Cassidy Gifted and Talented News
May 6, 2019
Announcements
5th Grade Leadership - Fun Day Helpers
The PTA would like to join forces with the 5th grade leadership crew to run Fun Day. They need volunteers to help set up and run the events. Be on the lookout for a permission slip to come home soon!
Auditions for Annie
Coming Soon to the Lexington Children's Theater!
Spring STEM Workshops for Gifted Kids
Winburn is hosting a series of STEM workshops geared specifically for gifted students. Click here for more information.
Summer Camps:
Dunbar will be offering a Drama Summer Camp for K-9 students. Northern Kentucky University will have several summer opportunities for Gifted and Talented Learners. Click here for the link to find out more and register if you are interested.
The Aviation Museum is offering a series of Aviation Camps for students ages 10 and up. Lexington Children's Theater is hosting a summer theater camp. Here is the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education (KAGE) list of summer camps that would be of interest to gifted kids.
Save Your Bottle Caps
The 2nd/3rd Grade Leadership group is starting a bottle cap drive to support Morton's program to make recycled benches to place outside the school. Please save your bottle caps and send them in with your students. Grade levels are competing for prizes for most bottle caps collected.
Important Dates:
Spring Showcase, May 23, 5:30-6:30, Cassidy Cafeteria:
This event is an opportunity for PTP/GT students to showcase what they have been working on during the spring semester.
What We Are Up to This Week!
Kindergarten PTP:
Kindergarten is working on an interdisciplinary project called Pet Parade. They will do research to select what would be the best pet for them and figure out why it would be the best pet for them. Then they will design a multimedia presentation to display their results at our spring showcase!
1st Grade LA/Math/Art PTP:
Students are working on their Backyard Getaway project where they will research habitats and climates to design the ideal backyard for them. They will then create a multimedia display to share with you at our spring showcase!
2nd/3rd/4th Grade Art and Creativity:
Students are working on free choice projects.
2nd Grade Language Arts:
Students are working on a fiction unit. They have selected books that they are reading together in book clubs.
2nd/3rd Grade Leadership:
Students are working on their leadership projects (bottle caps, helping English Language Learners, and school rules).
2nd Grade (GI/Math) and 3rd Grade (GI/Science/Math) STEM:
Students are building their Rube Goldberg machines. They can't wait to show you their machines at the spring showcase!
3rd Grade Language Arts:
Students are working on a fiction unit. They have selected books that they are reading together in book clubs.
4th Grade Language Arts:
Students will select a topic from history and develop it into a multi-genre project. They must incorporate non-fiction writing, fiction writing, and historical documents and artifacts to show the multiple perspectives of the people involved in their topic.
4th Grade Math:
Students are working on geometry, algebra, and word problems.
4th Grade Social Studies:
Students are planning their own government based on what they have learned about government and the history of government.
4th Grade STEM (GI/Science):
Students are doing a unit on structure and function of the human body. They will engage in a STEM project where they will design a knee brace.
5th Grade Language Arts:
Students are reading away on their post-apocalyptic, apocalyptic, and/or utopian/dystopian novels to learn about literary elements. Students have also started writing their own stories.
4th/5th Grade Dance:
Students are working away with Mrs. Williams (an experienced dancer and dance teacher, and also one of our 4th grade teachers at Cassidy) to prepare a performance for our spring showcase.
4th/5th Grade Drama:
4th grade students are working on writing their own screenplay to perform at our spring showcase.
5th graders are planning away on what they want to share at the GT Spring Showcase.
4th/5th Grade Art:
Students are working on making mosaics from found objects or their own free choice project.
5th Grade Leadership:
Students are working on leadership projects around the school (day of service) and are reflecting on all the leadership activities we have done over the year.
5th Grade Social Studies:
Students are doing research on a time period or major event in history. They will then develop a presentation in whichever mode they choose to share what they have learned. Here is a link to our Cassidy's Catalog of Cool Current Events website where students will explore and write about what they are learning about current events.
5th Grade STEM (GI, Science, and Math)
Students are designing windmills to learn about weather and mechanical engineering.
Resources and Opportunities
Cassidy App
Make sure to download our Cassidy App! I will use the app to distribute newsletters and announce events. Here is a link to directions on how to get the app and load the group PTP/GT into your settings so that you can get info/dates/notifications from me about PTP/GT through the app. If you already have the app, just skip down to the part that says to add PTP/GT.
Homeroom
Within the app, we will also have a Homeroom button where I will post pictures, videos, and notes about what we have been up to in PTP/GT. To link to our homeroom, you will click here and set up an account. It will then populate in your Homeroom button on the app. If you already had this setup from last year, it should be the same.
Seesaw
Seesaw is an online journal where students can make posts to document and share their learning with you and each other. They can take videos and pictures, make drawings, type notes, etc. I am beginning to use it in several classes and will roll it out to more as we go along. Right now, we have it all set up in the following classes:
1st/2nd/3rd Grade PTP Art/Creativity
5th Grade STEM (GI, Science, and Math)
If your child participates in one of these groups, you can sign up with Seesaw to view their work by clicking on the link for their group, choosing their name from the menu, and then signing up for an account. There is also a Seesaw app you can download on your phone.
Contact Information
Gifted and Talented Teacher
Cassidy Elementary
859-381-3018 ext 21252
angie.madden@fayette.kyschools.us
Email: angie.madden@fayette.kyschools.us
Website: www.cassidy.fcps.net
Phone: 859-381-3018