Mrs. Thompson's April 2016 GE News
Gifted Education News for Rush Creek Elementary
Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) results to be mailed out April 27th
For formal identification through the end of elementary school, we are looking for results in the 96th percentile or higher in one or more of the three areas of the assessment. Although students are regularly identified with the CogAT, there are other ways students can be invited to participate. MAP test scores from this spring will also be used to identify students who will be invited to participate in GE for one school year.
Feel free to get in touch with me after you receive your child's test results if you need clarification.
What should I tell my child about being formally identified to receive gifted services?
- Explain that he or she did very well on the tests.
- Show that you are happy or pleased, but limit your expectations to current learning. Say: "it sounds like a good opportunity for you. I hope you like it." and NOT: "you should really be able to make something of yourself now."
- Tell her or him that the program is designed for kids who learn particularly well and that you are proud of him or her.
- Tell your child that the school was finding kids that need extra enrichment to think about subjects deeply and explore subjects in different ways. Your child may find more students with similar interests in the program.
- Go ahead and talk about it with your child. Ignoring the identification, or avoiding the subject when it comes up, will make them think it is an embarrassment, or that he/she is.
- Although your child has been identified for our gifted pullout program, remember that not all aspects of a gifted child are necessarily advanced. they may excel in one content area, but struggle in others. Your child's emotional, social, or physical development may or may not be similar to children the same age.
What should I tell my child about NOT being formally identified to receive gifted services?
- Explain that the Cognitive Abilities Test is only one way to participate in GE pull-out classes.
- Tell your child the GE teacher will also look at MAP test scores and other data to see who should participate in classes.
- Remind your child that "smart" doesn't necessarily mean high test scores.
- If your child has taken the test before, look at previous scores and focus on areas of improvements.
- Explain that experts in the area of gifted education cannot agree on an actual definition of giftedness. So... he/she may not be labeled "gifted" for school, however that doesn't mean he/she is not advanced in some way. It may be that school can't or has difficulty testing his/her area of advancement.
What about siblings?
- Focus on the individual differences and achievements of all children.
- Show each child that he or she is valued – that many different qualities are extremely desirable and valued (such as humor, spirit, honesty, loyalty, effort, caring). Acknowledge the feelings of brothers and sisters. The feelings are real, whether they are jealousy, anger, rejection, admiration, confusion, or inferiority. Talking it out is better than suppressing or ignoring it.
- Discuss what “gifted” means – it is an educational term, not a value judgment.
Remember this is not a competition where a child “wins” being identified for the Gifted Program and “loses” if not identified. A child is the same child as before identification.
- Save the majority of your praise for the gifted child in private; focus on effort not innate ability. Reinforce all children in public.
- Make sure you give each child as much one-to-one time as possible; don’t let the gifted child’s talent take up all your time.
*Based on the work and writing of Judy Galbraith, author of various works on the social and emotional needs of the gifted
3-5 Verbal Pull Outs
The next round of pull out groups will focus on providing enrichment in the verbal/language arts area. The schedule for these sessions are:
Grade 3 - Felton, Luedemann & Burns ~ Thursday's 2:15-3:45
Riddle & Hritzko ~ Fridays 2:15-3:45
Grade 4 - Lieberherr, Westrum & Tanuzzo 1:20-2:00 4/11, 4/13, 4/18 - 21, 4/25, 4/28, 4/29
Prin, Weiland & Hehn 1:20-2:00 5/2-4, 5/6, 5/10, 5/11, 5/13, 5/16, 5/17
Grade 5 -
3rd grade Super Hero Stories
Students will know:
- The definition of the word attributes
- Characteristics of good creative writing
Students will understand:
- The SCAMPER process to enhance creativity
- The writing traits of Sentence Fluency and Word Choice
Students will do:
- One peer editing/evaluation technique
- Effectively evaluate and edit their rough draft
- Write an original short story
4th Grade Code your own Super Hero Adventure
Students will know:
- The definition of the word attributes
- Characteristics of good creative writing
- How to write code using SCRATCH program
Students will understand:
- The SCAMPER process to enhance creativity
- The writing traits of Sentence Fluency and Word Choice
- How to use code to make a story come to life
Students will do:
- One peer editing/evaluation technique
- Effectively evaluate and edit their rough draft
- Write an original short story
- Animate their story using SCATCH coding program
5th Grade Mock Trial OR Improv
Students will know:
- the participants in a courtroom process
- basic law vocabulary
Students will understand:
- the two sides of a trial including the prosecution and the defense
- the differences between “pro-se” court and court with a jury
- the parts of a trial such as opening statements, questioning, cross-examination, evidence, witnesses, closing arguments and jury deliberation
Students will do:
- work collaboratively to prepare for a courtroom trial
- use effective presentation skills in a mock trial performance appropriately evaluate their performance in the classroom mock trial
IMPROV
5TH GRADE IMPROV
Students will know:
- The definition of spontaneous, improvise, fluency, flexibility, and pantomime
- The rules of improvisation
Students will understand:
- The role of the improvisation rules
- The real world applications of improvisation
Students will do:
- Perform relaxation techniques
- Participate in improvisation activities
- Evaluate improvisational activities/scenes
K - 2nd grade Enrichment pull-out Groups
Perennial Math Awards
A group of Gifted Education students in Grade 3 and 4 participated in the Perennial Math Competition held from November – February. There were 23,548 students who participated from the US, Canada, United Kingdom & Turkey. Both Rush Creek teams received a plaque for scoring in the top 10% of all students competing and we had a total of 12 students who scored in the top 10% in their grade level category. These students were presented with medals by Dr. Brown on March 31st.
Rush Creek students who scored in the top 10% of all students in their grade level category include:
Grade 3
Top Row: Michael Wagner, Colin Ames, Cooper Hensel,
Dr. Brown, Jackson Schultezenberg, & Max Miley. Front Row:
Grant Sandell, Brody Berglin, Braeden Henke & Raegan Fritts
Grade 4
Blake Bauerly, Megan Holmgren & Quinn Haik
COngratulations to the following students whose outstanding scores earned them District Awards for CML!
Grade 2 District Winners 2nd Place and RC 1st Place!
Grade 3 District Winner and National Winner - 1st Place!
Grade 3 District Winner - Second Place
Grade 3 District Winners 3rd Place
Grade 3 District Winners 4th Place
Grade 4 District Winners
Grade 5 District Winners
First Place in District and First Place in Nation for second year in a row! - Sarah Feng (Diem)
Third Place in District - Hunter Tjepkes (Paulus)
Fourth Place in District - Kendall Quall (Diem)
We are proud of our Rush Creek Teams who participated in the Math Masters competition last weekend at Plymouth Middle School!
We had 5 teams compete -
Team #1
Sarah Feng
Eliana Maciej
Stavya Arora
Siena Maciej
Team #2
Trevor Hubbard
Max Locketz
Jack Rimstad
Steven Yang
Team #3
Maddy Fahey
Olivia Sun
Rebecca Albertson
Cora Beeler
Kendall Quall
Team #4
Arwen Baer
Chanden Meher
Josh Druckemiller
Nuha Rahman
Team #5
Savannah Krull
Chloe Ackerman
Ella Beeler
Joei Hahn
Josie Dopp
Fast Fact Round Award Winners out of 150 Students
Sarah Feng - 5th Place
Stavya Arora - 11th Place
Josh Druckemiller - 17th Place
Olivia Sun (not pictured) - 20th Place
Individual Round Award Winners out of 150 students
Sarah Feng - 12th Place
Team Round Award Winners - 6th Place out of 31 teams
4th GRADE EGG DROP
Information for fourth graders
The annual Egg Drop Challenge will be on
The afternoon of Tuesday, June 7th. Mark
your calendars for this exciting event!
Parents are welcome to come to the back
parking lot to watch the event at 2:00 pm.
More information will be coming home with
your student on May 26th.
GE Monthly District Parent Forums
The last monthly parent forum will be May 10th at Oak View from 6:30-7:30. Childcare for children 4+ and a light snack will be provided,.
May 10th, 2016
6:30-7:30 PM
Advocating for Your Gifted Child
Guest speaker: Carol Malueg, M.A., is a professional in the field of gifted education, currently working with Center for K-12 Guidance, an independent educational consultant organization that specializes in K-12 educational planning for gifted and talented students in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. She is a Master Facilitator and Trainer for the organization, Supporting the Emotional Needs of Gifted Children (SENG), and works regularly with schools and school districts in facilitating SENG parent groups and twice exceptional parent groups. Ms. Malueg is the President of the Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented and presents regularly at NAGC conference. Ms. Malueg will serve as an advisor on parent and community involvement for Project North Star.