The Gifted Gazette
Simkins Elementary
Issue 1 September 2015
Meet Mrs. Yohn
Email: yohnt@gcsnc.com
Phone: (336) 674-4321
Classroom Supply List
Each student is in need of the following supplies for class this year.
4th and 5th Grade Supply List
1 Box of Tissue
2 Composition Notebooks (1 for reading and 1 for math).
1 USB Flash Drive
1 Highlighter
1 Pack of Index Cards
2 Pocket Folders (1 for reading and 1 for math).
1 Pack of Sticky Notes
1 Pack of Dry Erase Markers
1 Pack of Notebook Paper
Mrs. Yohn's Wish List Items
Gallon Size Zip Lock Bags
Sandwich Size Zip Lock Bags
Cardstock
Colored Computer Paper
Clorox Wipes
Mrs. Yohn's Classroom Schedule
This year I will be split between Pleasant Garden and Simkins Elementary. I will be at Simkins Elementary on Mondays and Tuesdays, and I will be at Pleasant Garden on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The best way to reach me when I am not at Simkins is through email: yohnt@gcsnc.com.
Monday
7:45-8:30- 3rd Grade Whole Group Lesson
8:30-9:15- 3rd Grade Whole Group Lesson
9:35-11:05-5th Grade Math
12:30-2:00-4th Grade Math
Tuesday
7:45-8:30- 3rd Grade Whole Group Lesson
8:30-9:15-3rd Grade Whole Group Lesson
10:00-11:30- 4th Grade Reading
12:10-1:40-5th Grade Reading
Get The Facts: A Look Into Our Current Units of Study
Third Grade: Building Thinking Skills
Building Thinking Skills lessons are in full swing in the 3rd grade classrooms. Each year in October third graders across Guilford County take an aptitude test called the Cognitive Abilities Test, better known as the CogAT. These results will be used in screening for the Academically Gifted. To prepare students for the format of the test I will visit each classroom a total of six times and deliver whole group lessons that will help students to prepare for this test. Some of the topics that will be covered include verbal and number analogies, patterns, verbal and figure classification, number puzzles, paper folding, and figure matrices. Afterwards, I will continue to meet with all third graders with a focus on building habits of success through December. AG students will be identified in January.
Fourth Grade English Language Arts: Explaining the Unexplainable
This quarter in ELA, students will explore the concept of truth through the colorful characters of Greek Mythology. Students will strengthen their ability to: refer to details when explaining text; determine two main ideas; describe a character's thoughts, words, or actions; determine the meaning of words/phrases; produce clear and coherent writing; use punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and language conventions; and participate in collaborative discussions.
5th Grade students will take an in-depth look at the United Nations and human rights around the world. They will learn how to: use quotes from text to draw inferences; determine two or more main ideas; develop vocabulary; compare and contrast texts; strengthen their writing by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach; write in a clear and coherent manner; use technology to produce and publish writing; summarize information in notes; discuss collaboratively; use language conventions; and understand multiple-meaning words and phrases.
Math Quest: Let The Games Begin
Events: Save the Date
September 7th- Labor Day
September 16th- Early Release
September 23rd- Interim Reports
Socio-Emotional Tip of the Month: Raising Gifted Kids: Carol S. Dweck on the Impact of Mind-set
“Great accomplishment, and even what we call genius, is typically the result of years of passion and dedication and not something that flows naturally from a gift.”
In her article “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids,” Stanford Professor of Psychology Carol S. Dweck writes about children “who coast through the early grades under the dangerous notion that no-effort academic achievement defines them as smart or gifted.
“Such children hold an implicit belief that intelligence is innate and fixed, making striving to learn seem far less important than being (or looking) smart.
“This belief also makes them see challenges, mistakes and even the need to exert effort, as threats to their ego rather than as opportunities to improve. And it causes them to lose confidence and motivation when the work is no longer easy for them.”
“Praising children’s innate abilities reinforces this mind-set, which can also prevent young athletes or people in the workforce and even marriages from living up to their potential.”
Teach a growth mind-set
“On the other hand,” she continues, “our studies show that teaching people to have a ‘growth mind-set,’ which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life.
“People do differ in intelligence, talent and ability. And yet research is converging on the conclusion that great accomplishment, and even what we call genius, is typically the result of years of passion and dedication and not something that flows naturally from a gift.
“Mozart, Edison, Curie, Darwin and Cézanne were not simply born with talent; they cultivated it through tremendous and sustained effort.
“Similarly, hard work and discipline contribute much more to school achievement than IQ does.
Stay teachable and motivated
“Such lessons apply to almost every human endeavor. For instance, many young athletes value talent more than hard work and have consequently become unteachable.
“Similarly, many people accomplish little in their jobs without constant praise and encouragement to maintain their motivation.
“If we foster a growth mind-set in our homes and schools, however, we will give our children the tools to succeed in their pursuits and to become responsible employees and citizens.”
FromThe Secret to Raising Smart Kids, Scientific American Mind, Dec 2007.
Books by Carol S. Dweck, PhD :
The handbook of competence and motivation.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
A related book: Your Own Worst Enemy: Breaking the Habit of Adult Underachievement, by Kenneth W. Christian, PhD.
Useful Links
Please join our award winning PAGE: Partners for the Advancement of Gifted Education!
Holly Stewart (President) mailto:hollydstewart@earthlink.net
http://www.guilfordcountypage.org
If you have a 4th grader in the US, then you family gets free admission to national parks. Check out the website below!
http://matadornetwork.com/pulse/4th-grader-us-family-gets-free-admission-national-parks-heres/