November is Here!!

Welcome November!

This week here at Brummitt we had a lot going on. The Book Fair started, we had early dismissal on Wednesday & Thursday, and we had Parent Teacher Conferences. We are still working on self-confidence with the students. We want them to know that if they accomplish goals in life it will help them build their self-confidence and a sense of pride. 

 For the month of November I also want to talk about being thankful and why we should help others. I hope the students will see all the great things that they have in their lives and all the things we should be thankful for every day.

Language Arts:

First Grade:

On Monday this week we worked more on deciphering messages. We deciphered a secret message using a phone pad and arrows. It was fun to watch the students work to figure out each letter. 

We also started on learning Pig Latin. Student were really excited to learn this language. I also played them a song on Pig Latin and we deciphered words from Pig Latin and into Pig Latin. They had a blast trying to talk and learning all about this silly and fun language.




Next week we will continue working on Pig Latin and deciphering messages.

Second Grade:

On Monday we started to work on the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. We have been reading it already but this week we are starting on the lessons that will go with the book. We worked on what the vocabulary word journey means and I had them write in their journals about a journey that they took and what connections they might have found while on that journey. We also talked about the word miraculous and its meaning and what might happen to make something miraculous. 

On Tuesday we discussed Edward and his connections to other characters in the book. We also talked about what could happen throughout the book. Edward is a complex character that we will see how he changes throughout the story. Next week we will continue working on The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

Third Grade:

This week we started to learn about legends and tall tales. On Monday I read Johnny Appleseed and we discussed what makes a story a tall tale. We also talked about what parts of the book were true and what parts are exaggerated. 

On Tuesday we watched a video on the story of John Henry and we discussed what was true about the story and what might have been exaggerated about his life. The students also got to start reading a tall tale that they will present to the class next week. We will also compare two tall tales to see how that they are the same and how they differ.

Fourth Grade:

We started to learn about biographies this week. On Monday students were paired up tp complete a vocabulary map on a bio word. For some this was easy. They were quite familiar with the dictionary and how to break words apart. For others it was a lot harder than they thought it would be. They also got to write out what they felt every biography should have. They got to discuss it with their partner and come up with a list of things they would want to know about someone they were reading about. 

On Tuesday we finished up the lists and the students were able to choose a short biography that they will read in class and finish a biography summary on. They will have the opportunity to talk in front of the class about their person and tell us all the important parts of the person’s life. This is giving the students a chance to learn about biographies before they will decide and start research on a person that want to read a biography about. 

Next week we will continue working on Biographies and we will also review sentence structure.

Math:

First Grade:

 On Wednesday we watched a video on The Very Hungry Caterpillar and counted all the fruit he ate throughout the story.  This gave us a chance to work on counting and adding and for me to work on my drawing skills. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xRtVcKGwv0

On Thursday we read One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root. We answered math questions about the book. We also worked on our addition math facts. Next week we will start word problems with a fun activity where the students have to find each problem in the room and solve it.

Second Grade:

On Wednesday we started our lesson on Money with the poem Smart by Shel Silverstein. I read the poem to the students and we also watched a video of a child reading the poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJC0wUpQNWA&index=2&list=PLTDRHuGHQa_6YnPQR4eSIUrA8piXCldGD

We completed a worksheet on the poem and how much money the child has through each verse. The students also started writing a note to the child about what went wrong when he was exchanging his money throughout the poem and what he could do differently next time. 

On Thursday we watched two brain pop videos on money and what each coin is and what it is worth. The students also completed a worksheet on how much their names are worth in coins.

Next week we will continue working on money and solving money problems. 

Third Grade:

Since we had early dismissal on both Wednesday and Thursday, the students were not in class either day. Next week we will pick up where we left off with our sweet multiplication and see how much the students have been practicing at home. We will also start on fractions with a really cool book and lesson.

Fourth Grade:

This week we decided to start with logic and thinking. I decided to have them play the spider web game. I created the special die needed to play the game and they were picked at random to play against each other. Make sure to ask them about the game and it's rules.

They really had to think ahead to make sure they could color the most sections of the web without having more than one point touching. 

On Thursday we upped the stakes and I had them try the harder game with each section having a point value. 

 This was pretty exciting to have to think which sections they should try to earn so they could get the most points and stay within the rules of the game.

Next week we will start learning about logic with a few lessons we will cover. I look forward to see how the students think and process the information. 

Have an Excellent Weekend!

Mrs. Lutterman