Bethany Community School
May Happenings
Walk to School Day
Friday, May 20th dawned bright and sunny, it was a perfect spring day to walk to school. And that’s exactly what
over 175 students of Bethany Community School did, joined by parents and staff members.
Students walked from the Amity Middle School Bethany Campus to the Bethany Community School to promote
physical fitness and a sense of school community. Resident Troopers escorted the walkers, along with the
Bethany Community Emergency Response Team, to ensure the safety of participants as they walked one mile
through the beautiful Bethany neighborhoods. Students and staff arrived at the school ready to start the day.
Adopt-A-Spot
The goal of this program is to connect the Youth Gardening Committee of the Bethany Garden Club with
classroom teachers and students. Working together, we can help our school show pride in our beautiful school
setting. Here is how the program works - Teachers sign up their students to "adopt-a-spot". The Bethany
Garden Club supplies tools, flowers and mulch which the classes use around the school grounds. Let your school
pride, love of gardening, and a bit of volunteering come together.
Kindergarten
The kindergarten classrooms have been transformed into rainforests as we learn about this habitat. We learned
that there are 4 layers in the rainforest:
the forest floor, the understory, the
canopy, and the emergent layer. We also
learned about the different animals that
live in each layer. Did you know that the
canopy is the liveliest layer, having the
most animals making their home there?
We have been researching many of these
animals and using facts that we learn to
write our own informational pieces. Many
of us have been so inspired by this unit
that we are looking for ways that we can
help save the rainforests!
First Grade
The first grade has been learning all kinds of amazing things in math. We now know how to tell time to the
hour and half hour. We know about 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional shapes, and we know how to measure
objects with other objects. This is called non-standard measurement. Recently, we have been learning how
to add two digit numbers. We can set our problems up horizontally or vertically. We have explored several
different strategies. We know that we can each use a different strategy, but still get the same answer. Some
of the strategies we have tried are using tens and ones, making a new group of ten above, or below, and
showing all totals with tens and ones. We can do math anywhere! We can use chalk to solve problems
outside. We can use our boards and markers inside and we can even solve problems in our heads in the car Have fun with math!
Second Grade
Students in second grade have been studying the author Cynthia Rylant. Students have read several of her
books and modeled their writing after the author. Students were inspired to write their own book, “When I
was Young In Bethany”, after they listened to Cynthia Rylant’s story,
When I Was Young In The Mountains. After discussing and writing about
all the ways Bethany is special we took a field trip to Clark Memorial
Library. Students listened to stories, made a craft, and were able to get
their own library cards and check out books.
After our trip to the library, we headed to the Russell Homestead. The
Russell Homestead was built around the time of the Revolutionary War
and is full of history. The children were able to see what life was like
before many of our modern day inventions. The boys and girls were
fascinated by the home.
Third Grade
It’s all about crustaceans and government in third grade, an unlikely combination! These are two of the
highlights from the past month. In science, each third grade class received several crayfish as the centerpiece
of study in our unit on life structures. The students have cared for the crayfish and learned about crustaceans animals that have skeletons on the outside of their body! Our third grade scientist have learned about the
crayfish body parts, what they eat, their habitat and the life cycle of a crayfish. We have also used our
observation skills to learn about the behavior of crayfish. Many brave third graders even picked them up!
Whether you call them crayfish, crawfish or “crawdaddy”, they have been a
wonderful addition to our classroom and an integral part of our learning! Another
great learning experience this past month was our field trip to the Connecticut
Historical Society in Hartford on May 2nd. The students participated in a reader’s
theater activity about ‘The Legend of the Charter Oak’! Under the direction of
museum personnel, students assumed the role of royalty (Long Live the King!) or
colonist (Government Belongs to the People!) to act out the legend and
understand why the charter was so important to the people of the Connecticut
Colony. The students also participated in several additional activities, including
Connecticut Jeopardy. It was a busy day of learning and fun at the Connecticut
Historical Society.
Fourth Grade
Fourth grade has had a very busy month. We have completed our map skills unit. Students learned how to
read and interpret a variety of maps. We covered road, physical, resource, boundary and border maps. As
culminating activities students designed their own maps incorporating many of the features learned. They
then created a replica of their map using salt dough. When the maps were dry students painted the maps to
show the different features.
We have completed our fractions/decimal unit. Students are able to convert fractions to decimals, make
equivalent fractions, and compare both fractions and decimals to see which is greater. We are now beginning
our geometry unit.
Fifth Grade
It has been an amazing month in fifth grade. All of the testing is finished, and we are feeling proud and pleased
with the work we have accomplished this year! We are busy rounding out our last unit in math on Measurement
and Geometry, as well as completing our unit on Author's Study. We have been reading Jerry Spinelli's works
closely, looking at his use of figurative language and his way of crafting story elements to create fantastic works
of fiction. It has been a pleasure seeing the students engrossed in their books!
The fifth grade class also went on a field trip to the Connecticut Science Center. What a wonderful place! The
interactive exhibits brought students right into the action of science, and carried their curiosity even
further! We watched a live performance on Force and Motion as well. It was a fantastic way to round out our
busy year of science study!
As we wrap up the year, we want to thank all of the parents that have helped us out over the year. We are
thrilled to have such a supportive community!
Sixth Grade
In sixth grade science, the students have been working with an Amity High School student, Kimberly Liang. She
has been in Mrs. Cragan’s class for two weeks and has focusing her energy on creating hands-on engineering
and math projects for the fifth and sixth graders. In Social Studies the students have worked on exploring the
topography and culture of Asia. In math class, the students completed an end of year assessment and have
worked to determine the volume of various shapes. The have learned about box and whisker plots as well as
other displays of data. In ELA, the sixth graders continue to work in book club books to determine, mood, tone,
theme, figurative language, and analyze the characters. Smarter Balanced assessments also took place and have
been completed!
Music
In our music classes we are learning about a variety of musical concepts while performing various selections of
music with our voices. 6th grade students are learning about the claves, and the cavavquinho, both Brazilian
instruments. 5th grade and 4th grade students are preparing three selections for their upcoming concert on June
6th. 3rd grade students are practicing and performing labeling the notes of the treble clef staff and performing
those notes in various pieces of music on the soprano recorder. 2nd grade students are exploring the
instruments of the percussion family and performing in groups in class. 1st grade and Kindergarten students are
performing rhythms on boomwackers and practicing the way musicians follow the conductor of the orchestra.
School Pride