5B Activities for the Week of February 23, 2015

Hello Parents and Students:

Here are the reminders for this week: 

1.  Please return the 5th Grade Farewell permission form and $10 if your child plans to attend the farewell.  Thank you to all who have already returned it.

2.  Students have school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only this week.  Thursday is Parent-Teacher Conferences and Friday is Teacher Institute Day.  If I need to speak with you regarding your child's progress in school, you have already been contacted.

3.  Please send in two food labels this week for a science activity.  Thank you.

Here's what's going on in the curricular areas: 

Word Study:  There is no word study this week due to the shortened week!  Instead, we will do some grammar practice in school.  :-)

Math Acceleration:  We will continue to work on Common Core State Standard 6.EE.B7 this week.  Our focus will continue to be on equations….specifically focusing on using algebra to solve multiplication and division equations.  This week we will involve fractions with equations.  Also, we will be participating in a lot of problem solving involving equations using models.  Expect a couple of exit slips this week to check for understanding.  Also, a permission form was sent home regarding Math Acceleration testing.  It was a pink form.  Please disregard this form.  It was sent home in error.  The correct form was sent home the following day regarding the PA math test.  ALL Math Acceleration students will participate in PA math testing the week of March 9th.  There is no permission form needed for this testing.  I apologize for the confusion.  Also, I will post a link on my blog of useful websites to visit to help prepare for the PA math testing.

ELA:  This week will be a continuation of many things.  We are about halfway through our anchor text, Red Kayak.  Students should be studying the vocabulary from chapters 10-12.  A quiz on these words will be given at a later date.  We also read and analyzed the poem, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.  This week we will be discussing narrative writing…specifically narrative poems.  We will begin writing our own narrative poems (with illustrations) this week or next.  Students will also be introduced to a new book entitled, George Vs. George.  This books compares Britain's King George III with the Colonists' General George Washington.  This book/discussion will be our headway back into social studies.

Science:  In a couple of weeks or so, we will be finishing up our study of the Digestive System.  Currently, we are creating a digestive system medical brochure.  This will be ongoing for a while.  Students are doing research on a specific area/condition/disease of the digestive system.  They will then be formatting this information onto a brochure.  We will be learning about nutrition and reading food labels soon.  Please send two food labels in with your child sometime this week.  Thank you.

That's it for now!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Bennick :-)

Finally, Spring has arrived!

Hello Parents,

Even though Spring began in March, our warm weather decided not to arrive until now!  Many April showers have now brought us beautiful May flowers and warmer weather to enjoy.  I hope that you have been able to get outside and enjoy the beauty of nature!

Last week the entire school participated in CBM testing, which I administered to most of my ELL students.  There were no flex. groups last week for all grade levels due to CBM testing.

Here are the latest happenings in ELL:

Kindergarten has worked on Math (Number Sense and Quantity) along with Time and Routines. 

First Grade has been working on a long and interesting Life Cycle unit.

Second Grade recently finished up their unit on Life Cycles and are now working on Natural Resources.

Third Grade enjoyed learning about Times Long Ago and are currently practicing reciting a play.

Fourth Grade continues to increase their knowledge about the West Region of the U.S. 

Fifth Grade worked on elements of fiction/non-fiction and are now also working on plays.

Recently, I mailed home a letter asking parents to call and schedule an appointment to have your child screened if they will be starting Kindergarten this Fall (2011-2012) School Year.  If you have a child who will be starting Kindergarten, please call me to schedule an appointment to have your child screened.  This is a State requirement.  Thank you!  This way, ELL services can begin earlier next school year.  If you do not have a child who will be starting Kindergarten next year, but you have a friend that does, please have them call me.  This screening is only for families who speak another language besides English in their homes.  My direct line is 630.428.6725 or email me at delissa_bennick@ipsd.org.

5th Grade Presentations Were Awesome!

Today, my three 5th grade students, gave presentations about their native countries' flags to my group of 3rd grade students.  The 5th graders have been researching their flags for the past couple of weeks.  They then compiled the information and typed up a report of the most interesting facts.  The 3rd graders were excellent listeners.  They enjoyed watching the older students present.  CONGRATULATIONS to my 5th graders for a JOB WELL DONE!  I am so proud of you!

~Mrs. Bennick :-)

ELL Update

Hello Parents,

I apologize for the delay in updating my blog.  The weeks are just passing by so quickly, I can hardly keep up with everything!  We have definitely been very busy these past two weeks in ELL class!  Here is a snapshot of what's been going on.

Kindergarten:  Transportation (last week) and Feelings (this week)

First Grade:  Families (last week) and Schedules/Routines (this week)

Second Grade:  Celebrations & Customs (last week) and Maps & Globes (this week)

Third Grade:  Celebrations in Nature (last week) and Moon & Space (this week)

Fourth Grade:  Tall Tales; Facts and Opinions (last week and this week)

Fifth Grade:  Researching our Native Countries' flags (We will be presenting our projects next week to a group of third graders.)

There are always lots of things to keep us busy in ELL class.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns,  please call me. 

~Mrs. Bennick :-)

ELL Activities for the Week of 3/21/11

Hello Parents,

Here is a snapshot of what each grade level worked on this week during ELL class.  As always, the students worked very hard and accomplished a great deal again this week.

Kindergarten:  Different types of weather/Seasons/National Geographic weather materials

First Grade:  Rooms in a house and their purpose/Label outside of house/Harcourt Book, Take a Tour of My House

Second Grade:  Musical Instruments/Categorizing instruments as Wind-String-Percussion/Writing activity...What instrument do you  play or would you like to play and why? (Journal)

Third Grade:  Cocoa Ice vocabulary and geography lesson...Where is Santo Domingo?  Where is Maine?/
Writing activity--Which place would you prefer to live and why? Stand and share

Fourth Grade:  Elements of non-fiction/One Grain of Rice vocabulary/How do we use math in our everyday lives? Semantic web/ I-Chart extended response writing in journals

Fifth Grade:  Revolutionary War/Northern battles chart/ I-Chart extended response writing--What events helped Washington force the British to leave Boston?/ Map activity

Wishing you all a fun-filled and relaxing Spring Break!

~Mrs. Bennick

ELL Activities for the Week of 3/14/11

Hello Parents,

Here is a list of the lessons and activities that were presented in ELL class this week.  Many students asked very insightful questions about our topics this week and were very eager to participate in class.

Kindergarten-Neighborhoods/What is a community?/Where can we shop?/Different kinds of homes we live in

First Grade-Maps and Globes-What country do we live in?/What is the name of our state?/What city do we live in?

Second Grade-Economy/Money-What are goods?/Are goods grown or made?/How do goods get to the store?/How do we pay for goods?

Third Grade-Government and Leaders-What is our capital city in the U.S.?/Who is our current President and Vice President?/What are symbols?/Name symbols that represent freedom in this country.

Fourth Grade-SouthWest Region-Identify the four states that make up the SW region./Design a foldable about the SW region including specific details about that region./Saguaro Cactus timeline and semantic web

Fifth Grade-American Revolution/Taxing/Declaration of Independence-Discuss taxing and why it became a problem with the British/Timeline of events leading up to the Revolutionary War/What was significant about the Declaration of Independence?

It was a great week in ELL class!  Let's keep it up!

~Mrs. Bennick

All ELL classes have resumed!

Hello Parents,

ISAT testing has now been completed, therefore, all ELL classes have resumed as of today!  We are all so happy to be back to our normal routine.  I'd like to just give you a brief overview of what all grade levels will be working on this week in ELL class.

K-Magnets, Push/Pull, and Force
1- What are leisure activities?, Play, Storywriting
2-Sounds we hear, Story vocabulary, Matching
3-Gardening needs, Story vocabulary, Graphic organizer
4-Southwest Region (National Geographic books)
5-What are taxes?, Foldables story

Another busy week ahead!  As always, please contact me with any questions.

Thank you!
~Mrs. Bennick

ISAT Testing

Hello Parents,
I hope that you are enjoying your day off!  I just wanted to give you a preview of what to expect this upcoming week.  This week, all ELL students in grades 3, 4, and 5, will be participating in ISAT testing.  Due to this testing, all other grade level ELL classes will be canceled and will resume next week.  The students have been working very hard to prepare for this testing.  Please make sure that your child has a nutritious breakfast and gets plenty of sleep during the week of testing. 
As always, if you have any questions regarding ISAT testing, please call me on my direct line. 
Thank you!
~Mrs. Bennick
630.428.6725

ELL Schedule

Hello Parents,

All ACCESS testing has been completed!  Most grade levels finished a week or two ago, but Kindergarteners just finished on Friday.  All of the students worked very hard and I am anxious to see their scores later in the spring.  We have resumed our normal ELL schedule. 

Also, Parent-Teacher Conferences are next Tuesday, February 22, 2011.  These conferences are optional, but if you'd like to set up an appointment with me, please call my direct line at 630.428.6725. 

Thank you,

~Mrs. Bennick

ACCESS Testing Update/Parent-Teacher Conferences/Open House

Hello Parents,

ACCESS testing continues this week and all of the students have been trying their best.  I am happy and proud of the excellent effort that they have shown while taking the test.  Most students will be finished with testing by the end of this week.

Also, Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on Tuesday, February 22nd, from 1:00-8:00p.m.
Your attendance at this conference is optional.  However, if you would like to schedule a time to meet with me on this day, please call me on my direct line at 630.428.6725.  Thank you.

Open House is this Thursday, January 27th, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.  I will be here so please stop by to say hi.  Open House is an informal night for parents to come and visit the many teachers' classrooms that your children visit each week...such as art, music, p.e., ELL, etc. Due to the informal nature of this evening, I will not be able to conduct conferences.  Thank you. 

Hope to see you all at Open House!!

~Mrs. Bennick

Adult ESL Classes and ACCESS testing

Hello Parents,

Indian Prairie School District offers adult ESL classes through the College of Dupage.  Information about these classes is posted on the May Watt's website at http://watts.ipsd.org/.  If you are interested in enrolling in these classes, just fill out the application that is also posted on the school's website.  For those parents who requested information about these classes earlier in the year, the information was sent home last Friday in your child's backpack. 

Also, this week begins ACCESS testing for all grade levels! This is a very comprehensive test which tests your child's ability in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing in the English language.  Test scores will be available toward the end of the school year.  If you have any questions regarding this test, please call or email me. 

Have a wonderful week!
~Mrs. Bennick

Happy New Year!

I hope that all of you enjoyed some time with your families over Winter Break.  It's time to start the second half of the school year.  ACCESS testing will begin shortly.  More information regarding ACCESS testing will be sent home and also posted on my blog within the next week. 
I am looking forward to a very productive second semester of school!  We have a lot of work ahead of us. 
I am sure the students are up to the challenge!
Happy 2011!
~Mrs. Bennick 

It Feels Like Winter!

Hello Parents:
Time for another update from ELL class.  The weeks go by so quickly.  I can't believe it's been over two weeks since my last update!  The weather has certainly taken a change.  The students have been enjoying the beautiful blanket of white snow.  Many of the students have been telling me that they will be visiting relatives and friends over Winter Break.  For those of you who will be traveling, I hope that you enjoy your time away and have safe travels.

Here are our latest activities:

Kindergarten students have been discussing snow and winter activities.  They have read three books called, Bundle Up, The Snowy Day, and Let's Make a Snowman!  They have discussed winter clothing, winter activities and how to build a snowman.  They have been working well with partners and in small groups.

First grade activities have included talking about sports and the beach.  We've read books entitled, Sports Day and What Do You See at the Sea?  We have done lots of vocabulary work in our journals and also completed graphic organizers about these topics.  This is a group of hard workers!

Second grade students have completed some activities which align with their classroom reading stories.  We have talked about the life of a tree, interesting facts about trees, and have also diagrammed a tree!  We have also talked about how things change over time.  Lots of great learning going on in this group of students!

The third grade students have also completed some assignments that align with their classroom reading stories.  We read and discussed the story, Pepita Talks Twice, which explains the importance of speaking two languages.  The students completed an extended response question relating to this topic in their journals.  They also got to be actors this week!  The students chose parts in a play about Red Riding Hood and acted them out in front of their other classmates.  We then read another story and the students compared and contrasted the stories' similarities and differences.  It was an exciting week for third graders!

The fourth grade students have been working on a couple of different things.  They read a book entitled, Beaks and Wings, which aligned with their classroom story, Nights of the Pufflings.  They completed a semantic web about birds.  They also completed an extended response question about Nights of the Pufflings in their journals.  They shared their answers aloud for oral language development and then to end the lesson, wrote a summary of the first book. Their writing skills are improving!  This week, we have started learning about the Southeast region of the United States.  We are using wonderful National Geographic books to learn about this topic. 

Finally, the fifth graders have been working on vocabulary development along with reading, writing, and oral language skills.  We continue to work on parts of speech and last week we focused on adjectives.  We took a short break from our adjectives packet to read the classroom story, Island of the Blue Dolphins.  We completed a vocabulary activity with this book and also an extended reponse question for writing.   The students shared their answers orally.  This week the story, Everglades, was introduced.  We have discussed the vocabulary words for this story and completed a Frayer Model.  We briefly read the story and will continue to complete acitivites for it next week. 

The fourth and fifth grade groups have been doing "popcorn" reading.  This is a fun way to read a story.  Ask your child what this is.  (We are not eating popcorn!) 
As always, if you have any questions, please call me.
~Mrs. Bennick

Time to Bundle Up! It's COLD outside!

Hello Parents:

This is just a reminder that there is no school on Wednesday, November 24th, Thursday, November 25th, and Friday, November 26th due to the Thanksgiving recess.  I hope that you all have an opportunity to enjoy some of this time off with your families.

Here's the latest news from ELL class:

Kindergarten:  The kindergarteners completed a writing activity involving many of the vocabulary words that we have been working on during class.  Then, they did a "Stand and Share" activity which involved standing in front of the group and discussing their work.  All the students did a wonderful job on this activity!  And, there were many good listeners, too!

1st Grade:  The first graders have been working on their fruits and vegetables unit for a couple of weeks now.  They recently completed a compare and contrast chart (same/different) on fruits and vegetables and labeled them.   They then participated in a "Round Table" discussion about their charts.  Well done by all!

2nd Grade:  The second graders have been working on their writing skills lately.  They recently completed a writing activity that focused on the beginning, middle, and end of a story.  Then, they worked on an extended response writing in their journals which focused on a question from one of their recent classroom stories.  They also did a "Stand and Share" activity when their writing was finished.  It was interesting to hear the differences in their answers and to see them present it to the group.  They all did a fantastic job!

3rd Grade:  Third graders finally finished up their comparisons of two stories after diligently working on this activity for the past 2-3 weeks.  They all did an excellent job!  Their work was amazing!  The final activity was a summary of one of the stories and then answering an extended response question about one of the stories.  We shared our responses aloud in a "Round Table" format. 

4th Grade:  The fourth graders have completed their unit on Rocks and Minerals and we read a few short stories from the book, We Celebrate the Harvest.  Currently, the students are working on writing a summary about one of these stories and will be participating in a "Think-Pair-Share" activity when they have completed the writing portion of the assignment. 

5th Grade:  The fifth graders have also been reading short stories about the harvest and are currently working on a writing activity that pertains to the story they chose.  The activity that the fifth graders are working on is an opinion statement.  They will then share these opinions with their partners. 

Please remember to dress your child/children appropriately for the weather.  They do go outside for lunch recess and it is very cold outside!  To keep them warm, they should be wearing a heavy coat, hat, mittens, and a scarf.  Thank you!

Enjoy the break!
~Mrs. Bennick

Moving right along into Mid-November

Hello ELL Families:

It's amazing how fast the time is moving!  We have now started our second quarter of school and the students are busy at work on many activities in ELL.  Here is what's happening:
Kindergarten students continue to work on letter identification, letter sounds, and identifying pictures that begin with certain letter sounds.  They will also be reading a book entitled, Carlos' First Thanksgiving, in which they will be exposed to many new vocabulary words including foods from different countries and why Thanksgiving is celebrated in America.
First grade started a unit on fruits and vegetables last week and will finish it up this week.  We have learned many new fruits and vegetables and enjoyed sharing which ones we like, which ones we do not like, and those we have never seen before!  We completed a T-Chart of our favorite fruits and vegetables and will be completing a matching activity and discussing which fruits can be peeled and which ones do not need to be.
Second grade has been working hard reading and discussing a story that they did in class entitled, Lemonade For Sale.  We discussed ways to earn money and completed a semantic web about different ways we use money that we earn.  Some of these ways included saving money at the bank, spending money, giving it to needy people, paying the bills, buying food and even how to make a profit from having a lemonade stand!  Wow!  I was very impressed! 
Third grade has been comparing and contrasting two books that we read in our class entitled, The Three Little Pigs and The Wolf's Story.  At this point, we have read both books, discussed all of the vocabulary words from both books, and are now in the process of completing a venn diagram together, in small groups, comparing the similarities and differences between the stories.  We will finish the lesson up later this week with a summarizing activity and possibly writing a friendly letter to either the pigs or the wolf. 
Fourth grade just recently finished up their unit on the Northeast Region of the United States.  The students have now begun their Rocks and Minerals unit.  The students have been assigned to work with a buddy during this weeks' activities.  They are reading two books.  One book is about minerals and the other is about rock types.  One group defined minerals and labeled different types of minerals that we know of or use.  The second group wrote a summary of one of the rock types that they learned about in the book.  Later this week, we will complete two vocabulary activities about rocks and minerals.
Fifth grade has been working very hard on figurative language.  We have discussed what figurative language is and how it makes literature interesting.  At this time, we have discussed similes, metaphors, and idioms.  We just finished a fun activity on idioms.  Please ask your child to tell you a new idiom that they just learned and what it means.  Also, I have asked the students to tell me an idiom that they may have in their native languages.  I thought that they would enjoy sharing some of these silly sayings during ELL class.
I hope that you enjoyed reading about all of our activities.  Please check back soon for more updates.
Stay warm!
~Mrs. Bennick :-)

Thank you, Parents!

I would like to take this time to thank all of the parents who stopped by to discuss their child's progress in ELL class.  I realize the wait time was quite long last night and I appreciate your patience.  It was nice to have the opportunity to meet many of my new parents and also to see my established parents.  I am very thankful to have such supportive parents and wonderful students. 
~Mrs. Bennick

Conferences

A big thank you to all of the parents who stopped by for an ELL conference.  For those of you who weren't able to visit me last week, you can still stop by on Wednesday, November 10th, between the hours of 4:30 and 8:00p.m.  Remember, you do not need an appointment.  I would love to see you!

~Mrs. Bennick

Goodbye to October

October was quite a productive month in ELL class.  We closed out the month with the story of Spookley, the Square Pumpkin.  A delightful story about a pumpkin that is square and how sometimes, it's better to be different than the rest. 
Kindergarten also enjoyed another story called, It's Pumpkin Time!  We learned some new vocabulary words and how to sequence a story.  They enjoyed learning the steps of how to grow a pumpkin. 
First and second grades focused on how we help others at home and at school.  We read two books called, I Can Help and Community Workers Help Us.  Both grades completed a semantic web and did some categorizing with these stories. Second graders also read a story called, Helping Out.
The story, Allie's Basketball Dream was the focus for third graders this week.  This was also their classroom story for the week.  We discussed each vocabulary word, completed a written extended response question, and took a vocabulary quiz. 
Fouth and fifth graders worked on a variety of things such as completing a packet about the Northeast Region of the United States, discussing the story, Lou Gehrig, The Luckiest Man, working on social studies vocabulary cards and reading the story, Iditarod Dream. 
Students in grades 1-5 have journals that they keep their ELL work in.  These journals stay at school in the ELL room.  Kindergarteners should be taking their work home in their take home folders.
I look forward to seeing you at conferences.
Just as a reminder, there is no school on Tuesday, November 2nd, due to Parent-Teacher Conferences all day. 
Have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Bennick

ELL activities this week

Parents:
Lots of engaging learning going on this week in ELL class.  Kindergarteners discussed the Fall season and learned many new vocabulary words.  They learned what a noun was and identified them in short sentences. A few of us took turns reading a book entitled, Fall, in front of the whole group.  That was very exciting! 
First and second grades focused on building their vocabularies through the use of a graphic organizer called a Frayer Model.  We also worked on using the correct word order in sentences and had great discussions about the books we read. 
Third grade's focus was on BATS this week.  We read an interesting story called Bats at the Library...a very amusing, rhyming book.  We practiced writing paragraphs with a main idea sentence, detail sentences, and an ending sentence.  We made our own bats to end the week.
Fourth and fifth grades continued to work on Extended Response writing and Narrative Elements.   Another busy week in ELL class!  All of the students are extremely motivated and eager to learn.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Bennick

ELL Conference Times

Parents,
I will be available for conferences during the following days and times:
(All conferences will be held at May Watts in Room 301.)
A more detailed letter about this will be sent home in your child's take home folder today.

Tuesday, November 2nd
8:00a.m.-11:45a.m.
1:00p.m.-3:00p.m.

Thursday, November 4th
4:30-8:00p.m.

Wednesday, November 10th
4:30-8:00p.m.

I look forward to meeting with you!!