b e n j a m i n b r o a d c a s t - mclean county unit
TRANSCRIPT
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Noon Hour Supervi-
sors Needed!
We are in need of a
couple more noon hour
supervisors to help
supervise students
during lunch and re-
cess. This is a paid
position, where the
hours are 11:15-1:15.
If you are interested,
please contact Mrs.
Bennington at (309)
557-4410.
Have a wonderful holiday season,
and enjoy your time with your family!
Sincerely,
Marlys Bennington
Marlys Bennington
Principal
Dear Benjamin Families,
Happy Holidays to you and your
family!
As always, with the break, this edi-
tion of the Benjamin Broadcast
covers both December and January.
Be sure to read carefully, as there
are many things going on this time
of the year. Also, hold onto the
calendar portion, as it covers
events through the end of January.
When we return from break, stu-
dents will take the computerized
MAP test to measure their growth
in reading and math since the early
fall. This is our winter benchmark.
Students will take their final MAP
test for the year at the end of April/
beginning of May.
W E L C O M E , B E N J A M I N F A M I L I E S
MC
LE
AN
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OU
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Y U
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5
D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3 / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4
V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 4
B E N J A M I N B R O A D C A S T
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :
L A T E S T A R T S 2
D R E S S I N G F O R
R E C E S S 2
W I N T E R W E A T H -
E R 2
G R O W L W I N -
N E R S 3
C A R N I V A L V O L -
U N T E E R S N E E D -
E D
3
H E A L T H G U I D E -
L I N E S 4
C A L E N D A R 5
Student Council News
Candy grams will be on sale Thursday, Dec. 12th
through Tuesday, December 17th before school in
the lobby. This year’s Candy grams are ring pops
shaped like Christmas lights, available in fruit fla-
vors, costing $1.00 each. They come attached to a
holiday greeting. Send them to your
friends! Parents may download a form from the
Benjamin website and send them to their favorite
Benjamin Bears. The form will be available on our
website by Dec. 11. Print the form and send it to
the office in an envelope with your payment. Pro-
ceeds go towards Student Council projects for our
school. Thank you for your support!
Special "Jingle" Spirit Sticks will be on sale for $1.00 Dec. 16 - 20 before school in the lob-
by. Spirit Sticks and Spirit Rings make great stocking stuffers! Order forms for these special
sticks will be available online, or email Mrs. Aper at [email protected], and she can arrange for
pick up in the office.
Student Council donated $75.00 towards the Festival of Trees raffle baskets last month.
*December 16th-20th will be Spirit Week. More information is coming soon.
Mrs. Aper & Mrs. Lee
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Again this year, Unit 5 will implement 14
Late Start Wednesdays, which will have
all students arriving one hour later than
regular school start times. Elementary
schools will start at 9:45 A.M. on these
days. Transportation pick up times will
run one hour later on these days than on
regular days.
During the November Late Starts we
focused on response journals, the district
writing assessment, and completing our
on-line mandated reporter training.
Thank you to all families who help with/
contribute to our Late Start breakfasts,
sponsored by the PTO. We always enjoy
these delicious foods and beverages on
Late Start mornings!
Late Start Dates:
Dec. 11th
Jan. 15th & 29th
Feb. 26th
Mar. 19th
April 9th & 30th
May 14th
L A T E S T A R T S D U R I N G T H E 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4 S C H O O L Y E A R
As we head into winter, the possibility exists that school may be closed due to inclement
weather. To find out about school closings or early dismissals, please listen to WJBC or
WBNQ. You may also check out the district website at www.unit5.org or access the WJBC
or WBNQ websites. A School Reach call will most likely be launched, but it can take
awhile for the system to make all of the calls needed to contact everyone in the district.
The decision to dismiss early is made before 11:00 A.M., and the media will be notified at
that time. If nothing has been announced by 11:00 A.M., it will be a full day of school as
usual.
Please remind your child(ren) of your family’s plan for early dismissal days. It helps when
the students know in advance how they will get home or who will pick them up from
school, prior to the occurrence of an early dismissal. During an early dismissal, it may be
difficult to get through to our office, due to the high number of calls. So it will help your
family if your child knows your plan. We will do our best to assist your child(ren) in any
way we can.
A special thank you
to Ms. Traynor for
her collaboration
projects in art for
our 3rd grade
students around
Veteran’s Day and
for our 2nd grade
students around
being a unique
individual for our
“Hats” concert!
Page 2 B E N J A M I N B R O A D C A S T
Student Council Spirit
Days are coming De-
cember 16th-20th!
Check out our website later this
week for theme days!
Dressing for the Weather
During the winter we do go outside for recess unless the temperature with
the wind chill factored in is below 20 degrees. Please send mittens,
gloves, hats, scarves, and other winter clothing to keep your child warm
during this time. Thank you.
Have a Target REDcard?
Register your card for “Take Charge of
Education” and designate Benjamin
Elementary to receive 1% of every
purchase.
https://www-secure.target.com/
redcard/tcoe/home
Winter Weather/School Closings
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Congratulations to our 2nd and 3rd grade students for
a great job at their recent
concerts!
Upcoming Musical Performances:
All performances will be
held in the auditorium at
Normal Community High School (not West) on Raab
Rd. From Benjamin, go
west on Ireland Grove Road. Turn right and go
north on Towanda Barnes
road. Take a left on Raab Rd. The High School will be
on your right.
Thursday, January 9,
2014 6:15 p.m. 5th Grade Pro-
gram - “Snow Biz”
7:30 p.m. Chorus Concert
Thursday, May 1, 2014
5:15 p.m. K/1st Grade
Program
6:15 p.m. 4th Grade Pro-gram
7:30 p.m. Chorus Concert
M U S I C N E W S
O C T O B E R G R O W L W I N N E R S
(2V), Ruth Oliveros-Gallardo
(3LC), Hunter Redman (3LC),
Shria Chauhan (3HC), Logan
Wilson (3HC), Owen Gruener
(3G), Nina Claire Osborne
(3G), Hailey Hasty (3P), Noah
Schafer (3P), Amaris Boore
(4C), Evan Lowder (4C), Olivia
Checchi (4G), Jackie Speirer
(4G), Reese Herrmann (4R),
Katie Svitchan (4R), Sam Hag-
garty (4S), Abby Kuebrich
(4S), Foster Baird (5G), Ivy
Vasquez (5G), Hayden Shaw
(5J), Mita Singh (5J), Jaden
Allensworth (5L), Reagan
Spaid (5L), Cole Adams (5S),
Aaron Carlock (5S), Alex Her-
nandez (PE Delveaux), Shawn
Sarmiento (PE Delveaux), Kelli
Crabill (PE Myers), and Ram
Pathi (PE Myers).
How does a Benjamin Bear receive a
GROWL? GROWLS are earned by
going above and beyond our expec-
tations in the areas of respect, re-
sponsibility, or safety. These are
important behaviors that will allow
them to become successful adults.
Each month, two students from each
class will be drawn from all of the
GROWL winners from that month.
These students will be rewarded with
a pizza luncheon with the principal.
They also receive a GROWL certifi-
cate. We hope to recognize quality
character in many of our students
throughout the year.
Congratulations to the follow-
ing students who were our
October GROWL winners:
Fatima Ahmad (KF), Ronak
Potnis (KF), Austin Rinken-
berger (KLL), Andrew
Sanchez (KLL), Holly Ames
(KPL), Michael Mavec (KPL),
Noah Groonwald (KW), Jacob
Smith (KW), Ryan Baxter (1A),
Sristi Ganta (1A), Ethan
Drzemala (1G), Blythe Hart
(1G), Erik Togay (1S), Zaria
Vinson (1S), Tanner Dowd
(2F), Blake Meyer (2F), Lau-
ren Fischer (2G), Kale Hunt
(2G), Sophia Stevens (2K),
Isabella White (2K), Archer
Alcozar (2V), Aubrie White
A big thanks to
Mrs. Mroz for her
collaboration
project in the IMC
with Pixie for the
3rd grade concert.
What a moving
tribute to our
veterans!
Page 3 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 4
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!!!
Planning is underway for the 2014 Benjamin Elementary Carnival! It will take place Friday, April 11, 2014.
To make this a success, we need EVERYONE involved. There are many ways to help & most work can be done right from
home! Our first planning session is Wednesday, December 4 at 6:00 P.M. If you cannot make it but would like to help, please
email us.
Thanks, Ebony Nebel, co-chair [email protected] Heidi White, co-chair
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December/January Literacy Coach’s Corner….
Author Ray Bradbury once said, "Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you're doomed." The teachers at Benja-
min Elementary School know the importance of writing, and have spent professional development time deepening their understand-
ing of how to best develop the writers in their classrooms.
Writers’ Workshop is an approach to writing instruction that addresses the needs of all students in the class. Writers’ Workshop
begins with a focus lesson where the teacher explicitly models the process and conventions of writing. After the focus lesson, stu-
dents write independently for an extended period of time. During independent writing, the teacher confers with individual students
to assess progress and provides 1:1 instruction to help students grow as writers. Sometimes the teacher may work with a small
group of students who share similar writing needs during the independent writing time. Finally, Writers’ Workshop ends with a
group share, where students discuss and share their writing.
Instruction during Writers’ Workshop is organized around units of study (narrative, expository, opinion). During a unit of study, the
teacher may ask students to write in a particular genre, or practice writing techniques related to the unit of study, but specific writ-
ing topics are selected by the students based on their personal experiences and interests.
We use the Writers’ Workshop model for a number of reasons, including the following:
The Writers’ Workshop supports and complements Readers’ Workshop
Writing craft and conventions are explicitly modeled
Assessment drives instruction
Students have choice and ownership in their writing
Experiences foster self-expression and a love of writing
The students at Benjamin are busy, busy, busy developing their craft of writing. Novelist Ayn Rand said, “Words are a lens to focus
one's mind.” By putting their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and opinions into writing, they are becoming thoughtful literacy learn-
ers.
Mrs. Lori Stevens
Benjamin Literacy Coach
News From the Nurse ~ From Unit 5 Elementary Handbook p.26:
Communicable Diseases
For everyone’s protection, sick children must be at home, not at school. When reporting the student’s absence, please
report the reason for the child’s absence. The school needs to be informed of any student having a special health problem
or communicable disease. Children with the following conditions should not be in school:
A fever within the last 24 hours
Vomiting or diarrhea within the last 24 hours
A frequent or disruptive cough or other signs of an acute respiratory infection
Any contagious illness such as “strep throat” that requires antibiotic therapy. Once a student has been fever free
without use of fever-reducing medications and on antibiotics for at least 24 hours, he/she may return to
school.
Any undiagnosed skin rash. A student with a rash may attend school upon presenting a physician’s note stating
the rash is not contagious.
Pronounced lethargy or fatigue that interferes with participation in learning activities.
**Also, if your student brings cough drops containing MENTHOL, they will not be allowed to use them unless the Unit 5 medication
form completed by the physician is on file in the nurse’s office.
Have a healthy, happy holiday season!
Jan Murray, PEL-CSN, M.Ed, BSN, RN
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Benjamin Elementary School
6006 Ireland Grove Rd
Bloomington, IL 61705
Phone: 309-557-4410
Attendance: 309-557-4459
Fax: 309-557-4511
E-mail: [email protected]
Each Wednesday, students,
staff, and volunteers are
invited to participate in Ben-
jamin Spirit Days by wearing
their Benjamin Bear Spirit
Wear, or orange and black,
which are our school colors.
We will continue to have
Benjamin Spirit Days every
Wednesday for the remain-
der of the school year. This
will be a fun way to show our
school spirit and to cele-
brate our school!
M C L E A N C O U N T Y U N I T
D I S T R I C T 5
Dec. 3rd 3:30-4:15 P.M. Student Council
Dec. 5th 3:30-4:40 P.M. Chess
Dec. 9th 6:30 P.M. PTO in IMC
Dec. 11th 9:45 A.M. Late Start
Dec. 12th-17th Candy Grams for Sale Before School
Dec. 12th 3:30-4:40 P.M. Chess
Dec. 16th-20th Benjamin Spirit Days—More Information to Come Soon
Dec. 16th-20th Holiday Spirit Sticks for Sale Before School & On-line
Dec. 18th 9:00-2:15 3rd Grade Field Trip
Dec. 19th 2:30 P.M. Classroom Parties
Dec. 20th Last Day Before Break
Dec. 21st-Jan. 5th BREAK
Jan. 6th School Resumes
Jan. 6-17th MAP Testing
Jan. 9th 3:30-4:40 P.M. Chess
Jan. 9th 6:15 P.M. 5th Grade Music Concert
Jan. 9th 7:30 P.M. Chorus Concert
Jan. 13th 6:30 P.M. PTO Meeting in IMC
Jan. 15th 9:45 A.M. Late Start
Jan. 16th 3:30-4:40 P.M. Chess
Jan. 17th Progress Reports Sent Home
Jan. 20th No School—Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Jan. 23rd 3:30-4:40 P.M. Chess
Jan. 29th 9:45 A.M. Late Start
W E D N E S D A Y S
— B E N J A M I N
S P I R I T D A Y S
I M P O R T A N T D A T E S
We are on the web! www.unit5.org
Thank you!
The Girl Scouts would
like to thank all of the
Benjamin families who
donated items for the
Washington Tornado
Relief. Your generosity
is greatly appreciated,
and we know that many
families will benefit from
your kindness and heart
-felt giving.