B.E.S. NewsB.E.S.-Believing in Every Student as we Set Sail For Learning September, 2012

Media Center News The media center is a busy place with the Scholastic Book Fair taking place from October 2 – 5, 2012. Our Online Book Fair will be available until October 12, 2012. You can find us by going to scholastic.com/fair and typing in our zip code. Any books ordered will be sent to our school. This is a great way for those that can’t attend the book fair to still help our students get their very own books. The profits from the book fair will be used to purchase new library books.

Thanks you all of those who participated in my Birthday Book Club. Those students who participated chose a new library book. A special book plate put inside the front cover with their name and birth date, so when students check out the books they will know who donated them to our media center. They also chose a special sticker to put on the spine of the book so everyone would know the book was part of the Birthday Book Club. These students will also have their picture displayed in the media center holding the book they chose. What a great way to celebrate a birthday, choosing a book for our library in honor of a child’s birthday! If you haven’t participated yet and would like to, feel free to fill out the form and return it to school along with $10.00.

The Related Arts classes had special Hispanic Heritage Month classes during September. In library kindergarten and 1st grade students listened to a Hispanic folk tale and then compared it to another folk tale. They also were able to act out parts of the story. 2nd and 3rd grade students also listed to a Hispanic story and then discussed drama vocabulary as well as how those vocabulary words would have fit into our story. The intermediate students participated in a Reader’s Theatre. 4th grade’s Reader’s Theatre dealt with baseball legend, Roberto Clemente while 5th grade’s Reader’s Theatre was a Mexican legend.

I will again be doing my Library Genres Dog Tags this year. Students much read three books in a genre such as fantasy, adventure, mystery, etc. and take the AR test. They will then be able to earn a dog tag in the genre and get their picture on my Genre Wall of Fame. Next month I will announce those students who earned dog tags during August and September. It looks like I will have quite a long list!

Have a great fall break and remember to keep on reading!

Kindergarten News

We have been busy in Kindergarten during the month of September. We celebrated “Dot Day,” completed health assessments, and finished MAP testing. We want to thank the students for working extremely hard! On September 26th, some kindergarteners celebrated Johnny Appleseed’s birthday by making homemade apple sauce and hats.

Project Fitness

Starting on Monday, September 17th, a new initiative to promote physical fitness at BES is beginning. Project Fitness is a program for students and teachers in grades 2-5 to engage in physical activity. For one month, students and their homeroom teacher will chart how many days, each week, they get at least thirty minutes of exercise. The activity must be done after school hours. Examples of exercise may include walking, running, riding a bike, sports, being outside and playing with friends, jump rope, sit ups, push ups, yoga, or any other activity where movement is occurring. There will be a chart on one of the walls near the front lobby where students and teachers can record their information. The team/class with the most combined days of exercise after one month will receive a reward.

Other staff, those who are not homeroom teachers in 2nd-5th grade, can be recruited to join a team. Students or teachers in grades 2-5 will have to ask those other staff members if they would like to be a part of their team. It is important to remember, the more people on a team, the more days of exercise will increase your team’s chances of winning the reward.

Important information about Project Fitness:

DATES: September 17-October 19

CHART LOCATION FOR TEACHERS/STUDENTS: Wall near front lobby

MISSION: Exercise at least thirty minutes a day, after school hours.

Fabulous Fourth Grade Firefighters

Mrs. Fueger’s 4th grade reading class was so excited to welcome Mr. Harvey Henderson. Mr. Henderson is the Fire Marshal with the Daviess County Fire Department. We have been eagerly reading about various topics focused on fires in our reading class and the students developed mind boggling questions for Mr. Henderson. Smoke jumpers, fire lines, California wild fires, and the facts behind the flame are just a few of the topics we read about. Who knows??...Maybe we have a future Fire Marshal in our class!

Mrs. Stephanie’s Preschool We have had a great start to the school year and we are looking forward to activities relating to the Fall season.

Mrs. Jennifer’s Preschool Mrs. Jennifer’s Preschool had a wonderful time at Grandparents day! We made portraits of our Grandparents and included a few “facts” about our Grandparents. In science we have been studying how to use a magnifying glass and how to tell thumbprints apart. On one science day, we blew up balloons with only vinegar and baking soda!

NEWS FROM FIFTH GRADE…The latest news in fifth grade seems to center around the memorization of facts…vocabulary in

reading, in social studies, and / or facts in math. Memorization is often required in the intermediate grades before students can build an understanding of any concept studied. For example, often a student cannot fully master concepts in social studies, reading, or math until memorization of formal vocabulary takes place. If a math teacher is talking about the quotient, and the student has not memorized the meaning of that word, there is no connection made to that part of the lesson. As fifth grade teachers, we believe that memorization is an important element of learning at the most basic level; it is not the most important by itself, and usually not the ultimate goal of the learning process, but without memorization, learning can be stifled.

MEMORIZATION OF FACTS…

WHERE DO WE START???

When working with your child to memorize the basic math facts, explain to him / her that the goal is to MEMORIZE the facts, to recall from memory, and NOT to get the answers by counting or some other method. Just like your child probably has memorized your address and phone number, now she / he is going to memorize some math facts. You can easily see if your child is trying to count because producing the answer takes much more time. You should expect the answers from the child immediately when you are drilling. If he / she doesn’t know the answer by heart (from memory), then tell him / her the right answer. Usually short drill sessions are best. You can drill for 5 – 10 minutes at a time, depending on the child.

Pencil – paper activities where the child is left alone, do not work really well for memorizing the facts – the child may get the answers by counting and not from memory. So it will take time from a responsible adult in the home. If you can, utilize older siblings in the drilling task, too. Computers are great drillers since they won’t get tired, and you can usually choose a timed session where the child is then forced to produce answers quickly. Children can actually enjoy the memorization process when they notice they are truly learning the facts and are able to go through the drills successfully. Computer programs and computer-based drilling can be very rewarding to children while allowing them to enjoy memorizing times tables.

As you drill your child, you can ask orally, “What is 5 times 3?” or use flashcards. It is best to ask the question aloud and also point to a problem the child can see, because, again, using multiple senses should help fix the fact in the child’s mind.

REMEMBER:

1. As you mix in new facts, continue to drill the facts learned earlier. 2. When your child is beginning to experience success and mastery is close, mix it up. YOU say

the answers to the multiplication problems and have your child give the multiplication fact. This will help prepare your child for division of the basic facts.

3. You can also say a product (answer) that may have several facts; encourage your child to give all of the multiplication facts that equal that product (ex: You might say, “24.” Your child should answer, “1 x 24, 2 x 12, 3 x 8, 4 x 6”)

This memorization won’t happen overnight. Memorizing basic facts takes time and effort, but persistence and consistency is key. Practice multiple times each day when you are driving in the car, sitting at the ballpark, etc.

Memorization will be a skill that will have many practical uses during your child’s life. It is not easy, but the benefits of memorizing the multiplication and division facts in addition to formal vocabulary associated with other subjects will be well worth the time. We have included a great game we found online so check it out!!

http://www.honorpoint.com/ (This site offers timed drills and tests for your child)

Don’t forget… Learning can be fun!!

Take breaks, relax. Always be pleasant, learning is positive... Praise your child. Don't forget to pause and have fun between fast repetitions of the facts. Go for it. It's like a competition like a sport. Go fast. Go, go, double time... After months of practice with fun and games: You want no waiting

time. None at all: on sight. Snap the answer. Recite memorized facts quickly -- in any order (all mixed up) -- but don't cause fear,

trembling and crying... that could actually damage their progress and love of learning.

Parents / Guardians, there are two places in elementary school math where we lose kids: long division and fractions. Long division hits first... During one problem, they'll have to divide, multiply and subtract several times. Without knowing those times tables off the top of their heads, this will seem like an impossible task.

In closing, here's an important thing and something parents mention about a lot: "My child just can't seem to remember his /her times tables. He /She doesn't seem to UNDERSTAND them." Understanding.... Ah... Trust us on this one. The reason your child cannot remember that 7 x 8 = 56 is NOT because of a lack of understanding, it's because he/she just hasn't memorized that one yet!!