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The Anxious Generation Book Club
The Anxious Generation Book Club
The Anxious Generation Book Club.pdfClick through the photo carousel below or click the post to view directly on Instagram.
6th Grade - Oct 14
6th Grade - Oct 14
Most of the professional interviews have been conducted and student research presentations are coming together! Students are able to work on the different components of the presentation at different times (about the profession, interview, and interactive element), so students with later-scheduled interviews have been able to get the other parts done first. Early finishers are also working to improve their presentations and add more depth. Next week, as some students finish their presentations, others will get to start planning for our student-led field trip/s to get a closer look at a couple of the professions they have learned about.
We will finish this semester by planning the trip/s, chatting with current North middle school students, and working through a gifted student self-advocacy curriculum to prepare for middle school and beyond.
5th Grade - Oct 15
5th Grade - Oct 15
Question of the Day: Is it good or bad to be bored?
Today was another work day. Many groups were able to finish their filming today, and some groups have made a lot of headway on editing their environmental PSAs. A couple groups have a lot of work remaining and will unfortunately likely need to finish their projects over the course of a few Choice Times in the coming weeks or work outside of class. It can be hard for some students to adapt when one of their teammates is surprisingly absent for the day, so please try to communicate with me and have you student communicate with their GATE team members as soon as they know they will be missing class. That way the team can plan ahead.
Next week will be the final PSA project day. The final PSAs will be shared on this website, the Lowell video announcements, and with the non-Lowell students' regular teachers to share as they see fit.
Click through the photo carousel below or click the post to view directly on Instagram.
Click through the photo carousel below or click the post to view directly on Instagram.
4th Grade - Oct 16
4th Grade - Oct 16
Today we finished up the ethics unit and started the brain unit! The students added their activist/advocate presentations to their digital portfolios (linked below) and gave and received feedback through Book Creator's comment feature. They practiced giving feedback that sandwiched critical comments with positives, was specific, and was connected to the success criteria. Everyone gave feedback to their table team, and several students also volunteered to share their work with the entire class.
The students also added their final ethics assessment to their portfolio where they were given the same prompt (Explain to a friendly alien what "fair" means.) but were encouraged to incorporate as many of our vocabulary words as possible. I will be comparing their first attempt at this task with their second attempt and quantifying their growth based on the complexity of their understanding of the concept of fairness.
After recess, the students checked out a very simple slideshow about neurons (we will dive MUCH deeper in the weeks to come) and problem solved to recreate a neuron using pipe cleaners and beads. This quarter, the students will learn all about brain anatomy and function and will have the opportunity to dissect a sheep's brain at the end of the unit!
Donation Link & Amazon Wishlist
Donation Link & Amazon Wishlist
If you would like to help fund our tech needs, supplies for students, brain puzzles, etc, please click on the link below to donate to my Boise Foundation Account. You can also check out our Amazon Wishlist.
A Special Note
A Special Note
Some of the district's other pull out GATE programs serve higher-need communities and aren't able to secure many funds for their programs due to the nature of voluntary donation systems. These teachers regularly pay for project supplies out of their own pockets. If you feel led to donate, please consider blessing these deserving students and teachers by giving to their programs. A few Lowell families donated to these programs last year, and they made a huge difference! Lowell family donations were actually the ONLY donations Garfield received last year. Thank you so much!
The programs most in need are [GARFIELD/GATE/TUCKER,KATIE], [PIERCEPARK/GATE/ALEXANDER,LEONA], and [MOUNTAINVIEW/GATE/WELLER,LYNNETTE]
Secure quick link to the class Foundation Account donation page
Parent Lending Library
Parent Lending Library
The Boise School District has a Parent Lending Library to help educate, inform, and support parents as they raise gifted children. If you are looking for my information related to parenting gifted children, please reach out to Helga Frankenstein, GATE Supervisor, (helga.frankenstein@boiseschools.org) for more information.
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