Brummitt's High Ability Blog Spot: Spring Has Finally Arrived!!

Here at Brummitt this week we had a lot going on with the author visit from Troy Cummings. He is the author of The Notebook of Doom series. He came to visit on Wednesday. The students loved meeting him and hearing all about his new book. He even read them his current draft of the book. He taught the kids that in order to make any creature evil you simple add the V for their eyebrows. They were so excited when he asked for their help in creating a story line and monster. He also taught them of the four key elements when writing. They had a great time and loved every minute of it.

Last week was the school book bowl and our winners were The Amazing Flying Kit-Cat. This week they got to compete on Thursday at the District All School Young Hoosier Book Bowl. They put in a great effort, but lost. They did a great job, and congratulations on all your hard work.

We also had the Spelling Bee on Thursday and Manal got to compete. She did a great job and we are all so proud of her. She didn’t win, but she got runner-up. She did her best.

April 16^th is the 25^th Annual Youth Talent Showcase at CHS at 6:00pm. April 25^th thru May 6^th will be the ISTEP Testing at Brummitt for 3^rd and 4^th graders. Parents please make sure your children get a good night’s sleep and eat an awesome breakfast to help them be prepared for testing. April 27^th is Secretaries’ Day. Also, Fridays are the Student Council Spirit Days so be sure to wear those school colors.

High Ability Summer School

Are you searching for educational enrichment this summer? Consider Duneland's High Ability Summer School! With the theme of "Time Travelers in Ancient Egypt," the 13-day program in June will focus on reading strategies and literature comprehension. It is open to current 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade HA students. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

This week we continued learning about our Life Skills with Resilience. I think the students here at Brummitt are very resilient. They proved that this week with taking their losses and getting back up again. I know that they are great at bouncing back and are ready for the next challenge. I seeing them work hard each day and being resilient helps them to change and adapt to anything that comes their way. They are great at springing back when they get a set back from an unknown obstacle.

Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive. Jamais Cascio
Read more at: Link

The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity. Joshua Waitzkin
Read more at: Link

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 …. She has egg on her face. We loved this one because it was so clear what it meant. The students could totally relate to the girl and feeling embarrassed. I told them that everyone goes through that feeling and it only makes us stronger. I know I have. I let them know that sometimes you can feel that way, but no one will even notice or think that of you. I am so happy I had one student complete an excellent drawing again. Ava drew an illustration and got to pick a prize out of the treasure box. Two weeks in a row, yippee! I hope we keep the momentum going and have some next week too. Here is the hint: it involves a barrel and a giggle. Good luck and I hope someone decides to draw this one or find a cool illustration online.

Language Arts

Kindergarten:

This week we continued working on connections and Knuffle Bunny A Cautionary Tale by Mo Williams. We reviewed the categories of connection again: intellectual, physical, social, and emotional. Then we learned about the four levels of questioning.

This is something we will cover a few times because it is completely new for kindergarten. We went over questions and how we use them to answer if different ways. I started a worksheet on Knuffle bunny using the four levels.

It was a great activity, because we could have an open discussion about the level and then draw a picture to represent our answers. Next week we will continue to work on this activity with the four levels and we will continue to discuss connections. We will also dig deeper into attachments and connections. This is a reminder to have your child bring in a stuffed animal or toy that they are attached to for a writing project.

First Grade:

This week we continued our journey through ancient Egypt and learning about their life and Hieroglyphs. We continued to read the book Hieroglyphs by Joyce Milton. We read two more sections on School Days, Becoming a Scribe and Life as a Scribe. This let the students know how much time went into becoming such an important person in Egyptian society. We also continued on the website and finally completed every section. They students did an excellent job learning about mummies and how they are made and where they are kept. They also learned about Hieroglyphs and deciphered several puzzles they were given on the site. We also took time to look at a book Andrew brought in about rocks and how they were used in ancient Egypt. This gave us more information about building the pyramids and their importance. Next week we will continue with the book and learn more about the person behind the Rosetta Stone.

Second Grade:

This week the students finished their final Jeopardy. They all placed their bets on what they thought they knew and I asked the question. Who was the final owner of Edward? I had all the students answer correct after a small discussion. We had two students use most or all of their points because they were confident they would do well. They came out ahead. Jackson and Katherine got first and second winning the final game. They both got to pick prizes out of the box.

They all did such a great job through the whole book. I am proud of all their hard work. On Tuesday we met at a different time because of library conflicts. We finished the journal entries on what we thought the author meant by the intro to the book. The students also got to make predictions on what they thought the book was about. We then listened to the first five chapters of The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.

We would stop as we went along to talk about what was happening and what we thought of the characters so far. The students were given some homework due Monday April 18^th. The students will need to read chapters 6 through 9. This way we can take the class time to discuss the characters so far and compare them to the other books. Next week we will also continue to read the book.

Third Grade:

This week the students worked on small groups reading and discussing the different versions of Cinderella. The students got to read three different version of the fairy tale.

Pandora was kind enough to bring her book in with one version and I found some more at the library. I think most of the versions were close, but one was completely different.

Next week we will continue with Cinderella and we will find out about the different versions of the fairy tale from around the world. We will compare them to the ones that were read in the small groups and find out how and why they were different.

Fourth Grade:

This week we continued our discussion about Art and History. The students were asked to research and find a piece of art that represents a piece of time throughout history. They took the laptop and started their research. I told them they could use any part of history not just American History. They took the challenge and ran with it. I had a few students try to use photographs and I explained to them that the assignment was for art that was an interpretation of history not a real slice of history. Once they realized it needed to be something someone created with a material like clay, paint, metal, or pencil. They were off running.

On Tuesday two students showed their findings. Ava and Emily both chose excellent pieces. One was the terracotta soldiers from China. She showed us how they were part of that country’s history. She also gave us the background of the creations and why they were so important.

Emily showed us a painting from China also, but it was from a different time period. This painting represented the struggle between the warlords after the dynasty had fallen. She gave us the history and importance of such a beautiful painting. Next week the other students will have an opportunity to show their findings and discuss why each piece of art is so important to history.