Volume 2015, Issue 5 January 2016

Hickory Creek Middle School

22150 S. 116th AveFrankfort, IL 60423

815-469-4474

Nurse’s NotesFLU AND COLD SEASON

Please DO NOT send your child to school if he/she is ill.Following are some guidelines to help determine when to keep him/her home.

● Fever at or above 100 degrees -child should remain home for 24 hours after being fever free WITHOUT the aid of medication.

● Nausea/vomiting -all body fluids are considered contagious, child should remain home at least 24 hours after the last vomiting episode.

● Diarrhea -do not send to school for at least 24 hours after last diarrhea episode

● Pinkeye (Conjunctivitis) -child should not return to school until on an antibiotic for 24 hours. Symptoms of Pinkeye include redness of the whites of the eye, drainage or crusting, itching, eye pain.

● Rash -a rash of any type is assumed contagious-the student must remain out of school if they have an undiagnosed or untreated rash. A doctor’s release should accompany the student upon return.

For runny nose and persistent cough encourage HAND WASHING and covering mouth when coughing or sneezing. Encourage ample fluid intake to keep hydrated and to keep mucus thin. Cough drops and lozenges may soothe the throat.

Susan Schipiour, RN 815-469-4474

Guidance and Counseling

Book Notes from the Library The Frankfort Education Foundationand Hickory Creek Middle School

proudly present

TIM GREENWednesday, February 3, 2016

1PM and 6PMHickory Creek Middle School

2016 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award

Students who read 3 or more titles from the list of 20 nominated titles by February 11, 2016 will be

“official judges” and invited to our Voting Celebration after school in February.

Students are encouraged to read the books from our school library, any public library or books they’ve bought themselves, as long as they are 2016 Caudill nominees. Our goal is to have the biggest school-wide participation EVER this year,

so start reading NOW! Need help deciding on one to read?

Mrs. Raynes is happy to help...just ask!

The 2016 Caudill list is also available in the library.

The library is looking for volunteers to reshelve books once a week for one month of the school year (if we get more volunteers!) Please contact

Marybeth Raynes atmraynes@fsd157c.org

if you are interested in helping.Happy Reading!

Author and former NFL player Tim Green

is bringing his message about the importance of

reading, education and good character to HCMS!

Please join us for this exciting event!

Student Council

Student Council will meet from 2:30-3:30 on the following dates:Thursday, January 7 & 21

“Theme Thursdays”January 7th---Blackhawks DayJanuary 14th--- Chicago Bulls DayJanuary 21st--- Baseball DayJanuary 28th---- Football Day

The student council members did a great job with the Winter Social and helping out with the Chavez project.

Valogram information will be coming out shortly.

Winter Wonderland Social

Chavez Backpacks

8th grade Starting the new year off RIGHT!

As the first semester comes to a close, 8th grade students start becoming more and more anxious

about their last semester here and their transition into high school. So to ring in the New Year, here

are some suggestions from fellow 8th grade students on how to be successful for their last

semester at HCMS!

Team Gold 7A

Twas’ the days before Winter Break, and all through the hall…all the students were learning, all things big and small.Their lockers were clean for the new year ahead…Including all their supplies from binders to lead.The students were sitting, appropriately in chairs…While modeling with integers in cooperative pairs!When out in the hall arose such a clatter…It was just Mr. Finan preparing lessons on Properties of Matter!When what to our surprise is about to appear…..But Mrs. Niendorf teaching all about Paul Revere!Now, Mrs. Gatsios and Mr. Stein are teaching literary terms….In ELA, reading and writing, like a room full of bookworms!

Happy Learning to All, and to All…Enjoy your Winter Break!

Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year to all of our students and their

families.Thank you for all of your generous

contributions to the Chavez School Santa Letters program.

Enjoy this winter break and we all look forward to more learning and growing in

the new year!

Team 7B

!

TEAM 7CTWELVE weeks until spring break!

ELEVEN More Math Chapters

TEN Bill of Right

NINE Weeks Per Quarter (3rd & 4th)

EIGHTH Grade Is Right Around the

Corner

SEVENTH GRADE Concluding

SIX "Injustice" Artifacts

FIVE Nights of Reading a Week

FOUR Properties of Matter

THREE Branches of Government

TWO Constitution Tests (Federal and

State)

ONE Awesome Second Half of the Year

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR GENEROUS GIFTS FOR THE

CHAVEZ SCHOOL SANTA LETTERS.

Science:

SIX

TH G

RA

DE

NEW

S Kool Katz

Mrs. BrendlingerMrs. MillsMs. GradyMrs. O’BrienMrs. Kazmierczak

Roaring Tigers Mrs. Kline/Mrs. RohlwingMrs. SandowskiMrs. FletcherMrs. SteeleMr. Ferraro

Top Tigers Mrs. Bohms Mrs. JeglinskiMrs. GiammarcoMrs. Bouck

Fridays are

Team Spirit

Day Wear :

Black Shirts

Fridays are

Team Spirit

Day Wear :

Maroon & Gold

Tie-dye Shirts

Fridays are

Team Spirit

Day Wear :

Blue Shirts

Social Studies: Students have been busy exploring the world of

Ancient Egypt. Students have explores topics from The Great Pyramid to the mummification process. Classes have researched a variety of topics and ancient pharoahs. Consider a trip to the Field Museum or the Oriental Institute over winter break to see the many Egyptian artifacts on display.

Math: Students will be working on percent problems and how they can use these skills in daily life. Encourage them to calculate the tip at a restaurant during a family night out or calculate the sale price of an item with a coupon or discount.Honors: Students will explore rates, ratios, and proportions and their uses in daily life. Ask them to help you calculate the better buy while out shopping.

Don’t forget to participate in Theme Thursdays!

ELA: In January, students will be wrapping up their biography

units with a culminating activity and presentation. All students

should be reading independently on a regular basis. The Rebecca

Caudill Award celebration is right around the corner, and students

will need to read a minimum of three selections to qualify as a

judge. Please support a regular reading routine at thome.

Science: Students finished their animal research projects which

included a paper, diorama, and speech which was the culminating activity for the Ecology Unit. The Life Science Unit will start a bit before 2nd Semester. Students will get to learn about the cell and get their hands on microscopes.

SIX

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NEW

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Growing in Science Knowledge

“Biome in a Baggie” gave these 6th Grade Scientists time to

inquire, determine what environmental factors affect plant

growth, and see the water cycle at work. They were able to

use higher level equipment such as graduated cylinders and

beakers to measure how much water they used. They were

amazed by the growth of these bean plants after

Thanksgiving Break. They thought it was cool that they could

see the roots, and decided that too much water didn’t help

the plant grow. Ask them what they learned in the Ecology Unit.

Sixth Graders provide additional light stimulus to their

growing plants.

The growth of the 6th

Grade Scientists has

been tremendous! WELL

DONE!

SIX

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Inquiry, Research,

Discovery, & Learning

Whether it’s science, social

studies, or ELA, you’ll discover

6th graders researching topics

of interest and in depth

questions on our mobile laptops

purchased through an

Education Foundation grant.

Our laptop carts have become

an integral tool in our Common

Core aligned curriculum.

Theme Thursday Fun!

Twin

Day!

Twice

the

Fun!

Disney Day!

Find the hidden Mickey!

B a n d

Chorus

The Advanced Choir and Show Choir at the Fall Choral Concert

Forty HCMS Chorus members sang at the “Holidays Around The World” showcase.

*Chorus rehearsals resume the first week back after Winter break.

Advanced Choir - Mondays, 2:30-3:30Varsity Chorus - Tuesdays, 2:30-3:30Show Choir - Wednesdays, 2:30-4:30

*New members are welcome to join Varsity Chorus (6th) or Advanced Choir (7/8th). Interested students must start rehearsals the first week in January. Contact Mrs. Walton for more information: lwalton@fsd157c.org

*Auditions for the spring musical, “The Music Man” will be held the last week of January. Any student who would like to try-out for the musical must attend ONE day of open auditions. Open Audition dates:

Monday, January 25, 2:30-5:00Tuesday, January 26, 2:30-5:00Wednesday, January 27, 2:30-5:00

Call-back list will be posted on Thursday, January 28

Call-back auditions (by invitation) will be held on Friday, January 29, 2:30-5:30

Las Clases de Español 7th Graders created a star or paw to describe themselves.

They included what they were like, where they are from, and what kind of a friend they are.

ART

General Music

8th Grade Instrumental Music: We have officially started our ukulele unit! During this unit we will be playing melodies and chord progressions using songs and musical pieces in a variety of genres on the ukulele!

8th Grade Music Production: This has been a great quarter! We will be finishing up our final projects and our end of the semester album.

7th Grade General Music: The 7th Grade Classes are creating a Mixcraft project focusing on mixing and mastering their loop based compositions, and then will be finishing their quarter with a world music unit!

6th Grade General Music: The 6th grade classes will be finishing up this quarter with a ukulele unit! During this unit students will use ukuleles to explore melody, harmony, and many different musical styles from around the world.

Physical Education

Health Education

Physical Education just finished up their Dance units before winter break. The next two units coming up in January are Basketball and Volleyball. Throughout these units, 7th and 8th grade students will have the opportunity to choose between either a competitive or noncompetitive setting. 6th graders will learn the fundamental skills and knowledge needed to play in a real life game of basketball & volleyball.

Mr. Connolly’s classes will be in Health starting January 4th. All students in Mr. Connolly’s class will need to report to the Health room upon their return from winter break.

Hickory Creek Middle School recently started a box top collection competition as of mid-December. Students are encouraged to bring in all their box tops in effort to help their class collect the most by January 29th. The top class in each grade level will receive a class reward!

Please make sure Box Tops are cut out neatly and put in a clear plastic bag. Please write the number of Box Tops you collected on the bag. Feel free to ask extended family and friends to help collect too!

Following winter break Hickory Creek will be running a bowling intramural

for all students. Here students will be bussed to Laraway Lanes. Details will

be handed out towards the end of January into early February.

Additional intramurals after break are still TBD. Please stay tuned!

Box Tops

Intramurals

Tech Time

6th Grade: 6th graders have wrapped up photoshop and used their picture to create a Pyramid of Success project. Ask your child what traits and picture post they used to showcase how they strive for success. We are finishing out the 2nd quarter with a Middle School Survival Guide using Google Slides.

8th Grade: Advanced Tech: Students are using basic programming and creating code using Scratch program. They have created a cat race, a basic game of their choice (ball into net, tic tac toe, etc.), and a challenging game (pong, pacman, darts, etc.) Students will finish our semester with a travel project when we return from break.

8th Grade- Computer Design: Students are really invested in wrapping up our digital animation projects this month. Students have created comic strips based on a historical event. They created dialogue and built characters through a variety of comic creation websites. They added animation to their storyboards through Powerpoint. Our second animation project involves creating an animated movie using Photoshop and Movie Maker. Please ask your child to show their completed animation projects at classroom.google.com. They are awesome!

Mrs. Samalea & Mrs. Vega

****Quarter 2 ends on January 12. Quarter 3 students begin January 13.****

7th Grade: Students are wrapping up Google Slides presentations about historical events on their birthday. We will finish off the quarter exploring Sketch-Up and game design with computer coding.

Athletics

New for the girls’ volleyball season

$15/family (up to 5 people)

FAMILY PASS

VolleyballPractices have started and the girls

are getting ready for their first match on January 6th at home

against Kankakee.

Athletics

Wrestling

THe wrestling team had 28 students wrestle in the New Lenox tournament on

Dec. 12th and 25 of them placed!

Cheerleading

Congratulations to the cheer team for taking 1st place at the Lincoln Way North

Pole Cheer Competition on Dec. 12th!!!

FSP REMINDERS

SCIENCE EXPLORATION NIGHTFSP is presenting a Science Night on January 22, 2016 at Chelsea Intermediate School. This is for ALL our 157-C district families. The Science Alliance is coming to present Physics – Lights, Camera Action! We will have two identical 50 minute shows at 5:45pm and 7pm so if you can’t make the first one, don’t worry we will have a second one. Lots of hands on participation is needed from the audience. When you’re not watching the show we will also have lots of fun science experiments for the children in the lunch room. I know it seems a long way away but it is sooner than you think. Planning is beginning now and we need a committee. All of your great at home science experiments are needed. Please take a look at our sign up genius link and volunteer for one of the 48 positions available to help with this exciting night. No one has to be a physicist to participate. We need ideas, organization, and able bodies to control the night. We provide the supplies, you provide some time! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C044EA4AB2BA5F85-fspexploration If you have questions please contact Tina Kohler at fsptina@yahoo.com.

FSP MEETINGOur next FSP Meeting will be January 5th, at 9:30am at GP. We are starting to organize all our 2nd half of the year events. Come and help decide what we do.

HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD

Thank You to all the students and staff who put in the extra time to make our event so successful.