Upcoming Events

• November 1-4: Scholastic Book Fair (students shop during their library time)

• November 1: Book fair open for families 2:45-3:30pm

• November 2: Late Start Wednesday 9:15am

• November 3: Book fair open for families 2:45-3:30pm

• November 6: Daylight Saving Time Ends (set clocks back one hour)

• November 8: 3rd Grade Veterans Day Music Performance 7pm (3rd grade families welcome)

• November 11: No school (Veterans Day)

• November 22: Spirit Day: Apple Cup/College Gear

• November 23-25: No School for Thanksgiving 

Click here to see our spirit days throughout the school year

 

Principal’s Message

It was wonderful seeing so many of you throughout the week at conferences. Home and school partnerships are vital to student success so we thank you for partnering with us. Our specialist (library, music and PE) teachers are excited to share with you what your child has been learning in their classes. Please take some time to read that information below.

Warmly, Mrs. Gann

 

Reminders/Notifications

Costumes: Please refrain from allowing your child to wear a costume to school on Monday, October 31st. Regular school dress code applies so students can focus on learning.

 

Birthday Celebrations at School: A friendly reminder that in a previous August newsletter I shared the following message about birthday treats. Recently, some students/parents have sent in classroom treats. We respectfully ask that you help us preserve the learning environment and leave birthday treats at home.

● The Chambers Equity team spent considerable time last spring discussing birthday celebrations at school and the inequitable experiences they can unintentionally create among students. As a building we work together to protect our instructional time so students can have the best opportunity to receive instruction. We kindly ask that you do not send in any treats or gifts for your child’s birthday. We will continue to wish students Happy Birthday over morning announcements and invite them to the office to receive a special birthday pencil.

 

OmLife Vaccine Clinic: The event is open to the public and participants must pre-register through this link: https://covid19tacoma.com/UPSD1104/ If you have any questions, please contact OmLife directly at (253) 444-5511 or through the contact form: https://omlife.clinic/elements/pages/contact/ Curtis Junior High School (CJH) in the Cafeteria/Commons 3725 Grandview Drive West University Place, WA 98466 Friday, November 4th starting at 3:30pm. Register to select a session

time.

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Monthly Specialist Update

Library (Mrs. Morgan):

Kindergarten- This month our littlest learners have been reading WCCPBA (Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award) nominees, and learning about the different parts of a book- front cover, back cover, spine, author, illustrator, title page. They have also been learning how to use a shelf marker to find a book in our everybody section of the library. These books are checked out and are currently kept in the classroom. Once students have the routine down and have proven good book care, they will be able to take them home.

 

1st and 2nd Grade- First and second graders have been learning the difference between fiction and nonfiction texts. The books used to teach these lessons have been tied to what they are learning in their classrooms (birds for first graders and greek mythology for 2nd graders) as well as WCCPBA (Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award) nominees. They have also been learning that our fiction books are organized by the author's last name and are using our online catalog to find books in our library.

 

3rd and 4th-grade- Our oldest students have been learning how to locate print and digital resources for a research project connected to their ELA curriculum. Third graders are researching animals and their habitats and fourth graders are researching famous knights of the middle ages. They are learning how to use text features to locate important information on their topic, as well as learning how to paraphrase their learning while note-taking. This research will be used to create Google Slide presentations in the upcoming weeks.

 

Challenge - Challenge students are learning all about curation. The focus of their lessons has been using the catalog system to find print resources, safely navigating the internet, being media savvy, and collaborating with others to exchange ideas, make decisions, and problem-solving. In the upcoming weeks, they will be using what they have learned to create a library display all about winter, as well as create a digital resource known as a “choice board” to share with our school!

 

Reminder - Our Chambers Reading Challenge has started. There are over 20 students who have already been reading! Because of this, books may be hard to get. If you are anxious to get your hands on them sooner, our youth service librarian at the University Place Library Branch was kind enough to create a custom record set list for families as an easy way to see what titles (print, ebook, and audio books) are available for checkout at the UP library or to quickly place a hold on a book. The Otter list can be found here and the Sasquatch list can be found here.

 

PE (Ms. Davis): All students have continued working on team building skills and interacting cooperatively .

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Kindergarten and 1st graders have worked on learning to jump rope. In addition to learning how to jump rope , students have also been introduced to pe stations. These stations each have a specific skill for students to work on such as throwing to a target. Students have also started working on strengthening their core. Core building exercises include riding on a scooter on your stomach and picking up bean bags and cloth balls to place in buckets. Balance and spatial awareness are always our focus with all activities.

 

Second, Third & Fourth grade students have participated in activities that have improved their team building skills . All students have participated in tag games which builds their spatial awareness skills. Students have participated in a shoot around of sorts with polyspot basketball. This has been a real hit for team building and encouraging others. Students have been introduced to pe stations. Each station focuses on a specific skill such as pool sharks and aiming the ball toward the cone. Cone hole also focuses on aiming a ball to go in the cone( cone has bottom facing outward like a mouth or opening for balls).

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Music (Mrs. Van Soest):

Kindergarten: October has been filled with great fun in Kindergarten music! Students learned to sing the song, Autumn Leaves, and can show the high/low pattern through body scale movements. Students then moved to playing the song on tiny xylophones (glockenspiels). Playing the song required a steady beat, playing patterns, melodic direction, following directions, self-control, and these students did a great job. Students played hand drums with the song, Driving in My Car, and with the song, Shape Song, that helps students practice identifying different shapes. Students were also introduced to singing melodic patterns with the use of solfegé/hand signs (mi and sol). Kinder students also used paper plates and “beat buddies” (stuffed animals) to move to music by J.S. Bach.

 

1st Grade: First graders have been actively participating in music class. They used scarves to move to music by Mozart, echoed sounds for vocal exploration, practiced singing melodies using solfegé/hand signs (mi, sol, and la), and played games that helped them practice identifying high/low, loud/soft, and fast/slow. We sang the song, Ten in the Bed, and then practiced passing beanbags to the beat of the music. That was a challenge, but through practice and patience, students were able to be successful. Students really enjoyed singing the cumulative song, Today is Monday, and they enjoyed playing the tiny xylophones (glockenspiels) and drums. Lots of fun and learning!

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2nd Grade: 2nd graders are enjoying identifying, writing, reading and performing rhythms. They love playing rhythmic “poison” patterns. Students are singing and reading patterns using solfegé/hand signs (mi, sol, and la). The song, Bounce High, was a fun song that helped students learn about beat versus rhythm and strong beats, and students enjoyed singing while passing a bouncy ball around the circle. Poor Little Bug on the Wall, is a silly song that reinforces dynamics and tempo, and students had fun adding rhythm stick patterns while singing. 2nd graders also studied a unit about the Science of Sound! We learned about vibrations, vocal chords, experimented with paperclips on drums, felt vibrations from speakers and instruments, viewed sound waves from tuning forks placed in water, listened to tuning fork pitches through our bones!, and learned about what makes high sounds vs. low sounds.

 

3rd Grade: 3rd graders are very excited and eager to perform their Veterans’ Day Program! Thank you so much for supporting them as they have been practicing their lyrics and speaking parts. Our concert is coming up quickly. Please mark your calendars for our evening performance on Tuesday, November 8th at 7 pm. Students may wear red, white, blue or black. More reminders will be sent home soon. We know you are going to really enjoy their performance. Their singing is quite good! 3rd grade also started their listening journals. We really enjoyed listening to Camille Saint Saën’s Danse Macabre, a tone poem orchestral piece from 1874.

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4th Grade: 4th grade has been working hard on the unit on Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Through close reads and listening maps, students have learned about theme and variations, instrument families (visually and aurally), listening skills, tempo, legato (smooth) and staccato (bumpy), accompaniment, glissando, melodic direction, dynamics, crescendo (getting louder) and decrescendo (getting softer), composer, and have made connections between music and history. Fun fact: Benjamin Britten wrote the piece, Gloriana, for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. This unit will be very helpful for students as they will need to select either band, choir, or orchestra in 5th grade. I’m amazed at their positive responses to listening to classical music. Their Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra packets will be coming home soon. 4 th grade also started their listening journals. We really enjoyed listening to Camille Saint Saën’s Danse Macabre, a tone poem orchestral piece from 1874.

 

Assistant Principal’s Message Hello Chambers Families!

Hello Chambers Families!

 

Thank you for attending conferences this week. It was a true pleasure to meet so many of you and partner together to ensure your student excels as a Chamber Bulldog.

 

Attendance Update: We will continue to focus on attendance at Chambers because we know there is a direct connection between academic success and student attendance. Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves. Start building this habit as early as kindergarten so they learn right away that going to school on time and being present every day is important. Good attendance will help children do well in high school, college, and at work. However, if your student is experiencing illness symptoms, please keep them at home to reduce the spread of the illness. I understand, as a parent, it is a constant battle between battling sickness and ensuring your student is at school. So, please, communicate with us, and we can partner to find the best option for your child and ensure they do not get behind in their school work. I would like to share with you our absences and tardies from last week:

 

I would like to share with you our absences and tardies from last week:

Monday; 17 Tardies (Up 7 from last week), 55 Absences (up 7 from last week), total of 72 students impacted 

Tuesday; 9 Tardies (Down 5 from last week),54 Absences,(up 22 from last week) total of 53 students impacted 

Wednesday: 9 tardies (up 2 from last week), 57 Absences (up 22 from last week), total of 56 students impacted 

Thursday: 9 tardies (down 3 from last week), 57 Absences (up 15 from last week), total of 56 students impacted 

Friday: 16 tardies, 46 Absences 

 

Remember, breakfast is served at 7:45 AM each day, and drop off for non-breakfast eating students is at 8:00 AM. If you plan to have your student dropped off at 8:00 AM, that allows them plenty of time to walk to class and get ready for the day. I challenge all families to work on being on time and in school every day this week. How low can we get these numbers to go?

 

If you need support with attendance or tardiness, please contact me so we can collaborate on a solution. Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing many of you next week!

Yours Truly,

Mrs. Vaughan

 

Chambers Primary PTA

We are excited to celebrate tonight with everyone at Trunk or Treat/Fall Carnival. We appreciate all of our volunteers who have planned over the last two months to make this event possible. We couldn't do anything without you.

 

The Scholastic Book Fair starts on Friday night and continues through next week. A portion of the sales from the Book Fair is directly donated to the school library. The librarian (Mrs. Morgan) uses these funds to add to the library collection. The fair will be open during school hours for students to peruse and shop during library class. The fair will also be open after school on Tuesday and Thursday (2:45 to 3:30pm). Few things to consider:

● If you want your child to buy books during school hours you can send cash or add funds to their e-wallet account here: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/chambersprimaryschool

● If you request financial assistance to buy a book, please reach out to Mrs. Quay (school counselor) so your child can use funds from the Book Fairy e-wallet (equay@upsd83.org).

● If you would like to donate to the Book Fairy e-wallet - please donate here: Scholastic Book Fairs eWallet

● We are still looking for volunteers to help at the book fair during school hours next Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and after school on Tuesday and Thursday. Signup here: Book Fair (signupgenius.com)

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