Brummitt's High Ability Blog Spot: Happy Valentine's Day!!

This week there was excitement in the air here at Brummit. The students were really excited to meet the author Aaron Reynolds and to celebrate at their class parties.

Aaron Reynolds came to meet the students on Tuesday and he did not disappoint. He was so exciting and they hung on to everything he was telling them.

He taught the kids about authors and illustrators and how he became an author. The students had a great time. They loved it and all of the staff did too.

Language Arts:

First Grade:

This week we worked more on Lipograms. We continued to talk about the book from last week and we also completed a random reverse cipher. This one stumped the kids at first but when I started to explain how it worked they lit up and got so excited to solve it. They loved figuring out the cipher: Numbers can stand for sounds in words.

This led us to discuss what letters could we change to numbers and they would still make sense. They were so excited to read the new book which was called Wumbers. We read the book together taking turns deciphering the words with numbers in them. They were so excited to figure out the book. It was so cool they read it over twice. We completed a worksheet taking the wumbers from the book and writing the real words. They loved it. Next week we will decipher a few more wumbers on a worksheet and we will start a hamburger model for a persuasive writing project.

Second Grade:

This week we read The Velveteen Rabbit so we could compare it to The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. On Tuesday we filled out a Venn Diagram comparing the two books.

We compared how they were similar and how they were different. We also continued reading The Tale of Despereaux. Next week we will finish up with The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. We will also create wordless for the two books.

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 two. 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. The students are getting everything in order and are starting to practice their monologues. We still have two students completing their timelines. Everyone else is working on their monologues or Prezi Presentations. On Tuesday the students got to meet the author Aaron Reynolds. We didn’t get to meet because they were at the presentation. I think they really enjoyed meeting him. Next week they will continue working on their projects and the students that have their monologues ready will start working on the presentations with each other.

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 Four: Synthesize information to list at least ten of the most significant events in the person’s life. (I think everyone is complete with this)

Step Five: Create a timeline of the famous person’s life. (we still have a few students finishing up)

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 of the students tell me that they have been really thinking about it. )

Step Seven: Create a Power Point or Prezi that includes the person’s name, a photo, years ilived, and contributions. (There are many students already completed with this part; students can request the log in information if they want to work on it at home.)

Step Eight: Memorize your monologue and dress as your character. You are now ready for the People Who Made a Difference presentation. (The students will be able to practice with a partner in class as soon as we are finished writing)

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 continued work on time. We went over the parts of a clock and we also discussed time in 5 minute intervals. We created our own clocks using stickers and coloring. Next week we will finish working on time and talk about time passing and time lapse.

Second Grade:

This week the students completed worksheets with addition and regrouping then they colored them based on the answers. After coloring they cut them out and we created a box one day and an ornament the next.

I think they liked completing the problems then creating an actual object. Next week we will start on a new adventure with patterns and numbers in math.

Third Grade:

This week we continued with Sweet Multiplication. We have a few more students really close to finishing. The students were really excited because they have over half of them complete with their tests so I promised ice cream.

Thursday I delivered even with all the snow outside. The students were so excited to take a break and celebrate how far they have come in learning their facts.

We also finished up with the comic from last week. The Greatest Common Hacker covered the greatest common factor. We went over the answers and how they solved them. The students also completed an equivalent fractions worksheet.

I gave them five minutes to fill in the missing numbers and they completed it in less than four. They did such a great job. They all got them right. I am so proud of all their hard work so far. Next week we will continue with fractions and the cool comics.

Fourth Grade:

This week we continued working on the super cool math comics. The student got to read more on Mathtropolis and the Super Math Team. They are a group of math super heroes that need the students help to solve the problem to catch the villains.

Each super hero has attributes to help with the math that is needed to solve the problem. The students seem to really like getting to read the funny comics and solve all the problems. This week we had a few students still finishing up with Average Joe.

The rest of the students moved on to the Greatest Common Hacker which is a review for them of greatest common factor. I have a few who have moved on to the next adventure for the team. They really like working together in small groups to figure out all the problems.

Next week we will have a new comic story and see what and where the Super Heroes of the Math Team are and how we can help them solve the next complications in their never ending adventure.