Brummitt's High Ability Blog Spot: Halloween Is Here!!

Happy Halloween!!

This week we wanted to have fun while learning about the season. So we planned some great activities for the students to learn and have fun. All month long here at Brummit we have been working on self-confidence. I wanted to make sure to encourage them to go for what they want because they can do anything if they try.

Language Arts:

First Grade:

On Monday we completed a Halloween ABC order with 20 items to organize. It took longer than we thought it would. I decided to cut out the items and have them organize it then write down the answers.

They have fun looking at the pictures, talking and organizing everything. Tuesday We deciphered a special Halloween message. The special message was Pumpkin Pumpkin, I’ve been thinking, you’re the finest one I’ve seen, soon you’ll be a jack-o-lantern all lit up for Halloween.

We also watched and listened to the story “I’m Not Afraid of This Haunted House” by Laurie Friedman. The students love the book then we looked over the reading analyzer. It was so much fun to listen to the book and talk about what happened. Next week we will work on the next lesson covering the Caesar’s Cipher and they will learn to speak Pig Latin. I will introduce them to persuasive writing.

Second Grade:

On Monday we started a fun Halloween writing prompt about interviewing Frankenstein. I also read both Halloween poems we would be comparing for Tuesday.

On Tuesday we completed the interview with Frankenstein and compared the poems “Happy Halloween” and “It’s Halloween”. We created a Venn Diagram on the whiteboard and compared the two poems.

We also watched and listened to the story “I’m Not Afraid of This Haunted House” by Laurie Friedman. The student loved the book then we completed a reading analyzer about the book. It was so much fun to listen to the book and talk about what happened.

Next week we will continue reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. We will start to interrupt the text and learn how to make predictions on what we think will happen. Students will also use the reading analyzer with the chapters.

Third Grade:

On Monday we watched and listened to the book “I’m Not Afraid of This Haunted House” by Laurie Friedman. Then the students had to find the 8 pumpkins placed around the room with parts of the book and find the nouns and if it is a person, place thing or idea.

They had a blast searching around the room finding the pumpkins and filling out their sheets. After that the students worked on the second part of their mad libs. They also got to choose what fun Halloween Writing Prompt they were going to write about. Tuesday the students got to finish the writing prompt and we talked about their stories. We also had fun talking about the Mad Libs and how they changed from person to person depending on the words they chose.

Here is one we created together as a class:

Trick!

Boy, I was ran this Christmas! I went to the Mc Donald’s down the barrels to find a treat. What I got was a gross surprise in my bag of selfies. I reached in my candy to see what it was. I felt it all red and blue BOO!! What could it be? A shadow or skull I had no clue. Too my surprise when I darkened it out, it didn’t move or swim at me. It was a fun spider, the stuffed kind!

Hopefully Bats there will be no more running and loving and just treats!

Here is one created by Olivia:

Spooky!

Skeletons and Ghosts come out tonight! It’s Halloween and they are ready to scare. So watch your brothers when trick or treating, they want your apples! Ghosts like pumpkins and Skeletons like carrots.

While knocking on doors for all your brothers, watch the house down the street. It’s scary with zebra webs and broken glass. WHAT!!! It’s where the bats and spiders live! Fly home and hide those carrots!

At the end of class we played Halloween I Have… who Has… which was really fun to see which cards each student had to finish the line. Next week we will start the next lesson on digging deeper into Myths and Legends and working on nouns.

Fourth Grade:

On Monday the students got to choose a Halloween Writing Prompt to complete. They got to write a fun story or make a recipe for witch’s brew. They really enjoyed writing about something different.

One student wrote about his friends coming into his house during the story. One student had a scary man chasing him who turned out to be his Dad. Another student had children coming to steal all the candy in his house and he had to chase them away. Another student had kids come in to get all the candy and wreck the house, only giving him 20 minutes to clean before his parents got home. Then all of the sudden, monsters came in and cleaned it all up for him, winked, then disappeared in time before his parents walked in. A student also had a scary story only to wake from the dream. There were lots of creative ideas.

The witch's brew had so many great and clever ideas. Here are some:

At the end of class we also played Halloween I Have… who Has… which was really funny to see which cards each student had to finish the line. The students also continued filling out their suspect list for the Who am I? Winners will be found next week.

On Tuesday students completed their writing and we completed our Halloween Mad Libs. They came up with some pretty funny ones.

Here is one we finished as a group:

Spooky!

Skeletons and Trolls come out tonight! It’s Thanksgiving and they are ready to run. So watch your place when sew or treating, they want your pears! Officers like pumpkins and Imf and Connie like carrots.

While eating on doors for all your desks, watch the house down the Kentucky. It’s scary with dragon webs and broken skeletons. Ahhhhh!!! It’s where the dock and candy live! Fly home and hide those egg plants!

This one was completed by Max:

Spooky!

Tom & Jerry and Shawn & Joe come out tonight! It’s Christmas and they are ready to fly. So watch your chairs when eating or treating, they want your apples! Ki & Cohen like pumpkins and Imf and Connie like carrots.

While looking on doors for all your cords, watch the house down the Kentucky. It’s scary with dragon webs and broken phones. Yay!!! It’s where the paper and skull live! Swim home and hide those potatoes!

This one was completed by Abby:

Trick!

Boy, I was jumped this Valentine’s Day! I went to the Toy Store down the sun to find a treat. What I got was a hairy surprise in my bag of fingernails. I reached in my broom to see what it was. I felt it all shiny and stinky BOOM what could it be? A zombie or bat I had no clue. Too my surprise when I read it out, it didn’t move or look at me. It was a hyper spider, the stuffed kind!

Hopefully friends there will be no more dancing and singing and just treats!

Next week we will work more on Geek and Latin root words. We will also start on biographies and change in a person’s life.

Math:

First Grade:

On Wednesday we played Going Batty for 10’s again and worked on adding and subtracting by tens up to 100 and back down to 1. We also started a fun Halloween Writing Prompt about what happened on Halloween night.

On Thursday we finished the cool Halloween Writing Prompt and worked on adding and subtracting pumpkins. We also played Spider Web Map Coloring Game.

The students have to roll the special dice and then color in a section of the web, but it can only touch one point with the same color. So the students really have think about where they color and how each shape relates to the rest of the web. It was fun to see them figure out what could work and what didn't. It also teaches them about shapes and sides and points.

Second Grade:

On Wednesday we played Spider Web Map Coloring Game. The students have to roll the special dice and then color in a section of the web, but it can only touch one point with the same color.

So the students really have think about where they color and how each shape relates to the rest of the web. It was fun to see them figure out what could work and what didn't. It also teaches them about shapes and sides and points.

On Thursday we started off with completing a Subtraction Five Minute Frenzy to practice our math facts and skills. They had fun trying to complete it all and get it done as fast and accurately as possible.

Then we played a different sheet of Catch the Ghosts cool math game that lets the students solve math problems while moving through the board. It was fun and exciting to see them practice their math skill and solve each problem.

Third Grade:

On Wednesday we worked on another round of sweet multiplication time test. We had another student pass 3's and we have one student on 6's and two on 7's. Our remaining students are still working on their 3's. They are having fun and like to test their skills.

We also completed a Halloween Scavenger Hunt where the students had to go around the room locating purple spider cards and answering the word multiplication problems.

I think they enjoyed searching for the 12 cards and trying to solve each problem. Then we went over the cards and they got to grade their work.

At the end of class we also played Halloween I Have… who Has… which was really funny to see which cards each student had to finish the line.

On Thursday they got to try another round of the sweet multiplication time tests. Then I read a book called "2 x 2 = BOO!" as I read I had students solve the problems on the board. They loved figuring out each word problem.

After that we played Catch the Ghosts cool math game that lets the students solve math problems while moving through the board catching the math ghosts. They played whoever catches the last ghost wins.

Fourth Grade:

This week we worked more on origami cubes and Halloween origami. It was interesting to see who caught on to the folding techniques and shapes we learned before and knew how to apply them to create the characters. Some students that were having trouble applying the techniques the first day caught on the second day. Many skulls were created within the two days and lots of fun was had by all even if they couldn't figure something out they had a blast trying.

Here are some fun photos showing their work: