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There are many wonderful activities planned in Harper McCaughan Discovery during the month of October! These are just a few highlights:

• Wednesday, October 3, 2012 Discovery Veterans meeting 3:20-4:30 p.m. for grades 7 and 8 students at LBMS

• Friday, October 5, 2012 Grade 6 Discovery students School Business job interviews 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

• Monday, October 8, 2012: No Discovery on this day due to Professional Day for teachers (no school for students).

• Tuesday, October 16, 2012: Harper Discovery Open House (6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.) beginning in the Quarles Elementary cafeteria.

• Thursday, October 25, 2012: Gulf Coast Teachers of the Gifted meeting (Harrison County School District). Discovery will be cancelled on this day.

• Monday, October 29, 2012: All fourth grade Discovery will attend.

• Tuesday, October 30, 2012: Grade 6 Discovery Mock Presidential Debate.

All activities are described in detail on the inside pages of this newsletter.

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Long Beach School District

Gifted Program

Issue 2 Harper Discovery October 2012

Inside

October Discovery Highlights

Creative Thinking Skills

Discovery Presents…A

Mock Presidential Debate

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How to Help Your Child with the Invention Project

Discovery Entrepreneurship Project/Recognitions

LBSD Advisory Board/

Social-Emotional Needs

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LBAGC Information 7

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Long Beach School District Harper McCaughan Discovery Issue 2: October 2012

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Imagine “Discovery (creativity) consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.”

~Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

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We are continuing the development of innovation utilizing creative thinking skills of FFOE (fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration) and SCAMPER, which are both valuable thinking tools. Our students will use divergent and convergent thinking skills to create a new invention to solve a problem. It is the merging and blending of critical (convergent thinking) and creative (divergent thinking) that results in characteristic behaviors of the creative individual. Every Discovery student throughout Long Beach School District will participate in an Innovations Fair. Students will have the opportunity to showcase their inventions and participate in a competition.

At home, you can help by encouraging inquisitiveness in your gifted child. Offer freedom for your child to explore his/her creativity. Due to the developmental age

Creative Thinking Skills

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of your child, these students have characteristic attitudes of more openness to working creatively than they might have at other times of their life.

(Continued on page 4 )

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CRITICAL THINKING

CREATIVE THINKING

Analyze Generate

Focus Widen

Objective Subjective

One Answer Many Answers

Probability Possibility

Reasoning Original, Unique

Yes, but… Yes, and…

Vertical Thinking Lateral Thinking

Convergent Thinking Divergent Thinking

Creative and Critical Thinking Sub-Skills:

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Issue 2: October 2012

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Long Beach School District Harper McCaughan Discovery

Discovery will present a Mock Presidential Debate with

our 6th grade Discovery students. Students will portray

the presidential and vice-presidential candidates with

their running mates, secret service personnel, and many

other essential campaign personnel on October 30, 2012,

for the Harper McCaughan Elementary student body.

Students will then participate in Promote the Vote, which

is sponsored by the Mississippi Secretary of State,

Delbert Hoseman.

All Discovery students in grades 4-6 have been

participating in a study “Campaign Headquarters” of the

presidential election process, including elements such as

the electoral college and the political platforms of both

parties (Democrat and Republican). This completely

unbiased learning process meets many gifted process

skills.

The schedule is to the left indicating what time each

grade 6 Discovery class will be presenting. The event will

take place in the Harper McCaughan Elementary gym.

Discovery Presents… A Mock Presidential

Debate

Mock Debate Presentation

Schedule:

Discovery Teacher/Class:

Present to Team:

Wedgeworth 8:30-9:00

*Russell, Atkinson, Borzik *Hathcock, Ladner, Landry

Holt 9:15-9:45

*Hansen, Rushing, Oakes *Tillman, Scafide, Farris *LaFontaine, Evans, Pribyl

Leitenberger 10:00-10:30

*Moody, Baker, Balyeat *Keel, Stevens, Johnson

Parker 10:45-11:15

*Seal, Tripp, Spruill *Hogue, Hasselman, Ragon

Mrs. Leitenberger’s CARE workshop students will be hosting a “Penny Wars” event and selling candy on Wednesday mornings, both events at Harper McCaughan. The proceeds from both fundraisers will go to the Humane Society and Wild at Heart Wildlife Rescue.

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Long Beach School District Harper McCaughan Discovery Issue 2: October 2012

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All Long Beach School District Discovery students will be creating an invention over the next few months. While we will be working on this at school, there may be a need for students to work on this some at school depending on how wisely they use their time in Discovery class.

The components of the invention will be:

1. A written description of the invention.

2. An Inventor’s Log journaling the entire process from creation of the invention to testing to see if it works!

3. A model-This model will be a small prototype of the actual invention.

4. A Patent Request-this will be provided to students.

5. Extras such as an advertisement for the product (slogan, rhyme, jingle, etc.)

Below are some thoughts on brainstorming an invention to help get started with the process:

WHAT MAKES A GOOD INVENTION?

• Is your idea really NEW? Is it unique and original?

• Is your idea USEFUL?

• Is there a need for it-does it solve a problem?

• Is your idea CLEARLY DESCRIBED and NEATLY WRITTEN?

• Does what you have written really explain your idea and any research you may have done?

• Does your illustration for your invention show WHAT YOUR INVENTION LOOKS LIKE AND HOW IT WORKS? Does it show all the parts of your Invention and are they all labeled?

(Continued from page 2)

Below are listed some tips to help with the inventive process:

Helpful Hints

Remember-everyone can be an inventor!

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Think like an inventor! Inventors are problem solvers, so learn to look at old problems in new ways.

Try to make your invention work with as few parts and as simply as possible.

The lower the cost of making an invention, the better off you are!

Make sure your invention is safe to use and safe to make! If tools are needed, get permission to use them and have proper instructions.

It’s a good idea to keep a log-a dated, written record or your ideas, research, experiments and tests.

ABOVE ALL…Don’t get discouraged if all your ideas don’t work at first. It might take several tries to get your invention just the way you want it, but it will be worth the effort so keep trying!

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Creative Thinking Skills: The Invention

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Issue 2: October 2012

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Long Beach School District Harper McCaughan Discovery

LBSD Gifted Advisory Board The Long Beach Gifted Advisory Board, consisting of all

stakeholders involved in the gifted program, met on Tuesday,

September 4, 2012, at 6:30 p.m. Students, parents, regular class-

room teachers, Discovery teachers, administrators, a School Board

member, LBAGC officers, and community

members met to view a slide show of the

“State of the Gifted Program,” which high-

lighted many of the projects done in the

gifted program last year. Afterwards, everyone brainstormed ideas

for improvement to the gifted program. It was an extremely

valuable and productive meeting, lasting for more than an hour.

Harper Addresses Stress in the Gifted Mrs. Marsha Bishop, counselor at Harper McCaughan Elementary,

spoke with students about stress. She spoke about causes of stress for

gifted students, symptoms, and tools to deal with stressful situations.

She also encouraged students to speak with one another about where

they were on the stress chart and to share what they did to deal with

stress.

Mrs. Oliavar, yoga instructor at FlexFit, shared relaxation techniques

with all Harper Discovery students over the course of a week.

Students also were told that the only way to

get rid of adrenalin is to exercise. Students

also learned about good stress and bad stress

and how adrenalin can affect a person in a

negative way.

Both of these women did a fabulous job and

we are very lucky to have such caring people

to give our students such an important

message.

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Long Beach School District Harper McCaughan Discovery Issue 2: October 2012

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Discovery Entrepreneurship Project All grade 6 Discovery students will be participating in the creation of a school business. Students

have decided upon a name, slogan, and what things will be sold in each school business. Students

have also been working on creating a resume. Business owners from the Long Beach or Gulf Coast

area will conduct the interviews for the school business jobs on Friday, October 5, 2012. This activity

will give students a real life experience with what it will be like to participate in the interview

process.

Students will be given a list of interview questions so that they may practice and be prepared for the

interview. Also, we are asking that all grade 6 students come “dressed to impress” on Friday,

October 5, 2012. The interviews will take place between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

This entrepreneural project was started back in 2002 by Mrs. Holt at Long Beach Middle School and

has won 2 awards-The National Leavey Award for Entrepreneural Education by Freedom’s

Foundation (2005) and the Mississippi Council for Economic Education Best Practices Award (2011).

This project meets many 21st Century Skills, as well as a great many of the gifted process skills.

Discovery Recognitions

v Congratulations to Mrs. Carly Parker, Harper Discovery teacher, for winning the Mississippi

Association for Gifted Children Conrad Castle Grant. This prestigious award is named for the

deceased Dr. Conrad Castle, the previous Mississippi Director for Gifted Studies who was a

trail-blazer and strong advocate for gifted laws in our state. Carly will receive a $400 grant in

which she will apply to work in her gifted classroom.

v Mrs. Deborah Holt, LBSD Gifted Coordinator and Harper Discovery teacher has been elected

to serve as the President-Elect for the Mississippi Association for Gifted Children during 2012-

2013. She will be the conference chair for the MAGC 2013 Conference.

Mrs. Carly Parker’s students will be selling

Mrs. Carly Parker’s students will be selling pink ribbons throughout the month of October to raise money for breast cancer prevention. They will be selling the

ribbons at Harper, Reeves, and Quarles. The class with the most ribbons on their door will win a pink cupcake party. They have raised over $10,000 over the past

three years!

LBSD Gifted Program

Discovery For more information regarding the LBSD gifted program, please contact: Mrs. Deborah Holt, LBSD Gifted Coordinator at (228)864-3394 or holtd@lbsdk12.com

[Web Address]

There are many great reasons to join your local Long Beach Association of Gifted Children. The Mississippi Association of Gifted Children is the state organization that advocates the rights of gifted children. Our local organization is an affiliate of this larger body. This affiliate not only increased membership, but also gives MAGC a stronger voice when it comes to the rights of our gifted children. As a member of the MAGC group, you will receive a parent newsletter that gives pertinent information relative to curriculum, summer programs, and updates on state and national issues. BECOME A MEMBER AND: *Strengthen our organization with your support, talent and ideas *Become part of our initiative to improve education for gifted children *Affirm our role as an advocacy group

LBAGC

Long Beach School District Harper McCaughan Discovery Issue 2: October 2012

COST: $5.00 PER FAMILY PER YEAR Parent(s) Name(s) _______________________________________ Child’s Name(s) _________________________________________ Address_______________________________________________ School________________________________________________ Gifted Teacher__________________________________________ Make checks to LBAGC Return form to your child’s Gifted Teacher Or Mail to: Mandy Long, 5007 Oak Court, Long Beach, MS 39560