RMES Gifted Monthly Happenings
September & October 2021
Enrichment And Extensions In Our Cluster Classrooms K - 5
Kindergarten
In October, students also read "The Legend of Spookley, the Square Pumpkin" and learned that everyone is important because of their uniqueness. Kindergarteners made their own Spookley pumpkin using circles, squares, and triangles.
First Grade
First graders also read "The Z Was Zapped" to find Chris Van Allsburg's alphabet pattern; however, the letter "R" was missing! They helped the author create the missing page by following the required pattern.
Second Grade
For Columbus Day, students had to solve a challenge - picking up all three straws using only the fourth straw. They learned that Christopher Columbus also presented an egg-citing challenge to Spanish noblemen in order to receive additional funds to continue his westward exploration. Second graders were persistent and had a growth mindset!
Students used pictures, numbers, and words to solve the "Speedy Spider" Math Exemplar to determine how many spider legs were scurrying across the hallway at school.
Students learned about their conceptual theme of SYSTEMS. They began by exploring how a thunderstorm is a system since there are elements, inputs, outputs, interactions, and boundaries. With partners, students discussed how a blizzard, hurricane, or tornado could also be a system. As an extension, students were able to describe how a topic of their choice could also be a system in Seesaw.
Third Grade
Third grade students began the year discussing what it means to be a deep thinker when analyzing this year's conceptual theme of STRUCTURES. We began talking about how we will use different Kaplan Deep Thinking Icons to stretch our thinking in lessons. These icons were developed by Dr. Sandra Kaplan to prompt students to extend their thinking.
Students had a spooky introduction to Matter as they had to make observations based on physical properties, create sketches, and draw conclusions on Halloween Mystery Boxes. As an extension, students were able to bring in their own mystery objects to have their peers use their senses to determine what was inside the box.
Fourth Grade
To introduce this year's conceptual theme of SYSTEMS, fourth grade students began the year discussing what it means to be a deep thinker. We began talking about how we will use different Kaplan Deep Thinking Icons to stretch our thinking in lessons. These icons were developed by Dr. Sandra Kaplan to prompt students to extend their thinking.
Students continued to explore relationships in literature and made some comparisons and connections to the characters in the stories. Students read the Langston Hughes story called "Thank You Ma'am" and delved deep into the complexity of relationships using the generalizations.
Students also made connections with land's relationship with topics like maps. As a hook for the Regions of Virginia unit, students were given a variety of Virginia maps to determine how many regions our state could be divided into. As they explored the provided maps, students drew directly on their blank maps to define the boundaries between the regions. The regions could be identified in any way, as long as the students had a rationale for the shared characteristics of the regions. In the end, students learned that Virginia had five geographical regions.
Fifth Grade
We kicked off the school year with the NAS Oceana Virtual Air Show. With joint efforts from our ITS and Math Coach, students were launched into a Design Sprint and they had to sketch, create, and test their SpaceX egg-saving prototype. A successful prototype would be able to slow down, remain vertical, and land on a designated platform without assistance.
Students explored their conceptual theme of CHANGE as they made their own generalizations with the Taba Conceptual Development Model. This led to their American Revolution unit, where they are learning how conflict can lead to change while they make their own newscast interview from a Patriot or Loyalist's perspective. To learn more about the multiple perspectives of the war, students read "Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak" to see how a colonist's occupation might have influenced their outlook on the war. Several students are also partaking in a Literature Circle discussion on "My Brother Sam is Dead".
GRT Updates for Parents
- Gifted Screening: An Assessment Specialist for gifted education screened all 5th grade students on 9/28. Scores will be available in ParentVue on 11/1/21. All 1st grade students were screened on 10/28. These scores will be available in ParentVue on 1/6/22.
- Parent Seminar: If you are interested in learning more about strategies to help your gifted child, consider joining Dr. Sue Baum's Free VAGifted Virtual Parent Seminar on 10/28.
- Old Donation School Open House Update: ODS is shifting their open houses from in-person to VIRTUAL due to current COVID-19 numbers. All presentations will be viewable from links posted to the ODS website at 4:00 p.m. on the day of each event.
Cynthia Housianitis-Johnston, Gifted Resources Teacher at Red Mill Elementary School
Onward and Upward 2021-2022 ~ Helping Your Child Reach Their Peak!
Red Mill Elementary School, in partnership with our families and community, will provide a safe, supportive, and empowering learning environment where every child reaches his/her fullest potential academically, socially, and emotionally in order to nurture and empower caring leaders, life-long learners, and confident problem solvers.
Email: cynthia.housianitis@vbschools.com
Location: 1860 Sandbridge Road, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Phone: 757-648-3560 (54649)
Twitter: @RMES_Gifted