Brummitt's High Ability Blog Spot: The World Is Coming Up Lemons!!!

There was so much going on this week here at Brummitt. There were lots of fun and exciting trips and there were heaps of great activities. We even had the voting polls this week which gives the students a chance to learn and ask questions about voting. The third and fourth graders finished up there ISTEP testing and I know that they all did their best. Great work students.

I also saw some more ducks and butterflies this week. I know Miss Leonard’s class had their butterflies ready to be released. I saw some more butterflies in Ms. Albright’s class flying in their enclosure ready to be released. The ducks are hatched and are so cute. I know that the second grade is so happy to see them up close.

On Thursday the big announcement was made with an awesome presentation for the One School One Book program. We will be reading the Lemonade War. This is a great book and I know the students will love it. This program gives parents and their children a chance to read together and for the whole school to have something great to talk about. I can’t wait to see what cool activities that all the teachers have planned.

Remember that Fridays are the Student Council Spirit Days so be sure to wear those school colors.

Important May Dates:

6^th National School Nurse Day

6^th PTO Movie Night

9^th thru 12^th Lemonade for Sale

12^th PTO Meeting

15^th Brummitt Family Paint Party at Artsmith Studio

16^th thru 19^th Lemonade for Sale

18^th All library materials due

19^th Student Council Teacher Switch Day

26^th Autograph Signing Day- Bring your yearbook to school!

27^th Brummitt Field Day!

30^th No School- Memorial Day!

I want to thank the PTO and all the families that made this week’s staff appreciation so great. You all did an awesome job making me feel appreciated and loved. Also the food each day was excellent. Thanks so much for taking the time to think of all us here at Brummitt. I also had a student bring me in a flower to let me know how much he appreciates class. Thanks Tyler.

This week we continued learning about our Life Skills with Courage. I think this was a great one to choose this week because of the book we are reading for one school one book.

I think the characters in the book show courage and that is something that all students need to learn and master. I know that courage helps drive us to do our best and reach our goals.

I think all students at Brummitt have the courage to do anything that they set their minds to and I hope to help them find that courage. They all have it they just have to use it.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. Winston Churchill

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 …. Get off your high horse. This one was pretty tricky to explain to some students. They understood once we talked about it for a few minutes. They said they haven’t really heard it before. I explained that it is used more by adults then by kids. We all agreed that the picture was funny and gave it a cute twist. I didn’t have any takers on the drawing this week, but I hope someone will next week. Here is the hint: it involves heads and laughing. Good luck and I hope someone decides to draw this one or find a cool illustration online.

Language Arts

Kindergarten:

This week we continued our journey with connections and Knuffle Bunny. First, we closed our eyes and visualized a special toy. Just like Trixie has Knuffle Bunny, we each had items that were important to us for reasons we shared. Then we drew a picture of the toy and wrote about what made it so special to us. This we so interesting to learn what we like and why. Then we explored words and connections. There was an activity on syllables. We "clapped" the syllables in words like laundromat and Trixie, creating a three-flap foldable. We were still clapping for every letter sound we heard, but we practiced breaking the words up so there was (usually) a vowel in every syllable. It's a big concept for kindergarten. We did a great job. On Tuesday we began learning about persuasive writing. We reviewed the difference between a fact and an opinion. Then, I introduced the Hamburger Model for writing, where each part of a hamburger (top bun, tomato, lettuce, beef, bottom bun) are sections of a paragraph. We talked about each part and discussed why each part is important to make the paragraph work. We decided to write about something that we really had an opinion on. Spiderman is what we thought was important. The idea of the persuasive paragraph is to convince the reader that Spiderman is the best super hero. I knew this would be a big hit because it is something that he is passionate about. We wrote the introduction, and came up with the most important reasons and finally wrote a conclusion. We will put it all together in our hamburger next week. We will also learn more about connections and read a great book called Wimberley Worried.

First Grade:

This week the students wrote out words to describe themselves so we could create wordles. They had so much fun figuring out words and writing them down. Then they got to choose a picture and color design to create their wordle. They will get to see them next week and then get to take them home. They also took time to decipher another code. This one is a Polybius Cipher. This one was pretty tricky, but once they figured out the first few letters they were off the running. The message read: Twenty-six letters can be rearranged to make more than a million words!

They had so much fun working to be the first to finish and decipher the secret message. We then had a discussion about signs and symbols and how we use them every day in our lives. Then they completed another activity to think of as many words as they could that rhyme with hair. They had a blast trying to think of words and to spell them. They then found words that were different but spelled the same and they would ask me and each other for spelling. We were all laughing and have a great time. Next week we will see whose list was the longest and has the most correct words. I can’t wait to see how many words they found. We will also explore the world of rhyming riddles.

Second Grade:

This week we continued with The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. They were so excited to get reading because, as they all put it, we are getting to the good part. So we talked about Despereaux and losing his tale. They were excited to see what he was going to do next. We read about what happened to the Princess and Miggery. The students were really mad that Miggery was falling for Roscuro’s trickery. They read a few chapters overnight. I had a few students out Tuesday because of NWEA testing. I let them know what chapters they could continue to read over the weekend for next Monday. I know they all want to find out what happens to Princess Pea, Despereaux, and Miggery. What lies ahead in that dark and dismal dungeon? Will Despereaux become the hero that he is meant to be and will he save Pea? I guess we will all have to wait to read next week.

Third Grade:

This week we talked more about stories and how they are created. We also talked about characters and how they are developed. The students got to complete an activity where they are a character from a story and they write a letter to another character from their story.

This was very interesting because they wrote the letter in their journals and they got to choose both who they were and what character to write to. They had the class period Monday to complete their letter. I had a few students who didn’t finish so they took theirs home to finish.

On Tuesday I took their letters and exchanged them to other students and they students had to respond as the character that received the letter.

They loved it because the letters were very interesting and this gave them a chance to use their imagination and think of how that character would react to the letter. There were letters to the Giant and Jack from Jack and the Bean Stalk. There were letters to Queens and Snow White and even one to the brothers of the Ugly Duckling. The students got to respond in the other student’s journal and finish it by the end of class. They had a great time. Next week they will have the opportunity to write a letter as a main character from a novel or book to another character. I told them to think over the weekend to find a character that has a lot to say. I can’t wait to see what clever characters they decide to be.

Fourth Grade:

This week the students continued their partner writing projects. They started the writing process. Some are writing it out by hand while some have decided to write it out on the computer and draw the illustrations to add to them. Every group is working in their own style which is great.

I can’t wait to see their finished projects. I know some are falling behind because they are having a hard time nailing down the storyline. I told them they can work on it at home and they also can come in during their breaks if they want more time. I had some take me up on it. Next week they will continue to work on their projects and they do have the option to take any of the materials home to work on them too.

Math

Kindergarten:

This week we finished our last addition cube sheet. We also talked about subtraction and discussed ways to learn to subtract with ease. I wanted to show them a video to help with subtraction. Here is the link: Back Pack Jack

They were all dancing and singing with the video. They were so excited at how catchy it was and they were all humming it later. We also started to talk about word problems and how to solve them.

They got to work on some cool word problems that gave them a few different ways to solve the problem. They even got to use their artistic skills to draw some really cool pictures to help them solve the problems. They loved it. We even found a few minutes to dance to a new Gonoodle.com video about Cinco de Mayo and El Gatos. It was very cute giving the cats a high five. Next week we will continue with word problems and the students will even get to write their own problems. I also have a surprise planned for Thursday.

First Grade:

This week we continued the unit on weight and measurement. The concept of the week is capacity. The students were really excited about this because it involves so many things around them. I started out with a few videos that helped us understand gallons, quarts, pints, and cups. Here is the link: Capacity

The students really loved the videos and were singing along and dancing in their seats. I then reviewed what each size holds and we tried a few problems. They had a great time figuring out what could hold 48 ounces and so on.

On Thursday they completed a worksheet and activity on capacity. Next week we will continue to work on capacity with the interactive whiteboard and on Thursday they will get a surprise.

Second Grade:

This week we continued our Math comics. We had a couple problems left from the Average Joe to finish up. Once we had those out of the way we could move on to the story called Factor Fiction. This one was a pretty new concept for her. We needed to get some background on it before we could make sure we could move forward. We watched a video to help us to piece it all together. Once we had that down we could work on the comic. We got most of the problems solved but we still have a few to finish up. Next week we will continue with Factor Fiction.

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 perimeter. In math a perimeter is the continuous line forming the boundary of a closed geometric figure.

The students rocked this one out of the park. They read the definition and closely read the problem. They all did a great job figuring out the answer and solving the problem. I had a few students rush through and not get it right the first time, but once they slowed down they had it. I am really proud of how far they have some with following directions and working on things quickly and quietly to complete the task at hand.

Third Grade:

On Wednesday the students continued working on the chapter How Much Will I Need? Some students worked in small groups while others worked alone. When I found something that was holding them up I would review it with the entire class so they knew how to solve it. They did great, working hard on each level.

Class was short on Wednesday because of early dismissal, but they did great work before they had to leave. We didn’t get to meet on Thursday because the entire school attended the presentation for One School One Book. It was thrilling to see the skit and watch the students freak out about the book. They loved every minute of the presentation and are so excited to start reading the book with their families. I can’t wait to see all the buzz each day about the story and what will happen next. Next week we will continue on How Much Will I Need?

Fourth Grade:

On Wednesday the students were out on their field trip to the State Park. We didn’t get to meet but I saw them after they returned they looked like they had a great time. On Thursday they continued to work on the chapter about Percent called Percent Machines. They continued working in small groups if they wanted or solo to complete the assignment. They all made sure to put in the effort to work out each problem step by step to solve it. We didn’t get through with the chapter though, next week we will pick up where we left off in this chapter and see where it takes us next.