Gate Recap - January 21 - 25

Kindergarten - Enrichment & GATE - Thursdays

During Enrichment time we continued with the PETS program.  We reviewed Dudley the Detective’s thinking style.  The children wore badges so they too could be detectives while we solved our mysteries. Our first mystery was to use clues to choose which picture, from five, was Mary.  The second series of clues helped us figure out which dog was Mary’s.  The activity gave four or five clues that would help the students rule out certain pictures as not being possible.  The students did an excellent job. Next week, we’ll use clues to help put items in a correct order.

Kindergarten GATE students worked on a pretest of Math concepts.  I will use these results to guide my instruction so that I don’t present skills that the children are already comfortable with.  Next, I read a story that uses a tangram to help tell the tale. The children should have brought home an actual tangram puzzle as well as a sheet that showed all the animals that were in the story.  Next week we’ll read through the story one more time.  The tangram is a very old, visual thinking puzzle.  Using the pieces I’m able to introduce the geometry concepts of turn, flip and slide.

First Grade – Wednesday Mornings

First graders finished their skeleton section of the human body unit. We started an experiment to try to remove the calcium from a trio of chicken bones. Ask you student what we’re using to extract the calcium.  We also worked on a puzzle that required the students to match very similar drawings together to make a long continuous line.  It was much more challenging than the children first thought.  I forgot this week, but I will send home a set so that you can give it a try. 

Next week, we’ll begin the human body unit on the muscle system, as well as check on our experiment.  We will be dissecting a chicken leg to look at the “parts”.  I will have the children wear latex gloves while doing the work and we’ll be sure to thoroughly clean our table when we’re done.

Second Grade – Tuesday Mornings

I passed out the typed stories from last week for everyone to enjoy. I hope you’ve seen the stories.  When you read them, remember, they were written in just 10 minutes per student and without time to edit. I fixed spelling and some punctuation, but did nothing to the story lines.

Every then got busy force fitting two unrelated words into an invention.  Ask your child what their words were and what they invented.  I may just put these out on the wall for all to enjoy.

Last, they were given a good deal of time to work on their game boards. I am hoping the boards will be done next week, and then we can move on to the directions.  We’ll write directions together as all the games are very similar.

Third Grade – Tuesday Afternoons

I introduced a new game this week.  Actually, it’s not really a game; it’s a story telling technique with a math connection.  It’s called Shongo Networks.  Ask your child if they can tell you about the origins of the network idea.  Also, we talked about real world applications to studying networks.   The children were challenged to follow given networks without picking up their pencils. Next week we’ll move to more complicated networks.

Also, the entire group will be coming together for the next section of Hands-On Equations.  I’m really looking forward to introducing the higher level concepts presented in the next unit.  Please check your child’s binder each week to see what they’ve been doing in class.

Fourth Grade – Monday Afternoons

No class this week due to the holiday.  For Monday, they should have parts 1 & 2 of the Daily Dilemma assignment completed and be ready to research the answer from the supply of books I have in class.  If they want to use the computer to research before they come to class, that’s fine, but they will still need to use the classroom resources to find the answer.  We’ll finish that activity on Monday.

Fifth Grade – Wednesday Afternoons

This week was a working day.  I gave the students most of the day to work on their career projects and research stocks they want to follow for the Stock Market Game.  SMG will begin the week of Feb. 4. I’ve shown the children how to look for bonds and mutual funds, now it is up to them to do the research to decide which they want to purchase if at all.

Career projects are now due on Feb. 6.  Many of the children had wonderful notes, but seemed very concerned about the visual and oral presentations.  The written report will be discussed in more detail on Wednesday.

Gate Recap – Week of January 14 - 18

Group News

Book Club orders are now available both in the classroom (Paper) and online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs.  Our code is GL7HN, orders should be entered on line by Friday, Jan. 18.

 

Kindergarten - Enrichment & GATE - Thursdays

This was the first week for Kindergarten students.  I'm excited to welcome five new Enrichment and four new GATE students.  Enrichment students will be with me in the mornings only, while GATE students will be with me for both the morning session and a short time in the afternoon.  This week was about getting to know each other as we form a new class.  Ask your child about the other children in our new group.  I also introduced Primary Education Thinking Skills, a program that teaches various ways our brain things.  Our first lesson was on deductive thinking.  Each process has a character attached to it and for this unit it's Dudley the Detective.  This week we met Dudley as he was trying to solve a mystery.  Next week we'll use our thinking skills to look for clues in a very busy picture.

First Grade – Wednesday Mornings

Please come by the GATE classroom and see the patterns first graders created this week.  They are posted outside the classroom, under my bulletin board.  I was really impressed with the various patterns the children created.  I asked them to choose the most complicated to color and put on display.

This week we also continued the unit on Systems of the Human Body.  We put together our moving skeletons using brass fasteners for our joints.  I also read a book that went into more detail about bone structure and had many wonderful pictures of the hands, feet and other areas where there isn’t just one bone.  We also learned that the femur is the strongest bone.  Next week we’ll finish the skeletal system with an experiment using chicken bones.   Our next system will be Muscular System.

Second Grade – Tuesday Mornings

This week’s thinking lesson was a writing exercise.  I gave students different story starters and they had to continue the story.  After ten minutes they gave their story to a neighbor who then kept the story going.  We switched stories three times.  I am working on typing up the stories and we’ll share them next week.

We then worked on making our “real” game boards.  I was so impressed with the care the students were taking in measuring and drawing their boxes.  Most of the children felt they needed to do some more research or write more cards after they saw all the squares on their game boards.  I told them we could work with what they had, but no, that wasn’t going to work.  I’m excited that they are excited about research.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Third Grade – Tuesday Afternoons

We are finished with the Hanoi Tower portion of Math Around the World.  Next week we will explore Shongo Networks.  These are patterns that can be traced without picking up your pencil.  We will also be getting back into Hands-on Equations next week when Mrs. Schwartz returns.  Her group will be reviewing lessons 1 – 14 and I’ll be finishing up the word problems with my group.  Then, we will join the group together to begin the second phase of the program which includes positive and negative numbers.

Fourth Grade – Monday Afternoons

The fourth graders took a pre-test on the Lewis and Clark Expedition this week.  Except for a couple of students, most have a lot to learn. This is always a good thing. I like knowing that there is something they aren’t already experts on.  Those with a good base of knowledge will be sure to learn new information as they work on the research for each mini-project.   I also showed a short National Geographic movie about the expedition.  After that they were given a dilemma that was faced by the expedition.  Many of the dilemmas were in the movie.  The students were given time to read the dilemma, and decide what they would do. They then met with other students who had the same problem to research.  For homework they should be working on the second part of the dilemma assignment.  I am really looking for complete and detailed writings.  In class on the 28^th we’ll work on the research portion (#3) and depending on time, they will do their final writing in class also.

Fifth Grade – Wednesday Afternoons

We had an exciting class on Wednesday.  I hope you’ve had a chance to look over the bond information that was presented by Mr. Bob Grunzinger.  He did a fabulous job. The kids are excited to try this new product out in their portfolios.  Next week, I’ll show them how to make those trades.  In the meantime students should be working on their career project research and tracking their stocks and bonds they might purchase when the game begins in February.  I will be checking on the progress of the career research next week. Students should bring in their notes and printouts (if any) so I can “see” what they’ve been doing.

Gate Recap – Week of January 7 - 11

Group News

Book Club orders are now available both in the classroom (paper) and online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs.  Our code is GL7HN, orders should be to me or entered on line by Friday, Jan. 18.

First Grade – Wednesday Mornings

In December first graders were introduced to Max the Magician. Max uses visual and spatial perception to solve puzzles.  This week they tried to use visual thinking to copy a gridded pictured from the original to an empty grid.  Ask your child to show you theirs.

This week we also continued the unit on Systems of the Human Body.  We read about the skeleton before the break.  This week we used a model of a skeleton to build our skeletal system.  Then, using the Internet to help us, we labeled the major bones right on our pictures.  I used both the scientific and common names for many of the bones.  It never hurts for a child to hear a word, even if we think “it’s too difficult”.  Next week, well make a moving model of the skeletal system and then review what we’ve learned so far.

Second Grade – Tuesday Mornings

We had a great class this week.  The students finished their drawings and writing about the item they invented before the break.

Next, we began working on our game boards.  What I plan and what happens is often different, and today was a case in point.  I thought I’d do a quick demonstration on how to mark the squares on a game board, then I’d let the children make their own boards.  What really happened was we had a great lesson on using a ruler and reading a ruler that is marked into 16ths of an inch.  In the end, everyone had a model of what their larger game board will look like. I will give them the paper for the board next week and we’ll carefully work through drawing the squares on that board, the final board. 

Everyone should be done with their research.  Many of the children asked to bring home cards so they could begin writing those up on their own time.  I love their enthusiasm for this project.  It’s been a lot of fun.  I am moving at a pace dictated by the children, so it’s OK, if we don’t get this done in a couple of weeks, I want them to be learning without frustration.

Third Grade – Tuesday Afternoons

Math around the World took us to the task of Hanoi’s Tower.  Hanoi’s Tower was originally developed to teach young monks in training the concept of task completion and concentration.  You begin with one disc and can work up to eight on our game.  The idea is to move the discs from one location to another in as few moves as possible.  There is a mathematical way to find out just how many moves it takes.  However, this is only half our challenge.  I asked the children to work until they were able to accomplish each level without error, more than one.  Needless to say, many of the children really had to work hard to concentrate for the time it took to accomplish this task.  I believe most of the students are very comfortable up to four discs.  Next week we’ll review the task, and write about our findings.  Please feel free to play the game on line at the link provided in this week’s email notice.

Fourth Grade – Monday Afternoons

The Lewis and Clark Expedition is the focus of our newest unit.  I introduced the work we will do during this unit and then gave each student a short brochure about the expedition.  I expect each student to read at least ONE of the brochures before next Monday’s class.  A few students have already come and exchanged for a new brochure.  On Monday, Jan. 14, the children will take a pretest.  They will then begin their first task, a time line of events from the expedition. This will be a group activity. 

A full copy of the project outline in available on the blog (See below.)

Fifth Grade – Wednesday Afternoons

I introduced the Career Project this week. Because it is so difficult for me to get my groups to the computer lab, I am asking that ALL research be done at home.  I will give classroom time to help them make sense of the information.  Students may bring in notes or printouts if they need my help.    A full copy of the project outline in available on the blog (See below.)

We also had some time this week to talk with the new stock market partners.  They each chose a list of stocks they want to watch during January so they are prepared to purchase stocks the first week of the game.   Mr. Bob Grunzinger will be coming next week to teach the children about bonds and mutual funds.  This will enable our students to also purchase these during the game.

 

 

Money Math – Final Project

Money Math – Final Project

The goal of this project is to help you gather information about a career you may be interested in for your future.  You will present your findings to the class. You will be organizing and planning the steps to achieving a job in the career you are interested in, as well as calculating the cost to getting to that position.

The research will be done outside of class.  When you bring in the information, we’ll work together organizing and presenting the data in a clear and understandable manner.

Use this project to gather information on a career in which you are truly interested.  Your final presentation will be a 3 – 5 minute oral presentation that includes visuals. You will also write a report that will be turned in to me prior to the presentation. You are not to “read” your report to the class.  Sell the class on why your career choice is a good one, maybe you’ll convince someone else to look into your idea for themselves.

Getting Started

At this moment in time I want to be a ___teacher______ when I am an adult.

In order to achieve this goal you need to know the education and experiences necessary to get this dream job.  What qualifications are required to get this job? (Education, experience, tests)

Are there high school classes, or outside activities you can do to help you prepare for your career.  What kind of grades do you need in high school to get into the college or training program you will have to attend to get your dream job?

What technical school, college or university would you attend?  Find out the tuition, housing and other costs associated with your education choice. Research at least four education options.   Remember, your costs will definitely be HIGHER in six years when you enter college.

College	Tuition	Housing	Fees / Travel

Once you’ve gotten your dream job, what salary can you expect to earn? The first year?  After five years’ experience?  Ten years?

Your final product will be…

1.     A written report clearly outlining the information asked above.

2.    An oral presentation with a visual display.

You must let Mrs. Lecours know by January 23, just how you will present your findings and what you’re using for your visual item.  Some ideas for visuals are: posters “selling” your career / college, Science Fair type board with well-organized information, a power point presentation (you may not read the power point to the audience.)  A power point presentation should support your talk, not replace it.  OR you tell me, what you want to do. Be creative, making it interesting.

http://www.collegegrad.com/occupation-statistics

http://www.salaryexpert.com/index.cfm

www.collegeboard.org

Reports are due Jan. 30.  Presentations will begin that day. Be prepared.  We’ll continue with presentations on Feb. 6 only if we can’t get everyone in on the 30^th.

Keep a list of ALL information sources used to put together your report or presentation.

Fourth Grade - Lewis and Clark Unit

Today I introduced the Lewis and Clark unit and then gave the children down time.  Many of them chose a One-Hour Mysteries or to explore the resources on Lewis and Clark.    Below is the same information I gave your child.  Most of the written work for this unit will be completed in class.  Keep an eye out here for the homework assignments which will be heavy on the research side.

HOMEWORK: Read the Lewis and Clark information booklet given today in class. You may come during the week and exchange your booklet for another one at anytime.   Feel free to explore the websites also.

There is NOTHING due in writing.  We'll begin the timeline activity next week.  It will be compeleted in class.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition – Corps of Discovery

Each student will complete the activities listed below to extend your understanding of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  This will require research and work outside of our scheduled GATE time.  You should make use of the Internet sources listed below and posted on the Flynn GATE Blog.  You can also go to the University City Library to find additional books on your specific topic.  Books in the classroom must stay in the classroom. You will take a pre-test and post-test on the Expedition.
 

1.      Along with the members of the group you are assigned, you will research a series of events, put them in order and then create an illustrated timeline of the events.  Everyone in the group is to assist in locating the date of the events using any resource available in the classroom.

2.      You will be assigned a dilemma to research and discover the real solution as described in the journals and other resources. Your dilemma number is _________

3.      You will act as in Interpreter for one of the Native American Tribes encountered by the Corps.  Choose a tribe and complete the research as describe on the Interpreter handout.  Get your index card from Mrs. Lecours when you are ready to prepare your final product.

4.      You will choose one task from the list of Task Descriptions attached.    Task  _______ 

5.      You will make an oral presentation to the class using one of the tasks from #5 as your source.

Below is a short list of Lewis and Clark Internet resources.  There are hundreds of sites on the expedition.  You are not limited to these sites, but be careful, when doing general searches on the web, many sites are for adults and may be too difficult to understand.

PBS: http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/index.html
Scholastic: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/lewis_clark/#
National Geographic: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/west/  or
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark/

Interactive Movie: http://www.kidsknowit.com/interactive-educational-movies/free-online-movies.php?movie=lewis%20and%20clark

Smithsonian: http://www.edgate.com/lewisandclark/

Welcome Back

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a relaxing break.  We will be back on our regular schedule next week.  If your child can't find their binder, it's because it's here at school.  I keep them at the end of the semester to review for progress reports.

You will receive the GATE progress report for the first semester with your child's second quarter report cards.

The book club is updated for January.  Go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs.  Our class code is: GL7HN.  Paper forms will be available during class next week.  Paper and electronic orders are due by Friday, Jan. 18 (an early release day for the students.)

Monday, Fourth Grade - Starting our new unit on Lewis and Clark. Just an introduction this week, we'll get deep into the unit Jan. 14.

Tuesday, Second Grade - Working on making our game boards.  Third Grade - Review Hanoi's Tower and find the mathematical way to know just how many moves it should take to complete each stage of the game.

Wednesday, First Grade - Skeletons & Flat Ryan's visit to Chicago; Fifth Grade - Career project will be explained.

See you next week.

Mrs. Lecours