Dr. Seuss Week was full of exciting things here at Brummitt! The students had so much fun dressing up each day. I think they all loved Wacky Wednesday the most. The book fair started this week as well and there are so many interesting books to read. I know that there is a book for everyone.
Wednesday was also International Women’s Day, where we celebrate all women and all they have accomplished throughout history.
International Women's Day, originally called International Working Women's Day, is celebrated on March 8 every year. It commemorates the movement for women's rights.
On Thursday we had the Festival of Learning. The students in all the grades had such fabulous projects. I loved them all so much. There were so many cool things to see and explore. I am so proud of every student here at Brummitt because they all did such an excellent job. I took lots of pictures of all the great projects and they are at the end of this week’s blog. So be sure to check them out.
We are finished testing all the second graders using the CogAT screener. Students who met the benchmark, will now take the full CogAT test next week. Current high ability students will automatically take the full test regardless of their screener score in order to get a complete picture. Current student will remain in high ability for the rest of the school year, so no worries. Results from not only CogAT, but end of the year NWEA will be used for placement in third grade for the 2017-2018 school year.
Important Dates:
March
Fridays - Student Council “Spirit Day”- wear spirit-wear or Brummitt colors (maroon & gold)
Now to March 3rd “Jar Wars”- Bring in your spare change!
8-14 Happy Camper Book Fair
10 Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration- Cat in the Hat Day
12 Arts-A-Budding Ceremony at Valpo University 2pm
14 VIP Science Night 5:30 to 7:30pm
17 4th Grade Musical 9am & 1pm
17 End of 3rd grading period
24 Jump Rope for Heart Kick- Off
24 Student Council “Twins Day”
27-31 No School Spring Break
This week we continued learning about our Life Skills with Perseverance. Perseverance is steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. I feel this one is so important for all students to learn and understand to be successful. I think that with all the students preparing for the festival of learning they need to remember that their perseverance will help them complete their projects and goals. I want them to understand that the difficulties and delays only help them to become stronger and better students and people. They just need to keep pushing toward their goal to get it done. They all showed perseverance this week with all they accomplished.
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 ….Stop pulling my leg. The students were all loving this one because they can relate to someone teasing them, like their siblings. Most of the students said that they have heard this idiom and most said their parents or grandparents have said it. I also told them it can being when someone is joking with them not teasing them. Another week with no takers on drawing anything or designing anything.I added more nest prizes to try to entice them to draw or find something that will work. I have my fingers crossed. Here is a hint to help you out: involves horses. I posted the picture for the next one on Thursday so students can stop by and see it. I also have the picture posted on the side panel of the blog to view.
Language Arts
First Grade:
This week we finished our adventure with Rebus Puzzles and the students wanted to read the The Fantastic 5 & 10 Cent Store A Rebus Adventure one last time. We read it and the students got to create their last rebus word or puzzle for us on Monday.
On Tuesday we were ready for our next secret message that we needed to decipher, but this one really stumped them because it was pictures of birds, feathers, and half circles. They all looked at me like we need more information. I gave them the key to solve this secret message and they were off and running.
They got it done in a minute flat. They had deciphered their first Hieroglyphs. They word was water. They became very interested in what we will be learning about. Once I told them it involves the Nile. They got even more intrigued.
I asked them what they already knew about Ancient Egypt. I had lots of them say mummies, but I few knew even more. Once I started to talk about the pyramids and who were in them. Lorelai knew for sure that King Tut had been buried there and other pharaohs. We had a great discussion about Egypt and what they want to learn about while we study ancient times there. Next week we will start our journey through time and see all that ancient Egyptians have to show us about their lives and their secret language.
Second Grade:
This week we continued our adventure with Opal and Winn-Dixie. On Monday we went over all the new vocabulary words for the chapters so far and we talked about what each word means in the story. We played a fun game to find matches. We also talked about the story and what we think so far. We read two chapters and talked about why we like the characters so much.
On Tuesday the students got to start a new packet on the characters. We talked about how all the characters have traits both good and bad. The students will go through as we read and as they read at home and fill out three traits for each character. They also need to put when the trait was revealed to them. This gives them a way to relate to each character as we read. I want them to make connections to these characters and to see how important these connections are to the story. Next week we might not get to meet because of the full CogAT testing, but I have given them two chapters to read and a vocabulary worksheet to complete. I also gave them an extra prize box assignment to complete if they want that is all about Florida. They only have to complete it if they want to get a prize.
Third Grade:
This week the students got to work on their Tic Tac Toe projects. They all got to create things that have to do with characters from fairy tales. Some created drawings of a character and others created maps that told the journeys of a fairy tale. Some students even creates outstanding puppets to retell a fairy tale. Next week they will have some time to finish up their projects and then they will get to share them with the class. I can’t wait to see all the cool, interesting, and exciting creations.
Fourth Grade:
This week the students needed to be really creative to complete our assignment. We started the class with a discussion on mysteries and how they differ from other genres of literature and how they are alike.
We then discussed the red herring one more time to make sure we all know when we might find them in our reading. Then it was time to start our paper bag mysteries. The students broke into pairs to come up with 25 of either characters, settings, goals, obstacles, or endings.
On Tuesday we collected all our lists. The lists were cut up and placed into my cauldron since I didn’t have paper bags and the students got to choose two of each to write their stories. They were all laughing at some of the choices they got and they were really excited to start writing a great mystery. Next week I am not sure if we will get to meet because of rehearsals for the musical, but if not I will let them know to start writing their stories while the information is still fresh in their heads.
Math
First Grade:
This week we started our next lesson on measurement. The students got to create their own rulers to use to measure the length of things around the room. Once we completed that activity we had a discussion on rulers and ways to measure things.
The students all agree that they prefer to use the school rulers over the rulers they created because they are more precise measuring devices. On Thursday the students got to complete a measurement activity on measuring your pinkie, foot, wrist and knee.
They all wanted to use my measuring tapes to get the best answers that were exact. They all did an excellent job using teamwork to help each other with measuring. They then got to choose two other things to measure. Some measured their heads, hair, elbows, and arms. They loved this activity. I am so proud of how well they all work together to get the job done. Since Thursday was animal day I decided we needed a group picture to show all the animals that came to visit today. Next week we will finish measuring and then we will get to play the Pom-Pom Toss game again and this time we will be using our measuring math skills to find out how far we throw the pom poms.
Second Grade:
This week we continued working on area with an awesome opportunity to find the area of a tent. Thanks to Mrs. Dortmund who has set up a cool tent for the Happy Camper Book Fair, we got to measure the tent to find the area and to see how many campers could sleep in it. The students were so excited to get to find the perimeter and the area of the tent. They all did a great job working together to accomplish the goal. They were great. We went back to the room and discussed how many people we thought could fit comfortably in the tent and all the students had great ideas. On Thursday we took all the data we collected on the tent to figure out the area and perimeter. The student also had time to solve how many students could fit in another size tent that the detective duo would be using for the visitors at their school. Next week we will continue working on tent sizes and finding area.
Third and Fourth Grade: Math Vocabulary Comic Relief
So far this year the students are really enjoying figuring out the question on 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 Prime Numbers. A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that has no positive divisors other than 1 and itself. A natural number greater than 1 that is not a prime number is called a composite number. The students all did a great job this week with prime numbers. They all were quick to answer and knew what they were doing. I had a few miss one number, but they quickly caught it.
Third Grade:
This week we started our new lesson call Yummy Yeti Lemonade. We needed to figure out how much lemonade was needed for a class of 30 students, one teacher, and 5 guests. Each person would be drinking two cups of the yummy lemonade. We also needed to choose the right lemonade to get and the correct amount to purchase based on the chart we were given. First thing, we figured out there would be 72 cups of lemonade needed to make sure everyone got two cups. Then we went over each product to see how much to get of that brand. We were also asked some questions about how many different ways could you add different amounts like pint, cup, quart, pottle (half gallon) and gallon to get to 72 cups. Next week we will finish figuring out what lemonade will be best and why.
Fourth Grade:
This week we finished up our lesson on transformation with a few Think Beyond cards. I wanted to make it fun so I made a cool game out of it. The students needed to think of all the capital letters in the alphabet and figure out which could be reflected horizontal vertical or both and not change the letter.
Then we went through the whole alphabet to see who knew what. I had cork letters I would hold up and then they would answer what they thought. They had a lot of fun and I think they learned a lot too. It gave them a great refresher on reflection and using their minds to see what it looks like when something is reflected. Next week we will start our next lesson called On the Grid. I can’t wait to see what the students already know and what math vocabulary they can share.
Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Lutterman
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