Thinking of the New Year Tuesday!!

This week was short but full holiday fun. With the delay and parties on Monday, I didn’t get to meet with all my groups. The school was a boom with so much holiday cheer. On Monday all the teachers wore holiday sweaters and more. On Tuesday we all dressed up as Santa’s elves and it was so much fun. The students loved it.

Also on Tuesday, the school got together for some holiday cheer with a sing along. I finally got to see it this year and it was just fabulous. 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.  

Don’t forget to track the Guy in the Big Red Suit:  Google Santa Tracker Link:

santatracker.google.com

I wanted to write a little bit about some of the holidays and traditions of the month of December. Here is a few are some I found starting this week:

Hanukkah 2016 will start the evening of Saturday, December 24 and will end the evening of Sunday, January 1, 2017.

Chanukah is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods.

The Hebrew word Chanukah means “dedication,” and is thus named because it celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple (as you’ll read below). Also spelled Hanukkah (or variations of that spelling), the Hebrew word is actually pronounced with a guttural, “kh” sound, kha-nu-kah, not tcha-new-kah. Hanukkah

history.com

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: Christmas

Christmas 2

History

Christmas 3

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: Boxing Day

UK Boxingday

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:

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. They clean their lives and home to make a fresh start for the New Year. To learn more about their traditions: Link

Yule 2016 will start on Wednesday, December 21 and will end on Sunday, January 1, 2017. 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: Yule

Denmark Yule

Important Dates:

December

Fridays - Student Council “Spirit Day”- wear spirit-wear or Brummitt colors (maroon & gold)

21 thru Jan 3 No School Winter Break

January

4 School Resumes

10 School Council Meeting

12 PTO Fundraiser Night at  El Cantarito 4-9pm

13 End of Grading Period and First Semester

16 No School Teacher Grading & Recording

20 Report Cards Available Online

20 PTO Movie Night 6-8pm

26 School Council Pajama Day

26 Brummitt’s Curl Up & Read in Media Center 6:30-7:30pm

Fridays - Student Council “Spirit Day”- wear spirit-wear or Brummitt colors (maroon & gold)

This week we continued learning about our Life Skills with Joyful. This skill goes so well with the season and with kindness. When I am kind to others I feel so much joy.  The students feel so much joy this time of year with all the love and kindness around them. I know that they feel joy when they take the time to be generous to others and kind during this holiday season.

They are all so happy to be here these last two days. They shared 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 all tied up. The students were all excited about this one because they all could remember a time they heard it before. They all shared different stories about what they heard an adult say that one. I had no takers on drawing anything or designing anything, but I am hopeful for after break. Here is a hint to help you out: it involves thinking. I posted the picture for the next one on Tuesday so students can stop by and see it before the holiday. I also have the picture posted on the side panel of the blog to view.

Language Arts

First Grade:

This week we didn’t get to meet one Monday because of the holiday parties, but I did get to see the students on Tuesday. I reviewed Lipograms with them and we talked about who might use lipograms.  I gave them all their presents and we took a picture. Look closely, we left you a clue. Once you find it let your child know.

 After the break we will start on our next lesson which involves text talk. We will have some fun with emoticons and we will read a new book called Wumbers.  

Second Grade:

On Monday we didn’t get to meet because of the delay and the students had a presentation to attend. On Tuesday we got to meet and we worked more on The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane  by Kate DiCamillo. We talked about adjectives and words we would used to describe all the characters from the book.

We worked on a worksheet where they choose two adjectives to describe each character of the book. The students even added a few that weren’t already on the worksheet.  They had so much fun reading all the adjectives that were provided and we all took a turn reading all the words for a certain letter.

After they were complete they all got their presents and we took a picture. They also got to dance some to Gonoodle.com. After the break the students will create Wordles using adjectives to describe all their feelings about the book, characters and especially Edward.

Third Grade:

This week we didn’t get to meet either day because of the delay, holiday parties and holiday activities. After the break we will continue with fairy tales. I got the students each a copy of the Grimm Fairy Tales and they will all get to choose one to read and discuss with the class. I look forward to hearing all about the fairy tales they choose.

Fourth Grade:

This week we got to meet both days to go over what the students have completed and what they still need to work on. They are all getting things done and making sure to ask all the right questions about what they need to complete.

  Please ask them if they need any help because it always helps to have someone look over their work to make sure they are on the right track. I will be checking my email if they need help, please email me and I will do my best to answer any questions they might have.

Please make sure they are thinking about their presentation and who they will be acting as in their monologues. When they write the monologues they can be other people who knew their change-maker. They will start the presentations January 17th.  

• Steps One & Two Everyone is complete

• Step Three: Biography Summary and submit: Every student has turned in a first draft

 -Create a works cited page to acknowledge sources you are using; use a consistent format: Everyone has it complete some might have to add items if they find more pictures or sites.
• Step Four: Synthesize information to list at least ten major events in the person’s life: Due Dec 2nd. I still have 1 student who is still working to get this done.

• Step Five: Create a timeline of the famous person’s life: Due Dec. 13th There are still three students who need to complete this step

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.

• Step Six: Consider change in the person’s life and how he/she made a difference. Write a monologue that includes events, changes, and differences made in regard to his/her life: Due January 6th I extended this because the students really wanted to work on it during break. I have one student who is already done.

• Step Seven: Create a Prezi that includes the person’s name, a photo, years lived, and major contribution(s): Due Jan. 10th log-in information is on spreadsheet. A few students are already almost complete

• Step Eight: Memorize your monologue. You may dress as your character. You are now ready for the People Who Made a Difference presentation: Due Jan. 17th

• Monologue Criteria

Monologue describes beliefs and values 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

We didn’t meet because of winter break starting, but we will resume classes January 4th with lots of great things planned.

Have a Wonderful Holiday Season and Winter Break!

Mrs. Lutterman