Benton Specialist Monthly Recap

In the art room we have been exploring shapes.  We found shapes in architecture and even created dream homes, schools, and shape cities.  Next up is color!  In our color unit we will explore mixing colors and painting.

This month, third grade students had  a great time in our throwing and catching unit.  Players in the middle were maneuvering in order to avoid all that was rolled or bounced at them.

We had lots of spooky fun in music this October!

K & 1 practiced steady beat keeping, exploring loud and soft sounds, and playing rhythms with iconic notation this month.  We learned super fun songs and games like “Pass the Pumpkin”, “Pumpkin Pumpkin” and “Spooky Shaker."

2 & 3 listened to and learned about spooky classical songs from composers like Camille Saint-Saëns, Edvard Grieg, and Johann Sebastian Bach.  We practiced creative movement with Saint-Saëns “Danse Macabre”, as well as playing xylophones and other classroom instruments to songs “Closet Key”, “Skin and Bones” and “Pass the Pumpkin."

4 & 5 had their Scary Movie Villain Theme Unit this month, and we had an absolute blast.  Students listened to and analyzed different theme songs from scary movies and tv shows.  We discussed major vs minor key and what song elements made each song scary.  Students were then tasked with creating their own scary movie character and writing a theme song for them using Garage Band.   Students were able to explore different instruments and sound effects to compose a song that best reflected the type of character they created.

Happy October! In Counseling this month, our focus is keeping students safe with the Second Steps Child Protection Unit: Safe & Unwanted Touches/The Private Body Parts Rule. Students review the Three Ways to Stay Safe (3Rs) and apply it to different, age-appropriate scenarios. They learn the importance of using an assertive voice to refuse unsafe, unwanted touches and how to report to a trusted adult both at home and school. On the day I teach this lesson in your child’s class, they should come home with a letter that obtains Second Step login information for your review.  Here is that information again.  (First-grade parents must add the kindergarten activation key to their dashboard to view Julie Stays Safe)

 www.SecondStep.org

Kindergarten: CPUK FAMI LYGK/Julie Stays Safe

1st Grade: CPU1 FAMI LYG1/Julie Stays Safe (Found on KD dashboard)

2nd Grade: CPU2 FAMI LYG2/David Speaks Up

3rd Grade: CPU3 FAMI LYG3/David Speaks Up

4th Grade: CPU4 FAMI LYG4/Digital Scenarios

5th Grade: CPU5 FAMI LYG5/Digital Scenarios

Be prepared for the Book Fair!  It'll be here for a week in November.  That week always goes by in a blur.  Contact the office if you would like to help set it  up, take it down, or run the register to help out!

We all made stop-motion videos in the makerspace this month.  Even our littlest friends were quick learners and made some really great Lego movies!  Some of our older students tried making a stop-motion video with whiteboard drawings for the first time.  Everyone was engaged and made some great animations!

As always, please fill out this form if you'd like to share something unique about your student on our hallway projector screen!  https://forms.gle/GQUK1fWLjYwJAE749

This month in Media, students learned how to become an upstander, and show kindness to their classmates in person and online. Being an upstander is all about standing up for your friends and classmates instead of putting others down. Students in grades 2-5 were able to play the game Interland which is an online game focused on being kind. Students were tasked with spreading positivity to the game characters while stopping the bullies. Want to try the game yourself? Check it out here.