The Open Gate

A newsletter for Duncanville ISD Parents of Gifted Scholars

September 2023

Welcome to the first issue of The Open GATE for
the 2023-2024 school year.

Let's gear up for a great year of learning and innovative thinking.The Open Gate will provide Duncanville ISD families with information and resources to support their gifted learners.

Supporting your Gifted Scholar

One way to support your scholar is to get to know the uniqueness of their giftedness. The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) provides numerous parent resources:

Myth or Truth?

That Student Can't Be Gifted, He Is Receiving Poor Grades

Truth:

Underachievement describes a discrepancy between a student’s performance and his actual ability. The roots of this problem differ, based on each child’s experiences. Gifted students may become bored or frustrated in an unchallenging classroom situation causing them to lose interest, learn bad study habits, or distrust the school environment. Other students may mask their abilities to try to fit in socially with their same-age peers and still others may have a learning disability that masks their giftedness. No matter the cause, it is imperative that a caring and perceptive adult help gifted learners break the cycle of underachievement in order to achieve their full potential.

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GATE Upcoming Events

Gifted and Talented Services Begins

9/11

Parent Meeting

9/21
Hastings Elementary School
6:00pm-7:00pm

1st Recommendation Window

9/25- 9/29

1st Testing Window

10/6-10/31

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Reading Corner

Reading helps expand your knowledge and understanding of the world, improves cognitive function, reduces stress levels, increases empathy and creativity, and provides an escape from everyday life.

The following are:

Parent Book Recommendations
Scholar Book Recommendations

Parent Reading Recommendations

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Nurturing Brilliance by Cynthia Webson

This book goes beyond exposing the thought patterns of gifted children; it includes practical tools and resources to meet all your gifted child’s needs at home and in other environments.

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Challenges of Gifted Children

Gifted children are often seen as a blessing, but the drama of the gifted child carries a unique burden of emotions and pressure throughout their life.

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A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children

Rich in information and strategies, this edition will be referred to time and time again whether you are entirely new to gifted, completing your parenting days, or supporting a gifted grandchild, student, or client.

Scholar's Reading Recommendations

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Señorita Mariposa by Ben Gundersheimer

A captivating and child-friendly look at the extraordinary journey that monarch butterflies take each year from Canada to Mexico; with a text in both English and Spanish. Rhyming text and lively illustrations showcase the epic trip taken by the monarch butterflies.

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Nosotros means us by Paloma Valdivia

A moving bilingual ode to the unshakeable bond between a parent and child in the tradition of Runaway Bunny and The Wonderful Things You Will Be.

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Abuela by Arthur Dorros

Rosalba spends the day in the park with her Spanish-speaking abuela. Together they imagine what it would be like to soar over the sights of New York City. A mix of Spanish and English, their shared daydream is both poetic and fantastical.

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New Kid by Jerry Craft

Kids who have felt the first-day-of-school jitters will eagerly read this graphic novel to find out how 12-year-old Jordan deals with being the new kid at a prestigious private school where none of the other students look like him.

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We Dream Of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly

Science fans will enjoy this novel that follows three siblings, including one who wants to be an astronaut, on their separate paths through middle school in 1986 amid the lead-up to the Challenger space shuttle launch.

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You Should See me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Ambitious readers will see themselves in Liz, an awkward teen who dreams of leaving her small Midwestern town to attend college and become a doctor.

Scholar Learning Experience Recommendations

Some of our scholars worlds are so small, but the community that each child lives in is an incredible resource for broadening it. Within each student’s city or region, there are people and places that students can access that cannot be replicated by the internet or in the classroom. This multisensory learning experience can bring one dimensional lessons to life and create enthusiasm for a subject that is hard to replicate through other media.The following are local learning experiences that could ignite a spark for your gifted scholar.

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The Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Museum: The Samurai Collection

Centuries of craftsmanship are represented in the collection, with objects dating from the seventh to nineteenth centuries. Samurai masterpieces, including suits of armor, helmets, masks, horse armor, and weaponry are on display in the Museum.

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Dallas Museum of Illusions

The Museum of Illusions Dallas is a place where nothing is as it seems, where the unbelievable truly becomes reality. The Museum of Illusions fuses fun and entertainment with education and learning.

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Frontiers of Flight Museum

To educate, motivate, and inspire all ages in North Texas by presenting aviation and space flight history and innovation through our comprehensive exhibits, collections, programming and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) curriculum.

Want to WIN?

The first 5 scholars who spot 10 differences from the pictures below and notify their Gifted and Talented Specialist will receive a special treat.

Creativity Camp 2023

Scholars in grades 3rd- 5th experienced the STEM Center of Excellence at Camp Whispering Cedars. Duncanville Gifted scholars were exposed to coding, drones, constructing bird houses, archery, outdoor hiking, and bird watching along with other memorable learning experiences.