Upcoming Events

• January 11: Late Start Wednesday 9:15am J

• anuary 16: No School in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

• January 18: Silly Sock or Hat Day / Late Start Wednesday 9:15am

• January 25: Late Start Wednesday 9:15am

• January 30: No School for teacher prep and planning day

Click here to see our spirit days throughout the school year

Principal’s Message

It was such a joy to return to school this week and see all the smiles from students. I am impressed with their persistent efforts to work hard and show courteous behavior throughout the building. Please take some time to read the specialist updates below so you can see the amazing learning that students experience in their music, library and PE classes.

 

Reminders/Notifications

Screening: Annual Dental Services will be provided to Chambers Primary Students by Community Health Care Dentists on February 2nd. Permission Forms were sent home with your student on January 3rd. To ensure your student receives this service, please complete and return the forms by Wednesday, January 25th. If you have any questions or concerns, please call (253) 210-5294. To schedule an appointment with Community Health Care, call (253) 722-2151. 2022-2023

 

Yearbook Pre-Sales are January 9th - January 31st. All sales are online only. Click the following link to order yours today: 22-23 Yearbook Sales

 

Dear 1st-4th Grade Families: The American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge program is kicking off on Friday, January 13 th ! Get started today by downloading the FREE Kids Heart Challenge App for Apple or Android or visiting http://www2.heart.org/goto/ChambersPrimary. Your child will choose a heart healthy challenge to Move More or Be Kind and earn a FREE Be The Torch Wristband! Our goal is to have 100% of our students register online and learn Hands-Only CPR as a family

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Meet this year’s Heart Heroes and BE THE TORCH TODAY that will light the torch of hope in the fight against heart disease and stroke! (2 min video)

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Follow FINN’S MISSION in your HQ to learn Hands-Only CPR, learn the warning signs of a stroke and how to help spread awareness by connecting to social media. Complete Finn’s Mission and you’ll earn a Finn Keychain!

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Monthly Specialist Update

Music Class Highlights from December

4th & 3rd : Students learned about the holiday of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, which takes place around the time of the Winter Solstice and lasts for eight days. About 2,000 years ago, Jews fought to regain their freedom and restored their Holy Temple. When it came time to light the ner tamid (a lamp that was always burning), they only had enough purified oil to last for one day, but the light burned for eight days, until more oil could be prepared. Hanukkah means “dedication.” We read the book The Story of Hanukkah by David A. Adler, and then they sang 3 Hanukkah songs: My Dreydl, Hanukkah O Hanukkah, and Shalom Chaverim (Hebrew meaning “Goodbye and be safe my friends, until we meet again, have peace”). Students got to play the Dreydl, a 4 sided spinning top that is a Hanukkah traditional game. Students also sang songs about winter, Kwanzaa, and Christmas, and we played some of these songs on the Boomwhackers.

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2nd : 2nd graders learned the song, North Winds Blow. They sang beautifully, and they identified the rhythm of the lyrics. Students created a mini song book with their own illustration of the lyrics on the cover and wrote the rhythm of the lyrics on the inside. I hope you had a chance to look at your student’s amazing work. This is certainly one of my favorite projects for 2 nd grade. We also read the book Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion by Shannon Stocker. This tied in to the unit on the Science of Sound and is based on the true story of a 10 year old girl whose hearing began to deteriorate and was told that she could never be a musician. What sounds Evelyn couldn’t hear with her ears, though, she could feel resonate through her body as if she, herself, were a drum. She became a world famous, professional percussionist, won many awards, and recorded over 40 albums. We watched some amazing clips of Evelyn Gennie performing on unique percussion instruments and on the vibraphone with a small chamber orchestra. Students also got to sing winter, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Christmas songs.

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1st : These 1 st grade students are absolutely amazing! We have been singing melodies using the pitches Sol and Mi, and students have been really enjoying playing Melody Poison pattern games. Students learned about the staff and the treble clef, and were able to aurally identify Sol Mi pitch patterns and place them on the staff. Each student had a treble staff place-mat and some plastic discs to represent the notes. They know all about the 5 lines and 4 spaces. Students also learned a paper plate, movement routine to The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky. We read the book The Hanukkah Hop! By Erica Silverman and learned about the holiday of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, which takes place around the time of the Winter Solstice and lasts for eight days. We then learned the song Hanukkah Fun and performed a circle dance to the music similar to the hora.

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K: These students are only four months into their first year of school, and they have already played drums, xylophones, boomwhackers, triangles, woodblocks, and chimes! They are a wonderful bunch! We read the book The Hanukkah Hop! By Erica Silverman and learned about the holiday of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, which takes place around the time of the Winter Solstice and lasts for eight days. We then learned the song Eight Little Candles and added instrument accompaniment. These students were able to play their instrument at the appropriate time while singing. It was great fun! We learned a paper plate, movement routine to The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers. Students are learning to echo simple melody patterns using the pitches Sol and Mi. They sang the song SANTA (just like the song BINGO) with rhythm sticks. We also learned a song about washing our hands called Germs.

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Library

This month we will continue our STEAM read-alouds for all grade levels. Kindergarten - 2nd grade will be introduced to new topics (kindergarten - penguins, first grade - hibernation, second grade - insects), while 3rd - 4th grade will continue with the same topics from December (third grade - catapults, fourth grade - Caravans). We will also celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. This is one of my favorite days because it gives me a chance to tell the students at Chambers Primary that we are all equal, wonderful, and can do anything we put our minds to. To help celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I have created a special choice board to share with our students and teachers, which can be found here in the January Choice Board. On this choice board, you will find places to learn about Martin Luther King Jr. through stories, the Cantata Learning song, TIME for Kids articles, videos, and even the STEM Challenge, Can You Build A Podium For Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? We will also read my favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. book, Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier.

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PE

Students have started a soccer unit. They learned how to stop/trap a soccer ball. Students also learned to dribble and maneuver a soccer ball between cones and participated in group dribbling and passing circles. Keeping safety in mind, we do not kick or play soccer games in the gym. We will work on kicking outside. We will frequently revisit soccer skills. Our goal is to play a soccer game on the field as the weather warms up this school year.

We will begin a jump rope unit for 1st-4th grade during the third week of January. This will coincide with Jump Rope For Heart. A representative from the American Heart Association will be here Friday, January 13th to kick off with an assembly that will explain how the fundraiser works.

I have Jump Rope stations for Jump Rope For Heart (week of January 16th). Students will also watch a video of a student born with heart problems and how the AHA donations helped him/her to receive the care they needed to survive. Donation envelopes will be sent home next week. Donations will continue for four weeks either online or bringing donations in the envelopes provided.

All students are also working on throwing to a target and throwing with opposition and accuracy. These skills will be frequently reviewed for practice. All students will have an assessment (throwing to a target 10 times) in the coming weeks and in the spring.

 

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Assistant Principal’s Message Hello Chambers Families!

Hello Chambers families!

Welcome back! The first week of 2023 was filled with enthusiasm and excitement as we all learned to get back into the routine of school. It was such a joy to hear about the wonderful breaks students had and listen to all of the memories they made.

We are starting our winter assessments and students need their headphones. If your student does not have a set of headphones at school, please work at getting a set ASAP.

If you need support with this, please reach out to our counselor Betsy Quay.

If you need support with attendance or tardiness, please get in touch with me to collaborate on a solution. Have a wonderful weekend, and thank you for another week of partnering together to ensure all students are successful! Yours Truly, Mrs. Vaughan

 

Yours Truly,

Mrs. Vaughan

 

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