GENERAL UPDATES

KINDERGARTEN AND FIRST GRADE

SPRATLEY GIFTED CENTER

January 2016

SECOND GRADE

THIRD GRADE Third grade students were introduced to the Civil Rights Movement and the well-known historic figures of this era in American history. Students explored a variety of literary sources including plays, biographies, primary source videos and poetry about Linda Brown, Ruby Bridges, Claudette Colvin, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Thurgood Marshall. Higher level thinking and real life connections were made as students considered the role and characteristics of leadership and reflected on themes of prejudice, discrimination, equality and courage.

Students in the kindergarten and first grade Talent Pool enjoyed a life science unit about habitats and architecture. Students learned about diversity in natural habitats and the plant and animal life of each region. They explored how the varying features and life needs of plants, animals, and people are accommodated in the form and function of habitats and homes. The unit introduced students to basic architectural principles and deepened their skills of observing, reasoning, and critical and creative thinking.

Designing a Community

Soon we will begin our second and fifth grade review process where we gather data to determine eligibility for gifted programs and best placement for the students’ learning needs as they enter third grade or middle school. This is an automatic process. You will not need to request or apply for the review. The process takes several weeks. Families will be notified by mail at the completion of the process.

Human Architecture: forming arches

Second grade Talent Pool students examined myths and folktales handed down through oral traditions from around the world. They gained greater understanding of basic world geography as different myths and folktales were studied through readings, poetry and videos. Higher-level thinking was encouraged as students reflected on the vices and virtues exhibited by mythological characters and made real world connections by inferring the morals of the myths through problem solving and reasoning discussions. Each student’s creative talents were developed in hands-on activities.

Bata Drums

Civil Rights Diorama

DAAE Newsletter

Academic Advancement and Enrichment 1 Franklin Street, Hampton, VA 23669 Phone – (757) 727-2160 Email: gifted@hampton.k12.va.us

We’re on the Web! http://www.hampton.k12.va.us/departments/gifted/gifted.html

Look for parent handbook, college planning handbooks, referral forms, and other information on the website.

ANALYTICAL THINKING PUZZLES

December 2015

FOURTH GRADE Fourth graders were engaged in an in-depth study of one of the area’s most valuable resources, the Chesapeake Bay. Through films, research, Powerpoints, primary source documents, literature, reflective writing, and projects, students learned about the formation and features of the Bay. In hands-on labs, students simulated the importance of wetlands to the health of the Bay, analyzed the different types of pollutants (nutrients, sediments, and toxins) in the Bay, and examined how human activity in the 64,000 square mile watershed affects the health of the Bay and it wildlife. They created posters, bookmarks, poems, songs, and public service announcements emphasizing everyday actions people can take to protect this important natural resource.

Kindergarten and Grade 1 will begin to explore Basic Geometry. We’ll have fun with lots of hands-on activities and apps for some higher level thinking about shapes, lines, and 3D solids.

Grade 2 will delve into Visual Spatial concepts that include working with patterns, tessellations and tangrams.

Some 3rd graders will begin a science unit on flight and its principals. Others will begin a unit on number systems. (During our third unit these groups will switch so all 3rd grade students do both units by year’s end.)

Grade 4 will begin a novel study with discussion and projects to promote analysis and higher level discussion of abstract concepts.

Grade 5 will look at and create propaganda in order to become discerning readers and citizens.

ANSWERS:

ban ana With or Witho t

HCAT

ECNALG

1. Banana split 2. With or without you 3. Cat in the Hat 4. Backward glance

FIFTH GRADE Fifth grade gifted students were guided in literary and critical analysis of the novel, Number the Stars written by Lois Lowry. The novel is historical fiction told through the eyes of a ten-year-old Danish girl whose family helps a Jewish family escape Nazi persecution during WWII. Students examined literary concepts such as plot and themes within the cultural and historical context of WWII and the Holocaust. Through intellectual discussion, reflective writing, poetry, music, reading first hand accounts of Holocaust survivors, and art work the students grappled with deeper themes of courage, the role of personal conviction in life decisions, and the morality issues of following or resisting evil leadership.

Beginning after break 5th grade will begin a unit of propaganda and......

Watershed Experiment

Save the Bay Poster

Number the Stars Activities