This week was all a buzz with the holiday spirit. There was so much going on in each class. The Santa Shop was open this week for all the students to finish up their last minute shopping and we had holiday fun and cheer in every classroom. The students were full of excitement to find out what all the teachers had planned. Each day this week the teachers had a theme to dress up for and it was so much fun to see all the students react to our creations.
The best day for me was Tuesday which was tree skirt day. All the teachers and staff were full of holiday cheer and dressed so cute and colorful. On Thursday the school had all the holiday parties in the afternoon which was very exciting to see. The room parents and staff did such a great job giving each grade the coolest holiday parties.
On Friday the school got together for some holiday cheer with a sing along. I missed it but heard it was fantastic. I just want to take this moment to wish all of the families here at Brummitt a great holiday season and a happy new year.
I also want to thank all the students for doing the best they can each day here at school. I have included an awesome link to the google website that has a Santa tracker and countdown. The site also has tons of fun games and activities for the kids to play during their break. Also remember to look at the links on the right side for additional sites to use.
Google Santa Tracker Link:
I wanted to write a little bit about some of the holidays and traditions of the month of December. Here is a few of them I found:
Saint Nicholas Day (Christian) December 6th- The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. He was a protector of children, the poor, and the needy. He gave all his wealth to those in need. To learn more about his life and the legend:http://www.stnichola
scenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/
Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe December 12th-This holiday is celebrated by Catholics in both Mexico and America. The legend behind the holiday is about Juan who saw Mary the mother of God. His faith in what he saw helped others to believe too. Here is the website to learn more about this holiday: http://www.catholic.
org/about/guadalupe.php
St. Lucia Day (Swedish) December 13th-The annual candlelit Lucia procession on 13 December is perhaps one of the more exotic-looking Swedish customs, with girls and boys clad in white full-length gowns singing songs together. Among the youngest, anyone can be Lucia; as the children get older, the competition will harden. Here is the website to learn more about this tradition: https://sweden.se/culture-traditions/lucia/
Hanukkah December 6th to 14th- The
eight-day Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah or Chanukah commemorates
the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in
Jerusalem, where according to legend Jews had risen up against their
Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt. It is also know as the
festival of lights. Here is a website to learn more: http://www.history.com/
topics/holidays/hanukkah
Christmas Day December 25th-There are some many ways people celebrate this holiday that I decided to just give you a link. Here is a website to learn more: http://www.history.
com/topics/
christmas/history
-of-christmas
Boxing Day (Australian, Canadian, English, Irish) December 26th-Boxing Day originated in England in the middle of the nineteenth century under Queen Victoria. For years in which the holiday falls on a weekend, the celebration is moved to make sure workers still get a day off (except in Canada, where it remains Dec. 26) In the UK it's classed as a Bank Holiday. To learn more about this holiday here are some websites: http://www.factmonster.
com/spot/boxingd
ay1.htmlhttp://www.pauld
enton.co.uk/Boxingday.htm
Kwanzaa December 26th to January 1st- a festival observed by many African Americans from December 26 to January 1 as a celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values. Here are a few websites to learn more about the traditions:
http://www.officia
lkwanzaawebsite
.org/index.shtml
http://www.history.com/to
pics/holidays/kwanzaa-history
Omisoka (Japanese) December 31st-Omisoka is a very important holiday for Japanese people, and is celebrated at the same time as New Year's in North America.It is the day where they purify their lives. Clean their lives and home to make a fresh start for the New Year. To learn more about their traditions: http://www.kidzworld
Yule -The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world. There is so much history behind this holiday because it was celebrated by many cultures long ago like the romans, druids and others, but I think the Viking are one of the most famous cultures who celebrated it. Here is a link to learn
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/
religions/
paganism/holydays
/wintersolstice.shtml
Saturnalia December 17–23-The ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December, which was a period of general merrymaking and was the predecessor of Christmas, there are many websites to learn more here is just one: http://www.bbc.co.uk
/religion/0/20617780
http://www.britannica.
com/topic/Saturnalia-Roman-festiva
This week we continued learning about our Life Skills with Joyful. This week the students were all really joyful because they are so excited about this time of year. I also wanted to remind them to be generous to others and kind during this holiday season.
They are all so happy to be here each day this week and share with each other all the great things they have planned to do to during our break. I think they are ready to have some time off to relax and have fun with family and friends. We also talked about how helping others can make us all feel real joy in our lives each day.
Idiom of the Week
An Idiom is an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements. This week’s was …. He’s a couch potato.
This one was great because all the students got a good laugh from it. They all thought about turning into a potato and how funny that would be.
We discussed how and where they might have heard this idiom and they all agreed at home when someone is lounging on the couch all day and not doing anything else. I told them how when I was little I heard this all the time on commercials and they all laughed.
We even talked about a song that was written about it and a game show when I was young. My clue for after the break…. Well I don’t want to let anything out???
Language Arts
First Grade:
We continued this week working on anagrams with one last word challenge. We also discussed connections and how we can connect words in different ways. The students completed a worksheet where they take one word and think of another word or phrase that means the same thing but it can’t have any letter E’s in it.
This will help us with our next lesson when we return from break. We will learn about leaving out letters and Lipograms. On Tuesday we had fun playing educational games on the I-Pads with sumdog.com.
Second Grade:
This week we continued with our novel The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. Monday we discussed how Edward has changed so far and we discussed the journal questions and answered a few more in our journals. We also read the next chapter. We talked about point of view and how important it is in literature. The students discussed the different characters in the novel and their connections to each other and their point of view on events in the book.
On Tuesday we finished our discussion on connections and then got to have some fun with the I-Pads. The students played sumdog.com and got to find each other online to play against each other. They had a great time. After break we will continue with Edward and his journey to see what happens next. I look forward to seeing the students find out where he will be now that Lucy the dog saved him from the garbage dump.
Third Grade:
This week we started the genre of fables. The students didn’t think they knew much about them but later realized they knew a lot. Fables have three main ingredients. They are short stories, with animals as characters, and they convey a moral.
The students all figured this out together and were so happy they already knew. They also could name some fables they have read which was very helpful to the discussion. We read several fables and discussed what they meant to the people of that time when they were written and what the moral was trying to teach people.
Then at the end of class on Monday we watched the short video of the ants and the grasshopper. It was a nice video that conveyed the same moral as the original fable. The students really liked it.
On Tuesday we had some holiday fun planned. The students got to see a cool website that google has this year called the Santa tracker which has games and fun activities about the season. I showed the students the site and told them to try it at home if they have time over the break. Here is the link: https://santatracker.google.com/?hl=en#village. After we looked at the information I let the students use the I-Pads to play some educational games on sumdog.com.
I also let the students find each other to become friends with all the students in the class. This allows them to play with each other when they are online at home and in class. After the break we will continue learning different genres of literature with fairy tales and everything they entail.
Fourth Grade:
This week we continued with the research on our biographies. The students worked really hard this week to meet the deadlines. I am proud of how hard some of them worked. I also gave them pointers on where to look and what is a credible source. We will also go over it again after the holiday break.
I know it is hard to figure out if a website is a good source or not so I will show them examples of both. I think they are doing a great job researching in class and looking for what they need. I also think they are getting used to copying the links for their websites and posting them into their work cited pages. Here are the instructions which are also in the google docs for the students to view:
People Who Made a Difference Instructions
Step One: All students are complete with this step because they have picked a person to research
Step Two: For this project, you are required to research one person using a full-length biography, one or more primary sources (book), and two or more secondary sources (websites). Use the Internet and library to determine whether sufficient information is available for each person. All students have found a great book to use.All the students but one have found enough sources through books and the websites.
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.
Everyone completed this but one students by the deadline. They have all shared theirs with me or handed in hard copies. I have checked most work cited docs to make sure they are using them, but I have a few that haven’t shared them with me yet. Please check the spreadsheet with who still needs to complete it.
Step Four: Synthesize information to list at least ten of the most significant events in the person’s life. Most students have started this on google docs.
Step Five: Create a timeline of the famous person’s life. Final Timeline is due January 11th
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. Due January 19th
Step Seven: Create a Prezi that includes the person’s name, a photo, years lived, and contributions. (The students will be learning how to use Prezi so they will be able to use those instead of power point) Due January 25th
Step Eight: Memorize your monologue and dress as your character. You are now ready for the People Who Made a Difference presentation.
Timeline Criteria
-Timeline includes entire life of person with dates measured at appropriate intervals.
-Timeline includes ten or more important events of the person’s life.
-Timeline includes two or more pictures of the person.
-Timeline is neat and legible.
-At least four sources are properly cited.
Monologue Criteria
-Monologue describes events in the person’s life with detail and clarity.
-Monologue includes insight to changes in the person’s life.
-Monologue explores how the person made a difference.
-Speaker confidently presents monologue using good eye contact, posture, and voice.
-Speaker engages audience with appropriate words, facial expressions, and gestures.
-The presentation is supported with appropriate costume and props
Math
This week I promised all the
students some fun since they have been working so hard all year on their math.
I didn’t get to see all the students both days because of parties and testing
but I wanted to make sure they got to have some math fun. They all got to use the
I-Pads to practice their math facts. We used sumdog.com to have some fun.
First Grade:
This week we got to meet both days but for some it was at a different time since they had teacher switch day. We talked about the holidays and what everyone had planned and we all played sumdog.com on the I-Pads. I had the students find each other on the system to become friends so they can play against each other both at home and school. I also checked to see how they are all doing with their facts.
They are all improving with the facts each time we use the system. I am very proud of how hard they work on the games to do their best. I also reminded them they can use the site during the break to practice their facts while having fun. The site allows students to earn double coins after a certain time each day. So I think they were all excited about that.
Second Grade:
This weekwe used the I-Pads
to practice our Math facts. We made sure to see what level we are at and when
we will move up. After break we will
continue working on the Fibonacci sequence.
Third and Fourth Grade: Math Vocabulary Comic Relief
This year I am starting something new we will be doing each week on Wednesdays. I have the Math Vocabulary Comic Relief board. Each week when the students come in on Wednesday they will go to look at the board and grab their problem. They will have five minutes to read and solve it.
This week was Numerator. In mathematics, the numerator is the number above the line in a common fraction showing how many of the parts indicated by the denominator are taken, for example, 2 in 2/3.I can honestly say that both grades rocked this one for sure. They all took the time to read the board. They all got it right on their first attempt. I was so happy that they all knew what they were doing and looking for when they read the problem. After the break we will have percent.
Third Grade:
This week we only got to meet on Wednesday since all the holiday parties were on Thursday afternoon. So the students were really excited to see the I-Pad cart in the room. I showed them the holiday google site that they could use while out on break. Then they all practiced their math facts on sumdog.com and got a chance to add each other as friends so they can play with each other while in class and at home. They had so much fun playing. After break we will continue with Sweet Multiplication and our packet on multiplication and story problems.
Fourth Grade:
This week we took a break from the fractions unit to have some holiday fun. We talked about what holiday traditions we celebrate and we practiced our math facts on the I-Pads with sumdog.com. Some of the students were even practicing fractions while they played, which was pretty cool.
The students did so great last week with the fractions book and sheet that I gave them a little holiday treat with their own chocolate bars. They were all ready to open them and figure out the fractions but I told them they would have to wait till they got home to do that. After break we will continue working on the Brummitt Kitchen Prep which is a fun worksheet where they will work out what fractions are needed for the bake sale.
Have a Great Holiday Break and See You in the New Year!!
Mrs. Lutterman
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