Cassidy Gifted and Talented News
January 7, 2019
Announcements
Happy New Year and Welcome Back!
Dr. Madden Absences
I found out last week that I will need to have my tonsils out and have that scheduled for January 17. I will be out recovering for a few days and will return on January 28. Mrs. Lebryk will be subbing for me while I am out and will keep the students moving forward on all of their projects.
Dance Blue Save the Date!
The 5th Grade Leadership group is now planning away on Dance Blue, a fundraiser for the Pediatric Oncology Unit at UK Children's Hospital. Save the date for the event on February 1st from 3-7. More info will be going out to families soon.
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.
GAP Offers
If your child qualified for the GAP program (the Gifted Accelerated Program at Ashland Elementary/Winburn Middle), offers will start going out on January 16 for Winburn and January 18 for Ashland. For elementary, students are rank ordered by qualifying scores and offers will go out in rounds as spots are available.
5th Grade Language Arts Documentary Change of Date
The 5th grade language arts students need some more time to complete their documentaries, so we are working on finding a new date for their movie debut at the Farish Theater originally scheduled for January 22. I have asked the library for a new date in March and will report the new date as soon as it is set.
2nd/3rd Grade STEM Rube Goldberg Machine Materials:
Some of the students in the 2nd/3rd Grade STEM group need some additional materials to build their Rube Goldberg machines. I have many materials, but some of them had specific requests for items that I did not have. They took their lists home after our class last week. Please check in with your child to see if there is anything that they need. I would love your support in helping them get it. If there are things on their list that you cannot get, please just let me know and I can work on rounding it up.
Important Dates:
3rd Grade PTP Parent Night, 5:30-6:30, January 30, Library:
This is an informational meeting for 3rd grade parents about the process for exiting PTP (which ends at the end of third grade) and being referred/identified for Gifted and Talented (grades 4-12).
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!
1st Grade LA/Math/Art PTP:
Students are planning away on their Party Plan Projects.
2nd/3rd/4th Grade Art and Creativity:
Students are working on rubix cube mosaics or designs for a large piece of artwork to display around the school to show our school motto: Work Hard and Be Kind.
2nd Grade Language Arts:
Students are finishing up their non-fiction books and will be beginning a new fiction project next week.
2nd/3rd Grade Leadership:
Students are implementing their leadership projects that they planned in the fall.
2nd Grade (GI/Math) and 3rd Grade (GI/Science/Math) STEM:
Students are building their Rube Goldberg machines.
3rd Grade Language Arts:
Students are finishing up their non-fiction books and then we will be moving on to a fiction project.
4th Grade Language Arts:
Students are in the process of finishing up their myths and then we will be moving on to a non-fiction project.
4th Grade Math:
Students are beginning a new unit on fractions from the M3 curriculum designed specifically for Gifted and Talented learners for math.
4th Grade Social Studies:
Students are studying the history of government and different types of governments. After studying these topics, they will then develop their own 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 working on planning their multi-media to put together their documentaries/podcasts. Students will also be learning about text features (infographics, charts, diagrams, photographs, etc.) that they can be using to enhance their projects.
4th/5th Grade Dance/Drama:
The drama students are learning about the elements of effective drama to gear up for writing and producing their own dramatic performance. They have decided to do a sketch comedy piece.
The dance students are working on a comparative dance project where they compare and contrast two different styles of dance to explore how different elements of dance are used to convey meaning. The goal is to use this to inform the development of their own dance piece.
5th Grade Leadership:
Students are planning for our Dance Blue event in February.
5th Grade Social Studies:
This week, students will explore what it was like for people to consider moving to the New World and what life was like when settlers began to arrive there. They are started an online simulation called Mission US where they can explore what it was like to be in colonial times. 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 finishing up our bridge projects and then we will be moving on to our next project.
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