Gifted Newsletter
Eastern York School District
Volume 1, Issue 1 Fall 2016
ABOUT US
The mission of Eastern York School District is to educate, prepare, and motivate each student to dream, to think, to learn, and to achieve throughout life.
Website: www.easternyork.com
Location: 120 S. Third St. Wrightsville, PA 17368
Phone: 717-252-1555
Welcome Back 2016-2017
To reach out to our gifted students and their families, we have developed a newsletter that will be distributed quarterly. Each issue will contain helpful hints on raising gifted children, tips on what you can do together with your children at home, links to additional resources, dates to remember and any gifted-related work happening right in our very own classrooms.
This publication will also give you a chance to learn more about our Gifted Teachers as well and see what the gifted students are experiencing at Eastern York School District.
We thank you for playing a vital role in your child's gifted education and we look hope you enjoy these newsletters and find them beneficial.
Challenge Puzzle
QUESTION: Is the inner shape a real circle?
Hint:
Sometimes extraneous information around your target can distort your view. Try covering the lines with a piece of card to remove some of the interfering information.
Brain functions involved:
Here you are exercising your visual perception and decision-making skills. The visual cortex in your occipital lobes processes visual input from your eyes. Not only is the occipital lobe mainly responsible for visual reception, it also contains association areas that help in the visual recognition of shapes and colors. The problem solving, selective attention, and executive functions used in this exercise are handled by the anterior portion of the frontal lobes.
*Puzzle taken from sharpbrains.com. View the website for more brain teasers.
Activities Gifted Kids Can Do At Home
As a parent of a gifted child there are activities you can do with your child at home. The following are some suggestions:
Internet Exploratory Activities
You can show your child how to search online, how to choose which sites are of the highest quality, and how to find sites that actually address the issues that they would like to research. Then, let your child conduct additional research about a topic that interests him or her.
Hands-on Activities
Examples might include any of the following:
- Creating a go-cart or similar vehicle from recycled materials
- Building bridges from spaghetti or other substances
- Creating animals from craft supplies based on a given genetic makeup
Creative Activities
Many advanced students show incredible creativity, and you can build on that strength by giving them activities that bring out their creative sides. Here are some ideas you could try:
- Rewriting the ending of a book that your child has read
- Writing a historical fiction story that takes place in a time period that your child has just learned about
- Creating art that mirrors famous pieces of art in the period of history your child is learning about
- Building a totem pole or a coat of arms that your child believes could represent himself or herself or the whole class (after learning about Native Americans or the Middle Ages)
- Writing songs to review the material that your child learned.
Real World Activities
- Writing a letter to the editor of a local paper responding to an issue in the community or in the paper itself -- and actually sending it;
- Designing an invention that will actually help people and figuring out how they might apply for a patent on it;
- Making their own meal plans, calculating how many calories are in various types of food, as well as which foods contain essential nutrients;
- Organizing a fundraising event to raise money for a cause, and working with all of the math (money), writing (advertisements), and other skills that go into it.
Source: Visit the link below to view the full article.
Characteristics of a Gifted Child
Recommended Games and Toys for Gifted Children
Riddle Cube
Manufacturer: Educational Insights
Mfr. Recommended Age: Ages 8+
Testers’ Recommended Age: Ages 7+ www.educationalinsights.com
MSRP: $19.99
Do You Know Shakespeare?
Manufacturer: SimplyFun
Mfr. Recommended Age: Age 12+
Testers’ Recommended Age: Ages 12+
MSRP: $38.00
Crowded Waters
Manufacturer: Educational Insights
Mfr. Recommended Age: Age 8+
Testers’ Recommended Age: Ages 8–12 www.educationalinsights.com
MSRP: $19.99
Gifted Education Terminology Parents Need to Understand
Acceleration-Matching the level and complexity of the curriculum with the readiness and motivation of the student.
Enrichment- Learning activities providing depth and breadth to regular teaching according to the child's abilities and needs.
GIEP- Gifted Individualized Education Plan. It's an annual document that includes a student's current levels of educational performance, highlighting strength area(s) and building goals and SDI's around those strengths.
Specially designed instruction- Adaptations or modifications to the general curriculum, instruction, instructional environments, methods, materials or a specialized curriculum for students who are gifted.
Attention Juniors and Seniors- Important SAT Test Information
The SAT--This test is the Scholastic Assessment Test. It is typically taken in 11th grade, and consists of 3 main sections: reading, mathematics, and writing. The SAT allows you to show the colleges what you know and how well you will apply your knowledge. A new SAT format was released on January 24, 2016, so if your child is preparing to take the SAT, be sure that you are using study materials designed for the new SAT.
Information on these tests can be found at: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat