Cassidy Gifted & Talented News
Week of March 27
Announcements
Get ready for the Primary Talent Pool/Gifted and Talented Spring Showcase! It is scheduled for April 19 from 5:30-6:30 in the cafeteria. This is an opportunity for students to show their families what they have been working on.
Reading
All Grade Levels: We are beginning a multi-genre research project. For this project, students will select a topic that interests them and conduct extensive research on that topic. They will then represent what they learned through multiple genres of writing. For example, if they chose the Olympic Games as their topic, they might create an informational webpage about the Olympic Games, write a short story about two sprinters competing for the gold, and make a map and timeline of where the Olympic Games have been held over time.
Math
All grade levels: Students are working on projects where they are applying what they have been learning to solve problems. For example, first and second graders have been learning about area and perimeter, so they are now designing a zoo to meet the specifications set by the "zoo board" on the various exhibits.
Leadership
In leadership, we are continuing to learn about the characteristics of good leaders and to plan community service projects. 5th grade has decided to Adopt a Grandparent at a local nursing home. We will plan a time to go and visit with our adopted grandparents and engage in fun activities with them and do some things around the nursing home (plant flowers, play games, etc.).
General Intellectual
We have been working on critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking, while you're thinking, in order to make your thinking better. Critical thinking skills involve questioning, reasoning, and evaluating. Thus far, we have explored questioning and are now working on reasoning. All students have been exploring Scratch or Kodable, computer programming websites that engage them in reasoning/logic/problem solving to design a program. All students can access these programs for free from home.
Art, Creativity, Music, Dance, and Drama
2nd and 3rd Grade Art, Creativity, Music, and Drama group: We are working on creating a musical. Thus far, we have developed our storyline and we are in the process of creating our script, as well as our costume and set designs. We are also gearing up for our field trip on March 30!
5th Grade Art: We have been working on self-selected, independent projects involving research on technique or art history combined with the creation of a piece of artwork. Students are also assisting in developing artwork for the Cassidy Alumni Art Night.
Resources and Opportunities
Resources:
Here is a link to The Gifted Guru, a website filled with resources related to Gifted and Talented. In particular, there is a parent page that you may find helpful:Opportunities:
Here is a link to information regarding a variety of Spring Break Camps operating throughout Lexington that will provide wonderful opportunities for enrichment in a variety of areas: http://www.lexingtonfamily.com/2012/02/spring-break-camps/
Contact Information
Angie Madden
Gifted and Talented Teacher
Cassidy Elementary
859-381-3018 ext 21252