Chelsea Intermediate School

November Newsletter 2024

From the Administration Team

Dear Chelsea Parents and Guardians,

As we enter the month of November, we would like to take a few moments to express our appreciation for the support that all of you provide for our students and staff. Education is truly a partnership, and that partnership is the foundation on which our Chelsea Tigers build their success as students. Thank you for all you do to support not only your child, but our learning community as a whole. Your role in the educational process is a pivotal one, and we are extremely grateful for all you do.

Please mark your calendars for several upcoming events. First, we will be holding our Veterans Day assembly for our students on Monday, November 11. Please see the additional information within this newsletter if you have a veteran in your family who would like to attend. Next, we are inviting all parents to help Stack the Stock and attend Parents in PE on Wednesday, November 13. This cup stacking event happens in conjunction with our food drive to benefit the Frankfort Food Pantry. Last, but certainly not least, is Parent/Teacher Conferences. These conferences will take place on Monday, November 25 and Tuesday November 26. Our conferences will be a hybrid model, meaning you will have the option to choose an in-person conference or a virtual one. The link to sign up for conferences will be sent on November 8, and the sign up will be open through November 15.

As always, please contact us in the meantime if we can ever be of assistance to you or your child. We are happy to help.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

Rachel Newcomb

Principal

Paula Paymaster

Assistant Principal

Ricky Innocenti

Dean of Students

Veterans Day Assembly

Dear Chelsea Families,

We are excited to be celebrating Veterans Day on Monday, November 11 with our Chelsea Tigers!

We would love to honor the veterans in your family at a special Veterans Day assembly in Chelsea’s North Gym on November 11 at 10:30 a.m. Due to limited capacity within our gym, our veterans may only be accompanied by one additional guest.

Veterans and guests may arrive at Chelsea for check-in at 10:00 a.m. We will be serving coffee and a light breakfast, courtesy of Chelsea staff, from 10:00-10:30.

If your veteran has never visited Chelsea before, please have them visit the school any day prior to November 11th to check in with a valid driver's license. This will enable us to prepare their visitor badge in advance of the assembly. ALL veterans and visitors should bring their IDs on the day of the assembly in order to enter the building.

If you have a veteran in your family who will be joining us on November 11, please fill out the form linked HERE. We kindly request that all veteran and guest names be submitted through this form by Wednesday, November 6.

We cannot wait to celebrate our Veterans and thank them for their service and dedication to our Country.

Sincerely,

Chelsea Veterans Day Planning Committee

A Note from Nurse Busch

CHALK's 10 Healthy Habits: (CHALK = Choosing Healthy & Active Lifestyles for Kids)

Be physically active every day.
Eat plenty of vegetables and some fruit every day.
Get enough sleep and eat breakfast.
Switch to low-fat (1% or less) milk, cheese, and yogurt.
Do something healthy every day that makes you feel good.
Drink water instead of soda or juice.
Turn off the screens and live your life.
Snack on healthy foods.
Eat smaller amounts.
Eat less fast food.

CHALK's 10 Healthy Habits are small by themselves, but if done together they add up to a healthy lifestyle. The 10 Healthy Habits are based on the 8 Habits of Healthy Kids™ adapted with permission from Healthy Directions and its Healthy Children Healthy Futures program.

School Psychology with Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Dumaresq

Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking is intentional thinking that is involved in the process of completing tasks. This essential executive functioning skill helps us accomplish complex tasks.

What is Critical Thinking?

Let’s start with executive function. Executive function encompasses the critical thinking skills of planning, organizing, prioritization, time management, working memory, attention, and other skills. Critical thinking is similar and requires the use of executive functioning. Critical thinking includes observing and analyzing, self-reflection, interpretation of available information, evaluation and inference (based on working memory), problem solving (metacognition), and decision making.

As kids mature, so do their cognitive abilities. Their brains undergo significant development when they navigate through the middle years of their elementary education. This period becomes crucial to introduce them to activities that challenge and refine their growing analytical skills.

How can we practice Critical Thinking at home?

Critical Thinking Activities for Kids in Upper Elementary (7-11 years):

1. Sudoku Challenges

Sudoku, a popular number puzzle, requires children to place digits in a way that each column, row, and subsection contains all numbers from 1 to 9. By wrestling with this puzzle, kids sharpen their problem-solving skills, enhance pattern recognition, and develop a methodical approach to challenges while navigating defined constraints.

2. Decoding Riddles

Riddles are more than just fun; they’re brain teasers. They often present information in metaphors or play on words, compelling children to think outside the box. By decoding riddles, children expand their vocabulary, improve linguistic skills, and learn the art of looking at problems from multiple perspectives.

3. Strategic Board Games

Board games like chess or “Settlers of Catan” are more than just pastimes. They demand planning, strategy, and adaptability. These games teach kids to anticipate opponents’ moves, devise long-term strategies, and learn the invaluable skill of adapting to unexpected challenges. Plus, they learn to accept defeat gracefully and understand that mistakes are just stepping stones to improvement.

4. Tackling Logic Puzzles

Logic puzzles, be they grid puzzles, nonograms, or others, compel children to use deductive reasoning. These puzzles provide statements or clues that must be pieced together to arrive at a conclusion. Such exercises amplify a child’s ability to process information, make connections, and derive logical outcomes.

5. Engaging in Mini Debates

Mini debates are structured discussions where children can present their viewpoints on a given topic. By debating, kids learn to articulate their thoughts clearly and the importance of listening to others, understanding different perspectives, and revising their views when presented with compelling arguments.

Sources:

Rozakis, Laurie: 81 Fresh & Fun Critical-Thinking Activities Engaging Activities and Reproducibles to Develop Kids’ Higher-Level Thinking Skills

United Nations International School of Hanoi: 12+ Critical Thinking Activities For Kids (unishanoi.org)

The OT Toolbox: Executive Functioning Skills for Kids to Adults - The OT Toolbox

A Note from Our Librarian, Mrs. Schubert

We are tracking the total number of checkouts for the school year and, so far this year, Chelsea students have checked out over 6000 times!

The library has a special section that changes monthly to highlight special themes. November's theme shelf includes books celebrating Indigenous Peoples, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving.

The Bluestem Reading Challenge is back! Every year, educators in Illinois nominate 20 books for the Bluestem Award.

What to know about the Bluestem Reading Challenge at Chelsea:

• Participation is optional.

• After reading 4 titles, students are eligible to take part in voting for the book they believe should be the Bluestem award winner. We will read 4 books during library.

• If your child chooses to participate, they will be rewarded for every 4 books they read on this year’s Bluestem nominee list.

• Upon completion of 18 books, your student will be invited to the Bluestem Bash in the spring (details TBD).

• Chelsea’s library has copies of each book available. Public libraries in our area also have copies available.

• I encourage you and your child to look at the list together to choose which Bluestem nominated books your child will read this year.

• Tracking progress will be done using the Beanstack app on your child’s laptop or paper progress sheets are available upon request.

Parents are encouraged to volunteer in the library with advance notice.

Please contact Mrs. Schubert at kschubert@fsd157c.org to learn more.

PE with Mrs. Jaral, Mr. Klosowski, and Mr. Dykema

This past month the students worked on their football and soccer skills. Football kept us active with passing, receiving, and gameplay. Students also worked on dribbling, passing, and shooting in their soccer unit. In both units, students learned to work as a team, learned positions of the game, and began finding strategies to be successful during gameplay.

Box Tops and Pop Tabs

Many food labels have started using box tops that need to be scanned. If you would like to continue to support our school, you will need to download the Box Tops for Education app. Make sure you select Chelsea Intermediate School before you begin scanning your box tops!

“Stacking the Stock” – Chelsea to help set a new World Record for Guinness!

Chelsea Students will again join stackers around the world as we cup stack on Wednesday, November 13th to try to beat the record for most people stacking in one day. Along with the Guinness competition, we are asking students to bring in canned goods to help stock the shelves of the Frankfort Township Food Pantry. To join the two programs together, Chelsea students will also be “Stacking the Stock” of canned goods we collect. Please send canned goods into school with your students for this fun event!

Collection will begin Monday, November 4th. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Be on the lookout for a Parents in PE flyer coming home inviting you to join in on the world Record stacking event on November 13th.

Music Class with Mrs. Zito

In November, third grade students will begin reading rhythmic notation. Students will read quarter note, quarter rest, beamed eighth notes, half notes, half rests and their respective rhythm syllables. Students will read rhythms of various difficulty as they play unpitched percussion instruments and compose their own rhythms. Students will also begin studying tone color and the instruments of the orchestra, with a focus on the percussion and string families. They will participate in interactive playing and listening activities.

Fourth grade students will spend time reviewing time signatures and rhythmic notation patterns in November. Students will practice songs and rhythm patterns that highlight these new notes. Additionally, students will spend an ample amount of time learning the notes of the treble clef staff through interactive presentations and games. Fourth graders will begin using recorders in class. Stay tuned for an email with information on how and when to order the materials!

In November, fifth grade students will be introduced to forms of music such as AB, ABA, Rondo, Theme and Variations, and Verse and Refrain. They will study syncopation in rhythm. They will learn to perform and recognize syncopated rhythm patterns. Students will review mallet technique and even improvise syncopated patterns on xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels. They will continue to apply these rhythm patterns to a variety of classroom instruments.

STEM with Mrs. Jozaitis

The third, fourth and fifth graders finished up the first quarter of STEM strong. The third graders engineered their parachutes and tested them by timing their descent. They added load and changed the design a bit to try to decrease the speed. Third graders also explored the Makey Makey devices to see what objects around the room were conductors to have their piano play.

Fourth graders engineered a PVC pipe claw machine. Students worked in groups to increase their communication and collaborative skills. Fourth graders also finished up the quarter working with those same groups to create an invention that could help the world around them. Students used materials of their choice from our Makerspace, planned a design, engineered, tested it and shared their projects with the class. Fourth graders explored the Sphero Bots by driving them and then block coding them to move about the classroom.

Fifth graders finished up the quarter in STEM by working on their own or with a partner to create an invention that can make life easier in some way. Students brainstormed ideas, planned out one of those ideas with a diagram and list of materials to use from our classroom Makerspace. Fifth graders engineered, tested and redesigned as they needed to. Finally, the students shared their projects with the third and fourth graders in the Makerspace Showcase! I’m so incredibly proud of the perseverance, ability to problem solve and the joy the students exhibited as they engineered their own design. Way to go fifth graders!

I am looking forward to second quarter classes. Get ready to discover the Engineering Design process through many fun and exciting challenges!

The STEM lab is always looking for donations like dowel rods, lids, cardboard tubes, shoe boxed, craft items, Styrofoam, felt, material, straws, clay, plastic containers, etc. One person’s junk is another person’s treasure!

Art with Mrs. Maney

I cannot believe we have started another quarter as it feels like we were just starting our first day of school yesterday. Our 1st quarter Tigers did an amazing job in the studio creating, experimenting, trying new things, and taking risks all for the sake of growth and learning in our choice-based studio and I know our 2nd quarter with be no different. You might ask yourself “What is this choice-based art that Mrs. Maney is always going on about!” so let me break it down for you and share the importance of this philosophy.

Choice-based art education is an approach that encourages our students to be more independent, creative, and engaged in their learning by being able to make choices regarding their art. Students get to choose what materials they use, the subject they create, what techniques they use, and how long it takes to create the project. Students are given the foundational skills through boot camps (mini sessions where the students learn how to use the materials along with techniques) that allow them to explore and experiment with the same or new materials in different ways to see what they can do. This approach, as opposed to teacher-directed projects, allows our students to be in the driver’s seat of their learning. Through their projects, students are using their previous knowledge to create art that is meaningful to them, as they are choosing what they want to create. Along with mini lessons, once a week students are introduced to a diverse selection of contemporary artists. This allows students to see what artists in our world are creating to help inspire and promote creativity. When students are given choices after laying the foundational skills needed to use their knowledge, we are telling them we trust them to use that knowledge to create. When mistakes happen we embrace them, celebrate them, learn from them, and grow from them to become smarter and stronger learners. Make sure to engage with your students at the end of the quarter when students bring home their messy folders by taking the time to go through their passports and work and ask questions.

Looking forward to a great quarter and cannot wait to see what we learn and create!

A Note from Our Spanish Teacher, Mrs. Smerz

Just before starting a new month, Chelsea is starting a new adventure: Quarter 2. Students who first had Spanish will continue their adventure to STEM; those departing from Art will be in Spanish this quarter. During the month of November, students will be building their Spanish skills with the central theme of travel. Fourth and fifth graders will continue developing their conversational skills with greetings and introductions, as well as asking and answering basic personal questions. Third graders will be focusing on phrases that they can use throughout their day. Students will explore some traditions for the holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on November 1 and 2, as well as many festivities during the holiday season.

Please reach out to Mrs. Smerz at gsmerz@fsd157c.org if you have any questions.