Chelsea Intermediate School News - April 2015

e ls e a I n t e r m e d ia t e School
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                                            News — April 2015

                          Note from the Main Office
Dear Parents,
As we move into the month of April, we begin our final quarter of school. The students have shown excellent
progress throughout the year, specifically in the area of writing. We are eager to see this progress continue
through the fourth quarter. As you know, our students recently completed the first round of PARCC Testing,
and they did an amazing job! The students were well prepared for the assessment and able to successfully nav-
igate the online test. We are confident that the last round of PARCC Testing, which is scheduled to take place
between May 4 and 21, will go just as smoothly. Students will have fewer testing sessions, which will include
two mathematics session and one literacy session.

We realize that assessments like these are just one way to measure the growth of a child. It is in the confi-
dence they gain, the independence they bring to newly mastered skills, and the subtle differences in their ma-
turity as the year progresses that give us insights into their development. As you spend the week with your
family and friends, we encourage you to celebrate, as we do, your child’s unique and individual strengths. As
always, we appreciate your continued support and we look forward to a very successful spring.

Sincerely,     Mrs. Simpkins, Principal       Ms. Woods, Assistant Principal

If you are changing your child’s mode of transportation for the day, please send a note in the morning. The
teacher will be aware of the change and forward the communication to the office. If you have forgotten to
send written notification, please call the office before noon unless it is an emergency. If you call too late in
the day, it becomes difficult to notify the teacher and child before dismissal.

Students who will be out of school for an extended absence often request homework in advance. We appre-
                      ciate your efforts to keep your child up to date with their school work. Please remem-
                      ber that some activities cannot be provided in advance as they may be group work or
Reminders             new skills that require direct instruction. Therefore, teachers will provide only those as-
                      signments that can be completed independently during your child’s absence.

Please remember to have a picture ID available when visiting the school. All visitors will be asked to check in
at the main office through the buzzer system at the front door and present a driver’s license or state ID for
scanning into our Raptor System. We will then print you a visitor badge. Thank you for your cooperation!

Page 2                                                                       Chelsea Intermediate School News — April 2015

Technology
Technology
With Mrs. Pettit Time
                 Time                   With Ms. Plestina

                             April Technology Time
                                With Ms. Plestina

       Third graders will learn how to save to their P: drives. Fourth
graders will review saving to their P: drives, and fifth graders will or-
              ganize their P: drive files into grade level folders.
              Fourth graders will work diligently on their skills in Type
              to Learn 4. They will take a timed typing test until they
              obtain 15 words per minute (WPM.)
              Fifth graders will use Type to Learn 4 to help them reach the Common Core goal
of typing two pages in a single sitting.
       In honor of Earth Day, we will discuss methods to conserve power and paper everyday!

  Art News
                             5th Grade
                             5th grade students were inspired by the work of Edgar Degas and have been
                             busy creating designs with depth and visual form. We will add color with value
                             shading to give these designs a 3 D look. These finished works are very impres-
                             sive indeed.

                              4th Grade
Mona Lisa is the inspiration for 4th grades’ next project. Students will learn that Leonardo wasn’t just a Nin-
ja Turtle and that Renaissance art was realistic. After a practice drawing to find all the details of an eye, stu-
dents will draw a realistic pair of eyes from a photo. Don’t be surprised if they try this at home.

3rd Grade
Third grade classes will be finishing their cultural portraits. In April we will be studying color. Students
will be mixing secondary colors and doing a color wheel based on warm and cool colors.

 Be sure to mark your calendars for the FSP Creative Arts Showcase. This event will be Friday April 24th
                                   from 5:00 to 7:30 pm at Grand Prairie.
            The event will have a variety of fine arts presentations as well as hands on activities.

 Students will soon be bringing home their portfolios filled with art they have done this year. They are wel-
 come to display anything from their portfolios or other work they have done at the Creative arts Showcase.

                        Check the virtual backpack for more information on this event.

Chelsea Intermediate School News — April 2015
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Character Corner                     Character Corner
                                     In the month of April, Chelsea School focuses on the
pillar of Trustworthiness. A trustworthy person is honest and can be counted on to do the
right thing. We are looking for Student Ambassadors who show trustworthiness at Chelsea.
Trustworthy people:
*Are honest
*Don’t deceive, cheat or steal
*Are reliable and do what they say they will do
*Build a good reputation
*Have the courage to do the right thing
*Are loyal and stand by their families, friends and communi-                              ties
”Trust men and they will be true to you; treat
them greatly, and they will show themselves
great.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

PLASE
The next general meeting for PLASE will be held on Thursday April16, 2015 at 6:30 PM. For
more information you may call Julie Egan at (815) 806-4600. The website is
www.lwase843.org

April Chelsea Dates to Remember

4/02         Early dismissal—12:00 Noon (No Lunch)
4/03-4/10    Spring Break Begins
4/13         School Resumes
4/14         Athletic Boosters Hot Lunch
4/20         Board of Education Meeting @ 7 PM
4/21         FSP Hot Lunch
4/22         4th & 5th Chorus Concert 6:00
4/24         Creative Arts @ GP 5:00—7:30
4/28         FSP Hot Lunch

Page 4                                                                Chelsea Intermediate School News — April 2015

    Note from the Nurse
6th Grade Physicals
It is not too early to schedule your 6th grade physical. Any time after Jan
1st, 2015 is acceptable. New requirements for 2015-2016 is the Meningo-
coccal vaccine (MCV4) 1 dose , 2 doses of the Varicella, and 1 dose of
Tdap. A dental exam is also required. All medical forms can be downloaded
from my website or the district website under forms. Any questions feel
free to call or email me.

                                          Bicycle Safety
Bicycling is a popular form of recreation for millions of people in Illinois. The best protection against
injury is to know how to ride your bicycle safely. Here are a few tips:

                                    Follow all traffic safety laws and rules
                                    Always strap on an approved safety helmet
                                    Wear light colored reflective clothing to increase your visibility to
                                 drivers
                                  Avoid riding at night
                                  Ride with the traffic flow as close to the right edge of the road as
possible
 Obey all traffic signals
 Do not pass cars on the right
 Keep both hands on the brakes
 Do not weave between parked cars
 Always ride one person to a bike

I
 In April, the 3rd grade students will finish up their unit on tone color and instruments of the orches-
tra. Students will then be introduced to jazz through a variety of listening, singing, and playing activi-
                          ties.
Music Notes
                        4th grade students have been very successful playing short melodies on the
recorder. Students will practice playing duets in class this month before the recorder unit ends.

5th grade students will review and practice rhythms this month. They will participate in a variety of
counting and playing activities in preparation for writing their own compositions at the end of the
month. They will also review notation of the treble and bass clefs.

Chelsea Intermediate School News — April 2015
Page 5

Physical Education News

     Basketball
     March Madness brought on basketball for our students. They participated in a
     wide variety of basketball skills, activities, and games. The students worked on
     basic dribbling, passing, as well as shooting – using the B.E.E.F. technique. (Ask
     your child what that is!)

          Floor Hockey
          As we get into the final NHL schedule of this season, Chelsea students were also able
          to compete in our own floor hockey games. A mini-hockey tournament culminated
          our unit after students practiced dribbling, passing and shooting for several days. Stu-
          dents had chances to rotate between offensive and defensive positions as well as
     playing goalie – the final defender!

     Fitness Testing
     Final fitness testing has begun to see how our students now stand compared to their
     fall fitness scores. We’re all hoping to see improved results as students have been working
     towards better fitness.

          Coming Up
          After spring break we will wrap up our fitness testing and begin units in Volleyball and
          Badminton. Hopefully, we will be done with any more “Snow Days” and we can final-
          ize our date for Chelsea’s annual Field Day. Watch for information coming home after
     the break!