December Gifted Gab
For All Parents at Wrightsville Beach Elementary
How Can I Be Involved in the Gifted Program at WBS?
Gifted Advisory Council (GAC)
A BIG SHOUT OUT to Coo Hocker, and Catalina Minichino for volunteering to represent WBS at the GAC meetings. Anyone is welcome to attend these meetings, and the dates are as follows: October 10, January 9, and May 8.WBS AIG Parent Advisory (WAPA)
This advisory meets monthly to discuss the AIG Program at the school. The dates and times for these meetings will be determined soon. Our first meeting was on Friday, October 21st. Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday, December 16th at 9:00 am.
Gifted Information Sessions and Advocacy (GISA)....open to all parents and teachers!
2nd Meeting will be in the spring. Date TBD.
Please let me know if you would like to join us for the meetings.
Upcoming Dates
December 16 - WAPA Meets at 9am
I have brochures and more information if you would like. Email me and let me know and I can send this information home with your child.
K-3 Nurturing
What is happening in the Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms?
The K-3 program is grounded in Primary Education Thinking Skills (P.E.T.S.). Primary Education Thinking Skills (PETS) is a systematic enrichment thinking skills program for K-3 students. Its purpose is to help primary aged students develop higher level thinking skills. PETS follows the taxonomy of thinking skills outlined by Benjamin Bloom, presenting lessons in analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Students are introduced to Dudley the Detective - Deductive Logic, Yolanda the Yarnspinner - Creative Thinking, Isabel the Inventor - Inventive Thinking, Max the Magician - Mental Manipulation of Shapes, Sybil the Scientist - Analytic Thinking, and Jordan the Judge - Evaluative Thinking. Each character introduces a higher level thinking skill used in his or her job. Each character guides students through a story and a series of activities to introduce and reinforce their type of thinking.
Each K-3 classroom will receive 15 whole class nurturing lessons.
Kindergarten classes have started and are practicing their convergent thinking skills...using clues to find the one right answer.
1st and 2nd grade nurturing classes are underway and we are now using our divergent thinking skills to show off our creative sides! Isabel will teach students that they can look at things in a different way and brainstorm lots and lots of answers to different problems to figure out something new! Ask your first grader about the animal they created!
All 2nd grade classrooms are learning to play Chess.
4th and 5th Grade AIG Classes
What is happening in 4th and 5th grade?
In grades 3-5, the AIG Specialist will provide enrichment, extensions, and acceleration as needed to meet the students' needs. The teachers will work closely with the Gifted Specialists in order to fully meet the needs of high-achieving students by adjusting the content, process, product and even the learning environment. It is important that lessons are correctly differentiated and challenging for individual students.
Students who are performing above grade level may be pulled to work in a small group directly with the Gifted Specialist. A student does not have to be formally identified into the AIG Program to work directly with the Gifted Specialist.
Resources and Units of Study:
Continental Math, MathQuest, AIG IRP Units, Solve It Units, Challenge Math
The Lost Colony, Latin/Greek Vocabulary, NewsELA, Novel Studies, Greek Mythology
4th Grade is currently working on: The Lost Colony, Latin/Greek Vocabulary, Writing, Math Quest, Solve It Exercises, and Continental Math.
5th Grade is currently working on: Vocabulary, Number the Stars Novel Study, Challenge Math, and AIG IRP Units.
The deadline for AIG Nominations was November 28th (3rd Grade Only).
The deadline for AIG Nominations is January 13th (4th and 5th Grade Only).
Gifted Education BLOGS
Great Reads
- About.com Gifted Children: Carol Bainbridge, an expert on gifted children, maintains this blog, which is chock full of learning ideas, information, and more.
- Parenting Gifted Kids: Head to this blog, written by gifted educator Sarah Robbins, to learn more about how to challenge and help your gifted child.
- Gifted Exchange: This blog focuses on gifted kids, touching on issues of schooling, parenting, education, and more, all written by the staff at the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.
- The Prufrock Blog: Prufrock is one of the leading publishers of materials for gifted, advanced, and special needs students. On this blog, you’ll find updates on their latest releases.
- Unwrapping the Gifted: Head to this Education Week blog to hear from Tamara Fisher, a K-12 gifted education specialist. She gives great insights into gifted and talented education.
- Parents of Gifted Children Resource Group: Here, parents can find resources and make connections with other parents of gifted children.
- Help Me With My Gifted Child: Not sure how to help your gifted child? Look to this blog for answers, with information about gifted programs, enrollment testing, and parenting.
- Gifted Parenting Support: This blog is an excellent place to read more about how to parent and educate children who are gifted and talented.
- Gifted Guru: This blogger offers up resources, books, commentary, and more on the subject of gifted education.
- Gifted Education Perspectives: Follow this blog to learn more about all things gifted, from what defines it to how to best educate bright students.
- Creating Curriculum for Gifted Children: This blog approaches gifted kids from an educator’s perspective, but parents can also learn new ways to challenge and interest their children.
- Gifted Education Consultant: Sonia White, author and gifted education specialist, shares her passion for helping gifted children through this blog.
- Gifted Phoenix: On this blog, parents can find some insights into giftedness issues, education, and parenting, from a New Zealand perspective.
- Byrdseed: Focusing on creativity, accelerated learning, literature, and more, this blog offers resources and inspiration to gifted educators and parents of gifted kids.
Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Katherine Kochakji
Email: katherine.kochakji@nhcs.net
Twitter: @khkochak