Sunday 23 November 2014

November 17th to 20th

X-Marks the Spot Research Project

This week all of the grade 4s and 5s had at least some time to work on the X-Marks the Spot research project.  Students are investigating famous people, places or things associated with treasure.  Once students have gathered their information they will be putting it together in a format to present to their peers.  More on this in the weeks ahead!

World of Treasure Slideshow

The grade 1 - 3s have also been busy doing research for their 'World of Treasures' slideshow.  Students are searching for images and information on a wide variety of 'treasures'.  The images and information are being added to collaborative slideshows.  Students have found images and information on some of the following:
- gems (emeralds, topaz, diamonds)
- gold
- money
- treasure chests
- shipwrecks (e.g. the Titanic)
- friendship

My Favourite Thing

STOP! by Michael Gil, on Flickr
Some of the classes this week played the drama game 'My Favourite Thing'.  In this game students are given a prop and asked to tell a story as to why this prop is their favourite thing.  Students are encouraged to be creative and think outside the box.  One prop we used was a hand held stop sign like flag people use.  It was used to; stop a comet from crashing into Earth, defeat an alien robot in a game of ping pong, flip another alien out of someone's house (using it much like a pancake flipper) and so much more!  Through this activity students not only get the opportunity to be creative, but they also benefit from hearing their peers' stories and talking about what worked well in each story.

December 1st to 4th--Last Week of Classes Before the Winter Break

Gifted Program classes will wrap up the week of December 1st to 4th and resume again in January.  The classes wrap up a few weeks prior to winter break in order to let students fully participate in any special activities that may be going on in their classroom or school.  It also provides me time to assess students who have been referred to the Gifted Program.  

Thanks for checking out what we did... This Week In Gifted!

Sunday 16 November 2014

Treasure Brainstorm

Here are a few of the things that we did... This Week In Gifted!

Treasure Brainstorm

Our theme this year is X Marks the Spot!  The Search for Treasure, so we did some brainstorming about the people, places, and things we think about when we hear the word 'treasure'.  After the brainstorm session, students got down to the business of choosing and researching a topic having to do with treasure.

Researching

The Summerland AIM students (grades 1-3) started putting together a collaborative slide show with images and information about various treasures that they are interested in.  They will continue to build on this in the weeks ahead.

The Penticton grade 4 and 5 groups started gathering information on their treasure topics.  Once they've collected enough information they will be choosing a format in which to present their information to their peers.  Possible formats include creating a game, recording a radio interview, drawing a comic strip... the possibilities are endless!  

Treasure Tasks

This week it was the Penticton AIM group's (grades 1 - 3) turn to do some treasure tasks as described in the last post.  Students created detailed drawings and complicated structures related to the different treasure puzzles we put together.

IEPS Home

This week and last Individual Education Plans (IEPs) were sent home outlining your child's strengths and the goals for this year.  If you did not receive your child's IEP, let me know and I will send you a digital copy.

More Photos Added to Name Plate Slideshow

In the last post there was a slideshow of student Name Plate posters.  I've updated the slideshow with more photos.  Check out the slide show here.

Thanks for checking out the TWIG blog!

Saturday 8 November 2014

Name Plates

Here are a few of the things we did... This Week In Gifted!

Name Plate Posters

For the past couple of weeks, students have been working on making Name Plate posters. The goal of the Name Plate is to illustrate who the student is. On the posters the students have to include:

  • their name 
  • representation of family (however they wish to define family)
  • representation of things they enjoy doing, are proud of, or make them unique 
This week, students had the opportunity to present their posters to their peers. All along the focus has not been so much on artistry (though there has been a lot of that!) as it has been on explaining the items that they chose to include in their posters. Through the presentations, students got to know each other better, to make connections ("Hey, I like Minecraft too!"), and to practice their presentation skills. Students were also asked to comment on each others' work focusing on what each student did well with their Name Plate.

Below is a slideshow of the student work. Not all of the Name Plates have been photographed yet, but I will be adding them all over the next week. If you know one of the Name Plate artists, perhaps you'll be lucky enough to hear what they have to say about their poster!  (slideshow link)




Treasure Tasks

Last week students did a puzzle treasure hunt where they had to find the hidden pieces of a treasure related puzzle and put it together.  This week the grade 4 & 5s as well as the Summerland AIM group were given a series of tasks associated with each puzzle to choose from.  For example, some students made drawings and told stories about a booby trapped treasure chest.  Others made lego models of a treasure hunters ship and described the journey they took and the treasure they found.  

These are just a few of the things that we did This Week In Gifted, thanks for checking in!

Saturday 1 November 2014

Here are a few things that we did This Week (and last!) In Gifted.

The first two weeks of classes have been all about getting to know each other.  In order to feel confidant taking risks and being creative it is important that the students feel comfortable with each other.  All of the classes have spent a bit of time playing name games.  The Penticton 4s and the Summerland AIM groups are really fast with the Name Game Ball Pass.  The Penticton 1-3 class had fun with My Name Is... And I Like To... My favourite is The Name Game Shootout that the Penticton 5s and the Summerland ASPIRE class have been playing.

We've also been working on Name Plates.  Students are creating posters featuring their names and depicting family, as well as the things that they enjoy doing or are proud of.  The different ways that student have used materials (pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, tissue paper wrapped in cello tape...) has been inspiring.  Students have depicted family in a variety of ways; some depicting activities or items that represent family to them.  For example a few students have represented family with a Christmas tree, the Tardis from Dr. Who (as this show is something this student's family enjoys together), favourite colours of different family members, first letters of each person's name with pictures of things they enjoy, to name just a few.  To work on their presentation skills students will be presenting their posters to each other explaining what the different items and images on their posters represent.

This week we also touched on our theme, X Marks the Spot--The Search For Treasure, with a puzzle treasure hunt.  We will be getting more into our theme in the weeks to come.

Thanks for checking out what we did... This Week In Gifted!