This week at Brummitt we
were in the Holiday Spirit in so many ways. We had the food drive which was a huge
success. Each grade worked really hard to collect as much food as they could.
The students were also collecting items for the Porter County Animal Shelter.
They were definitely in a giving and sharing mood this week. We also had lots of students turn in their
snowmen creations this week. They were all so cool and creative. I took lots of
photos that are posted at the end of this week’s blog. Make sure to scroll down
to see them. On Thursday we all dressed in our pajamas for a day filled with
fun and I hope there was a huge turnout at Mrs. Dortmund’s “Curl Up and Read”
in the Winter Wonderland event. I was very sad I didn’t get to make it, but I
am sure everyone had a great night. This week The Santa’s Secret Shop opened
and there were many students completing their holiday shopping. I saw so many
wonderful items to buy I am sure all the students will find everything they
need. The shop will be open next week until December 16th. There is
still time for the students to finish up their shopping. Don’t forget Saturday
December 12th will be the PTO fundraiser night at Barnes and Noble
from 4:00 to 8:00pm. I hope that everyone has a chance to stop by and get some
holiday shopping done and help raise money for the PTO. One last announcement
is the holiday parties this year will be on December 17th.
This week one of our
students found reindeer bells in her back yard. She thinks they might have
fallen off when the reindeer flew over her house to check in on her and all the
students at Brummitt. I think she could be right.
This week we continued learning about our Life Skillswith Manners. I thought this also fit in with time of year because students will be attending lots of holiday parties and they will need to make sure they use their manners.
I think that everyone needs to be reminded how important manners are and when to use them. I know the students will do their best this season to use all their life skills because they want to do their best for the elves in their classrooms to show them that they have been good.
I also reminded them to always thank the people in the classrooms helping during this time of year because they do so much to help plan and execute wonderful parties. I think next week we will explore joyful because we will also be ready for the holiday break.
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 catching some Z’s.Everyone loved this one because the picture was so funny. I agree it was very cute. The students all thought of times where they might say this to someone about others. Some students even had said it about their pets.
I told them I hope they never have to say or hear it in school and we all laughed. I didn’t have any takers on the drawing or picture this week,but I have high hopes for some student to find something again soon.
The hint for next week: when someone becomes a vegetable or well a starch…….?
Language Arts
First Grade:
We continued this week working on anagrams with word challenges. We started with three letters and moved on to four and then five. It was so exciting to watch them try to figure out each word and rearrange the letters to figure it out.
The clues were very helpful and a couple of times they would all say the answer at the same time before we even started arranging the letters. It was so much fun. We also took a little time to decorate Christmas trees on Tuesday because they were so excited to see that I made them again this year.
Next week we will start to learn about lipograms and also take some time to have some holiday fun.
Second Grade:
This week we continued with our novel The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. Monday we reviewed the parts of speech and the fourth step of analysis with sentences from the novel. The students figured out what part of speech each word was and how they all relate. Then we had a discussion about connections and Edward. We discussed Edward and how he is making connections both good and bad. We talked about Edward as a character and how he is starting to change and want to be a different rabbit.
The story has many connections and the students are starting to find them on their own and want to talk about them which made me very proud of them. The students took time both days writing in their journals about the book and how it is changing and what is much different than what they first thought of what the book would be about. Next week we will continue on this journey with Edward and we will also have time for some holiday fun and cheer.
Third Grade:
This week it was all about the modern legend. The students were very interested in learning how it applies to literature. We read the poem about the Edmund Fitzgerald. We listened to the song written by Gordon Lightfoot.
We discussed the tone and feeling that the poem gives you. The students were then asked to draw what they thought the ship might look like and the feeling that the poem gave them. They drew and colored a sheet according to what they saw and felt from listening to the song and poem.
They were also instructed to not leave any white on the sheet. Here is what they created. They all took the time to re-read parts of the poem and really think of what it meant to them.
The students were given no picture or information on the ship except for what the poem tells them. I think they did an excellent job in expressing the overall feeling of the poem and song.
We discussed how the poem makes us feel and the tone of the poem. Then on Tuesday we watched a video about the ship and the wreck. We also listened to the song again. We had an open discussion on the poem and the ship. Students realized how important legends are to literature.
Fourth Grade:
This week we continued with the research on our biographies. I made sure all students received all the Google Docs and made copies to their own drives. I also went over the deadlines and showed them where they are located on the shared docs area online. They are doing a great job figuring out how to complete things online and find resources by searching online and in the library.
They will have two classes next week to complete their biography summaries. I can give an extension if the student has a good reason why they couldn’t complete their book. Next week they will keep working on their projects and we might even fit in some holiday fun. 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. I have a few students that have found all their sources which is great.
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.
The summary is due next week on December 14th. The students have both a print-out they could fill out and an electric copy if they prefer to type it up. I will check everyone’s work cited to make sure they are filling it out by December 18th, but they can keep adding to it. I just want to make sure they understand how to use 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
First Grade:
This week we took a few minutes to have some fun and color trees for the holidays. The students remembered them from last year and really wanted to make some again. They used stickers and their artistic talent to decorate some for my room.
They did a great job to help me get in the holiday spirit. We then spent the rest of the class working on our money packets and they are doing a great job.
We are making sure to use real money for parts so they have the real visual of what each coin looks like and then they can also see the sizes and differences between them. We started to figure out cost and what we would need to pay for the items. The students should be complete with money packets by next week. We will also take time next week for some cool surprises and holiday fun.
Second Grade:
This week we took a few minutes to decorate our trees with stickers and holiday cheer. Then we continued the Fibonacci sequence. We took the idea of the sequence and expanded our thinking to subtraction, multiplication and even division. It was quite a challenge but we were up for it. It was cool to see that you can complete multiplication with a little help from the teacher. Next week we will have some holiday fun and complete some cool math activities.
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 Negative Number. In mathematics, a negative number is a real number that is less than zero. Negative numbers represent opposites.
If positive represents movement to the right, negative represents movement to the left. This week the students in both grades did a great job slowing down and reading through everything. I am happy with how many students got the answer on their first try. This math vocabulary is also really helping them with their problem solving skills because they are all really improving on how they approach math.
Third Grade:
This week the students were on a study trip on Wednesday so we didn’t get to meet, but on Thursday continued with Sweet Multiplication and had some students starting 6’s and others finishing up their 4’s and 5’s. The students are trying their best to get these facts down. I love their enthusiasm. We continued to work on the chapter on multiplication. It is very challenging, but they are taking their time and breaking each problem into lots of steps which makes it easier to solve. Next week I have lots of holiday surprises planned. We will only get to meet one day since we have the holiday parties on Thursday.
Fourth Grade:
This week we continued with our unit on fractions. We read The Hersey’s Milk Chocolate Fractions Book. This was an awesome review for the students and I had them answer questions about fractions on their whiteboards as we read.
They did an awesome job. I am so glad they remembered so much about fractions. They also started writing in their Math Journals. This is a way to help the students learn how to write about math and use different skills.
Next week we will start 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 Weekend!!
Mrs. Lutterman
Here are all the Snowmen at Brummitt:
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