny Huebner, James Craven, Emily Yates,
Kathryn Clark, Chelsea Thomason, Garrett Funk, Jessica Tysinger,
Kelli Tysinger, Gray Dunnagan, and Daniel Kairoff in
a tension-filled yet rollicking murder mystery. Against mighty odds, we
have mounted this production with your satisfaction in mind, so come to the
Forsyth Country Day School Auditorium on Thursday, November 18 or Saturday,
November 20, and enjoy the show. Curtain time both nights is 7:30 p.m.
and a festive dessert bar is offered after the performance for your gustatory
pleasure while you meet the cast and crew. As an added bonus, you can see and
sit in the new stadium-style seats just installed in the auditorium.
The NC High School Honors Chorus will be this Sunday,
November 14 at 3:00 p.m. at the Stevens
Center. Two FCDS
students, tenors Tim Pennell and Tali Swisher, will be performing. The clinician is Rene
Clausen.
Concert
Choir Kudos
Congratulations to the
members of the Concert Choir for their wonderful performance Thursday night
at the Stratford Rotary Club. Those in attendance were impressed not only by
their beautiful singing, but also by the choir’s professional
appearance and demeanor. Thanks to the choir members and director Mignon
Dobbins for representing our school so well!
Fine Arts Council
Does your child like to sing, draw, play a musical instrument, act, paint, or
perform stand-up comedy? If so, the arts are important to your child.
The Fine Arts Council is a Parents' Association Committee that works with
Rick Gomez, Fine Arts Director, and the Arts Department faculty to support
the fine arts curriculum.
Please support the Fine Arts Council by becoming a Patron of the Arts. Please
mail your check for $50 made payable to the FCDS Parents' Association to
Jackie Yates, 236
Stanaford Rd., Winston-Salem,
NC 27104.
Money raised through Fine Arts Council dues goes toward the purchase of arts
materials.
If you would like to volunteer your time by supporting the Fine Arts Council,
please e-mail the Parents' Association at parentsassociation@fcds.org.
Metal Smithing Program at FCDS
Forsyth Country
Day School is pleased to announce that there is now a
series of metal smithing courses taught as part of the
Community School of Visual Arts. The classes take place after school once a
week for three or four weeks and will continue through out the school
year.
The current course, Introduction to Metal Smithing:
Cold Connections, is taught by Upper
School art teacher
Margaret Holt. In this introductory class, students are learning ways to put
metal together using cold connections, such as rivets and staples. Students
began learning how to saw forms out of metal and how to shape metal using
hammers and other forms.
Below is a schedule of
the remaining classes. There are instructor and material fees for each class.
All courses are open for students in grades eight through 12 and take place
in the Upper School art room on the FCDS campus.
Please e-mail Margaret Holt (margaretholt@fcds.org)
to sign up for a class or if you have questions.
January
Ring Making Thursdays January 6 -27 from 3:45-5:45 p.m.
Learn basic soldering
techniques and how to form different kinds of rings.
February
Metal Boxes Tuesdays February 8 – February 22 from 3:45-5:45
p.m.
Learn several different
methods of making boxes using metal. Learn surface embellishments and patinas
to make your box more interesting.
Bezel Setting Thursdays February 10 – March 3 from 3:45-5:45
p.m.
Learn how to bezel-set
things from stones to found objects to make whatever your heart desires.
March/April
Enameling Thursdays March 31 – April 21 from 3:45-5:45 p.m.
Learn how to enamel
metal using kilns. Make something out of metal and then enamel it to make it
different colors.
FCDS Band, Orchestra, and Chorus
Middle School Holiday Concert
All Middle School Band
and Orchestra students will be performing at the MS Instrumental Holiday
Concert Tuesday, November 30 in the Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. The entire FCDS
band will be performing at the MS Instrumental Holiday Concert. All Band
members should report to the band room by 6:30 p.m. to tune. All string members, please try to be here by 6:25 to tune. Please be
sure that your child’s instrument is in proper working order and that
he or she has extra reeds and valve oil!
Upper School Holiday Program
The Upper School Holiday
Program is THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16 at 7:30 p.m. We will be having additional
rehearsals the week of the concert after final exams, since there are no
classes after December 8. I hope to rehearse on Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday after the morning exams. The rehearsals will take only 45 minutes,
so the kids will have plenty of time to study afterwards.
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Library/Technology
The Clay Library was the hip and happenin’
place to be for both Middle and Upper
School students this
week. Fifth graders began pulling together information to go into their Animal
Trading Cards for Science class, while students in US Anatomy created
PowerPoint presentations about the central nervous system. Ninth grade
Boys’ Health classes filled the space to capacity as they learned about
good presentation techniques and then began working on their First Aid
presentations. Sixth graders came in for their second round of book talks,
ninth graders wrote essays for English, and students from all grades
continued to study, study, study! The Battle of the Books team
practiced by answering questions and more questions about their chosen
books—way to go, team!
Third Annual
Carolyn Creech Lower
School Author Day
Honoring retired first grade teacher, Carolyn Creech, and
her love of children’s literature
Friday, November 19, 2004
Special Guest Author and Illustrator
Frank Asch
We are
thrilled to have the award-winning Frank Asch as
our featured author and illustrator this year. Frank Asch
is known best for his Moonbear picture books, but he has written
and illustrated in almost every category of children's literature including
poetry, concept books, juvenile nonfiction, and children's novels. Frank and
his wife, Jan, live in Vermont
with their dog, Robi. Frank and Jan Asch will be leading large and small group
demonstrations, read-alouds, and discussions
throughout the day with all Lower
School students in the
Smith Lower School Library. Frank will also be signing pre-sold copies of his
fabulous books (see below).
Order your personalized signed copies of Frank Asch’s books today!
Please complete the order
form (or the one received in all school mailing) and return it to the
Lower School Library by November 18.
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Upper School
Upcoming Deadlines for College Board Testing are:
SAT
Registration (Nov,
Dec, and Jan SATs are the “Old SAT”)
Registration Deadlines
Scores
Available
Scores Mailed
Test
Date
Regular
Late*
Online/By Phone
Nov
6** too
late
too
late
11/19
12/1
Dec
4
10/29
11/10
12/17
12/30
Jan
22
12/20
12/29
2/4
2/12
*SAT
late registration fee of additional $20
**If
interested in taking the November SAT and you haven’t yet registered,
see College Counselor for advice.
ACT
Registration
Test
Date
Registration
Deadlines
Regular
Late*
Dec
11
11/5
11/18
*ACT
late registration fee of additional $17
Juniors: The “New SAT” will
be given the first time on March 12. Registrations for the New SAT will be
available online beginning some time in December.
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Middle School
The eighth grade Girls’ Service Club is collecting items for the
Salvation Army from all eighth grade students. The homeroom that contributes the
most items gets a special reward!! The organization benefits local children
in need. Eighth grade students are asked to bring toys, school supplies,
toiletries, and clothing through Monday, November 29. Hard candy and
gum/mints are the only food items allowed. Perishable goods, such as chocolate, and violence-related toys, such as water guns,
will not be permitted. Homeroom teachers have a detailed list of acceptable
items. Thank you in advance to all the students and parents for contributing
to this project!
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Lower School
Pre-kindergarten: It has been a zany week in Pre-K with Mr. Z–Zipping
Zippers. The children estimated zoo animals and cut zebra
Z’s. We wrote books about zoo animals and talked about the number
zero. Everyone is working on seasonal art to decorate the classrooms for
our Thanksgiving Feast. On Thursday, the school nurse, Mrs.
O’Neil, taught Pre-K the importance of washing hands – especially
during flu season.
Kindergarten: This
week in Kindergarten we have completed the Ll Letterbook and have started the Ii Letterbook. This
is the third short vowel sound we have learned. Our new words are is, lid,
ill, and dig. In the Ii Letterbook
the children are introduced to their first sentences. We learned that
each sentence begins with an uppercase letter and ends with a period. We will
be reading sentences in this Letterbook.
First Grade: Our children had so
much fun at school at the Halloween party last week. They enjoyed the
time off as we met with parents and now they are back ready to learn
again! This week we have been reading about super heroes. It has
been fun to read the story of Super Pup in our readers. We are also
getting ready for Thanksgiving. Our classes are learning about the
Pilgrims and their first Thanksgiving. Happy reading to all!
Second Grade: Second graders were busy this week making
November crafts. In math, we have been counting money and making change,
while continuing to practice addition and subtraction facts. We are
learning about nouns in English and identifying them when we read and
write. Next Wednesday, November 17 is our field trip to SciWorks to see the planetarium show. Please
remember that your child will need a bag lunch that day.
Music:
Pre-K-Second Grade: This week we are working on songs all grades will be performing
together for the Grandparents’ Day Program. Each grade level class
will sing two songs alone. The group at large will perform three songs
together. We have many, many words to be learning! One of our songs
is even in Spanish—“Cantar!”
Science:
Pre-K: This week in Pre-K science we learned all about
volcanoes! The children loved discussing what a volcano is and how they
erupt. We even looked at some pictures of real volcanoes that have
erupted in the past. Children were very interested in the buried city of
Pompeii and the volcano at Vesuvius, and they
enjoyed seeing a real sample of some lava from a volcano in Hawaii. Children were so excited
about the model volcano we created in class. We made it erupt by causing
a chemical reaction with baking soda and vinegar! They did a great job
coloring their volcano diagrams, which illustrated the inside of a volcano.
Kindergarten: In kindergarten science this week, we continued
our Magnet Unit. We experimented with magnets by seeing how strong the
power of magnetism really is. We tried to attract a metal object
(paperclip) through various mediums like paper, cardboard, water, and
glass. Some of us were really surprised to see how strong magnetism
really is!
First Grade: Mrs. Fulton and Mrs.
Hillman’s classes colored pictures of the fruits and vegetables that we
dissected in class. Afterwards they taped one seed from each kind of fruit
and vegetable onto their pictures. We discovered that some of the seeds are
ones that we actually eat. The students in Mrs. Miller’s class watched
a short video on seed dispersal. We discovered by experimenting that many
seeds are spread by the air, water, and by hitchhiking. We had fun floating
cranberry seeds, tossing maple seeds and milkweed seeds, and sticking others
on our clothes.
Second Grade: We began our “Planet Pocket Guides”
this week in second grade science. Upon completion, these booklets will serve
as wonderful little field guides to the planets; illustrating important ideas
and facts about each of the inner and outer planets! We are all looking
forward to the field trip next Wednesday to SciWorks
Planetarium.
Third Grade: Children did a wonderful job reviewing for the
quiz by playing “Light and Sound Jeopardy.” I could really tell
that they had been studying hard. Today (Friday) they took their
quiz. The quizzes will be graded over the weekend and will go home next
week sometime.
Fourth Grade: Children loved learning about a famous inventor this week: Samuel
Morse. We discussed some of the interesting things that happened to him
during his life and the struggles he went through as he tried to invent the
first telegraph in the United
States. Children developed the
understanding of the relationship between electricity and the telegraph
machine. We even had the chance to use a Morse Code Alphabet Key to
decode some “secret messages.” Children loved setting up
their own model of a telegraph and sending messages to one another via Morse
code!
FYI:
If your family received a letter home this week in
regards to taking care of an animal over Thanksgiving break, please contact
me as soon as possible to let me know if you are still available to do so. If
not, I will need to make other accommodations as soon as possible.
Another science team meeting will occur next Tuesday
(November 16) from 3:15-4:00 p.m. We will be experimenting with homogeneous
and heterogeneous mixtures. It should be fun. Thanks to all of you
who signed up. A permission slip will be sent home on
Monday. Please sign the slip and return to me on the day of the meeting.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Foreign Language
Pre-K: We reviewed the verb to have with the song “Tengo una familia” ( I have a
family); compared and contrasted number origin of family members, number of
siblings; “menores” (younger) or
“mayors” (older); whether we have “abuelos’”
(grandparents) “dos” (two), cuatro
(four), or none.
Kindergarten: Kindergartners played
a game in which we practice inquiring and identifying ourselves by name and
age. We reviewed family members and sang the song “Mi abuela vino” (My
grandmother came from…) and identified where our families come from.
First Grade: We are learning numbers 1-50 in
order to identify and talk about quantity of different objects. We played
“tic, tac,
toe” and called out the numbers. We very much enjoyed this game and
also remembered that “it is about having fun while learning.”
Like in any game, sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.
Second Grade: We reviewed offering and
requesting things politely or casually and learned to inquire and respond
about how many objects or people are there: “combine de filles y a-t-il? Il y a huit filles ….
Third Grade: We pretended we were at the
airport and practiced identifying ourselves impersonally: nombre
(name), edad (age), and profesion
(occupation) and subsequently we imagined meeting a friend and practiced introducing
ourselves and inquiring about others using interrogative words: como te llamas, cuantos anos tienes
tu (what is your name and how old are you). We
learned to inquire and give information using “que
es esto/eso” (what
is this/that) and responding “es un/una” ( it is a/an) and
also acknowledging when we do not know by saying “no lo se.”
Fourth Grade: We continued making our
introductory presentations about francophone countries, regions, or cities.
We learned that “Cote d’ Ivoire est en Afrique”,
“et le capital est Abidjan”
(Ivory Coast is country in
Africa and its capital is Abidjan).
We worked at identifying new vocabulary, nouns, adjectives, and verbs related
to the video “Le Carnaval de Quebec.”
Technology
Pre-K: This week in Technology class the students were introduced to the
“Delete” key on the keyboard. Our activities were centered around the letter Z. We learned to use the
“delete” key just like we would use the “eraser” in
other programs. The students did a “Letter Z” and
“Find the Zoo Animal” activity using MS Word and they
deleted the items that did not belong.
Kindergarten: This
week in Technology class the students used the MS Word program to drag and
drop their Native American Picture images that they created last week with
the “MS Paint” program onto a bookmark area and into a pattern to
create a bookmark. They also filled in a Native American crystal picture
using the paint bucket on the MS Paint program.
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