GATEWAY Newsletter BIS Dec 2024

GATEWAY (Gifted and Talented Education With All Youth) Mission:

To support all students through talent development and to identify, challenge, and encourage academically advanced and creative learners.

Question:

Are you aware that ALL sections of Grade 6 and 7 GATEWAY (STEM, Advanced Math, Advanced ELA, and FPS) have been asked to read one book over the 2-week Winter Vacation?

YES! All 6th and 7th grade students who are enrolled in a GATEWAY class are being asked to read one book over the two week winter vacation. Our GATEWAY students are scholars, and scholars are readers!

One of our GATEWAY Advanced math classes created this interesting equation:

If BIS students will be on winter break for 14 days, and if they are awake for an average of 14 hours a day, that equals 196 hours of school-free time. This means our GATEWAY scholars can easily read one book over the break and still have plenty of time to use their phones and watch their shows...

A friendly reminder that all students in Tier 3 GATEWAY classes at BIS are required to read one of four books listed below. Mrs. Andrews received a Cobb Grant to purchase copies of the books, so there are many ways to get a copy of your child’s choice! More information can be found in the Winter Vacation Reading Assignment Newsletter and email sent on November 22nd!

Grade 6 book choices:

• Attack of the Black Rectangles by A.S. King
• Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
• Neurocomic by Hana Ros and Matteo Farinella
• The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

Grade 7 book choices:

• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
• Maus by Art Spiegelman
• Otherworld by Jason Siegel
• She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

Thank you for supporting our BIS GATEWAY initiative to get our GATEWAY scholars reading a little bit more, and making their "screen time" a little bit less. Once again, GATEWAY students are scholars, and scholars are readers.

Grade 6

You may have heard about bungee jumping at school, and I promise you that we are safe– it’s Barbie who is taking the plunge! Sixth graders in Advanced STEM practiced precise measurements, finding averages, and creating graphs on Google Sheets with data collected from multiple Barbie Bungee Jump trials. Before winter vacation, students will use their graph’s trendline to predict how many rubber bands they will need to safely drop Barbie from the BIS main staircase.

Grade 7

Seventh graders are concluding a season-long unit on water filtration and reuse. Students created water filters for a specific water-scarce environment, then tested and improved their systems. They have an in-depth understanding of water scarcity as a local Cape Cod issue, not just a global one. Their 3-D models and filter systems will be on display during the BIS Showcase on Tuesday, December 17.

Does your child ever ask for extra challenges?

Are they finishing their classwork earlier than their peers?

Please remind them to check out their Tier 2 Google Classrooms!

I post new enrichment activities and games every few weeks. I can’t wait to see what your child chooses to extend their thinking!

Grade 6 and Grade 7

The 14th Annual Creepy Story Contest results are in!

We had 38 creative writing entries for the 6th grade division, and 42 entries in the 7th grade division of the Creepy Story Contest this year.

All of our Tier 3 and many of our Tier 2 Advanced ELA GATEWAY students spent several hours reading, evaluating, and providing feedback for each of the stories in the packet. Tier 3 classes engaged in vibrant and insightful peer editing discussions, and students were able to share their constructive feedback for each story, as well as vote for their favorite stories.

The 6th grade authors who earned the most votes are:

Ryanne Feeley, Theodora Burdick, Harper Brooke, and Torrance Harrington!

The 7th grade writers who earned the most votes are:

Angeline Moreira, Shelby Thompson, Robbie Archibald, Julia Gargulio, and Grace Liebowitz!

CONGRATULATIONS to all of the winners!

Grade 6

The 6th graders and I have been enjoying various short stories by Kwane Alexander, Tim Federle, and Truman Capote in class during the short time between Thanksgiving and the long winter vacation. The students are also working on a free-choice creative project to cap off our study of the novel, The Graveyard Book. Students can choose from a variety of creative writing prompts that are inspired by the novel, or they may choose to design a fine arts project: create a painting, a diorama, a sculpture, a short film, a mini graphic novel, etc. They have had a month to complete this project outside of class, and it is due by December 20.

Grade 7

The 7th graders and I are working on a brief study of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Students read an overview of the classic tragic play, and now we are conducting an in-depth study of Act 3 Scene 1, in which there is a street fight between the Capulets and the Montagues. Students are learning to get comfortable with Shakespeare’s flowery and fiery Elizabethan version of English, and they are preparing to act out an all-out duel with wooden swords!

Grade 6

Our 6th graders have just completed their first round of learning and practicing Step One. Step One requires students to discover 16 potential challenges in the Future Scene, diversify their thinking by using a category list, and write out each unique challenge in the proper 3-part format: Cause + Effect + Possible Consequence.

After the break, we will begin the research portion of our next topic, Rising Sea Levels, which problem solvers from all over the world are presently working on. In the coming weeks, these 6th graders, who are our youngest Global Issues Problem Solvers in Barnstable, will begin to learn and practice the very tricky process of choosing, developing, and properly writing a Step 2 Underlying Problem.

Grade 7

Our ten 7th grade Competitive FPS teams have just received their first official feedback from The Massachusetts FPS Evaluation Committee, and I am thrilled with the results. All ten teams did an absolutely amazing job on their first-ever Practice Problem! Now we are on to the next challenge.

We are presently gearing up for Practice Problem #2, which will take place during the school day on Thursday, December 12. Between now and December 12, our teams will be reading and analyzing research about the Global Issues Topic Rising Sea Levels, as well as fine-tuning their understanding of Steps 4, 5, and 6 of the problem solving process.

Steps 4 and 5 require our problem solvers to develop targeted criteria to measure the solutions that they created during Step 3. The criteria must be specific to the team’s

Step 2 Underlying Problem. Each criterion is then applied to each solution in order to accurately discover which of the team’s 16 solutions is THE best solution to solve their Underlying Problem. Once the strongest solution has been revealed, the team creates a detailed Action Plan during Step 6.

The Action Plan is a written document that fully explains HOW the solution solves the Underlying Problem, WHO will carry out the actions needed, WHAT the solution is all about, and WHEN the plan will be implemented. The students must also consider and try to appease any DETRACTORS to their plan, in a persuasive “sales pitch” that must acknowledge potential or perceived flaws in their plan, and explain how those flaws might be overcome.

Good Luck on Practice Problem #2 Barnstable Future Problem Solvers!

You have been invited to attend the BIS Student Showcase on Dec. 17th from 5:00-6:30 PM at the Barnstable Intermediate School. This event will highlight the incredible talents and achievements of current students, but also offer a glimpse into the BIS experience for incoming students. The theme of the event is Redhawks Rising: "Seven Villages, One Journey, Endless Potential". As families enter the school they will be provided a passport to travel around in order to "experience" our various departmental, school club, and athletic team "lands". While in each "land" we aim to highlight the student successes within that content area, and provide an interactive experience for our visitors. We are excited to have representatives from our PTO, and various other community partners in attendance. There will be give-a-ways, and raffles ongoing throughout the evening which include two new bicycles generously provided by the Barnstable Police Union. We look forward to seeing you!