Hi Benson Hill Bobcats,

For our final lesson of the year, I have chosen some books and activities that focus around being Kind. At this point in our lives we all need a little bit more kindness and understanding. Think about the questions below and discuss with a family member.

How can you help make your life, and your families’ lives a bit more kind? What can you do as a child to make someone’s day better? How can you take time to make your own day better?

Take some time to read the books and maybe conduct a few of the kindness projects in the Intermediate section, but most importantly, have fun and learn!

Parents, here are a few ways you can reinforce Kindness in your home.

Begin with this activity, the Good Things Activity

This is an activity that takes very little time and is a good way to get your child to talk and reflect back about their day. This can be done on the way home from school in the car, at the dinner table, during bath time, during night time story time, etc.

Ask your child to respond using one of these talking stems: “One good thing in my life is. . . .” or "Something good that happened is . . .” Tell your child that their thing can be big or small; for example, last night they had pizza for dinner, or someone got a pet turtle, or they just got a good grade on their book report. Once they have shared with you, share your good thing with them. This can be an opportunity for your child to share their lives and also be celebrated and affirmed by you, their parent.

14 Little Ways to Encourage Kindness

Miss you all, I hope you all have a wonderful summer!

Mrs. Codon

Choose to be Kind, Every Day!

Everyone has the ability and capacity to be kind, will you choose kindness?

“That’s the power of kindness- it can change the end of a story.”

Extreme Weather

Extreme weather, or extreme climate events, are events of unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonable weather. This means weather that is “out of the ordinary.” It doesn’t happen all of the time.

Examples of Extreme Weather

· Tornado: clouds, strong wind, rain, hail.

· Hurricane or cyclone: strong wind, heavy rain.

· Blizzard: heavy snow, ice, cold temperatures.

· Dust storm: strong winds, arid conditions.

· Flood: heavy rainfall.

· Hail storm: cold or warm temperatures, rain, ice.

· Ice storm: freezing rain.

Using Pebble Go, I would like for you to conduct research on any of the types of extreme weather above. Discuss these types of weather with your family.

PebbleGo

Username: rentonhome

Password: student

Once in PebbleGo, click on Science, Earth and Space Science, Weather, then Extreme Weather.

Think about these questions:

-Have you ever experienced one of these types of weather? If so, what did you see, how did you feel? Did you learn something from it?

Now for the fun part. I challenge you and your families to make at least one of the extreme weather models and share it with me. See the links below to several “how to” instruction sheets to make your own models.

Tornado/Hurricane in a Bottle

Blizzard in a Jar

How to make a Thunderstorm

Soil Erosion Model

If you would like to share a picture or video of you and your family creating one of these models, please post it to our Padlet page I created for this lesson.

Hi Benson Hill Bobcats!! I hope you and your families had a chance to get out and enjoy the nice weather over the past week. I know I have. I have started taking daily walks with Peanut, my pup. I was also able to go out to my other house in Grand Coulee, Eastern Washington, and relax and reflect on this interesting time in our lives. What about you, what have you learned during Covid-19? Discuss this with an adult or older sibling.

Take care, Mrs. Codon

The Eruption of Mt. St. Helens-May 18, 1980

This week we are focusing on the 40^th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Our activities will include a few books, a chance to research volcanoes, and a “how to” video showing you how to make your own erupting volcano, yeah!!

Login to MyOn from the RSD Login Portal and Clever. Then read the following books about volcanoes.

Now that you have read some books about volcanoes. Visit PebbleGo to conduct more research about them.

Username: rentonhome

Password: student

Click on Science, Earth and Space Sciences, Earth Science, Earth in Action, then Volcanos

If you want to organize your research, use this form below to organize your learning.

Volcano Research- Grades K-2

Be sure to click on the tabs for the videos and see the “ read more” tab for more books and information about volcanoes.

Hi Benson Bobcats!! I hope you and your families are all well. I miss you all so much. I hope that I will see you when I join your classroom zoom meetings within the next few weeks. I have been enjoying some reading time outside in my hammock with Peanut. I hope you have had a chance to get outside and enjoy the sunny weather as well 😊

Our lessons for this week are below. I added in a few fun art activities, as well as a few recipes for you to try cooking at home with an adult.

Have fun, Mrs. Codon

May Is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Did you know that May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month? It is a time when we celebrate Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. My goal this week is to help kids celebrate the rich history and culture of the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have contributed to America’s diversity and success. Please use the activities below to help your child understand how they played significant roles in shaping modern history. Following are read alouds from children books.

Art Connection: Making a Paper Lei

Leis are garlands made and given for occasions like marriages, birthdays, and luaus. Colorful flowers and greenery are braided, twisted, wrapped, or strung together to create lei for the neck, head, wrists, and ankles. Take construction paper and/or tissue paper and twine to make your own lei. Have a luau and wear them, or give them to friends. Click on the video below to make one of your own. If you want to make more, search how to’s on YouTube.

Science Connection: Let’s get cooking!

Remember to always have an adult with you when cooking.

Rice and Egg Kids Meal

Spam Musubi

Ice Cream Mochi

Chinese Food Recipes for Kids

Boba-Bubble Tea

STAR WARS DAY

Since 2011 May the 4th has been known across Star Wars Fandom as Star Wars Day and was chosen due to the pun “May the Fourth be with You” ("May the Force be with You")

Have fun this week with these Space related activities.

Mrs. Codon

Space Shuttle Origami

Work with a family member and make an origami Space Shuttle.

Hey my friends,

I am missing you all terribly, but I will hopefully see some of you within the next few weeks when I join your classroom Zoom meetings. Yeah!! I am very excited at the chance to see all of your faces!! I am enjoying these sunny days, and Peanut and I are taking lots of walks. I hope you and your families are doing the same. Take care, and I will hopefully be seeing you soon :)

Much love,

Mrs. Codon

Now it’s your turn! Write your own poem. Think about what you have learned about writing poems.

• Poems can rhyme, but they don’t have to.

• Poets use their “poet eyes” and their senses to create a poem the reader can visualize.

• Poets use line breaks to help the reader read the poem with meaning.

• Poets use strong words to fit the mood of the poem.

If you need a little help creating a poem, visit the Poetry Machine website.

If you want to share your poems with me and your friends, post them to Padlet. I created one and added it as an example. Parents, this is a totally private page so names can be used. Click on the + sign at the bottom to add your creation.

If you would like additional activities, look at the Covid-19 Time Capsule activity in the library section on the 3rd, 4th or 5th grade page.

Hey Bobcats,

Did you know that April is Poetry month? This week we will be creating some poetry of our own.

Just a reminder, keep your library books in a safe place my friends.

Take care,

Mrs. Codon

anna.codon@rentonschools.us

Poem Activities

An Acrostic poem is a poem that starts with a word, like Spring. Visit Ken Nesbitt’s poetry website and watch the videos below on how to create an acrostic poem. After watching the video, click on the link below to create your own Acrostic poem.

Ken Nesbitt-How to write an Acrostic Poem

Read, Write, and Think- How to create an Acrostic poem

Once you have completed your Acrostic poem, save it and feel free to e-mail it to me at anna.codon@rentonschools.us. I would love to see what you have created 😊

Have fun and explore these websites below for more poetry resources.

• Jack's Poems and Music

• Scholastic Poetry Engine- Create even more poems

• Shel Silverstein

• Poetry 4 Kids-Ken Nesbitt

Community connection:

Write out your favorite poem in sidewalk chalk. Include a message inviting others to add their own poem (be sure to leave a basket of chalk for them to use). Then check again later to see what new poems have arrived.

Hey Bobcats, I hope you are all staying healthy and safe. I also hope that you are enjoying our beautiful weather and taking some time to read some good books!

Take care and know that you can always reach out to me for any help, questions, etc.

Mrs. Codon

anna.codon@rentonschools.us

Chester’s Way

Do you like to do certain things your own way? Do you like your sandwiches cut in triangles or in squares?

Chester has his own way to do things and sometimes that can cause problems.

Listen to Chester’s Way written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes.

Read by Vanessa Marano and Katie LeClerc.

After watching the video:

1. Talk with a helper about how Chester and Lily are the same (compare) and how they are different (contrast)? You can use these sentence starters to help.

• Both Chester and Lily __________.

• Chester is _______ but Lily is_________.

2. Draw a picture of what you think the friends will do next?

Write a sentence to go with your picture. You can use this sentence starter to help.

• The friends will _____________.

Library Activity 1

Listen to the story, And Then It’s Spring.

Discuss with a family member after watching:

What are the signs that spring is coming in the story?

Take a springtime scavenger hunt with your family, use the link below to check off all things you find during your hunt.

Library Activity 2

Spring Time Scavenger Hunt website

Science Extension: Login to Pebble Go (please refer to my Seesaw instructions for login instructions)

Choose the Science tab; Earth and Space Sciences; Seasons; and Spring. Explore one or all of the sections on Spring and discuss with a family member.

What most excites you about springtime?

Listen to some poems from one of our Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award Nominees, Friends and Foes: Poems About Us All, by Douglas Florian.

Now it’s your turn! Write your own poem. Think about what you have learned about writing poems.

• Poems can rhyme, but they don’t have to.

• Poets use their “poet eyes” and their senses to create a poem the reader can visualize.

• Poets use line breaks to help the reader read the poem with meaning.

• Poets use strong words to fit the mood of the poem.

If you need a little help creating a poem, visit the Poetry Machine website.

If you want to share your poems with me and your friends, post them to Padlet. I created one and added it as an example.

Parents, this is a totally private page so names can be used.

https://padlet.com/acodon/jyaql9kt0tspleoa

Click on the + sign at the bottom to add your creation.

If you need more to do, look at the Covid-19 Time Capsule activity below under intermediate.