Bye Bye February!!!

This week at Brummitt we had so much going on. We are celebrating Dr. Seuss and all the great books he has written. The students got to dress up with fun hats and silly outfits all week. The third and fourth graders were preparing for their I-Step exams that will start next week. 

We are still working on our Life Skills and this week we are still working on perseverance and we have added cooperation. We want the students to work hard for what they want and not to let the little setbacks bring them down. We want students to learn that you need cooperation to make things run smoothly.

 If you have that the class and life will be a lot easier. We want the students to learn that cooperation is an important life skill to have success. Students in high ability are also filling out life skills forms for other students each week and at the end of each month I collect them and pick two for each class and the students win a prize. I also talk about what life skill they showed and why it is important in the class.

 I will announce February winners next week. Next week I-Step exams start and the CogAT testing for second grade so I am not sure exactly when and if I will get to meet with all my classes. We will do our best to meet as much as we can.

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.- John Quincy Adams

Football is like life - it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority. - Vince Lombardi

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.- Walter Elliot

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.- Julie Andrews

I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.- John D. Rockefeller

Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears.- Gillian Anderson

Language Arts:

First Grade: 

This week we worked on emoticons and different types of symbols and what they mean. We completed this no space cipher: 
PUNCTUATIONHELPSUS
 MAKESENSEOF
WHATWEREAD.

The students had fun figuring this one out. We then discussed why signs and symbols are important in helping us make meaning in writing. We also discussed what mental connections we made to decipher the message. We completed the emoticon project where the students used the punctuation symbols to create emoticons they loved looking at the chart and finding ones they liked and using the symbols to make them. 

We also read four poems on punctuation. We discussed each and why they are important. We discussed how they made them feel and what ideas they portrayed.

Second Grade:

This week we continued to read The Tale of Despereaux.  We also discussed how the two books are similar and how they are different. We also started to make connections between the stories. 

Next week we will continue to read The Tale of Despereaux.  We will keep comparing The Miraculous Journey of Edward to The Tale of Despereaux.  We will also keep making connections between the books. We will discuss how important connections are and how these books help you make them.

     

Third Grade:

This week the students wrote in their journals about Alice and answered a few questions on the book so far. We continued reading Alice in Wonderland. We finished up Chapter five and six. We discussed the book so far and what the students think.

We talked about the characters we have met so far and they like the catapiller and they also like the cheshire cat. They look forward to learning more about each character and how they affect the storyline. Next week we will continue working on Alice in Wonderland. We will continue to read and answer journal questions. We will also have a class discussion on the book.

  

Fourth Grade:

This week the students got to work more on their biography projects. Most students are done this week with everything. They got everything prepped and ready for their presentations. 

More students finished with the monologues and created Wordles with the information from their monologues.  Next week I-Step tests begin so we are not sure when or if we will get to meet. If we do meet we will have some fun activities to complete. 

 Please make sure you are talking to your children about their person and how they plan to complete things. Make sure to ask your child if they need any help with their monologue since this is something very new for them. 

  
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. Here is the information on what they will create:

People Who Made a Difference Instructions

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. (Most students are finished with this part)

 Step Seven: Create a Power Point or Prezi that includes the person’s name, a photo, years lived, and contributions. (Almost everyone is done with this part.)

Step Eight: Memorize your monologue and dress as your character. You are now ready for the People Who Made a Difference presentation. (Most students are finishing up with this and have been practicing in class with each other.)

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 we started to learn about measurement and different ways to measure things. We discussed rulers and yard sticks. On Wacky Wednesday we decide to measure wacky things. We measured silly socks and fancy scarves. 

We had a blast deciding which to measure with the ruler and which to measure with the yard stick. We discussed inches and feet and how many feet and inches are in a yard. We watched a cool Sid the Science Kid video on non-standard ways to measure things. 

 We also got to use the computer whiteboard to compare and measure things. Next week we will continue to have fun with measurement.

Second Grade:

This week the students continued to learn about different types of sequences. We reviewed the Fibonacci Sequence, the series of numbers: (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21) and compared it to The Binary Sequence (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128). The Binary Sequence is another famous set of numbers. The students had to figure out what the pattern is and then compare the two using a Venn Diagram.  

The student quickly figured out that the binary sequence is each number doubled to get the next number in the sequence. They had so much fun figuring out each number from the examples the worksheet gave. They both sailed through the worksheet with ease and has so much fun trying to see who could complete it first. On Thursday we decided to have some fun with the computer white board. 

We took a break from all the patterns and decided to play a matching game. It was so much fun to see them try to figure out where the pictures were and with 42 cards it took some time to figure it out. Next week we will have fun with Minecraft math facts and more patterns. The last picture one of the students brought in to share with us. Pretty cool plants vs. happy zombies.

 

Third Grade: 

    

                                                                                                     

This week we continued with Sweet Multiplication. We have pictures this week of the two students who completed their facts last week. We have a few more students really close to finishing. We also started another comic. The student got to read more on Mathtropolis and the Super Math Team. 

 This week we completed the Fowl Fractions. This gave students a chance to learn about adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators. We decided to all work together since it was something new for most of the students. They did so great we had extra time on Thursday to play a memory game on the computer white board.

There were two teams and they did a great job with teamwork to figure out where the pictures were. It was awesome to watch them. Next week we will have more fun with math games using our math facts skills.

Fourth Grade:

This week we took a break from Mathtropolis and the Super Math Team.  The students were ready to try something new. They all got to use the laptops and started coding. 

Yes that’s right coding. There is an awesome kid friendly website that teaches coding to kids. It allows each student to work at their own pace to understand the process and create cool characters that move through the games.

 

The website we used is coding.org. I think the students love it. They also asked if they could work on it at home so I gave them each a copy of their cards with the classroom website section and their secret code word to enter their site. 

Each student has their own site that allows them to work at their pace and allows me to see their progress on my teacher’s page. Make sure to ask your child about it and see what they think so far.

They will get to make cool designs and have the angry bird catch the pig. Next week we have I-Step exams so we are hoping to get to meet but we are not sure what days and times.

Have a Great Weekend!!

Mrs. Lutterman