Three Weeks Left Thursday!!!

 The school was all abuzz this week because the Kindergarten had their baby chicks hatch. They are so cute and fluffy. I got the chance to go down and see them before their departure on Friday to their new home. The students were so excited to watch them and talked all about them all week. The I-Step testing continued this week. The third and fourth graders worked really hard to do their best this week. The weather has been very unpredictable with beautiful weather Monday and Tuesday, but the rain the rest of the week. I hope it clears up soon. There are so many surprises to look forward to next week. I can’t wait to see all the big top wonders to come.

High Ability Summer School

Searching for educational enrichment this summer? Consider Duneland's High Ability Summer School! With the theme of "Do What the Romans Do," 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. The gold sign-up flyer went home last Friday. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

Important Dates:

April

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

4/17- 5/5 ISTEP Testing in 3rd & 4th grade (2nd part)

May

1-5 Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week

1 One School One Book Kick- Off

3 Early Dismissal at 1:45 p.m.

4 PTO Meeting 2:30 p.m.

4 National School Nurse Day

9 300 Miles to Brummitt Event (***Rain Date May 11th)

8-12 Last week to check out library material

10 Student Council “Choose your Seat Day”

11 Title 1 Family Game Night 4:30- 6:00 p.m.

12 Last day to charge in the cafeteria

15 All library material due

16 Last Day of High Ability Language Arts

17 Author Visit

18 PTO “Sock Hop” 6:00pm-7:30pm

18 Last Day of High Ability Math

19 No School

19 PTO Family Night- Zao Island 5pm- 8:00pm

29 NO SCHOOL - Memorial Day

30 Brummitt Field Day (all grades)

31 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

Autograph Signing Day from 10-10:45- Bring Your Yearbook!

End of Second Semester

Report Cards Available to View

June

5 First day of summer school (June5th - June 22nd) at Bailly Elementary

Our last week of high ability will be the week of May 15th-May 18th.  We do not see students that last week of school due to the data collection needed across all grade levels.  The last week is a very busy time for our high ability department.  We will be entering data, finalizing decisions and getting permission slips ready to send out for those qualifying for high ability for the 2017-2018 school year!

This week we continued learning about our Life Skills with Integrity. I think that this was a perfect life skill this week because the students showed such great integrity through all their testing.  All the students here at Brummitt always try their hardest and make sure to be honest and show high moral principles. I see many of my students that have strong moral principles and make sure to be great upstanding students and citizens each and every day.  I hope that they have learned that doing the right thing doesn’t mean getting praise for it, it is the feeling you get inside from doing what’s right each and every time I know that so many students make sure to be honest and it doesn’t take someone reminding them. They have the drive inside to always do what is right.

Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people. Dennis Prager

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 ….I put my foot in my mouth. This idiom is one of the best for all students to see the illustration for because it is soo funny and unrealistic. The students can relate to this one because we have all said something that we immediately realize we shouldn’t have. The students said they have all felt that way before. We have no takers this week, but since we had Caroline last week I am hoping it will encourage others to give it a try.  Here is a hint to help you out: it involves books and boxing. 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

Kindergarten:

 This week we continued to learn all about connections. We completed a worksheet called I Am.  We picked a character from the book and completed the character sheet about them. We picked Knuffle Bunny. This was a cute activity to get us ready to talk about our special stuff animal from home. We talked about our animals and why they are so special to us. We also talked about fact and opinion. We completed an activity where we decided whether a sentence was fact or opinion. This helped us to understand the difference. Then it was time to talk about persuasion and try to convince someone to agree with your opinion. This was a new challenge for us because we needed to find a way to convince someone to agree that our animal is the best in the world. We learned the hamburger model and talked about writing a paragraph. On Tuesday we got to work creating our own hamburger model to write our first persuasive paragraph. This is a great activity to help students learn to write paragraphs. I took a picture of our hamburger. Next week we will start our next lesson on Wemberly and why she worries so much.

 

First Grade:

This week we continued our journey through ancient Egypt and learning about their life, mummies, and Hieroglyphs. On Monday we read the rest of our book Hieroglyphs by Joyce Milton. Learned all about papyrus and how paper was made back in ancient Egypt. We also learned about the book of the dead and how it helped teach the Egyptians about the afterlife and The Land of the Dead. We read about tomb inscriptions and carvings and why they were so important to the people of Egypt. Finally we learned all about their tombs and why they needed so many things in them. We learned that it was to help them in the afterlife. On Tuesday the students got to work with their own clay tablets to create their hieroglyphs. I gave them hard clay that they had to work through to create their own tablets and then write what they wanted in hieroglyphs. I will have them finish them up on Monday and then bake them to set them. They students will be able to bring them home to share with you after they are complete. Make sure to ask them what they chose to create. Next week we will also go to the website to see what sections to we learn about next in Egypt. The students will also have a chance to finish reading the book they have to share information they found on ancient Egypt and the Rosetta Stone.  

 

Second Grade:

 This week we continued to learn with Because of Winn-Dixie. The students were really excited to see the end of the movie and see if it was the same as the book. On Tuesday we watched the last part and had enough time to start our discussion comparing the book to the movie. They were so eager to share everything they had found that was different. I am really proud of how observant they were. They all found each difference between the book and movie. They were all ready to talk and share each detail. We only got through part of our discussion, but we will finish it next week. They all did an excellent job. I also gave them the books because I know how much they all loved the story and they will all want to read it again.

 

 

Third Grade:

This week we started a new lesson all about Cinderella and all the different versions of the story. The students got to pair up and get to work on this project. I let them choose four or five different versions from all over the world to compare to Charles Perrault version. He wrote one of the most popular versions of Cinderella in 1697, under the name Cendrillon. The popularity of his tale was due to his additions to the story, including the pumpkin, the fairy-godmother and the introduction of "glass" slippers. They got to research and find the different versions they wanted to read. Once they found one they like they read it and completed a Venn Diagram comparing it to the Charles Perrault  version. Next week they will continue to work on finding and reading versions from different countries and times throughout history.   

 

 

Fourth Grade:

 This week we continued our investigation of The Westing Game. The first thing we did on Monday was have a discussion on what happened in the chapter they read over the weekend. They were all spinning theories and wanting to share them. I told them that they needed to write them down and I would check them. I am proud to say one student, Beck figured it out. There were a few others on the right track too. I am so proud of all the investigation and time the students are taking as they read to really look for clues and figure out what the red herrings are. They did a great job so far. We read and discussed the next chapters on Tuesday. We decided not to read for next week because they all want to hear the end together in class and I agree. I want to see them figure it out as each page is read. Next week we will finish the book and discuss what happened. After that we will watch the movie from 1995 and compare it to the book. There are so many difference between the two that it will be a great way for them to make Venn Diagrams to compare.

 

 

Math

Kindergarten:

 This week we continued our lesson on collecting data, graphing and even our math maven mysteries. On Wednesday we went over our graphs from last week and discussed them. Then IStep testing was ready to start so we went on over next data collecting adventure. The question this week was: What is your favorite thing to do on the weekends? The students were so excited to go around and ask students, teachers, and staff. They had so much fun. We will take our findings and discuss it next week. On Thursday we had another cool joint class with first grade to solve some more Math Maven Mysteries. It’s great to see both classes work together to solve the math mysteries. They help each other to find the clues to help them do the math to figure it all out. This week’s mysteries were Mystery at the Peculiar Zoo and The Case of the Dirty Dealer. They did an excellent job figuring out how many animals were taken and to find the correct amount of money Daryl should return to his sister. Next week we will finish up the graphing and try our hand at another math mystery.  

 

First Grade:

This week the students got back their unit assessments and they all did an awesome job. I am so proud of all their hard work this year. They are great students and did their best. They also got back their students mathematicians journals. Once they got everything back we started our next Math Maven Mystery. We started with the Bell Clapper Caper. They had to use logic to figure out which locker Silent Sam hid the clapper for the city bell in. They figured it out quick. Next we had the Mystery at the Third Strike Sports Store. The students were asked to figure out who the third customer was that day at the store. They were given the clues and figured out the order.   On Thursday we got to have the joint class in the computer lab where we solved two more mysteries. The students did an excellent job helping the kindergarten students to figure out the mysteries using their math skills. The mysteries were Mystery at the Peculiar Zoo and The Case of the Dirty Dealer. They did a great job using teamwork to solve each mystery. Next week we will continue to work as detectives to solve some more math mysteries.  

 

 

Second Grade:

 This week we continued our lesson called  Meerkat Mob.  On Wednesday we completed our Think Deeply because some students were out for NWEA testing and partners were unable to work together to complete the Scavenger Hunt. On Thursday we finished the hunt and we reviewed for the chapter check-up. Next week the students will take the Chapter 2 Check-up and we will start our next chapter on capacity.

 

 

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 Circumference Circumference is the enclosing boundary of a curved geometric figure, especially a circle. All the students did an excellent job on this one. I am very proud of how they read the board and completed it quickly. We even had a few students make their baskets.  

Third Grade:

 This week we continued to work math packets by Ed Zacarro. We finished up working on How Much Does it Cost? On Wednesday. We solve level three and the genius level. On Thursday we started chapter five called Balance It. This chapter works on fractions and figuring out how to make things balance. We went through the lesson and completed level one and two. Next week we will finish up the chapter.

Fourth Grade:

This week we continued to work on the lesson called It is All in What You See! The students completed the next activity called Reflect Over There. The students did a great job figuring out what the reflection of their shape would be when it was reflected horizontally.  On Thursday we worked on another activity where the students followed my directions to draw the shape, then they made it 3-D. Next week we will  finish up the lesson and review for the chapter check-up.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Lutterman