TD at PSE

Spring has sprung! The weather is getting warmer, the sun is setting later, and the flowers are in bloom!

We have been working hard through the last quarter at PSE to engage our students with fun and interesting enrichment opportunities that connect to what they are learning in the regular classroom.

Students in 5th grade have been learning about the historical events leading up to World War II and The Holocaust. Through non-fiction texts, students are analyzing the impact of different factors in Hitler's rise to power in the early 1930s (economic depression/inflation, bitterness over the Versailles Treaty, use of propaganda, etc.). They will also learn about the resistance of everyday people against the Nazi Party in fictional books (inspired by true events) like The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark and how the Danish people stood against tyranny to save their Jewish citizens. Students will continue to explore changes that took place in Germany before and after the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party and analyze their impact through the use of Thinking Maps.

Since this is a sensitive topic, I wanted to be clear that the focus of this unit is not on the horrors of the Holocaust, but on how events in history can impact one another and how kindness, tolerance and empathy for others is important. Students used both non-fiction and fiction texts to explore this time in history and analyze cause and effect.

Students have been working with algebra and fractions through the use of Hands-On Equations - Fractions. Students learned about algebraic equations using fractions and through the use of the Hands-On Equations system, learned to solve the equations. Students also learned to write an algebraic equation to solve word problems. See it in action below!

Students also built their own "mini-golf course" through problem solving with fractions and decimals. Through solving word problems, students earned elements they could add to their mini-golf courses such as sand traps, windmills, and even unicorns and dragons!

Students are learning about the events of the American Revolution through an exploration of the musical Hamilton. We will only have time to focus on a few of the songs in the musical ("Farmer Refuted" and "You'll Be Back"), but students will look at and compare the viewpoints of Patriots versus Loyalists through a Double Bubble Map and explore figurative language and mood/tone in the songs. Students also read a brief biography on Alexander Hamilton to learn about why he lived a life worthy of capturing in a Broadway musical! They picked out the most important events of his life and created a Flow Map to show how Hamilton went from an orphan in the Caribbean to the first Secretary of the Treasury of the newly-formed United States of America.

Students were given the task of designing a ship using an online pattern block creator that had a value of between 24-26. Each shape was given a value (1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/6) and students could design the ship in any way they wanted. They also used clues involving fractions (simplest form, equivalent fractions) to discover how many of each type of crew member was on their ship. They then mapped out their route to their destination and calculated how many days it would take to complete their cruise. We had a lot of fun creating these cool designs using fractions!

Third grade classes continued working with the concept of interactions (see Q2 newsletter). This quarter students focused on interactions between characters and the ways in which these interactions lead to opportunities for change. To support EL’s focus on classical literature, students read Gail Haley’s The Green Man.

"The legend of the Green Man, a figure known throughout Europe as the lord of the forest, is given an imaginative and appealing interpretation by Gail Haley. Claude, the spoiled and arrogant son of Squire Archibald, finds himself stranded in the forest one day while hunting, and in order to survive he learns to live in harmony with nature around him. He acquires the arts of making food and clothing for himself from the roughest materials, and gradually takes on the duties of the Green Man, caring for and feeding the animals and protecting the village children. When, at the end of a year's time, Claude is able to return to his family, he is a kinder and more gentle person. Ms. Haley's warm story and beautifully detailed illustrations, reminiscent of medieval tapestries, perfectly capture the spirit of this beloved folk hero and the timelessness of the Green Man legend."

Students began with a close read of the text. They made predictions, used context clues to clarify unfamiliar words, and identified both literal and figurative language. Students then engaged in a variety of activities designed to deepen their thinking. They compared/contrasted characters (Double Bubble Maps), classified changes in characters as either internal or external (Tree Map), and analyzed structure, symbols, vocabulary, mood/tone, and theme (Literature Webs).

According to the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics), problem-solving experiences are critical if students are to be able to use and apply mathematical knowledge in meaningful ways. Problem solving supports students’ ability to:

• think creatively, critically, and logically

• structure and organize

• process information

This quarter, third grade students continued working with algebra (see Q2 newsletter), but focused on application rather than computation. Using both Hands on Equations (see Q2 newsletter) and Primary Grade Challenge Math (see Resource Spotlight below) students learned to use “the math language of algebra” to set up and solve algebraic equations. They quickly discovered that correctly setting up the problem is the trickiest part!

Here’s an example:

• Stacie is three times as old as Nicky. Warren is 6 years older than Nicky. Their ages add up to 31. How old is Stacie? Stacie is 15 years old.

Step 1: Set up

Stacie: 3n

Nicky: n

Warren: n + 6

Step 2: Solve

n + 3n + (n + 6) = 31

5n + 6 = 31

5n = 25

n = 5

Step 3: Prove

5 + 15 + 11 = 31

31 = 31

Students used both text and illustrations to solve the mysteries of Graeme Base’s The Eleventh Hour.

When Horace the elephant turns eleven, he celebrates instyle by inviting his friends to a splendid costume party. But a mystery is afoot, for in the midst of the games, music, and revelry, someone has eaten the birthday feast. The rhyming text and lavish, detailed illustrations each provide clues, and it's up to the reader to piece them together and decide whodunit!"

To hone deductive reasoning skills, students:

• used context clues to clarify unfamiliar vocabulary

• made inferences to “read between the lines”

• engaged in wordplay (anagrams, puns, idioms, alliteration etc.)

• examined visual clues embedded in illustrations

• decoded secret messages hidden on every page (alphabetic codes, number codes, Morse code, hieroglyphics, and… “red-herrings”)

Given gifted children’s sophisticated language and thought processes, advanced vocabulary, intellectual curiosity, and heightened interest in reasoning and problem solving, Graeme Base’s The Eleventh Hour was a hit!

Second grade “diving detectives'' continued the “Variable Voyage” solving algebraic equations across a variety of problem solving applications. (See Q2 TD Newsletter.)

Universal screening continued across the district for some second and third grade students.

• Second Grade: CMS Portfolio Assessments were scored in late January. Results were sent home.

• Third Grade: Eligible students prepared for the CMS Portfolio Assessment. Portfolios will be scored in late March.

“New to CMS” second and third grade students who missed the fall screening window, participated in CogAT testing in mid-February. Results were sent home. Please contact Mrs. Safran if you have questions about gifted screening. (Kathryn.safran@cms.k12.nc.us)

Are you the parent of a newly certified TD student? Each fall, we hold an “in-person” parent meeting to discuss resources, curriculum, and services offered to TD certified students as outlined in their Differentiated Education Plans (DEPs). I hope you will join us next year! In the meantime, please take a few minutes to view this year’s presentation:

https://giftedteaching.com/parent-meetings/

Be sure to “sign in” via the Google Form (below the video) so that we can capture your attendance.

Edward Zaccaro is the author of this well-known series of books designed for gifted learners. According to Mr. Zaccaro, “Passion is an important part of developing excellence." Unfortunately, math is often taught as all scales and no music. These lessons help students take intellectual risks; learn to think deeply and with insight; see the magic and wonders of mathematics and help students understand and appreciate mathematics and its place in the world.

The Cross-Impact Matrix is used to analyze a text by looking at the relationship between various aspects of the text. In this example, we are looking at how characters impact one another in the text, "Esperanza Rising" by Pam Munoz Ryan. We can also look at how certain elements in a text impact one another as well (mood, tone, setting, structure, etc.), This is used in the upper grades to dive deeply into a text once students have shown mastery of the basic literary elements in a text. Mrs. Atri recently presented a session on the use of the Cross-Impact Matrix at the North Carolina state gifted conference called NCAGT.

Students can access additional enrichment opportunities (literacy and math) via Mrs. Atri & Mrs. Safran's Canvas courses. These resources include choice boards, as well as some games and puzzles that encourage critical thinking and problem solving.