SPOTLIGHT ON SPECIALS

Brookwood Elementary Quarterly Newsletter From Special Area Teachers

Issue: #1

January/2014

In art this year we are focusing on the elements of art and also learning different techniques and mediums. We have already learned a great deal about line, shape, value, and pattern in many grades and we are currently working on color. Kindergarten and 1st graders have been working on cityscapes with lines, shapes, and patterns. Second graders have completed their winter landscape with cool colors and are now learning how to mix shades and tints. Students in 3rd grade have created Zentangle animals, optical illusions and self-portraits floating in space. In fourth grade, we just finished a cityscape showing contrast and are currently working on learning the color wheel with all its shades and tints. Fifth grade has finished a one-point perspective drawing and are in the middle of an abstract painting using various color schemes.

Students who have consistently demonstrated a strong artistic ability, a high level of creativity, neatness, and problem solving ability along with good behavior in art have the potential to be selected to join the 5th grade art club. We currently have 26 students who come to school early on Wednesday mornings to work on various painting, sculpture, and drawing projects.

Be on the look out for upcoming art shows featuring the work of Brookwood Elementary art students. Tapestry, a county-wide art show is held every spring at the ISC building in Suwanee. This year, our school will be featured from March 4th - 9th so mark your calendars! The Brookwood Cluster Art Show will be held in the commons area of Brookwood High School on Thursday, May 1 from 6:00-8:30 and will feature work from 3rd-12th grade students in our cluster. Both of these shows are free of charge and feature truly fabulous artwork. Make plans to attend! Ms. Shea Cunningham, Art Specialist

Math Enrichment 2014 is off to a great start with BES students getting ready to celebrate the 100th day of this school year on Tuesday, January 21. On that very day, 5th graders will be celebrating their 1000th day of school. Imagine that!

Students will have the opportunity to answer a hundred problems in a number hunt that will be set up for all of the students at BES.

We are making models, using manipulatives and playing games to build the understanding of math concepts at all levels. Fourth and fifth graders have constructed their individual fraction kits as they study adding, subtracting, multiplication and division with fractions.Third graders are studying geometry with geoboards, geosticks and tangrams. Second graders are measuring in centimeters and meters and inches and yards. First graders and Kindergarteners are busy with developing their number sense using math racks and numberlines.

Math is everywhere and students are excited to share their observations about mathematics in their everyday lives. Mrs. Nina MacKellar, Math Specialist

The students are all becoming quite the musicians this year in music!

In Kindergarten, we are working on putting motions and dance with our songs. We learn the melodies to new songs first and then add the dance moves for coordination and to help us remember the words. We also have been focusing on keeping a steady beat. We have taken popular nursery rhymes such as Hickory Dickory Dock, Little Bo Peep, and Hey Diddle Diddle and added hand drums to them to help us keep the beat. First graders have begun to learn rhythm and what notes look like. We have successfully learned how to play many songs on the barred instruments such as xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels. We, like Kindergarten, have also used the drums to help us keep a steady beat on certain songs. Second graders have been learning how to speak and clap complex rhythms as well as sing in a round or canon. We have also learned a couple of stick games and cup games that come from other countries. These games incorporate the use of rhythm sticks and plastic cups being passed around while we sing a song. All three of our lower grades have been reading the Freddy the Frog series. Freddy the frog and his best friend, Eli the Elephant live on Treble Clef Island and find themselves surrounded by all sorts of musical animals that teaching them how to read music on the staff.

Third graders have been learning to read rhythms as well. We have done some partner hand clapping games as well as partner dances such as La Raspa. We have played some complex songs on the barred instruments as well as the unpitched instruments like drums, guiros, and sandblocks. Fourth grade has been learning to read the notes on the treble clef staff. We have also played several rhythm games such as hula hoop rhythms and chair rhythms. Fourth grade has also learned how to take rhythms that match a song and accompany the song on instruments. One example we did this week was Wipeout by the Sufaris. Fifth grade is learning the recorder. We spent the first few weeks of school learning complex rhythms and how to read music on the staff.

Now, we are doing recorder karate where the kids can play songs on the recorder to earn a karate "belt". All upper grades learn about different composers every other week and we played composer trivia to check our memories. We have learned 7 composers so far from Bach to Beethoven!

Fifth grade chorus students are working on the spring musical called Summer Camp and we can't wait to perform it in May! Ms. April Thomas, Music Specialist

We had a very busy and productive first semester in the Counseling Department at BES! In Classroom Guidance we covered a variety of topics such as; responsibility, test taking, goal setting and friendship skills. In first grade, students were introduced to "Jellybean Friends." We met six friends and covered lessons on friendship, anger, self-concept, behavior, decision making and emotional awareness. In second and third grades, we spent a large amount of time talking about decision making and conflict resolution.

During the second half of our school year, we will continue talking about the importance of making good decisions and consequences for our actions. We will move into lessons on acceptance, bullying, peer pressure, character education and of course, our annual, personal safety lesson. Be on the lookout for letters being sent home with dates for a parent preview of our county personal safety lessons and dates they will be taught in your child's class. If you have any counseling needs that you'd like for me to address with your child, please contact me at 770-736-5278. Thanks! Mrs. Angel Cunningham, Counselor

In Technology, 4th and 5th graders started the school year with a scavenger hunt aimed at familiarizing them with the resources available online: textbooks, the Online Research Library, Media Catalog, and ClassWorks. Students have made PowerPoint presentations including one on a researched topic of their choice and an "All About Me" project in which they used digital cameras to upload pictures of themselves to include in their presentation. Students supported the CCRPI goals by finishing phase I of their unit on career research with an Inspiration web project on their favorite career cluster. Over the course of the year each grade level studies specific career clusters. The 4 career clusters that 4th grade will focus on are Architecture & Construction, Business Management & Administration, Manufacturing and Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM),
while 5th grade will focus on Finance, Government & Public Administration, Information Technology and Marketing. Many exciting activities are planned for the remainder of the school year including an introduction to MS Excel, more in depth research and different ways to present it and a continuation of our study of career clusters.Media/Technology Team, Mrs. Kris Burnett, Mrs. Jeannie Suender & Mrs. Nancy Blanding

What a great time we have had in PE so far this year! Our motto is "Learning to move and moving to learn". The best part is that many students do not even realize that they are actually learning! All grades have worked on a variety of activities that increase their heart rates while developing skills. We have worked on the underhand toss, with Kindergarten and 1st grade, the overhand throw with 2nd through 5th grade, using a variety of games and activities to increase skills. The students also enjoyed a unit on striking with a body part: the lower grades K-2 worked with balloons and found all the different ways that they could strike the balloon, while the upper grades learned volleyball skills. We finished up the semester with a ball handling/ basketball unit.

We started off the new year with a unit called striking with an implement for grades 2-5th. The students are enjoying using the hockey sticks. K and 1st are having fun playing a variety of games reviewing personal space and pathways.

We are SO excited about the new floor - we are almost there! Our February Fun(d) day should complete this fundraiser! You will be receiving more information on this event at the beginning of February. If you have not seen the sign in the gym, please feel free to stop by - it looks great!

Jump Rope club (grades K-4 Tuesdays 7:45am) and Intramurals (grade 5 Fridays 7:45 am) are still going strong! If your child is not participating in one of these fun activities, it's never too late to join! Simply send in a permission slip with your child and they are in! Mrs.
Barb Heck and Lisa Hrebenak, PE Specialists

The students have been busy in the Science lab! Our 5th graders have been experimenting with the different types of weathering and erosion. They also became engineers by creating Lego Robots and programming them to do different tasks. They could choose to build the roaring lion, flapping bird, or snapping alligator. This is an exciting program called Lego WeDo Robotics that empowers students to incorporate technology and engineering skills into everyday learning.

Our 4th graders explored how comets are made using dry ice and the sublimation process. We also used planispheres to identify constellations in the night sky. We concluded the space unit by completing a space history webquest in which they learned about the Apollo missions, space shuttle, and astronauts that made history.

In third grade, we learned about Jeff Corwin as a naturalist then explored the nature trail that is behind the playground. We observed many different kinds of animals (frogs, minnows, spiders, birds, etc) in their natural habitat. The students also observed many different types of soil and conducted an experiment to determine which type held the most water. Mrs. Teresa Osburn, Science Specialist

About Us

Students at Brookwood Elementary have a special area class every day. Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades are on a 6 day specials rotation and 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades are on a 7 day specials rotation. All grade levels go to PE, Art, Music, and Math Enrichment. Students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades go to Science Enrichment, Kindergarten, 4th and 5th grades have a technology and media special and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades go to Guidance.

As specialist, we love teaching all of the children in our school. It can be challenging trying to remember all of those names, but we do get the privilege of watching them grow up, since we teach them every year from Kindergarten through 5th grade. The specialists who work with students at our school have an average of 16 years experience in education with a combined 134 years at Brookwood Elementary.

Special Area Teachers

Brookwood Elementary School