GT Newsletter
October 2017
Gifted Resources!
Every year I like to remind parents that you are you child’s greatest advocate. You will be there when they are young and you will stand up for/with them when they are adults. As our oldest is in her early 40s now and our youngest of five children is approaching 30, I can attest from experience that the role of a parent is for life.
I recently received an e-mail from TAGT (the Texas Association for Gifted and Talented) about what they consider to be their top resources for gifted education, http://tagtondemand.com/our-favorite-gt-resources/?inf_contact_key=37975776c2bed29b939c28a3d98be10fffebc24d5318ac16dbec76224872a2d5 . I happen to really enjoy Ian Byrd’s site the most. However, if you are searching for an article on a specific topic, I highly recommend Hoagie’s Gifted Education Page.
I am also available anytime you would like to talk. Please do not hesitate to share something wonderful or a concern!
Instagram!!
Instagram it is a great way to see daily happenings in GT! It is PRIVATE and only I can approve who sees what is posted. The only people I will approve are parents of students in GT and the other elementary GT specialists in Eanes so they can see what is happening in GT at BCE. It is a quick way to see what is happening in GT more frequently than the monthly newsletter.
I will still post slide shows after major events to share with friends and family members. You can click on the Instagram icon on my main page or search for bartoncreekgt on Instagam once you have downloaded the app. You will send a request to follow and please e-mail me your Instagram “name” so I can approve.
Events:
GT Kindergarten Assessment Information Meeting:
November 6, 2017 – 6:00 pm at the Valley View Elementary – for parents of children who are interested in the assessment process in kindergarten only
First Grade – Thinking Fair – Monday, November 6th, 8;00-8:45 a.m. in the GT Classroom
Third Grade – UT Span Contest Field Trip– Thursday, November 2, 10:00-12:00 (more detailed information will be sent separately)
Fourth Grade – Tour of Austin’s Architecture Field Trip – Monday, October 16, 9:00-2:15
First Grade
The “Thinkers” bounce into class every day with smiles on their faces, ready to embrace learning! The children have been busy experiencing an array of activities that promote different types of thinking. In order to enhance divergent thinking skills they have completed Draws Starts, practiced brainstorming, played Word Wiz and created stories using Story Cubes. The children are starting to realize that some activities require multiple types of thinking. This past week they used divergent thinking and visual thinking to design their own creations with tangram pieces. That was followed by solving Tangram puzzles, requiring convergent and visual thinking. A couple of their favorite games are SET and Othello!!
A key goal is for them to have their own Thinker's Toolkit to use as they tackle problems. An underlying goal is to work on perseverance since some of these exercises such as Crazy Collections (attribute analysis) and Logical Line-up (deductive thinking puzzles) are not always easily solved.
You (one parent per family) are invited to a “Thinking Fair” on Monday, November 6th, 8:00-8:45. Your child will be your “teacher” and you’ll rotate to different thinking activity stations. Save the date!!
Second Grade
The “Designers” in second grade have approached each Cardboard Creation’s challenge with such enthusiasm! The focus has been on the Design Process with special attention to the planning and the improving stages. I am impressed with their progress in planning instead of leaping to create something. They have worked with toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, paper plates, paper bags and cardstock paper so far. They absolutely loved seeing sculptures by artists made out of paper/cardboard online. Not all of their designs have worked, but they have still learned from the experiences.
Soon they’ll tackle a paper towel roll playground design challenge and a marble ramp challenge. Since they have mostly worked on their own so far, it is time to collaborate to design a project. Thus, in addition to the Design Process, team skills will be addressed.
Once again, this is such a great unit to highlight the gift of failure and how we can improve based on what we have learned.
Third Grade
My young “civil engineers” have started working on their balsa wood bridges for the UT Span contest. They had their first visit by two civil engineering students last week. They are super pumped about tackling this project with the UT students from ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers). The goal is for any one team to beat the previous year’s record of holding a greater live load.
In order to prepare for this challenge the children thought like scientists and participated in an online lab simulation to test loads, materials, forces and shapes. They also explored building with KNEX blocks. The young engineers also tested loads and experimented with different span designs. They also divided up the 3 types of bridges to explore a little more in-depth to create a presentation in Explain Everything, a new app for them. I have noticed how helpful and kind they are to each other while working alone or in groups.
The next steps include drawing and more drawing until a final design has been developed that the team thinks will be light, yet strong. Then, they complete final drawing on grid paper. After the engineers have a precise drawing, the balsa wood is marked to match the drawing. Adults will cut the wood and then they are ready to glue the wood pieces together to create the final span! This entire process takes about a month! It requires compromise, learning from success and failure, determination and patience.
I hope you’ll be able to join us at UT for the Span Contest. It is set for Thursday, November 2nd, 10:40-11:20. Is truly a memorable experience for them. I will send detailed information about how to meet us on campus later!! Save the date!!
Fourth Grade
We had such fun last week playing all sorts of games to practice architecture vocabulary! There were games such as Twister, modified hockey, a scavenger hunt, a tossing game, and a maze! Their creative thinking and team skills really shined as they worked together to create these games!!
In addition they tackled some individual and team problem challenges by building a geodesic dome from dots and toothpicks and building the "tallest skyscraper" from just 6 sheets of copy paper!!
Next, the children will dive into a famous structure in history and create their own presentation with their own product choice to teach the class about the story reflecting the theme of our unit, Every Building Tells a Story. The vocabulary games and the building stories will prepare them for the field trip on October 16th. They’ll travel to some stunning examples of architecture in Austin. Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered to chaperone on this exciting tour!! Your help is much appreciated. I will send details about the trip as the date approaches.
After the trip, the teams of children are charged with creating a movie to tell the story of their building from the trip. I can’t wait to see the movies!! Once again, team skills will be emphasized. Collaboration and communication skills are critical throughout our lives!!
Fifth Grade
As part of their exploration of the Curiosities of Creativity the children split into teams tasked with the challenge of designing posters to hang around the school to teach others about key elements of divergent thinking skills, key to creative thinking. They’ll incorporate what they have learned about creative thinking into the posters. This exercise not only promotes creative thinking, but it is also designed to develop team skills, planning and time management skills. Each team had to submit a draft of the layout and show examples of materials before proceeding to the actual creation. As part of this review of creativity they’ll also research habits of creative thinkers and set personal goals.
The students just participated in two very engaging lessons about the Stock Market Game, each led by different parents, Kim Voss and Brad Nabors. This week they also found out the members of their Stock Market Company and are excited to make their first trade as the game begins the first week of October. As a reminder, you can read more about this virtual game online at https://www.stockmarketgame.org/ . The Stock Market Game promotes collaboration, virtual investing and real-world learning. Again, I am indebted to Kim Voss, Steve Goel, Wei Hou and Brad Nabors for their expertise and time to make this real-world journey come to fruition.