Benton Specialist August Recap

In physical education, all grades are working on their ball handling and dribbling skills. First grade worked on some teamwork skills with a ball trying to work together in a game called hungry hungry caterpillar.

It’s been another fun, musical month in the music room!

Kindergarten has started working on rhythm reading readiness using iconic notation.  We’ve been learning about the different amount of sounds (syllables) each name of fruit makes, and composing our own rhythms to say and play using fruit!

First Grade explored the instruments of the orchestra with Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.

Second Grade has expanded their singing vocabulary to Sol, Mi and Do through songs, games, and movement.

Third and Fourth Grade have been learning more complicated rhythms and rhythm patterns through bucket drumming!

Fifth Grade spent January learning all about the ukulele.  They’ve learned how to properly hold and strum the instrument, as well as the C, A Minor, F, and G chords.  There are so many popular songs we can play and sing using those chords!

In the art room, we are still working on putting the final touches on our pinch pots.  About half have already gone home but the snow days have thrown a wrench into the works that we’re still working our way through!  Apart from that, we have also been putting the finishing touches on our Minecraft houses.  Look for these on Artsonia soon!

January has been a month of remembering school routines and getting back into learning.  In Counseling, students have focused on identifying their interests and talents, which links them to possible career choices when they enter the working world.  Through class discussions, students learn  why people work, discovering that it takes money to buy food, shelter, and other basics.  Most students from K-5 can name the 6 Career Paths and jobs that go with them.  By playing games like Career Headbands, Career Tic-Tac-Toes, and Career Bingo, students learn about jobs, while also having a lot of fun! 

In the makerspace this month, we made Lego robots with our Lego WeDo 2.0 kits and coded them to move, light up, and make sounds in the WeDo app.   And yes, even our kindergarteners were building and coding robots!

Hopefully you received a notice in Friday Folders about our makerspace next month.  We're building a zoo out of pipe cleaner animals.  Family members are invited to submit your own pipe cleaner animals as well!  The zoo will be open for families to tour during our Sock Hop on February 23rd.

In terms of library news, my budget needed to be spent by the end of this month, so our last book order has been placed.  Can't wait to get this last shipment!

And as always, if you would like your student to be included on our hallway "Did You Know?" display, please fill out this form!

Happy January!

In media, students have been learning how to navigate databases.

In grades K-3 , students used BrainPopJr to learn about Mae Jemison, the first Black American Women to go to space. She first became a chemical engineer and doctor before her space mission in 1992. While in space, she completed experiments on bones and tadpoles to see how zero gravity would affect their growth.

In grades 4 & 5, students used BrainPop to discover more about George Washington Carver, who was a world-renowned scientist and inventor who is credited with saving the southern economy in the early 1900s. He helped save cotton production by introducing the idea of crop rotation, which helps improve soil and plant yield. Farmers weren’t sure what to do with the other crops like peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans so he invented new ways to use them.