Benton Specialist Monthly Recap

October is a busy and creative month in the art room!

• Kindergarten and First Grade are continuing their art-and-science journey, creating an animal for each letter of the alphabet.

• Second and Third Grade will be wrapping up our Shapes in Architecture unit and moving into exciting explorations of color.

• Fourth and Fifth Grade are finishing their non-objective art projects, where they’ve been working with both geometric and organic shapes. Next, they’ll dive into painting projects that highlight the power of color.
  
  
  

September and October are fitness months for measuring cardiovascular abilities as well as flexibility.

I am incredibly proud of the students at Benton K-5 for their hard work preparing for the fitness unit in Physical Education.  Watching them support one another and take ownership of their effort is strong this year. 

The fitness unit includes the: mile, the sit and reach, the shuttle run and the sit-up (crunches).   The students know the tests are hard and they have learned to push themselves to a safe, yet challenging level. 

Ask your student what fitness tests they have accomplished so far.

Stay fit, never give up!

The difference between try and triumph is just a little “umph”

Coach B

4th and 5th grade will be becoming Foley artists this month!  They will learn the ins and outs of foley (sound effect) work, and then storyboarding a silent Halloween cartoon with sound effects using music room instruments!  They will showcase their completed cartoon to the kindergarten and first graders here at Benton!

3rd grade will begin looking at the larger musical staff, and being singing, playing and composing using So, La, Mi, Re and Do.  They will also learn about Major and Minor tonalities in music, using spooky songs.

2nd grade will practice singing, playing and notating So, Mi and La on the staff, and continue learning proper instrument playing technique. 

1st grade will begin to label quarter notes and eighth note pairs, as well as using our singing voices to sing So and Mi.

Kindergarten will continue to explore the four musical voices, and proper classroom instrument playing technique through, song, dance, and play.

October in the music room is never complete without our classic Halloween music games, like Pass the Pumpkin, Pass the Witches Broomstick, and Skin and Bones!

Happy Fall! In Counseling for the first part of the month, we focus on Personal Safety, learning the 8 Never-Never Rules and how to keep ourselves and others safe.  Students will continue to use the 3 R’s tool (Recognize, Refuse, Report), as they explain how to handle unsafe situations like finding a gun, using sharp tools, or wanting to pet a dog that’s not theirs.  Students will also practice responsible decision-making during class discussions about unsafe scenario and possible outcomes. Ask your child if they can name all 8 Never-Never Rules!  

 By mid-October, 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

We had a lot of fun making stop-motion videos in the makerspace last month!  Our students are always so creative with the stories they tell.

This month, we'll be channeling some Halloween energy by making monster bots.  Everyone will design and take home a little cup monster an attach a motor and battery to it so it vibrates around and "growls."

I'm also excited to start integrating with kindergarten, first, fourth, and fifth on some really cool science projects this month!

In October, Media class will be focusing on tools meant to store or share knowledge, such as Google Docs, Slides, Freeform, and Sora. We will be learning to take information and use or share it in our own way, without copyright infringement or plagiarism.