New Progress Report

The G/T Specialists are piloting a new progress report for students at the elementary level. The performance rubric is designed to provide more specific information about the levels of performance in each category. Students in the upper elementary grades will also participate in the evaluation process.

Sudents in third, fourth, and fifth grades just completed units of study and are receiving progress reports in conjunction with this newsletter.

Progress report revisions will be made based on feedback from parents and students. You may keep the report. If you have any questions or would like to schedule a conference, please contact me.

First Grade

The first graders continue their study of zoos. They are about to select zoo animals to study for the independent study segment of the unit. After an animal is selected, they will gather information and design modern zoo displays for the Grand Reopening of Zooland. Your child may ask you to help with gathering some of the information at home. You may also be invited to help take notes one class period. You will receive specific information about note taking later.

They continue to strive to collect funds to save Zooland through problem solving and working together to reach consensus. They have made great strides in listening to the ideas of others, expressing their thoughts with supportive reasoning, and agreeing or disagreeing with others respectfully.

The Reopening of Zooland should occur in March and you will receive an invitation.

Second Grade / Multiage

The children are in the midst of a unit about communication, Talking Rocks. They began with a simulation in which they were hunters leaving survival messages for fellow tribes. They also compared some ancient forms of writing and determined criteria for a "good" alphabet. Thanks to the help of Mrs. Brown, everyone had a chance to make cuneiform tablets.

A special thank you is also extended to Mrs. Brown, one of our wonderful art teachers, who taught a fascinating lesson on communicating through art. Future lessons include the role of nonverbal communication, some basic skills of public speaking, and the importance of listening to others.

If you would like to help plan a field trip to a local TV station to examine what happens to assemble a newscast, please contact me.

Third Grade

The biography bag/box presentations were quite interesting! Using the mnemonic objects helped the students and their classmates remember facts about the inventors. I taped the presentations for you to see during Open House.

The Invention Celebration will be held in the Barton Creek Library, Monday, January 31st, 9:00-9:45. The students already brainstormed problems and selected a problem to solve through an invention. They had plenty of thinking time over the holidays and should begin to gather materials, then develop and test their inventions in the next couple of weeks. I reinforced the value of planning during this project and they used a calendar to work backwards to plan the steps to reach of goal of being prepared for the celebration. A special thank you is extended to Mrs. Peierls for organizing volunteers to help with the celebration. I look forward to seeing you at Open House and the Invention Celebration.

We hope to start a study of spans in collaboration with a student from UT Engineering. Although I am still waiting to hear from the student, we have worked with UT Engineering quite successfully in past years. After a study of structures, the students will work in teams to design, sketch and build a span meeting certain criteria.

A field trip to UT Engineering culminates the unit. In addition to testing their spans, they should be able to visit several engineering departments. More information about the spans and field trip will be forthcoming.

Fourth Grade

Wow! What a challenge it was to create house plans for a specified family that had limited funding. Most students were able to complete and self-evaluate the plans before the holidays and thanks to Mrs. Nickelatti, they were made into blueprints. I am requesting that the house plans and blueprints be returned to school for display at Open House, if possible. I am so proud of their perseverance.

They will now embark on a new unit about archaeology, Shindig. Thanks to Mrs. Murray for a great magazine resource to support our new unit.

The goal of the unit is to increase their understanding that human groups share basic universals. After studying several ancient civilizations, the class will be divided into two groups so that each may develop a civilization and design artifacts to reflect the cultural universals. After the artifacts are buried the teams then transition to the role of archaeologists and we have a Dig! More details will follow in the next newsletter.

Fifth Grade

The students have been immersed in the development of independent study products ranging from a taped interview and a skit to web sites on topics related to the brain. Several students presented their products to the class before the holidays. Due to the amount of time required for web site design, some students may finish and present their products this semester. You are invited to review the web sites, including works in progress, at Open House!

Everyone in class became a cadet at the Intergalactic Space Academy this week for the simulation, Galaxy. This is such a valuable unit because life is about change and our ability to adapt to change affects our future. They will explore techniques that futurists use to forecast the future as part of their training at the academy. More importantly, they will have many opportunities to reflectabouttheir futures and ways to plan for the future.Resources, guest speakers, or field trip ideas to supplement this unit are welcomed!