***In addition to our 6 Hats Thinking and 16 Habits of Mind Training, all classes will be studying Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences and completing a class project the first weeks of school. We will discover and investigate our top three, and some of my students will certainly be interested in finding out the top three used by other family members, teachers and friends. If you would like to learn more about how you learn, click the link below to take a quick survey!***
Class Units
1st and 2nd Grade
Good Stewards: Caring for the World Around Us
First and second grade students will focus on how living things depend on other living things and their non-living surroundings in order to survive. Emphasis will be placed on how we can make an impact and take care of the world around us.
3rd and 4th Grade
How Today Impacts Tomorrow- Archaeology
Students will develop an understanding of our past and the contributions made by our ancestors. They will explore how these contributions have shaped our world today. They will also have an opportunity to look ahead to the future and explain what they believe future generations will think and learn about our lives today. Students will conduct in-depth research and will create their own archaeological dig.
5thGrade
Global Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy
(Business,Ethics and Researching Future Global Trends)
Fifth grade students will focus on Future Problem Solving. Various activities will give students the opportunityto identify significant problems and develop new, innovative solutions. These problems will include, for example, research into what affects global trends, and the constant need for innovative products as societal needs change. Continuing to focus on the future, students will design and create a product with an emphasis on philanthropy. The next step will be for students to create their own business where they will market their new product and decide different marketing strategies appropriate for a variety of global cultures.
Specific gifted behaviors that will be observed during the units are the following:
· Uses advanced language
· Uses analytical thinking
· Is motivated to construct meaning
· Demonstrates perspective
· Shows sensitivity to the needs of others
· Demonstrates accelerated learning
Ongoing Class Projects (Brain Builders)
Daily Buzzword - Students will be creating projects to illustrate their understanding of a daily word. Projects will be created in class to illustrate understanding. I hope you will start hearing these "Daily Buzzwords" at home! Visit www.wordcentral.com daily to see what words your child should begin incorporating into their vocabulary, and see if you are a "Word Wiz"!
P.O.W.- (Problem of the Week)- Students will work on problems that will require them to think creatively and logically to solve non-routine problems. This will give students an opportunity to practice and apply strategies like Guess and Check, Draw a Picture, Work Backwards, Use Logic (Deductive Reasoning) and Act it Out. Students will have opportunties to create their own P.O.W.s to "stump" each other (and me!)
Visual Perception (V.P.) - Photojournalism - Based on a workshop I attended at TAGT, this activity focuses children's visual perception skills and teaches them to rely on non-verbal clues to decipher a photograph. Students are asked to figure out a logical explanation and caption for a published news photo without being given any verbal information. Students learn to infer about body language and expressions, lighting clues, setting and location possibilities, and the probability of their analysis.
Draw Start - Another visual perception activity, where students are given a series of lines, shapes, or figures which they must make into something recognizable. Students may have complete creativity over what to turn their lines into, or they may be challenged to make their image fit a specific category - ex. something that is used for transportation. Students are asked to explain their drawings and some choose to write about them in their probe journals. Encourages creativity and divergent thinking. From Dr. Bertie Kingore, Ph.D.
ABC's and 25 Things - Another adaptation from Bertie Kingore, Ph.D., this activity asks students to come up with 25 things related to a specific topic, or think of something related to that topic that begins with each letter of the alphabet. Developing students will typically give one-word responses; advances students will begin to use more complex phrases and perhaps string one or more together. Encourages analytical thinking.
Unit Projects-Ongoing and culminating projects will be created in class. Most of the work will be completed in class, so I can "see" your child's creative thinking and problem-solving skills in action.
Probe Journals and Journal Writing- Students have the opportunity to voice their feelings, reflections, and questions through weekly journal writing. Topics cover current events, units of study, and student-generated questions. Students may take one or more topics deeper into "Probe" mode - doing research and independent study to gather further information about this topic.
