Flying By Friday!!!

Wow, the week was great, but there was lots going on here at Brummitt. This week was all about I-Step and making sure all the students did their best. I am so proud of the students and all their hard work. The weather was great at the beginning  then changed back to spring with showers and clouds. I hope the weekend improves. There is lots of fun changes happening around the school and I am getting so many questions from the students even though I am as in the dark as they are. I know it is starting to look really cute and very interesting. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

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

9 National Walk/Bike to School Day

16 Last Day of High Ability Language Arts

18 Last Day of High Ability Math

19 No School

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 Courage. I-Step testing started this week and the students need all their courage to give them the strength they need to do their best and have the confidence to be as great as they are.  Mr. Cammarata made sure to inspire the students this week on the announcements to use their courage to do their best. He gave them the confidence to do and be their best everyday. I have asked the students about courage and they can all give excellent examples of when they have used courage to do something great that they didn’t think they could. They all knew not to let fear take over and overwhelm them.

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 ….His head is in the clouds. This week all the students really enjoyed this one because it makes them laugh and think all at the same time. They all can remember a time where they were off daydreaming. I am so excited because Caroline brought in a cool illustration this week and she got a prize from the box. I hope this inspires other students to bring in things next week.  Here is a hint to help you out: it involves foot and mouth. 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 talked about connections in our story Knuffle Bunny A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems. We discussed what connections we found and what kind they were. We also learned about the four levels of questioning. We decided to go over the book again in a new way. We found a video that has a family reading the story as each character. It was very exciting to listen to. Then we completed a worksheet about the story using the four levels. I assisted in some of the outlines for our drawings as we answered and discussed the story. Next week we will finish our discussion and start our next lesson. I sent home a sheet to let parents know about bringing in a stuffed animal or special toy to use in our next lesson.

 

First Grade:

This week we continued our journey through ancient Egypt and learning about their life, mummies, and Hieroglyphs. We learned about becoming a scribe and how much learning is involved in being one and being successful. We also learned about hieratics which is an easier and faster way of writing for the scribes. It takes all the hieroglyphs and makes a simpler drawing. We also learned about the Scribe’s Life. The students got to practice their scribing skills with a drawing activity. I asked the students to figure out what they wanted to create on their clay tablets and they drew the hieroglyphs. On Tuesday the students finished up their drawings and I decided to hold off till next week on the clay. We decided to go back to our website to learn more about ancient times and the pyramids.  We learned about the different areas of that time on the map and how they were important to the people. Then we took a quiz to see if we learned it all. As a class we rocked out the quiz. Then we moved on to explore the Valley of the Kings and see what we could learn. Next week the students will create their clay tablets and we will continue to learn about life in ancient Egypt.

 

Second Grade:

 This week we continued to learn with Because of Winn-Dixie. The students are really enjoying the movie and comparing it to the book. They are finding all the differences. They are to excited to share everything they have figured out. We got through two more sections of the movie and I think they have all filled up several Venn Diagrams. I am so happy they are excited about this activity and that they love this book so much. Next week we will continue to compare the movie and book. I am not sure if we'll get to end, but the students will be ready to share all that they found.

 

Third Grade:

This week we started our next lesson on The Emperor’s New Suit. First we reviewed our grammar from last week and finished figuring out the singular present tense. Once that was complete we started to read The Emperor’s New Suit. We talked about the vocabulary as we read and discussed the terms that were different from writing today. On Tuesday we finished the story and had a short discussion about the story. Then we talked about the steps to problem solving. This was an activity the students would complete in small groups. We talk the about the problem/subject of the activity. It was all about cheating. We discussed the story and how cheating related to it. The students broke into their small groups and worked on the steps of problem solving. They got to brainstorm and discuss the problem and different factors and consequences of cheating. They all came up with examples and ideas that involve cheating. We then shared them and discussed them as a class to see what everyone thought. Next week we will continue to problem solve and find some solutions.

 

 

 

Fourth Grade:

 This week we continued our investigation of The Westing Game. The students were really excited to start this week off and spin their theories to others in class. We read Chapter 15 together and answered questions about all they read over the weekend. They we very excited to keep reading to see if they could figure out who the bomber was. On Tuesday they were all a buzz because they had figured it out. They were all ready to talk about it and share all their ideas and theories on Why. I am making sure not to give too much away in the blog in case some readers haven’t read the book before. I am so happy they are so excited about the book. Many of them can’t wait to keep reading to see what will happen next. I am also proud of how some of them are keeping such great track of all the details to help them solve the case. They are also figuring out why Sam Westing was placing certain people together to be partners. They are doing an excellent job being great detectives. They need to keep reading for next week chapter 19 through 21 and we will discuss all their findings in class first thing.

 

Math

Kindergarten:

 This week we continued our lesson on collecting data and making charts. Since IStep testing is going on we had to move to another area in the school and it worked out great for us. Mrs. West allowed the students to ask the entire class a question about school lunch and their favorite. The students got to graph the data as they collected it. We also took time to walk around the building asking other people too. The students had so much fun collecting the data and having a chance to be in charge. They even got to ask Mr. Cammarata what his favorite lunch is. On Thursday we went to the computer lab to solve a mystery using logic and our math skills. The students got to have some fun trying to figure the math mystery. They had a great time using all their detective skills to help solve The Cafeteria Caper and The Mad Adder Strikes Again. Next week we will finish up the graphing and try our hand at another math mystery.  

First Grade:

This week the students got back the chapter check-ups and they all did an awesome job. We talked about the unit and they assured me they were ready to take the unit assessment. They all took their time to complete it and I will check it this weekend, but I am sure they all did great. On Thursday we decided to become detectives and solve some math mysteries. We went to the computer lab because of IStep testing and got to work. We solved two mathlogic mysteries: The Cafeteria Caper and The Mad Adder Strikes Again. The students did a great job working as a team to solve it using all their math skills and logic skills. 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.  We started to work on area and comparing shapes. We completed two different activities making predictions then finding the area. The first sheet was finding area in square inches and the other was in square centimeters. The students used centimeter cubes to help them see how small a square centimeter really is compared to a square inch. On Thursday we finished that activity and started our scavenger hunt. They had a blast looking for items around the room that were the sizes they needed.  Next week we will finish this lesson with the Think Deeply and Think beyond questions and move on to our next lesson.

 

 

 

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 Area. Area is a measure of how much space there is on a flat surface. ... For example, in a rectangle we find the area by multiplying the length times the width. ... For example, land area is measured in units like acres and hectares. The students did an excellent job solving this one. They took their time and really read the question before they completed it. They all got it right.

Third Grade:

 This week we finished our unit test on Wednesday and started a new project on Thursday. We started these cool math packets by Ed Zacarro. I decided to have us start with one that everyone loves called How Much Does it Cost? First we read about the lesson and ways to help us solve the problems. Then we go and complete each level to see how far we can go. We breezed through the first three levels and only had to take more time on the genius level. We still have a few questions left to solve for next week. Then we will move on to a new lesson.

Fourth Grade:

This week we continued to work on quadrants and plotting out coordinates. The students worked on their Think Deeply questions on Wednesday and did a great job figuring out coordinates and answering the questions. On Thursday we started our new lesson called It is All in What You See! First we went over the vocabulary for this lesson and played a game to see what the students already knew. After that the students started their first activity called Reflect Over Here. The students had to reflect shapes onto dot paper from one side to the other. They had to first predict what the shape would look like.  Next week we will continue with this lesson with an activity using reflection.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Lutterman