Brummitt's High Ability Blog Spot: Tis' the Season of Giving and Sharing!!

Language Arts:

First Grade:

On Monday we deciphered a message using an over under substitution cipher. The students loved figuring out the message which was “Hip hip hooray for the alphabet!”. Which led us into talking about connections and I let them know that the message was a clue to making a connection.

They were very curious to find out what we would be doing. I let them know we were going to read a book and they figured out that it was about the alphabet. We started to read the book The Disappearing Alphabet, but ran out of time on Monday.

Tuesday we finished the book and had a discussion about connections through seeing, hearing and feeling. The students completed a reading analyzer for the book. This was very new for them, but they were excited to try to figure each section.

We talked about the art in the book, the words, and what the author was trying to make us feel. The students really enjoyed discussing their feelings about the book and the connections they made from the book. Next week we will not meet because I will be at the Indiana High Ability Conference.

Second Grade:

This week we continued with the lessons on The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

On Monday we completed a worksheet with sentences from the book. We broke down each sentence finding what part of speech each word was.

We also discussed Edward and how he is changing and going through a process of self-discovery to find who he really is. He is learning to care and become more human-like even though he is just a china rabbit.

On Tuesday we wrote in our journals about the book and how it is different then what we originally thought. We also wrote about Edward and how he is changing and growing. Next week we will not meet because I will be at the Indiana High Ability Conference.

Third Grade:

This week we decided to take a break from all the genres and serious work to write some fun creative writing and word puzzles. The students could chose from different word finds, crossword puzzles and holiday creative writing exercises.

We also played Holiday I Have Who Has... with prefixes and suffixes. It was very challenging, but we had fun trying to figure it out and laughing at all the words.

They also got to decorate fun trees and talk about the holidays and all they enjoy. I wanted them to have a chance to have some fun since I will not get to see any of my third graders next week.

I will be at the conference on Monday and Tuesday. In the new year we will start back on the Fairy Tale Genre and working on change.

Fourth Grade:

This week we worked more on our biographies. They got to use the computers both days to gather information and pictures to use for their timelines. Some students started creating their timelines. Make sure to ask your children about who they have decided to complete their project on.

The students will also have to figure out a way to present the information to us. They can also dress up like their person. They can be as creative as they want. They will work on the timeline in class and can complete parts at home if needed. Here is the information on what they will create:

People Who Made a Difference Instructions

Step Three: Read the biography and collect information about the person. Complete the Biography Summary and submit. Create a works cited to acknowledge sources you are using.

Step Four: Synthesize information to list at least ten of the most significant events in the person’s life. (Some students are still working on this)

Step Five: Create a timeline of the famous person’s life. (Students are working on this now)

Step Six: Consider change in the person’s life and how he/she made a difference. Write a monologue including events, changes, and differences made in regard to his/her life. (This is something the students need to be thinking about at home to figure out what they want to say)

Step Seven: Create a Power Point slide that includes the person’s name, a photo, years lived, and contributions. (We will work on these in January)

Step Eight: Memorize your monologue and dress as your character. You are now ready for the People Who Made a Difference presentation.

• Timeline Criteria

o Timeline includes entire life of person with dates measured at appropriate intervals.

o Timeline includes ten or more important events of the person’s life.

o Timeline includes two or more pictures of the person.

o Timeline is neat and legible.

o At least four sources are properly cited.

• Monologue Criteria

o Monologue describes events in the person’s life with detail and clarity.

o Monologue includes insight to changes in the person’s life.

o Monologue explores how the person made a difference.

o Speaker confidently presents monologue using good eye contact, posture, and voice.

o Speaker engages audience with appropriate words, facial expressions, and gestures.

o The presentation is supported with appropriate costume and props.

Math:

First Grade:

This week I prepared new Math Mazes. We worked on some challenging addition to see how fast we could work through the maze. It was fun to practice the math facts and learn some new ones. On Thursday we worked on a fun holiday math challenge.

We added all the gifts from The Twelve Days of Christmas to see how many gifts the person received each day and we watched a fun video with the muppets singing the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_rMCwoCLv8

It was quite a challenge, but after some help the answers were figured out.

Second Grade:

On Wednesday we worked on some fun Math Mazes. It let the students review the addition math facts and have some fun. On Thursday we completed the Pet Shop Math where the students had to solve problems about buying pets at a pet shop. They got to choose different cool and fun pets and add up the cost and pay for them.

They loved to see all the unusual pets out there and what they could buy. They got to start with $5.00 and see how many little pets they could buy with that. It also helped them understand how to keep a running total. Next week we will have some fun holiday math games to play.

Third Grade:

This week we continued with the Sweet Multiplication and took the next tests. There were some great successes. Many students are moving along very quickly. They are doing great. We also decided to play a Holiday Logic Game.

This is the game the 4^th graders are playing, but these students were up for the challenge. They worked in groups of three to figure out how to make each piece fit while matching all sides. It was very exciting to see them work together and solve them.

On Thursday they also worked on the puzzles and got a chance to work on some fun holiday word searches and an extreme dot to dot for the holiday. Next week I won’t get to see the third graders because they have a field trip on Wednesday and Thursday is the holiday parties.