Newsletters

September/October

4th Grade NEWS

Students have almost finished the I Am/Animal unit. They “observed” and researched an animal. Using their notes, they wrote an animal poem and created a clay animal. They also used brainstorming about themselves and their own “shadows” and “movers” to create an I Am poem. We have been discussing qualities of creative problem solvers. In small groups, they are working on posters about these qualities, like risk-taking, intrinsic motivation, and persistence. Next week, we will begin our next unit on Inventing. Students will look at character traits that inventors share. They will be exploring different inventions from the past and present. They will complete an inventor research project and plan and create their own invention using the Engineering Design Process. Students are working hard on Math Quest. All students have completed the Guess and Check strategy. They are currently working on the Draw a Picture strategy. Our next strategy will be the Make a Table or Chart strategy. We completed our first Junior Great Books assignments. We read a short story called The Enchanted Sticks. Students annotated during reading, answered an interpretive focus question, supported their answer with evidence, and explained their ideas in writing. Then we had a shared inquiry discussion. We have begun reading our next selection, Thunder, Elephant, & Dorobo. Next we will read a nonfiction selection called Young Inventors. Soon we will work on setting learning goals based on the APS Goals: perseverance, self-efficacy, self-regulation, or social awareness. Students may address specific areas within one of these areas that aligns with the Gifted Strands, Creative Problem Solver traits, or Mindset skills. Students completed one critical thinking group challenge (Operation Worm Rescue) and have been involved in other creative and critical thinking activities, like “Notice, Think, Wonder”, “Stories with Holes,” and Creative Drawings.

Please reach out with any questions.

5th Grade News

The students learned about recycling and the 3 R's and created a small group presentation to teach the other students at school. Each group visited 2 or more classrooms to share their presentations. They did a great job! We read a Junior Great Books story called The Two Brothers and will read Kaddo’s Wall this week. Students annotated during reading, answered an interpretive focus question, supported their answer with evidence, and explained their ideas in writing. Then we had a shared inquiry discussion to share our ideas. Next we will read our first biography selection about Eleanor Roosevelt. We will continue to read biographies in preparation for our big Images of Greatness unit later this year. For students who join us for math, students created their own challenging problems using various operations and order of operations rules in the “Figure Me Out” assignment. Currently they solving each others’ problems. Students reviewed Level 1 in Hands on Equations and have completed the first three lessons Level 2. This level involves adding and subtracting positive and negative variables. Soon we will begin “The Great Equation Race” where they will “travel” around the world by answering facts about different cities and then solving different math problem sets. Our first problem set will be about a variety of geometry concepts. Students have started creating self-portraits that will reflect important things about them or their lives. This week we will complete our first critical thinking challenge, Operation Rescue Worm, and have been involved in other creative and critical thinking activities, like “Notice, Think, Wonder”, “Stories with Holes,” and Creative Drawings. Students reviewed “Characteristics of Creative Problem Solvers”, like persistence, risk-taking, and flexibility/adaptability. They will review learning about the APS Goals: perseverance, self-efficacy, self-regulation, or social awareness and create posters for them. Soon we will work on setting learning goals based on the APS Goals. Students may address specific areas within one of these goals that aligns with the Gifted Strands, Creative Problem Solver traits, or Mindset skills.

Please reach out with any questions.