Hoping for Fall Friday!!

Well the weather was much better this week. The heat wasn’t so sweltering, I am still wishing for fall. This week went by far too fast. The students all worked really hard to get into a groove and feel more comfortable in the classroom.

 It was a very busy week here at Brummitt. Tuesday was early dismissal so one of the classes was cut a little short. We had a special presentation on Wednesday called, The Ned Show.

Today, September 16th, there will be an awesome event happening at the Chesterton High School for a great cause. Rusty’s Hope is having a Dance Party. This benefit is to help raise money for pediatric cancer.  The party runs from 4pm to 6pm at the Chesterton High School FIeld House. The cost will be $2.00 and pizza and water will be included. This is a great charity in memory of Liberty Elementary Student Rusty Schultz. So if you have no plans, come out and dance and have fun to help a great cause.

Today was the first Walking School Bus. I hope the students had a great adventure on their way to school.

Important dates:

September

16th Rusty’s Dance Party at Chesterton High School

19th  PTO Fall Fundraiser begins

23rd PTO Family Night

30th PTO Fall Fundraiser ends

October

6th Picture Day

Next week we will be starting the Life Skills. I have recognition slips ready for the students to give each other when they see someone showing a life skill. The students will fill it out and put it in the basket each week. I will collect them each month and draw winners and those students will get to pick from the prize box. We will also read all the nice things they have done for their fellow students. It gives the students a chance to say thanks to each other every day. I look forward to hearing about all the great things Brummitt students do for each other.

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 got cold feet. I was surprised at the students who didn’t know what it meant. I made sure to explain it and then we discussed when we have had cold feet before a performance or a big game. It was fun to hear the stories the students had of when they felt really nervous and weren’t sure if they could do something, but they all did and it was some of their favorite moments.  Each week I offer a chance for the students to draw or illustrate the idiom. I told them they can be as creative as they want. If they do it and bring it in, they will get to pick a prize out of the prize box. No takers this week but I am crossing my fingers that someone will do it next week. Here is a hint to help them out: it’s all about weather and your feelings. I post the picture for the next week on Thursday afternoons so students have a chance to stop by and see it before the weekend.

Language Arts

First Grade:

This week was all about connections, the theme that the students will learn about throughout the year. The students were very excited to start to learn about connections. First we read, well looked at, an exciting book that uses the alphabet letters to create illustrations to let the students know the words. I would show the students the picture and cover the word and they would use the illustration to figure out the word. They had so much fun trying to figure out each word. Then I would reveal the word.

They all had a chance to guess what each word was. They really took their time to look and investigate what the word could be. They did a great job once they got through the first couple letters they were on a roll working as a team to figure them out. Then we discussed how they came up with the correct answers using connections.

This took most of Monday and only gave us a little time to play the connections game. Students got to look at all the cards on the table and find a connection. They each got a turn to find one. They all got to find a few as we played. On Tuesday we had a few students out for NWEA testing, so we played the connections game again and this time the students told me how the words are connected and why. It was so much fun hearing all the reasons the two words were connected and how they came to that conclusion.

Since we had a few out we took the rest of the class to start on our connections list. The students worked as a team to come up with a list of things that are connected. They had some long interesting lists. They had so much fun discussing and brainstorming their list.

Next week we will make our connections shields. I still have one student that needs to bring back his patches. The students will each finish creating their shield then they will get to discuss their creations with the class. I look forward to seeing what each students’ patches are and how they connect to them.  

Second Grade:

On Monday the students broke into groups with pairs of connections and they had to come up with categories to put them in. They got to discuss their ideas and thoughts on how to divide their lists up into groups that made sense to them.

It was really cool to see the students work together to come up with some very creative categories. They talked about each pair and how they might be connected. We had a class discussion on connections and how things might be connected.  We also talked about different types of connections. They all gave examples in their own lives that they see everyday. On Tuesday they finished up their charts and presented them to the rest of the class. They did an awesome job explaining how and why they came up with each category and how it worked for them. I was really impressed on their ideas and thoughts. They had really taken the time to come up with original and important groups based on their own lives and ideas. It was a great activity and I think they all really enjoyed it. They students then got to have some fun with connections and come up with things that couldn’t be connected like snake and doorknob and so on. They had a blast with this coming up with silly funny things that would never be together. We all got to laugh at the hilarious lists we all came up with. Next week we will continue with connections and the students will have the opportunity to write about connections. We will review the generalizations about connections and they will then choose one to write about. This year will be all about making connections and finding them in everything we read.

Third Grade:

This week the students learned all about change and we had a class discussion about what change is. This concept of change is new for these students this year and they are doing a great job embracing the higher-thinking ideas and concepts we are discussing in class. Once we talked about change, the students were asked to independently brainstorm examples of change.  I gave them each a large sheet of chart paper and they got to work. They used markers to jot down their ideas and they did an excellent job of coming up with all the change they see around them.

They also thought of all the change that is in the world and wrote down many examples. On Tuesday they finished up their lists and shared their ideas with the class. They had some examples that were very original. They took a lot of time to think of things that are very important in the world around us. I then asked them to think of things that don’t change or never change. This was much more difficult.

We all had to really think hard before we came up with one that is very important. The past is something that people can not change. How people perceive it can change but not the actual events. Well except if we had a time machine, one student noted, but first we would need to create one. I love their creativity. Next week we will review the five generalizations of change that will be a theme throughout the year. The students will also have their first writing assignment to work on.

Fourth Grade:

On Monday we started our first discussion on change. This isn’t new for the returning students, but I wanted to make sure we discussed it with the whole class before they broke into groups to work. I knew most of them would need the review. They all did a great job talking about change and we went over what change could mean to us.

 Then they broke into small groups to brainstorm examples of change. They had a great time talking about and discussing when they see change and when change happens every day. They came up with long lists of changes.

On Tuesday I asked them to meet again in their groups to discuss their lists and when they were in their groups they had the task of putting their lists into categories. They took their examples and categorized them how ever they wanted based on their own ideas.

 This took them the whole class to figure out how they wanted to divide them up. I also gave the students their first assignment to work on outside of class.

They need to complete an interview of someone they know that has been through a change.  

 They will come back in class and type it up to present it to us. This is the first step to get the students comfortable with writing about real people and about change.

It will also give them their first chance to present something to the class and get used to being in front of the class since they will be completing a few presentations this year.
I hope they have fun interviewing someone close to them. Next week they will share their lists and they will type up their interviews.

Math

First Grade:

This week the students were asked to take a pre-assessment for the new math curriculum we will be using.  They did an awesome job and were really excited to see what they already knew. I am really proud of how they took their time and really thought out each question. I read the questions to them so they could understand them easier. We all took our time and it worked out great. On Thursday they finished up the last two questions and then we had some Math Maven fun. They got to listen to and solve some math mysteries.

 It was great seeing them figuring out each clue to get the answer. We all worked together and each student added something to our math solving skills to figure the clues to get the answers. We had so much fun solving the Cafeteria Caper and Mystery at the Peculiar Zoo that we knew the best way to end the week was to dance to some gonoodle.com. It was so much fun. Next week we will start the intro to the new math unit which is all about measurement. The students will receive a special surprise from some friends from far away. I can’t wait to see what is in the package.

Second Grade:

 This week the students were asked to take a pre-assessment for the new math curriculum we will be using. The students got both days to work on the pre-assessment. There were things they knew and new concepts that we will be learning in class this year.

 They all tried their best to figure out each question. I know that there were questions that might have been confusing to them because it is new material to them. This helps me learn what we need to work on this year with the new curriculum. They all took their time too which I am very happy to see.

 Some students were done early on Thursday so they got to fill out their form for our annual mystery game called, Who is it? This is where I put a list of 6 of the forms up and the students try to figure who they are.

They will have a chance after next week to guess who the six suspects are. The student who gets the most right wins a prize out of the prize box and the title of “detective of the year.“
Next week we will start the new Math unit. I can’t wait to see what the students think of it. The surprise has arrived from our friends that will be helping us this year. I can’t wait for the students to see it.

Third and Fourth Grade: Math Vocabulary Comic Relief

This year we will continue to complete these 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. Once they have their answer they can turn over their paper and raise their hand and I will check it. This week was all about rectangular prisms. A solid (3-dimensional) object which has six faces that are rectangles. It has the same cross-section along a length, which makes it a prism. It is also a "cuboid". The students did an excellent job with this one. They all had the answer very quickly and all got it right. It was a great way to start out the year. This is also a concept we will be using this year in 4th grade when we learn about shapes. Great job and an awesome start to the year.

Third Grade:

On Wednesday we didn’t get to meet because we had the awesome presentation from the NED Show. We did get to meet on Thursday. We went over the new information on the search for the yeti. We discussed what it takes to be a great listener, speaker, and writer in math. I went over the expectations of what to do when their are class discussions and what to expect each week. I sent home two letters for parents to look over to help them know what we will be learning. I also sent home a little project for your child to complete. I am really excited about all the new experiments and activities we will be doing this year. We also took time to review the ruler and talked about the two types of measuring systems. Next week we will continue with measuring and start our new math vocabulary.

Fourth Grade:

 This week The students were asked to take a pre-assessment for the new math curriculum we will be using for fourth grade. They got to use both class periods this week to work on it.

 This assessment gives me a chance to see what the students already know and what we will need to work on this year with our new math unit. I know that some students got confused by some of the questions and that is understandable because some of the material might be new to them. I am glad they let me know what they didn’t understand that way I know where to start with some of the concepts. They all did a great job reading each question carefully and made sure to do their best.

 On Thursday I had some students finish up early so they got to play some of the math games I have in the classroom. I guess none of the students had ever got to try the popsicle sticks to design the shapes so they all gave it a try. I am glad they got a chance to have some fun after all that hard work. Next week we will start with the new math unit. I look forward to everything it has to offer. I hope they like this adventure as much as I do.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Lutterman