Is It Possible????

Is it possible?  Could any reading lesson be as fun as Math Quest?  If you ask my 4th graders, the answer is NO!   On no planet, big or small, could this EVER be possible!  

Hmmmm - almost sounds like a challenge??  Never one to shy away from challenge, I made it my New Year's resolution for 2014 to make reading lessons as much fun, if not, (yes, hold your breath - more fun!), than our beloved Math Quest.

I explained my goal, but not how it would be accomplished, to my 4th graders prior to my 2 week stint of standardized testing.  They were intrigued! (Doubtful, but intrigued.)  The new ELA unit will utilize one of my favorite resources, Jacob's Ladder, designed by The Center for Gifted Education at William and Mary.  Jacob's Ladder targets reading comprehension skills and written response to advanced text for high ability learners. In the form of three skill ladders, students move from lower order, concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. Each ladder serves to scaffold student understanding, thinking, and written response. 

Ladder A	Ladder B	Ladder C
Sequencing Cause and Effect Consequences & Implications	Details Classifications Generalizations	Elements Inferences Theme/Concept

I know!  How will reading complex passages, responding in writing using specific evidence from the text, and rubrics to evaluate our work be more fun than buying golden peanuts and whatchamacallits while racing towards a treasure chest worth 50,000 pieces of gold?  Like your kids, you are probably doubtful. Intrigued, but doubtful.  

Below is a sneak preview.  You will see that I had a tremendous amount of help. :-)

The final product is not yet complete, so stay tuned.  The new unit will unroll a week from tomorrow.  I will be using an anonymous form to evaluate student feedback over time. I will be sure to keep you posted - although the true test will be if your kids tell you directly!  Let me know :-)

Thanks for checking in and supporting the AIG program at Bradley Creek!

Did you know?

Did you know that you are more likely to . . . .

• be struck by lightning TWICE in one day than to be bitten by a shark?
• be killed by a pig than a shark?
• be killed by a coconut (yes, I said it! A coconut!) than a shark?
• be bitten by a New Yorker than bitten by a shark?

If you attended today's 4th grade Academy on ocean animals and wildlife, you would! Thanks to Jane  Lewis (Bradley Creek parent), the North Carolina Aquarium came to Bradley Creek today.  Students learned the traits specific to fish (they have a spine, they breathe oxygen from water, they have gills, etc.) and explored why jellyfish, starfish, tadpoles, and dolphins did not fit into this category. Students had the chance to touch the jaws of sharks and learn how and why different teeth are designed for different things. Below, you will see some of our kiddos checking out a male and female seahorse.  (Yes, they are fish! The male is the one with the large pouch, if you are curious :-)

Our next Friday session will feature a visit from UNCW's Marine Quest.  As I'm sure you can imagine, the kids can not wait! 

Stay tuned for a detailed update on our most recent 5th grade Academy as well - An Introduction to Shakespeare.  Penny Kohut from TACT (Thalian Hall) has totally wowed our students - boys and girls - with the love of Shakespeare! (Who'd have thought, right?) During our first session, she had all 14 students speaking in iambic pentameter and designing a class sonnet. Today, the students rapped Sonnet 18 ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day") and left begging for more. In our next session she has promised us Romeo and Juliet meets the Super Bowl. If only I had learned Shakespeare this way!!!! There may be a performance to come, so stay tuned!

Thanks for checking in and supporting the AIG program at Bradley Creek!

Christy

Pyramid Puzzlers

Oh my goodness!  4th grade is hooked on pyramid puzzles!  Below, you will see two of our 4th graders who wrote the puzzle on their hands so they could work on it at lunch!  LOVE IT!

The enthusiasm was clearly contagious because, by the end of the week, look at all of the students who had solved the 10-tiered puzzle!

Students are now energetically attacking the 15 pyramid puzzle!  Below you will find both the 10 and 15 pyramid puzzles, (along with an example), for those of you who'd like to try it at home!

Click here to download

For those of you who are ready for the next challenge . . . The activity can be further extended with an exploration into "Triangle Numbers."  I pose the following open-ended questions to my students to encourage further, critical thinking:

• Consider the numbers we used to create the first four pyramid puzzles: 3, 6, 10, and 15.  
• In what way are these numbers alike?
• How would you describe the relationship between these numbers?
• Write a rule to describe the relationship.
• What other numbers could be used to create a pyramid puzzle?  Explain how you know.
• What patterns do you notice about the numbers in this list?

K-2 Nurturing

The scope and sequence of the K-2 program is grounded in Primary Education Thinking Skills (P.E.T.S.).Primary Education Thinking Skills (PETS) is a systematic enrichment thinking skills program for K-3 students. Its purpose is to help primary aged students develop higher level thinking skills. PETS follows the taxonomy of thinking skills outlined by Benjamin Bloom, presenting lessons in analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Students are introduced to Dudley the Detective - Deductive Logic, Yolanda the Yarnspinner - Creative Thinking, Isabel the Inventor - Inventive Thinking, Max the Magician - Mental Manipulation of Shapes, Sybil the Scientist - Analytic Thinking, and Jordan the Judge - Evaluative Thinking. Each character introduces a higher level thinking skill used in his or her job. Each character guides students through a story and a series of activities to introduce and reinforce their type of thinking. Imaginative memory triggers are included with each introductory lesson. 

Schedule: The service delivery schedule rotates to best meet the needs of our students.  The three rotations are described below:

• Rotation One  (push-in, whole class nurturing): 4 sessions for each class.  All four lessons focus on one character or higher oder thinking skill.
• Rotation Two (small group pull-out): Based on the data collected during the whole group nurturing, a small group of students are pulled for further extension and/or enrichment.  Pull-out sessions are approximately 3-5 classes long.  Classroom teachers and the Gifted Education Specialist gather data using the TOPS tool -Teachers Observation of Potential in Students.  TOPS is a research-based tool organized around nine domains: 
• learns easily; 
• shows advanced skills; 
• displays curiosity and creativity; 
• has strong interests; 
• shows advanced reasoning and problem solving; 
• displays spatial abilities; 
• shows motivation; 
• shows social perceptiveness; and 
• displays leadership.

Under each domain are examples of behavior that can be used to indicate potential.  The tool includes both teacher-pleasing and non-teacher-pleasing behaviors. 

• Rotation Three (observation, coaching, and planning) : During the final rotation, I push-in to each classroom again, this time to observe students and provide instructional resources and coaching for our teachers.  This is an opportunity for classroom teachers and I to work together to ensure that students are being appropriately and actively challenged. The rotation then begins again, this time with a new character and higher order thinking skill.

Qwerty cool!

Below are pictures from the 3rd grade TECHNOLOGY ACADEMY.  The focus of our first session was keyboarding.  Students examined the qwerty keyboard and then worked in teams to complete a blank keyboard map.  After learning about "home position," Academy members practiced typing using Power Typing  Our academy presenter, Patrick Murphy, also recommends Type-Fu as well, for anyone who is interested in learning or brushing up on their keyboarding skills.

Leadership Matters

Today was the first of four sessions of Leadership Academy, led by Dr. Sherry Pinto, principal of Holly Shelter Middle School.  Students explored the characteristics they value in themselves and others and discussed how these valued traits contribute to positive leadership.  Next week, students will examine the first practice shown below: Model the Way.  Stay tuned!

3rd grade nurturing

In the first semester, 3rd graders participate in a nurturing program that involves weekly A.I.G. push-in lessons to each classroom.  Activities and units are designed to explore talent and nurture potential.  Each activity will also yield student work samples to be saved in individual student A.I.G. portfolios. 

            The collection of standard work samples across the grade level is to ensure that:

·        every 3^rd grader has an equal opportunity to complete high quality, open-ended work samples that demonstrate advanced thought.

·        every 3rd grader has equal exposure to modeling, guided support and scaffolding from the A.I.G. teacher.

           

            Nurturing lessons include math, language arts, and non-verbal activities. We will begin our program with nurturing lessons in math.  All lessons are aligned with the Common Core Standards.  Be sure to ask your child about the projects we are doing in class!