Cassidy Gifted & Talented News
Week of November 14, 2016
Introduction
I am Dr. Angie Madden and I am the Gifted and Talented Teacher at Cassidy Elementary. From this point forward, I will be sending weekly newsletters out to you to share what your child is doing in their groups as well as resources, opportunities, and events at Cassidy and beyond. I sent letters home previously indicating your child's area(s) of identification, so you will just look for your child's area(s) and grade level below to see what they are working on now. If the letter describing your child's area(s) and services didn't happen to make its way home or you need another copy, just let me know (my contact info is at the bottom of this newsletter).
I have really enjoyed getting back with the kids after my maternity leave and look forward to seeing you all throughout the school year!
Sincerely,
Angie Madden
Announcements
Portable:
The portable is now open and ready for us to move in! Hooray! It will still probably be a week or so until it is ready for use (everything has to get moved in and set up first). Once everything is set up, all resource (pull-out groups) will meet in the portable during PTP/GT time. Your child's service plan that I sent home previously will indicate if they receive resource (pull-out services)Gifted and Talented Showcase:
Mark your calendars! On December 14 at 5:30 in the Cassidy cafeteria, we will have our first Cassidy Gifted and Talented Showcase! This will be an opportunity for students to share what they have been working on this year with their families in PTP/GT.
Reading
The areas that we focus on in reading were determined based on MAP data for that particular grade level group.
3rd and 4th grade: We have been working on reading and writing informational text. We have been conducting research, collecting facts, sorting and organizing our facts, citing resources, and determining the text features and text structures that will best represent our information. Once we finish organizing our research, we will move into creating a product to represent what we learned.
Math
In math, all groups are working on advanced level mathematics to extend their learning in this area. The topics each group is studying are listed below.
1st Grade: Solving multi-step word problems and addition/subtraction strategies
2nd Grade: Subtraction strategies
3rd Grade: Multiplication and Division facts, strategies, and word problems
5th Grade: Converting fractions, decimals, and percentsLeadership
General Intellectual
Art, Creativity, Music, Dance, and Drama
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 will present their works at the December showcase.
Resources and Opportunities
Opportunities:
The Lexington Arts and Science Center has a variety of programming that would be wonderful for Gifted and Talented Learners. They have Discovery Saturdays, art nights, and tons of other classes and programs to keep young minds active and learning.
Resources:
Check out LexKAGE (the Lexington branch of the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education). They offer Super Saturday programs for students and have a Parent tab with helpful information for families of gifted students.