ORMS GT Newsletter
February 2020
Field Trip Information
-If your child filled out the lunch form for Jason's Deli (6th and 7th grades) or for the dining hall experience (8th grade) they need to bring $10 before Spring Break. If they decided to bring their lunch, please make sure they don't forget on the day of the field trip
-If your child filled out the form to purchase the GT t-shirt, please make sure they bring $10 ASAP as the shirt money was due TODAY. They need to wear that shirt on the day of their field trip. If they didn't purchase a shirt, please make sure they wear a ORMS, NB or unicorn blue shirt the day of the field trip
-Below are the permission forms for the field trips, but GT advisory teachers will be sending home paper copies as well. They are due the day before the field trip at the latest!
-Parents are not going on the field trips, but please attend the Parent Expo on April 28 4:30-6PM come and go.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about the upcoming field trips.
6th Grade
Passion Projects
Over the last month, 6th grade GT students have been preparing to begin their Passion Project. We began by viewing inspirational videos followed by the students generating ideas about topics that interested them. Next, they completed a survey and we used the information from that to prepare a Padlet to use for crowdsourcing so the students could gather information, tips, ideas for primary sources to interview, extension ideas for their project, etc. from their peers. We then introduced the project and had the students compose wonder questions about the top 2 topics they were interested in for their project. The students then completed a contract over those 2 topics, received permission from their parents, and are ready to go!
March will begin with the students actually starting their Passion Project research and will be working either alone, with a partner, or in groups of 3.
Ms. Redwine
6th GT Advisory
830.627.6464
Ms. Beabout
6th GT Advisory
830.627.6453
7th Grade
7th GT Competition Practice
The competition is the last day of March so we have about a month left to practice and prepare!
3D Printing with Tinkercad & Merge Cube
Instant Challenges
The Winner of the "There She Blows" Challenge: Max
Theatre Challenges
Brain Teasers
Ms. Brooks
7th GT Advisory
830.629.8514
Ms. Stanush
7th GT Advisory
830.629.8534
8th Grade
The month of February included an interesting social experiment on the 8th grade class. The point of the experiment was to help 8th graders understand that there are inequities in our world and they exist around us, however, people are widely unaware of their existence.
Students were organized into new groups based on height. Students had no idea they were grouped in this manner. For a week straight, students competed in different challenges in these groups, however, the short students were given numerous advantages and more praise than the taller students. Initially, the advantages were hard to recognize such giving hints on a Algebra test with multiple choice versus open ended Algebra questions. As the week continued, and the short students continued to dominate the competitions, the advantages for the shorter students became more obvious. On a building competition based on innovation, the short students were given the best lego pieces, while some groups were given only flat pieces, and some groups had off brand lincoln logs and 2 groups had Jenga sets.
In the end, Mrs. Bryant led a brilliant discussion and gave the students a visual of advantages some groups were given. All students were lined up as if to run a race. Before starting the race, she asked students to step forward if they were given certain advantages during the week of challenges. The taller students didn't move past the starting point while a majority of the shorter students were almost at the finish line. This activity led to an eye opening discussion about being aware of your surroundings and taking action to remedy social injustices around us.
This activity was the segway into our next challenge. Students will be regrouped based on interest into political action groups. Students will start a movement on our campus/community to rectify or draw attention to the topic of their choice. This can be a movement to end world hunger, raise awareness of climate change, find cleaner energy solutions, etc. Students will be responsible for researching their topic, raising awareness by producing propaganda, administering a survey, and hosting a schoolwide fair during advisory to promote their topics. There will be more information to come on this big project.
Ms. Bryant
8th GT Advisory
830.629.8529
Ms. Cowan
8th GT Advisory
830.627.6458
Upcoming Events
7th GT Competition
Tuesday, Mar 31, 2020, 08:30 AM
Westside Community Center, S IH Frontage Road, New Braunfels, TX, USA
8th Grade Field Trip
Friday, Apr 3, 2020, 08:30 AM
Texas State University, University Drive, San Marcos, TX, USA
6th GT Field Trip
Thursday, Apr 23, 2020, 10:00 AM
Escape Haus Escape the Room Game, Interstate 35 Frontage Road, New Braunfels, TX, USA
GT Parent Expo
Tuesday, Apr 28, 2020, 04:30 PM
Oakrun Middle School, Oak Run Point, New Braunfels, TX, USA
Amanda Hunt, Librarian and NBISD Secondary GT Facilitator
Email: ahunt@nbisd.org
Website: http://bit.ly/ormslibrary
Location: 415 Oak Run Point, New Braunfels, TX, United States
Phone: 8306276449
Twitter: @libtechGT
Blake Haygood
Email: bhaygood@nbisd.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/nbisd.org/giftedandtalented/home
Phone: 830-643-5765