High Ability Update

Due to fall break, our schedule was different this week. We had HA language arts on Monday. HA math was on Tuesday. This allowed us to have one day of each class versus both days of language arts and no math at all. There was no HA on Wednesday, because I was with Duneland's elementary HA team at LES. The staff and students were understanding and flexible:)

We had a family send in much needed Expo brand dry erasers this week. Last week, a family sent in ziploc bags. We are all set on supplies:)

We wrapped up our Cesar Shift Cipher study with some fall and Halloween messages to decipher and encipher. The kids loved it! They took home their shift ciphers and a couple of incomplete papers. Some of the them might be cracking and creating codes at home, but it isn't homework. Our study of symbols and language will continue next week with a telephone keypad cipher.

Grupo is a game that requires students to pair shapes using at least four criteria. Students used proper vocabulary while playing, and I am so proud of them! For example, they used the word vertices instead of points. They also used the word angles instead of corners. They paired shapes based on the number of sides, number of vertices, number of angles, shape name, number of inside shapes, and types of inside shapes. With two students absent, the students that were present played together with my instruction. Next week, we will revisit this geometry game and hopefully be able to break off into groups to have more than one Grupo game being played at a time.

If you've read any of The Tale of Despereaux with your students (it's totally fine if you haven't, I believe most students are reading it on their own), you may have noticed there's some difficult vocabulary in there for 2nd graders. We discussed several of the challenging words Monday in class. Several students added examples of the author's references to light/dark to our classroom chart. They may continue to make note of light/dark on the notecards that are in the ziploc bag with their books. Due Monday, October 24: Read Chapters 16-20. We will be reading together in class on Monday, so please be sure your students are caught up on the reading and have their books with them at school. Thank you so much for your support:)

These students were engrossed in our lesson this week! Using relational thinking, we solved addition problems that would've otherwise involved carrying/regrouping. They will surely build upon this in the future. As for right now, they think it's fun and may find themselves using this alternative approach to check their work. The students are looking forward to doing more of this math next week:) Throughout their time with me at Jackson, HA students hear a lot from me about checking their work. I remind them that checking their work doesn't mean making sure they answered every question. It is more than just checking what they wrote down/typed in their iPads. To properly check their work, students need to reread problems, be sure they used the proper numbers & functions, and solve again to assure they solved accurately.

While nouns that are people, places, or things are elementary for this group, nouns that are ideas are more difficult to identify. Using a myth for reference, we worked as a group to identify nouns. Most importantly, we worked to identify nouns that are ideas. Although we have not yet finished reading the myth, you might ask your student which Marvel character was likely named after the myth we are reading.

In lieu of tests, our HA math curriculum has Check-Ups. Third grade had their first Check-Up this week. While I know writing in math is hard, I expect the students to put forth great effort; therefore, I repeatedly encourage students to take their answers to a higher level. They can do it, but most need a nudge. Witnessing these students rise to the challenge is so rewarding!

Students worked in pairs to pick out ten Greek or Latin root words from our word wall that they did not previously know. In some cases, students have used the root words, but did not previously realize the relationships between the prefix/root/suffix. Each pair of students were given twenty cards. They recorded each root word twice, once with the definition and once without the definition. We will be using these cards next week. Before the students left the room, I asked them to tell me one root word they learned about today. You might like to ask your student about some of the root words they learned in HA. If they don't quite remember them yet, they will after working with them again next week:) You might also ask where Maleficent and her daughter Mal got their names.

Variables, variables, variables. The 4th grade HA math students rocked their variable lesson this week! Solving variable puzzles that required deductive reasoning, students strengthened their understanding of what a variable represents/the role variables play. For example, if the same variable appears twice in one equation, it has the same value in both positions. The students are building a strong foundation for algebra:)

Email: kapeterson@duneland.k12.in.us
Location: Jackson Elementary School, North 400 East, Valparaiso, IN, USA
Phone: 219-983-3680