March GT Newsletter
Mrs. Kruse
Kindergarten- We would like to welcome Kindergarten students and families to the GT Program! Kindergarten has been spending time doing “getting to know you activities” and will soon be exploring the PETS (Primary Education Thinking Skills) characters! The P.E.T.S. characters focus on Divergent Thinking. They will be hearing about Dudley the Detective and Isabel the Inventor!
First- In first grade we have been exploring the layers of the rainforest and the resources of the rainforest. Each student has chosen an animal in the rainforest and has been researching the layer the animal lives in. Students will decide how they want to share their research through video, poster, or another chosen way to creatively communicate the information.
Second- Students are loving our dinosaur project! They have studied the various eras in which the dinosaurs lived, along with the many extinction theories. Students have even had the opportunity to write their own theory about what happened to the dinosaurs. We used the ozobot to tell our theories about dinosaur extinction by coding our story.
Third- Third graders have been learning all about the science involved in solving crimes. They have been able to practice some investigative strategies used by crime scene investigators such as footprint and fingerprint analysis. They have even taken a virtual field trip to a real crime lab!
Fourth- Fouth graders are starting a new project called Innovation Celebration. In this unit, students will develop an understanding of the process of innovation. They will learn about famous inventors, scientists, thinkers, and philosophers and how their innovations have impacted society. Ultimately, students will be asked to develop their own innovation or invention, and will present a prototype to the class.
Fifth- Fifth graders are exploring ways to support our school by developing a service project. Our goal is to empower our GT students with responsibility, engage their compassion and offer them a chance to affect the lives of students here at Rucker. This project will impact our school and our students.
Building with circuits!
Zoob Challenge
Creating their own mystery for a classmate to solve.
Using the Engineer Design process-Innovation Project
Using the Engineer Design Process-Innovation Project
Solving a Mystery with a partner!
Dates to remember
February 26th-March 8th GT Referral for grades 1st-11th
March 24th 10AM-12PM- Summer Camp FairApril 6th- Cherry Berry Fundraiser
April 19th- QA with Texas State Representative Scott Sanford
Working on a logic problem can be tricky.
Mind Mission Challenge
Working as a team!
Sketching their Innovation project!
Building my own circuit.
Building a boat- Mind Mission challenge
Websites to Check Out!
http://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources-parents
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/brain_teasers.htm
http://www.mensaforkids.org/achieve/excellence-in-reading/
https://giftedandtalented.com/challenge-zone
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/archive.html
www.chesskid.com/learn-how-to-play-chess.html
http://txgifted.org/web-resources-parents/
www.wonderopolis.com
www.dailysudoku.co.uk/sudoku/kids/
http://www.timeforkids.com/kid-reporters
www.brainbashers.com/showpuzzles.asp?puzzle=ZKRG