GREAT THINKING THURSDAY
For Klein ISD Educators of Gifted/Advanced Learners
January 30, 2020
Celebrating Klein ISD Gifted: ELA Humanities and Multi-Age Classrooms
By Carrie Raiyawa & Carie Barber
Advanced Academics Program Coordinators
On Tuesday January 28, 2020 Klein ISD Advanced Academics Team hosted the 2nd annual Humanities Night! This event celebrated the learning of students enrolled in the Roth Elementary Multi-Age Classes and the Intermediate ELA/Humanities classes from Doerre, Schindewolf, Kleb, and Krimmel.
This is the second year these classes have been available for our Gifted/Talented and most advanced learners. In these classes, the students are given the opportunity to challenge classic literature, study four level analysis of grammar, learn Greek and Latin roots, compose pieces of academic writing, learn the poetics of language, and complete research on a topic of interest. This year’s theme was “Mysteries of the Past, Present, and Future.”
The Roth multi-age classes presented creative mysterious products. The 4th and 5th grade class shared student-created breakout boxes using crime scene investigation methods and mystery genre story structures. Other 4th/5th students performed dramatic literature they wrote based on their learning about mysteries. The 2nd and 3rd grade class created and performed interactive black light puppet shows with facts about various climates. Audience members were invited to guess the climate based on the clues.
The intermediate students completed a formal research paper on topics from the classic literature they read in the first semester. These novels included titles like The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, The Time Machine, and War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells. Their topics spanned from the historical context of Stevenson and Dickens through the futuristic settings of the works of Wells, focusing on the changes over time or solving problems for the future. Each student created a product from this research and brought it to present to their families and the families of students from other campuses.
The parents and families had an amazing time walking around listening to and learning from each student who was presenting a product. Some topics included, The Progress of Forensic Science, The Evolution of Social Class, Advancements in Robotics, and Oxygen Farms. Students were able to articulate their learning while practicing presentation skills that will be vital for future success.
All in all, it was a fantastic night of building community with the families of our Gifted/Talented and most advanced learners! A huge thanks goes out to all the teachers of these classes for mentoring and guiding the students to such great successes! Libby Klempnauer (Schindewolf), Amanda Ballenger and Kessler McClanahan (Doerre), Marty Cummings and Elizabeth Jackson (Kleb), Emily Smith (Krimmel), Kathy Freeman, Tanya Goode, and Letta Cato (Roth).
We look forward to the expansion of the ELA/Humanities course in 6th grade at all Intermediate campuses next year!
Intercampus Investigations: AP Research Collaboration
Leverage the Technology: Skype for High School Research
With Love from Klein High AP Research Students:
Acharaj Tripathi, Brooke Thorne, Beatriz Avila-Rimer, Tracey Ho, Nurmeen Khokhar, Fatima Raja, Emily Rector, Karishma Persad, Grace McGuire, and Brandon Wu
On December 3, 2019, Klein High and Klein Cain AP Research students had a forty-five minute Skype call coordinated by our Advanced Academics Program Coordinator, Mrs. Villarreal. The point of this Skype call was so students from both schools could collaborate on potential research questions and topics. AP Research is a course that heavily relies on gaining insight and revisions from peers. Because of this, the Skype call was a helpful way for the students to edit and revise.
The purpose of the call was to exchange ideas about our research questions and get an understanding of where all of us were in our research paper. Since it was Cain’s first year with the AP Capstone Program, they had numerous questions about their research and the process of carrying out their ideas. We each discussed our topics and answered each others’ questions to the best of our knowledge as it was our first year with AP Research as well.
Although the Skype call was a little bit awkward at first, the progress we made in just forty-five minutes was truly impactful. We heard about different ways to approach the 5,000-word research paper, and hearing other ideas was meaningful. In fact, the one word we settled on as a class when reflecting on the call was “COOPERATION.”
A few key highlights from the call was the sharing the unique research topics, such as “Therapy through Music” from a Klein Cain student. By doing so, we were able to learn about new ideas and allow ourselves to be more open-minded about different topics. This call allowed us to find out that they had a different method of approaching the paper. This comes with many advantages since both schools could now learn different ways to go about teaching research in later years. Additionally, we also saw many different methods of research such as computerized sampling. This communication was beneficial to both schools because it allowed for the exchange of many great ideas.
Skyping with the other AP Capstone Research students at Klein Cain gave us another perspective on how to undergo our research methods and tackle our gap. The collaboration between Klein High and Cain’s Research students was a memorable experience. We believe that this conference meeting is something that we should do again, and we hope to talk to other AP Research students at Klein Oak, Klein Collins, and Klein Forest in the future.
This collaboration and creation of diverse ideas is something we want to continue to pursue throughout this school year. Some ideas we have thought of include talking about the viability of our research topics, providing constructive criticism over surveys and methods, and having discussions over pre-decided topics.
Klein ISD promises each student that they will enter with a promise and exit with a purpose. Through this sharing of ideas that represents the collaboration we will pursue either in the workforce or college after graduation, we are truly learning how to be effective learners and leaders, aligned with our vision as a school district.
have participated in services for gifted/talented students will have produced products and
performances of professional quality as part of their program services.
CALLING ALL HS GIFTED LEARNERS: RESEARCH EXPO VISION2020!
Chevron Project Lead the Way: Brill Battle of the 'Bots!
By Jennifer Current
5th Grade Teacher/Innovator
Project Lead the Way-Sponsored by Chevron Grant
The fifth grade students at Brill Elementary just completed our Project Lead The Way robotics unit. During the course of our learning the students collaborated as they used iPads to work in teams to explore robotics including different types and uses of robots in the fast changing world of artificial intelligence. Each member of the team was given a specific role or job which included a captain, a parts manager, a builder, and a quality control manager. The teams were instructed to adhere to the job specifications for their individual roles. In other words, they were asked to “stay in their lane” and stick to their own individual job and allow other team members to do their jobs. The teams were then challenged to collude to create, sketch and build a toy of their own creation. The teams then embarked on the final challenge to build a robot by following specific step-by-step instructions for creating a robot controlled by a brain. As an extension we engaged in a show down which we called, “The Battle of the Bots” where the teams pitted their robots against other team’s robots. I was totally surprised when teams then pulled their building kits back out to make adjustments and improvements to their robots. It was so fun to see their creativity and passion for the project as they reinforced and redesigned each robot. They would take their robots from the ring, make adjustments, then quickly take their Bot back to the Battle ring. This test, redesign then retest continued for two additional days beyond the expected scope of the project. To say that the students were highly motivated and highly engaged would be an understatement. They flat out loved every minute of the experience.
At the conclusion of the unit I had the students make a flip grid to explain what they learned and describe their experiences. I asked two follow-up questions and was delighted by some of the following responses:
“What was your favorite part of the robotics unit?”
My favorite part was that you can’t do it by yourself. It’s a team effort. It would be really hard to do the whole thing by yourself.” -Isabella Busser
Micheal Pena, “My favorite part was building our own robots and adding on to them which was so fun. Then we got to fight them. I thought it was so cool I really loved it.”
“You learn a lot. It’s very exciting” Cruze Bond
“Getting to work together as a team.” -Maranda Dean.
“What Did you learn about robots?”
“It’s a journey because you have to do different parts. First you have to do the research, then the toy and then the robot, then modifications of the robot. Then the final product.” -Anjolinaanh Que Nicholas Hurado,
“We need a great team because if you have two captains for example and they are both trying to boss everyone around then nothing is going to get done. So you have to have to be a good team that works together.”
“ It takes a lot of time and dedication to build a robot. You have to make a lot of mistakes and eventually we just got there.” -Jack schwarz
“You have to be more specific when you put the parts together or they might not work. Following instructions is important.” -Megan Beauregard
Andrew Hoang, “ We worked as a team and you can build anything with just a couple parts and the brain.”
Ibrahim Thunyapoo, “There are many different types of robots.”
“They won’t work if you make the tiniest mistake. One tiny mistake will be the one that messes everything up. And also it was so fun learning about robotics because you have to test things out and work with a group and we had to work as a team to be able to do it all.”
-Itzel Mejia
Leveling Up with Google!
By Gordon See
Advanced Academics Program Coordinator
Are you looking for ways to level up the Google applications for your classroom? Trying to figure out what works best for goal-setting? Vision boards? Student portfolios? Choice boards?
Kasey Bell, creator of Shake Up Learning, has taken her “dynamic learning” system and matched the Google tool that best supports each element called the Dynamic Learning with Google Toolkit © by Kasey Bell. Read more on her BLOG post.
Spring 2020: GT Professional Learning Playlist
If you are in need of GT Foundation hours in the five strands of gifted: Nature and Needs of Gifted, Social-Emotional Needs of Gifted, Identification and Assessment of Gifted, Differentiated Curriculum for Gifted, and Creativity and Instructional Strategies for Gifted please sign up for our blended courses today!
Just a reminder that participants who sign up for GT Foundation courses receive credit for Foundation Only: NN, SE, IA, DC, or CI 2020. Participants who sign up for GT Update courses receive credit for GT Update only: GT Update 2020.
Texas State Plan for the Education of Gifted/Talented Students: A minimum of thirty (30) clock hours of professional learning that includes nature and needs of gifted/talented students, identification and assessment of gifted/talented students, and curriculum and instruction for gifted/talented students is required for teachers who provide instruction and services that are a part of the district’s defined gifted/talented services. Teachers are required to have completed the thirty (30) hours of professional learning prior to their assignment to the district’s gifted/talented services (19 TAC §89.2(1)).
The Teacher's Role in "Phenomenon-Based Learning"
Advanced Academics Program Coordinator
When students are participating in Project- or Problem-Based Learning, many teachers struggle with their role in the process. In this article, Finnish teachers have found striking a balance between traditional instruction and hands-off instruction in real time makes for more relevant learning experiences.
"At the Hiidenkivi Comprehensive School near Helsinki, Finland, students don’t spend all their time learning what other people have discovered. They set out to discover new things on their own.
The students do this through nine-week long, interdisciplinary projects that the Finnish call “phenomenon-based learning,” a term coined by the country’s National Agency for Education.
Phenomenon-based learning is a lot like project-based learning, a more familiar term in the United States. Both prioritize hands-on activities that give students control over the direction of the project and both emphasize assignments that relate to the real world. They also emphasize student mastery of transferrable skills rather than a narrow set of facts identified by teachers."
Written by Tara Garcia Mathewson
The Hechinger Report
For the complete article, click HERE
An additional article from Education Week's Sam Northern, Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching participant, can be found HERE.
Empatico: Learners Connecting Globally!
Jessica Jasper
Advanced Academics Program Coordinator
Imagine a world where our students spread kindness and empathy. Empatico.org, is a free tool for students age 6-11.
"Empatico provides students the opportunity learn about different perspectives and practice interpersonal and social emotinal skills that are crucial for building cross-cultural relationships later in life.Without a doubt, today’s youth will interact with many different types of people when they are older. Interacting, cooperating, and building relationships with people from different backgrounds and cultures will contribute to students’ success and to the success of our society as a whole."