NEGLEY GT
Serving Gifted Students since 2006
Fall 2022 Edition
Negley Gifted and Talented Program
https://www.edglossary.org/differentiation/
GT students also have the opportunity to do higher level/interest projects during daily WIN time. We believe that our students need to know the TEKS first. When it is clear the student knows the expected standards, that is when the student can be challenged to take the subject to a deeper level. We want DEEP roots, not surface level roots. DEEP roots will anchor our GT students for their future classwork.
Lunch and Learn - Book Study!
Hays G/T website
Negley GT Advocate of Year- Stephanie Estes
What has your child been doing for GT?
Ms. Cook's 5th Grade Class
Project 1: Wind Energy
Building off of the "Winds of Hope" excerpt we read in ELAR, we discussed a book called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. In it, the boy William used what limited schooling he had, his love for knowledge, and pieces around his village to build a windmill in his community in order to provide electric power. Students investigated an alternative energy source and the history of windmills. They then used their own materials to build, test, and improve their windmills, as well as measuring the amount of mass they could get their windmill to lift up.
Project 2: Blindfolded Cup Stacking
Our second project focused on team-building and thinking outside the box. Students were in teams of three: two of the group members were blindfolded, and the other person was responsible for giving the directions needed in order to stack the tallest tower of cups. This was fun because the kids thought it was going to be super easy. However, once they were blindfolded and didn't know where their partner was stacking their cup, it became a lot more challenging. They had to rely on someone else's instructions. I really like this activity because it requires us to stop being the leader and be an active listener in order to be successful.
Project 3: Haunted House
In this project, students had to plan out a haunted house. They had to come up with a theme and plan at least 3 rooms. They were given a budget and had to decide what their shopping list would be for props, figure out a cost and what their profit would be, and then pick a charity to donate to. They also created a playlist of music, designed pictures to advertise, answered concession stand word problems, mapped the floor plan of their house, measured the area and perimeter of each room, and created a flyer to advertise their haunted house. This was all digital and can be found in their Google Drive 5th Enrichment folder.
Ms. McDaid's Second Grade Class
Ms. Shuler's First Grade Class
We also use depth and complexity to take a deeper look into pumpkins and glean information from nonfiction texts.
Ms. Bell's Fourth Grade Class
This semester students have had many options for GT projects. Students were able to choose from multiple science projects that included making posters, creative writing, and even designing their own experiments. Students also started their first integrated project where they will use language arts and math skills to design their own ice cream truck.
Mr. White's Fourth Grade Class (Cauble - LA)
Poetry Book
The students just finished creating a poetry book. They were required to write 5 different types of poems accompanied by an illustration. In addition, they choose two poems to analyze. Their analysis included: an explanation of the poetic devices used, their favorite line or phrase, and a comment or connection they made with the poem. This was all compiled into a slideshow to share.
Harry Potter Circuit Wands
Students have been learning about electricity and circuits in science and how conductors and insulators are needed to create a circuit. Our GT students are creating their own version of a circuit by creating Harry Potter wands with their favorite house colors!
Ms. Andrade's Fourth Grade Class (Iverson -Sci)
During the first 9-week period, our Enrichment and GT identified students completed a research project and presentation on a self-selected topic. Students were encouraged to develop questions that go beyond simple answers. They integrated information from several sources and presented their learning to the group using Google Slides. They had so much fun completing this project and sharing what they learned. We also completed a few brain builder activities to get to know each other.
These picures show a Maker Space activity in the Library and a Build It Challenge in the classroom.
For the second 9-week period, students will be completing 2 days of math/ science based projects and 2 days of language arts projects each week.
*For math/ science, they are developing their own apps. During this process they will be responsible for creating the app phases, describing the details of the app, creating ads and logos, as well as writing an informational and persuasive paper. *For Language Arts, they are completing 2 creative writing projects.
Ms. Sotello's Third Grade Class
Ms. Doerr's Third Grade Class
In September, we learned about two Depth and Complexity icons - Rules and Language of the Discipline - when comparing and ordering numbers. Students analyzed the heights of the ten tallest buildings in the world and in the United States and put them in order from least to greatest or greatest to least in height. In science, students created their own matching game about the physical properties of matter. Each student received 16 cards to create their game. Students were encouraged to use their creativity in thinking about matching pairs. For example, an anchor and a rock will both sink. We also talked about how some objects will fit into more than one category! Students needed to have objects that could be measured or classified by: temperature, mass, magnetism, ability to sink or float, and are solid, liquid, or gas. Students also designed a robot and and determined its perimeter.
In October, students completed a rounding menu that made connections to multiple Depth and Complexity icons. Students could create a flyer to advertise rounding (Big Ideas) or an abstract poster with important rounding vocabulary (Language of the Discipline). They also had the opportunity to also create a brochure about rounding for other third graders (Rules/Details) and look at the steps of rounding through the use of a graphic organizer when rounding numbers to their nearest ten and hundred (Rules/Patterns).
This month, we will learn about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade by reading Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet. Students will then research the parade through various resources and design and create their own Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon based on their favorite book. They will also complete a proposal for their balloon, justifying why their balloon would be an interesting addition to the parade. We then use a green screen to create our very own parade!
Parent Resources
There are so many resources these days for parents! Here are a few to get you started. The newest additions will be in bold at the top of each category.
Parenting Gifted Children 101: Tracy Ford Inman & Jana Kirchner
A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children - James T Webb
The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids: How to Understand, Live With, and Stick Up for Your Gifted Child - Sally Walker, PhD
Websites:
National Association for Gifted Children
Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented
Hoagies Gifted Education Page
https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/
Pod Casts:
https://educationaladvancement.org/grc/gifted-education-podcast/
Family Confidential: Guiding Gifted Kids
Terms you need to know!
Check out this link for all the GT buzzwords you need to know!
Buzzword - Authentic Assessments
Buzzwords we have previously discussed
November: Depth and Complexity
January: Asyncronus Development
April - Ability Grouping
December: Compacting
May: Differentiation
What is Gifted and Talented?
“Gifted and Talented student” means a child or youth who performs at or shows the potential for performing at a remarkably high level of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age, experience or environment and who:
- exhibits high-performance capability in an intellectual, creative or artistic area;
- possesses an unusual capacity for leadership; or
- excels in a specific academic field.
- Texas Education Code
This definition is now codified in The Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students (Texas Education Agency, 2009), it is the basis for identification and services that must be provided for gifted and talented students in Texas.
“Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports).”
- National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
"The term ‘gifted and talented,” when used with respect to students, children, or youth, means students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in such areas as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities."
- Federal Definition
Questions/Concerns about GT at Negley?
General: Ms. Crowther or Ms. Estes
Testing: Ms. Winn or Ms. Kirichenko