Nurturing Gifts: 2nd Semester Updates - Homework for the Week of 1/6/14

Thursday, January 9, 2014

2nd Semester Updates - Homework for the Week of 1/6/14

January 7, 2014

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Happy New Year! The gifted and talented students will be embarking on a new instructional unit this semester. The first and second graders will be learning about Georgia’s habitats, culture, and history in the unit My Big Backyard. Students will examine various ecosystems, plant and animal life, and important people in Georgia history. The third, fourth, and fifth grade students will be discovering the how the United States government (local, state, and federal) system works in the unit Law and Order. Students will evaluate the effectiveness of local, state and federal laws and participate in a mock trial.

Your child’s class participation is vital to ensuring student success. Please make sure your child has and brings to class weekly a binder (a 2-inch wide three-ring notebook with notebook paper), pencils, and a composition book for journaling. Journals will be kept in class. Students should keep all class notes and handouts in the binder. Completing the end of the unit project is very difficult if students who have not maintained their binders. I encourage you to email me or call me if you have any questions about homework or class assignments.

During the month of February, there will be no Challenge classes due to gifted testing. I will assign a research project that should be completed at home during the month.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Dickson

Homework Assignments
1st-2nd Grades
Complete your MyBig Backyard Page about your own yard.

3rd-5th Grades

Choose how to present (drawing, speech, essay, voki, poem)

School Rules: Name two school rules you that are frequently broken in your school. What strategies or tools are in place to prevent these rules from being broken? What are the consequences for breaking the rules? Are these strategies effective? Why or why not? Do you think the rules are clear and understandable to all students? Why or why not?

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Teacher Bio

Certification: Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Howard University, Master of Education in Educational Psychology (Gifted & Creative Education) from the University of Georgia

Teaching Philosophy: For students to be successful in a global 21st century environment, teachers must ignite students’ passion for learning while transforming them to become critical thinkers, advanced communicators, creative problem solvers, and advanced researchers of the future.

Special Interests: Mrs. Dickson enjoys reading, decorating, arts and crafts, family activities, traveling, and spending time with her family and dog.

As your Gifted Teacher, you can expect the following: I will provide students with meaningful and engaging opportunities to develop their abilities and explore academic subjects and interests with both rigor and creativity.

My Focus: Creating opportunities to expose all learners to gifted and talented pedagogy in an effort to improve achievement and increase the identification of underrepresented students in the program.

About This Class

Click here for the Atlanta Public Schools Office of Gifted and Talented Website

Welcome to our class blog

Class Overview

Welcome parents and students to the Gifted/Talent Development Program! I am Mrs. Dickson and I will provide Gifted and Talented as well as Talent Development instruction beginning the week of August 14th. The classroom will be a place the gifts, talents, multiple intelligences, and learning styles of both gifted and Talent Development students alike are embraced, while critical thinking and problem solving skills are better developed. Classroom curriculum is developed from interdisciplinary, differentiated, and standards-based lessons and activities for high ability learners. Units of study are aligned with the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards, as well as the Atlanta Public School’s Gifted and Talented Program Standards, which focus on advanced communication skills, advanced research skills, creative thinking and problem solving skills, and higher order critical thinking skills.

Curriculum

Supplies/Student Expectations

To ensure academic success, all students must come prepared every week on their assigned Challenge day with 1) a 2-inch wide three ring binder (new or recycled) with paper, 2) pencils, and 3) a composition book for journaling. Without these materials students will not be able to complete tasks, assignments, or the end of the unit project. The projects require students to synthesize all learning gained through note taking, handouts, discussions, research, and experiences documented in the binder. One project will be expected at the end of each large unit of study. Projects related to the mini units of study will be completed in class. Although homework tasks will be reviewed in class weekly, students may also visit the class blog (QR code linked below), to retrieve assignments and participate in any posted tasks or discussion questions. EdModo will be a classroom collaboration tool. Students will be expected to retain their login information and abide by the Edmodo Code of Conduct whenever they are utilizing this tool to collaborate about learning tasks, either at school or home. All behavior standards and expectations in the gifted and Talent Development classroom reflect and mirror those of the school.

Lastly, the class newsletter will keep you abreast of what is taking place in the classroom, celebrate student successes, such as becoming student of the month, and share essential gifted education news and resources. As always, I look forward to having a successful year of teaching and learning with our students. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.