Brummitt's High Ability Blog Spot: 300 Miles to Brummitt Thursday!!

This week flew by here at Brummitt with so much going on. The school looks more and more like a circus with all the cool projects the students are completing. I took some pictures to share of some great characters. On Tuesday we got washed out and didn’t have the 300 miles to Brummitt walk. On Thursday the make up day was excellent and the students had so much fun walking and enjoying the time outdoors. Next week we will have the last official week of high ability classes. I heard all the students this week talking about the book The Show Must Go On!! The students love discussing the characters and chatting about what they like. The trivia this week was great because all the students will figure out the answers and want you to call to win. It has been so much fun this year and we love the book. Next week the author will be coming to visit and the students are all very excited to meet her. Also don’t forget the Sock Hop next Thursday. I am sure it will be lots of fun.

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. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

Congratulations to Elsa on her achievement this week. She received the certification of appreciation from the Porter County Sheriff's Office for her essay. Great Job Elsa!!

Important Dates:

May

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

8-12 Last week to check out library material

12 Last day to charge in the cafeteria

15 All library material due

16 Last Day of High Ability Language Arts

17 Author Visit

17 Duneland School Art Show @ Chesterton Art Center

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

This week we continued learning about our Life Skills with Pride. This week students really showed their pride by participating in the 300 miles to Brummitt. They showed they care about their school and the world around them. They have shown they take pride in everything they do. I am proud of all their efforts this week and this year.

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 ….Don’t open a can of worms. The students were all laughing at this one because I think I have said it more than a few times. We all discussed that this idiom is very relatable because sometime we can all get into a little trouble. No takers on the illustration or drawing, but I am hoping for something next week since it will be our last one. Here is a hint to help you out: it involves sand and your head. 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 connection with Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes. On Monday we re-read the book and talked about Wemberly and going to school. We talked about worrying and what we worry about. We made connections between Wemberly and the world around her. We learned about a reading analyzer and how to fill each part out after we read a book or story. It was fun to discuss what the key words might be and the feelings the story gives us. We discussed the ideas and images we learned from the story. After we finished our reading analyzers we talked more about worrying and who in our families worry. We discussed what kids might worry about and why. On Tuesday we started out by talking about the homework he completed and who he discussed worry with. We went over what we have worried about recently. After that we started our next lesson called What’s the Worry? We made connections to worrying and we made a chart about what kids worry about. I also wanted to read another book that had a child who was worrying in it. We read Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems. I used this book because I wanted to make connections between the characters and their bunnies. Next week we will finish up our discussion on worrying and make some more connections between stories and characters.

First Grade:

This week we worked on the website to finish the next part of our journey through ancient Egypt. The students got to learn all about the math system they used in ancient times and even got to add, subtract, and multiply using their number system. On Tuesday the students got back their Hieroglyphs tablets. They were very excited to get to take them home and let their families see their work. I hope they all made it home okay. The students got to work on their IMovie Trailers and even use their tablets in them. They are so excited to share them soon. After we shot a few scenes the students got back to work and finished the mummy section of the website and did an awesome job on the quiz. I took a picture of them all showing the score and holding their tablets. Next week will be our last week classes and they will finish their video and finish our lesson on ancient Egypt. I will miss all our research and exploring what life was like way back then.

Second Grade:

This week we continued the activity on the candy and connections. The students got the opportunity to work on their candy ads for their Candy Creations. Some students finished theirs and got to play story cubes. They also started work on their movie trailers. Next week the others will finish the candy creations and they will work to finish their movie trailers.

Third Grade:

This week we continued our lesson all about Cinderella and all the different versions of the story. The students finished their Venn Diagrams on Monday. They got to make presentations on the versions they read. They shared all the differences they found for each version. We also took time to talk about the I-Movies and which trailers that they like and wanted to complete. On Tuesday we finished up the presentations and started their I-Movie trailers. Next week we will finish up the trailers and discuss what genre we liked best this year.

Fourth Grade:

This week we continued our investigation of The Westing Game. The students finished the last chapter over the weekend and we all discussed what we thought of the end. Then we started the 1997 movie. The students got to use a Venn Diagram to compare the book to the movie. There are many differences between them. We didn’t get to meet on Tuesday because the students were on their field trip to the Porter County Expo Center for Agricultural Day. Next week we will continue the movie and see what other differences we can find.

Math

Kindergarten:

This week we continued our lesson on collecting data, graphing, and even our math maven mysteries. On Wednesday we completed a graph on What is your favorite way to travel? The students had a blast because they got to ask a whole fourth grade class as they were going to specials. We also started our video project. We went over the different videos to choose from and they found one they loved. We started filming and will finish it next week.

First Grade:

This week we continued to work on our Math Maven Mysteries. The students really like being math detectives and figuring out each one. On Wednesday they completed The Golden Bat Bandit. This one is awesome because they have to find a certain seat in the ball park using all the math clues. They rocked this one out very quickly. Then they got to solve The Case of the Cuckoo Caper. This one was more difficult, but they figured it out. We start the video trailer and had a blast figuring out who would play each part. Next week we will continue to work as detectives to solve some more math mysteries and we will finish the video trailer for all to see.

Second Grade:

This week the students got back their chapter check-ups and they all did an awesome job. There were so many 100%’s I am so proud of all of them. After we reviewed that we talked about capacity and finished up the next activity. We also had time to start the video. The students got to figure out what they wanted to do and started to work on it. I can’t wait to see what they filmed and created. On Thursday the students completed their Think Deeply and reviewed the vocabulary words from the year. Next week the students will explore more with capacity and finish their movie trailers.

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 Edge. Edge is a particular type of line segment joining two vertices in a polygon, polyhedron, or higher-dimensional polytope. In a polygon, an edge is a line segment on the boundary, and is often called a side. Most students did an awesome job on this one and got it right away. I had a few get confused, but they quickly recovered and got the right answer. Great job students!

Third Grade:

This week we continued to work math packets by Ed Zacarro. We finished up working on Oh No, I have to Change the Recipe!! We also started our movie trailer and it is a great one that is for sure. Lots of action and adventure. Next week we will finish our last packet and the video. We will also have some math fun with sumdog.com

Fourth Grade:

This week the students continued to work on their exams to finish up both the chapter check-up and unit assessment. On Thursday we still had some students that needed to finish their assessments. The students were not on their best behavior either. I think they were too excited from going to WIS early and all that awaits them next year, Once they were behaving and had finished they got to work on their movie trailers. They were so excited to work as teams to complete them. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next week.