Benton Specialist Monthly Recap

The art room is full of excitement and creativity! Kindergarten and first-grade artists are exploring lines and shapes as they draw animals, and soon they’ll be learning about shapes by cutting and creating with paper. Our second through fifth-grade students are discovering the magic of color through watercolor painting, experimenting with how colors mix, blend, and form beautiful new effects. Every grade level is finding fresh ways to see and express the world through an artist’s eyes!

November will be a fun month in P.E.

We will start out the end of October and going into November with Non-Locomotor skills and rhythms.  One of the fun things we'll be doing is the hula hoop jump challenge.

We will head into the middle of November and the end with striking objects with hands and short implements.   This will include some volleyball and possibly badminton.

November brings lots of fall fun to the music room!

Kindergarten will continue to explore pulse, beat vs. rhythm, and loud vs. quiet sounds through songs and play.

1st grade learned two new rhythms in October, Ta and Ti Ti.  They will continue to practice, singing, playing, and composing using those rhythms in November, as well as identifying the notes Sol and Mi.

2nd grade will expand upon their rhythm knowledge, adding half note and half rest to their repertoire.

3rd grade will spend time in November learning about the different instrument families, in preparation for their upcoming field trip to the symphony!

4th grade will start Recorder Bootcamp, learning all about recorder basics, as well as their first few notes.

5th grade will start their intro to Keyboard unit, learning piano basics, and playing known rhythms using a keyboard.

Our next unit in Counseling is learning more coping skills for managing big emotions, supporting self-regulation.  Students will learn how the brain and body respond when we are angry, scared, or stressed and what tools to use to download calm. Through activities and group discussions, students will make better connections to support personal and social growth. Ask your child to teach you their favorite breathing tool or grounding exercise.   

We had a blast making our growling monster bots in the makerspace!  

This month, we'll start 3D designing and printing with 3rd-5th in the makerspace.  It's never as easy to do as it looks, but everyone's so engaged with trying to figure it out that it's always so much fun.

We will also have the Book Fair up and running during conferences week!  Stay tuned for more information!

In November, Media class will be teaching research skills; using sources like Sora Magazines and World Book Online to gather and use data, as well as safe searching skills.  We will also introduce them to 3D modeling and 3D printing.