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2017-2018 Board Members
Jenny Lashier, President Beaver Creek, JMS
Beth Frantum, Past President Lawson, Summit
Mandy Dummermuth Vice President
Beaver Creek, JMS [email protected]
Alissa Weber—Treasurer Wallace
Valerie Thacker, Ass’t Treasurer JHS, JMS, Timber Ridge
Kristin Urness Database Coordinator
TimberRidge [email protected]
Tammy Coslin—Communications JMS
Hena Guo, New Member Liaison Horizon, Summit
Jean Sweet, Fundraising Summit, JMS
Contact us anytime at [email protected]
Friends of Johnston ELP Newsletter
Fall 2017
Kathy Paul JCSD ELP Coordinator 515-278-0476 [email protected]
Contact via email
Sue Cline JHS Adv Placement 515-278-0449 [email protected]
Contact after 3pm or
via e-mail anytime
Molly McConnell JMS 515-278-0476
Contact via email
Mitzi Hetherton Wallace and Lawson 515-278-0478 (Lawson)
515-278-6977 (Wallace)
Contact by e-mail or
phone
Nikki Paradise
Williams
TimberRidge 515-331-4379
Contact by e-mail or
phone
Kristen Hartman Beaver Creek 515-278-6228
Contact by e-mail or
phone
Colleen Ites Summit 515-986-0318
Contact by e-mail or
phone
Kate Florer Horizon 515-986-1121 [email protected]
Contact by e-mail or
phone
2017-2018 ELP Staff
Like us on Facebook at Friends of Johnston ELP!
The power point presentation from the ELP Overview parent meetings is now available on the district website. If you were unable to attend and want to see the information that was covered,
here is the link:
https://www.johnstoncsd.org/departments/teaching-learning-innovation/extended-learning-
program-elp/
JOIN NOW!
It's not too late to become a member of Friends of Johnston ELP! Dues are only $20 and can be paid through RevTrak or in person at future parent programs. 100% of the dues goes to
supporting our ELP teachers and students.
ELP Program News
How Can You Enrich at Home?
“I’m bored!” We have a remedy for that dreaded phrase! The ELP staff often discovers exciting challenges that we cannot fit into the school day.
Here are a few that you can let your child sink his or her teeth into this fall.
Na-No-Wri-Mo
NaNoWriMo is a national writing contest that happens every November! It's a fun, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writing event where the challenge is to complete an entire novel in just 30 days. For one month, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just
create!
That means participants begin writing November 1 and must finish by midnight, November 30. The word-count goal for our adult program is 50,000 words, but the Young Writers Program (YWP) allows 17-and-under participants to set reasonable, yet challenging, individual word-count goals. In 2012, over 300,000 adults participated through our main site, and 80,000 young writers participated through the YWP. For more
information, check out the website: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/
Invent Iowa
Invent Iowa, one of the premier programs through the Belin-Blank Center, serves the needs of talented young inventors. The Invent Iowa program
encourages students to creatively think and solve problems through the invention process. Now in its 27th year, the program has celebrated
the work of thousands of students in grades K-12. These novice inventors, whose inventions range from humane mouse traps and mitten driers to
devices that make life easier for someone with a disability, continue to amaze and inspire us with their inventions. For more information, visit
this site: http://www2.education.uiowa.edu/belinblank/students/inventia/
January Parent Program—Navigating High School and Preparing for College
When: Thursday, Jan 4, 2018
Time: 7:00-8:30
Where: Johnston Middle School
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR STAFF
The ELP staff have several opportunities for professional development this fall. Johnston School District supports staff to attend the state Talented and Gifted Conference in Des Moines, the National Gifted Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina and a Workshop presented by the Iowa Department of Education this October and November. Information gained is then used for in-service and professional learning for our teachers and
development and refinement of our identification and programming.
The state gifted conference provided staff with over fifty session choices to attend over two days in October. There were presentations on technology, creativity, STEM opportunities, primary gifted, professional development, literacy, twice exceptional students, identification, and acceleration. Staff also had a chance to meet with other teachers to network. Sue Cline and Kathy Paul presented a session on secondary
identification and programming on Monday, October 16.
The national conference in November provides a chance to meet with and gain information from national experts in the field of gifted education. This year, Kristen Hartman and Kathy Paul will attend and bring back information and ideas to staff. They will attend a special session on
underrepresented populations in gifted programs.
In late November, six staff members will attend a meeting to address the needs of advanced learners in the Multi-Tiered Support System process to provide appropriate levels of support for all students. This will include Joy Wiebers, the Director of Student Support and Equity, and several ELP
teachers and district teacher leaders.
From the Desk of Kathy Paul ELP Coordinator
COMMUNICATION TIPS FOR PARENTS
The October JELP Parent Program dealt with social-emotional issues related to parenting a gifted child. Using the book Ten Things NOT to say to
your Gifted Child by Nancy Heilbronner et al, the presenters led the group in a discussion about dialogue with your child. We agree that perhaps
many of us have said some of these things to our children! If you would like to read this book, it’s on my bookshelf. Contact me via email at
One of the statements from the book and session: “You’re gifted; this should be easy for you” gives us insight into a child who may not be working
up to potential. This time of year, I start to hear from parents as progress reports and grades are posted. There are so many factors that could
cause underachievement; the table below outlines some of those factors.
It’s often hard to determine which factor - or even a combination of factors - is the cause, but it is helpful to address the root of the problem.
Usually a child does not choose to underachieve, but over time it may certainly appear this way. It’s important to communicate with your child and
the school about the issues. Express your belief in your student directly to the child and to the teachers so we can form a home-school
partnership.
When talking to your child and the teacher, here are a couple of things that are NOT helpful to say.
“I wasn’t ever good at math (or reading or band….).” This does not express a positive mindset and provides the child with an excuse for why
they may not be achieving. Instead, talk about how you addressed difficulties and overcame them, modeling positive actions.
“We didn’t do well on the last project. We will need to change our approach next time.” The student needs to own the work. Talking to a
teacher about “your” work on a project can be disconcerting, even if you are simply expressing your interest or concern. Try putting the ownership
on the child.
Keep in mind that the important thing to do is to share information and involve the child in discussion and in planning how to overcome an issue.
Student Related School Related Family Related
Organization skills Learning environment Death
Study Skills Best match of curriculum and ability Illness
Emotional issues Divorce
Learning Disabilities Sibling Issues
News from Johnston Elementary Schools
Submitted by Mitzi Hetherton, Nikki Paradise-Williams, Kristen Hartman, Kate Florer
Whew! We have had a busy start to the new school year!! Here are just some things you might see when visiting the elementary schools….
Some kindergarten and 1st grade classes participating in whole group thinking activities by the ELP teachers in the classroom
Primary Education Thinking Skills (PETS) Students have enjoyed “seeing” their old friends from Crystal Pond Woods who have helped them
review the characteristics of convergent thinking and introduced various problem-solving strategies
Time unit, a hands-on math inquiry unit when students “travel” to four different time zones
Learning math sites to use while in the classroom, such as frontrowed.com, Khan Academy, and mathtop10.com
Problem solving tasks using: Try-A-Tiles, Logic Links, Logic puzzles and Perplexors, CALC cards
Junior Great Books literature and Vocabuilt
Reading literature The Phantom Tollbooth and Who is Julius Caesar?
Duolingo online program to learn another language from them
CyRide project (tech, elapsed time, map skills, problem solving)
Researching, designing and building skyscrapers out of limited resources to see who can create the sturdiest building that can withstand wind
Dynamath—paper airplane
Affective studies using Gifted Survival Guide, Getting Organized without Losing It!, I’m Not Just Gifted, and Who Am I? text and activities.
We are using Growth Mindset to set goals
Prodigy Math app
Writing personal goals
School Newspaper—creating and editing
Examining numeration systems and place value in The MoLi Stone unit
Studying Base Systems in math
MATH OLYMPIAD
Fourth and fifth grade Math Olympiad groups are learning
problem solving strategies that will help them be successful on
their tests. Some of the early strategies include Think 1, 2-10
Method, Draw a Picture, and Venn Diagrams. We are anxious to
tackle the first test in early November!
ADVANCED LANGUAGE—GRADES 3-5
The advanced language groups in grades 3-5 are studying Latin
words and stems using the Michael Clay Thompson curriculum. We
do not want to appear ostentatious as we throw out some of our
profound new vocabulary words. We are challenging students to not
only learn the words, but to also USE the words! With some grade
levels we are using an interactive notebook to make learning new
words fun and to bring a deeper understanding. Hopefully you will
catch a glimpse e of what we are learning in conversation at the
dinner table, or in new classroom writing activities. The students are
much more aware of their new words popping up in the books they
are reading too.
In other language groups, students have begun thinking about how
language fits together in a grammar study. We are taking some of
the basic concepts of grammar taught in the classroom and
extending the content.
Elementary School Fun
Submitted by Mitzi Hetherton, Nikki Paradise-Williams, Kristen Hartman, Kate Florer
Lawson 4th graders Wallace 4th graders
Wallace 5th graders Lara, Marissa, Ellie and Sara Wallace 5th graders Syd, Claire and Caleb
Summit Middle School News
Submitted by Colleen Ites
6th Grade Ms. Ites worked with small groups of students during ELA times as students worked toward competency for RL 6.3, our standard that covers how the plot and characters impact each other in fiction. Students read the short story “Charles” by Shirley Jackson and shared their reflections via Blogger, as well as working with the Freytag Plot Pyramid to map the story. They worked with their classroom peers to compare how this story’s plot and characters interacted with the plot and characters found in “The Stolen Party” by Liliana Heker. After completing the story the students used their extension skills when completing the summative assessment on the story “Nadia the Willful” by Sue Alexander. Some of these extensions were done with Ms. Ites, and others were done with basecamp teachers. Some 6th grade students are working on a math extension with Ms. Ites that involves examining their own eating habits and determining if they are meeting the recommended daily amounts of specific foods. Students are learning to convert measurements (Imperial and metric), and how to work with decimals, fractions, and percentages when determining their own personalized nutrition needs. Students will continue to work on this project throughout Unit 2, addressing more deeply the standards 6.NS.1, 6.NS.2, 6.NS.3, and 6.NS.4. Mrs. Ites is also sharing out extensions with other teachers. 6th grade STEM students working with Ms. Ites during Math and Art have completed their analysis of art utilizing knowledge of how the human eye sees, the importance of the color spectrum, and the implications color-blindness has on a person’s overall life. They have covered a lot of information regarding fractals, phi and the Golden Ratio, tessellations, tiling, mathematical dissections, mirroring and symmetry, and polyhedra. Students continue to develop their own art using these techniques as well as origami, kirigami, and using 3D printer pens to create 2D art in 3 dimensions. 6th grade Humanities students working with Mrs. Barlow are analyzing a criminal and a civil case in their analysis of the Mock Trial process. Students are developing attorney and witness parts to present in a Mock Trial of both cases. They have also reviewed the basics of individual speech and debate participation.
7th Grade 7th grade Humanities students working with Ms. Ites and Mrs. Barlow are developing pieces that follow NSDA Guidelines for Individual Speech and Debate. Students are memorizing, blocking, and utilizing characterization skills in many categories, including Duo Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Original Oratory, Impromptu, Poetry, Prose, Extemporaneous Debate, Public Forum Debate, and Policy Debate. Students will be presenting and filming their pieces to create a ‘variety show’ of speech and debate events. 7th grade Mock Trial students are working with Ms. Ites and Coach McConnell from JMS as they work toward competition at the Regional Tournament on November 10th. Teams are comprised of mixed 7th and 8th grade students, and this criminal case takes place on Court Avenue in Des Moines. Students work with Ms. Ites during Summit Strong and with attorney coaches and Coach McConnell at the Tuesday evening practices and weekend practices. Forensic Science students have researched into the basics of genetics, epigenetics, and the analysis of genetic information for criminal forensics or virology research. Students extracted DNA from strawberries and learned how this DNA sample could be used in a DNA microarray. Students will learn more about human anatomy before attempting, in teams, to create a victimology at a crime scene. Office Terry Dippold will come in to walk students through fingerprint extraction methods, DNA gathering methods, and how to set up a victimology at a crime scene. Students will also learn how to take fingerprints and attempt to use these to identify a partner’s fingerprint after they have lifted it from a crime scene. Lunar Robotics students have been developing robot prototypes to use in a proposed lunar mining base. Individuals presented ideas that the class placed into teams based on protocol, robot locomotion style, and appendage design. Teams will be presenting their prototypes before receiving first contingencies in order to fulfill the needs of LunaGlobe for space transport and the potential funding sources. Students also participated in a GoogleHangout with Dr. Jason Rhodes of the Jet Propulsion Lab in California, where they learned of his journey from WDM to JPL and asked questions specific to the environment of space and it’s impact on the robots. Final designs will be filmed as part of the RFGP video to their potential funding sources.
6th grade STEM students display tessellations and fractals they created in
math and art Adam, Aiden, and Sophie develop robot prototypes for lunar
robotics
Summit Middle School Fun
Submitted by Colleen Ites
6th grade STEM students show mirrored and flipped symmetrical
images
6th grade STEM students with clear acetate sheets showing how color-blind people
would see specific works of art
Bella and Shelby participating in Speech and Debate
Colby, Sam, and Cooper participating in Speech and Debate
Engineering team Jackson, Will, and Spencer discuss robot
prototype design in Lunar robotics
Will, Alex and Jessie working on their strawberry
DNA forensic science project
Josh and Braden working on their strawberry DNA
forensic science project
Sierra and Emela working on their lunar robotics
project
Jenna and Olivia preparing for Speech and
Debate
Johnston Middle School News
Submitted by Molly McConnell
ELP at JMS is off and running! This year ELP class is blended 8th and 9th grade with a focus on in-depth study. Each student in the class has designed a semester-long project that is based on a passion area or contest interest. Through this study project, each ELP student will develop skills in organization, self-direction, time management, self-evaluation, and reflection. Daily time logs, weekly check-ins, and monthly progress reports ensure that students are staying focused and using their class time to its fullest potential. This project is a great way for students to take ownership in there learning and see a project through from beginning to
end.
In addition to the in-depth study project, students also participate in monthly “McConnell Choice Days.” These activities focus on students working successfully in a group, honing complex communication skills,
and critical thinking and problem solving.
Johnston Middle School News
Submitted by Molly McConnell
Countries Negotiating!
HISTORY DAY KICK-OFF!
Twenty-three 8th-12th graders attended the state History Day Kick-Off event in the Historical Building on October 6 in downtown Des Moines. Students were inspired by the panel of speakers who spoke about the Conflict and Compromise related to Iowa’s Six-0n-Six girls’ basketball
teams. The use of this year’s theme, “Conflict and Compromise” was helpful for students to see.
Following the speaker panel, students had a choice of sessions to attend. Several of the sessions were led by Johnston students who were national competitors in the past. High schoolers Akshaya Kumar, Jackie Liang, Makenna Gregurek, Taylor Siebert and Allie Tubbs presented
information on their categories and entries. The students also had a chance to research potential topics in the State Historical Library.
Johnston High School News
Submitted by Sue Cline
ELP classes at the new high school building are moving along very well. This year Mrs. Cline is at the HS building all day, so four full sections of ELP class are taking advantage of the additional space in the comfortable furniture outside our classroom. It’s great to be less than 20 feet away
from the Library-Media Center, too.
Knowledge Bowl
Our local Knowledge Bowl competi-tion took place on Friday, October 13th. Four teams did their best to earn the right to represent Johnston at DMACC on October 26. Two of those teams made it to the Finals at DMACC, doing us proud. The team members are listed below, and the two teams marked with a star were the Finals participants.
*PIKA
Anna Xiang
Kevin Dial
Elvin Niu
Marianne Aldrich
Katelyn Kempkes
(Chris Yao replaced Katelyn at
DMACC)
*Chincillas
Parul Srivastava
Mac Jackson
Joseph Haggerty
Aditi Jithendra
Kennedy Ortmeier
Hyraxes
Jimmy Le
Casey Hodson
Aline Teixiera
Ella Knott
Capybaras
Haley Dostalik
Owen Smith
Andrew Ritchie
Matthew Ding
Lydia Stanley
One of this semester’s most unique projects is sophomore Nathan T’s construction of different types of batteries. Currently we are being graced with the aroma of vinegar as a main component of the model under construction. Another interesting task involves constructing the Anatomy teachers’ new model skeleton , as a part of Mac J’s work. She is excited! In addition to these unusual projects, there are several students getting a great start on their National History Day entries, some serious ACT preparation, and a number of seniors diligently searching for scholarships to
help pay for college. The students are working hard and making great progress.
Area right outside and around the corner from the ELP classroom New classroom space—lots of crazy storage and an awesome window!
