Last Class

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

Open House

Moms, dads, grandparents, and younger siblings of our grade 1 - 3 students joined us this week and got a look at what we've been up to!  Students shared their 'Police' files which contained their mug shots, fingerprints, shoe prints, hair samples, writing samples and more.  They fingerprinted family members and showed them how to view hair samples under the microscopes.  They also demonstrated how to do ink chromatography and how to match torn paper samples.  Students showed family their own projects on identification as well as some favorites that their peers had done.  

Thank you to all of the family members that were able to make it to the Open House!

All Mysteries Soved!

The Penticton grade 5 class was the final class to solve their 'Sabotage on the Spaceship Forensic' mystery.  They worked hard and were pretty much unanimous in their indictment of the perpetrator of the crime!  Here are each of the 'accused' from the different classes.  

Summerland AIM/ASPIRE: Niamh

Penticton Grade 5s: Graham

Penticton Grade 4s: Dija

Penticton Grade 2/3s: Charlotte

Many of the accused claim that they were framed, but I'm not buying it!

Examining fiber samples.

Comparing ink chromatography strips.

Matching shoe prints to the print left on the putty at the scene of the crime.

Comparing hair and fiber samples.

Matching finger prints.

More microscope work.

Shared Projects

This week and last, students got the opportunity to check out the identification projects created by students in the other Gifted Program classes.  Copies of almost all of the projects (a few still have to be converted and uploaded) are located here.  Students need to log in using their regular username and password (the one they use to log in to the school district computers).  

When on the site, click the green 'Projects' icon.

Projects are grouped by class.

Special Guest

On Wednesday afternoon Sue Thomson, District Principal for Student Support Services, visited the Penticton grade 4 class.  Students did a great job showing Ms. Thomson their projects and some of the other things on which we've been working.  The Gifted Program is one of many programs and services which Ms. Thomson oversees--we were happy to give her a first hand look at what we do!

End of Year Parent Meetings

Students brought home a schedule for the end of year parent meetings.  I will be e-mailing copies of the schedule early next week in case it didn't make it home.  My goal is to meet with every child's parent to review how the year went and to plan for next year.  If you are unable to meet at the time I've scheduled you, please contact me and we can make alternative arrangements. 

Thank you for stopping by to see what we've been up to!

 

    

Mustache Madness

A strange thing happened with the grade 5s this week.  They all sprouted mustaches, I'm not sure what's up with that...

Sleuthing

This week the Wednesday classes performed ink chromatography on the ransom note and suspect pens as part of their sleuthing for the Sabotage on the Spaceship Forensic Mystery.  (See more on the mystery in this post.)  The Summerland AIM/ASPIRE class, as well as the Penticton 2-3 and 4 classes compiled all of the evidence and made their conclusions as to the identity of the persons responsible for stealing the computer chip that runs the life support systems on the Spaceship Forensic.  The culprits were quickly apprehended, the chip was restored and disaster was averted!  The Penticton grade 5s will solve their version of this mystery next week.

Last Week of Classes

Next week (the week of May 16th) is the last week of Gifted Program classes.  The Gifted Program covers grades 1 - 5, so it is time to wish the grade 5s well as they move on to grade 6 in the fall.

Open House

Parents of students in grades 1 - 3 are invited to drop in on our last class for open house.  For Summerland grade 1 - 3 students the class is on Tuesday May 17th from 12:30 - 2:30pm at Trout Creek Elementary room 32.  For Penticton grade 2/3 students the class is on Thursday May 19th from 12:30 - 2:30pm at Wiltse Elementary in room 32.  Parents are invited to drop in at any time during the class and stay for as long as they are able.  Our class starts with 25 minutes of social time, followed by circle and then we move into class activities.  Students will show you the different activities we have been doing including their identity projects.  We hope you can make it! 

Field Trip, Open House, and the Last Class

The last few weeks have been busy ones!  Here are a few of the things we've been up to.

Field Trip

On May 5th the grade 3, 4 and 5s attended our annual field trip.  This year the trip was to Scandia Golf and Games in Kelowna.  How did this fit with our theme "X Marks the Spot!  The Search for Treasure."?  Well, for their projects this year many of the students noticed that a large percentage of games focus on finding a treasure.

At Scandia, students played games, had a pizza lunch and played mini-golf.  It was an enjoyable day! Thank you to all of the parent chaperones who volunteered their time; it was much appreciated!  Below are some photos from the trip (link).

Open House

The week after the field trip it was Open House week for the grade 1 - 3 classes.  Parents were invited to drop in and see what we've been up to.  Students showed parents their treasure slide shows and we did some geocaching.  Then it was back inside for students to share their treasure maps, as well as the directions and stories behind the maps.  A big thank you to all of the parents who were able to visit us!

Summerland grade 5s

Last Class

Last week was our last week of classes.   The grade 4s and 5s got to do some geocaching (finding the caches their peers hid a few weeks before) and we had a little party.  For the grade 5 students it was their last gifted class ever as the program only goes to grade 5.  We had a special activity to mark the occasion.  As you can see from the photos, things got a little mustache-y.

Penticton grade 5s

Thank You!

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  It has been a wonderful year!

  

Open House, Zip Lines, and More

Open House

Last week the older students went on a field trip.  This week for the younger students it was Open House time!  For the AIM and Penticton grade 1/2 classes it was an opportunity to invite parents in to see what we've been working on.  Thank you to all of the parents who were able to drop in!  Both classes showed parents the recording work that we've been doing using Audacity.  We also showed them the deciphering tools we have been using on the Crypto Club website.

In the AIM class we put the parents to work; partnered with a student they took part in the Straw Bridge Building Challenge.  Each parent-student pair was given 15 straws and 25cm of masking tape.  Their task?  To make a bridge that spanned a 30 cm gap and was strong enough to support a coffee can.  The can could be rested on the top of the bridge, or suspended below the bridge using string.  The next part of the challenge was to see how many golf balls could be placed in the coffee can before the bridge collapsed.  Everyone was successful in building a strong bridge!  Caitlin and her dad blew away the old record for this challenge by building a bridge that supported 11 golf balls and 5 pairs of scissors.  We ran out of golf balls, thus the scissors.  Who knew we needed more than 11 golf balls?

AIM students and parents with their straw bridges.

The Penticton grade 1-2 class showed their parents the work they had been doing in Bitstrips, an online comic strip creation tool.  Students have been learning about how we communicate non-verbally using gestures, facial expressions and body language.  Bitstrips allows students to pose characters and adjust facial expressions.  Students helped parents create a character that looked just like them!  Later, students and parents deciphered a secret message and then used different materials to create messages in morse code.    

Zip Line Building Challenge

The ASPIRE class were given a new building challenge: design and build something to carry a ping pong ball from the top of a zip line to the bottom in 4 seconds or less.  This challenge involved dealing with friction and balance.  Students were quickly able to construct a vehicle to carry one ping pong ball.  They didn't stop there though; they were very motivated to see if they could carry two or more ping pong balls.  Watch the video below to see their results (link).

That's A Wrap!

The Penticton grade 3-5 classes did final work on their radio shows.  We also took the opportunity to listen to recently completed shows.    

Upcoming Events

Last week of classes: May 12th - 15th
Parent Meetings: starting May 26th.  Schedule with individual times will be sent home this week.   

Thanks for checking in and seeing what we've been up to... This Week In Gifted!

Field Trip, Marshmallow Challenge, and the Black Chamber!

Field Trip

This week the Penticton grade 3-5 classes and the Summerland ASPIRE class visited CBC Radio and Global Okanagan Television in  Kelowna.

At Global Okanagan our dynamic guide, Barbara Vanstone, showed us the ins and outs of creating news programs and television advertisements.  Some groups were able to talk to the news director who explained how he chose what was going on the news each evening.  We got to see what he had planned for that evening's news.  A couple of groups got to speak with Doris Maria Bregolisse.  Doris is an anchor and reporter at Global Okanagan and she spoke to the students about her job.  One thing we learned is that although the news set and anchors are in Kelowna, technicians in Vancouver or Toronto actually do the filming and produce the show.  They operate the cameras remotely and communicate with the anchors through headsets.  We got to go on the very green news set (see photos below).  The walls are painted green so that they can chroma key (green screen) in a computer generated background.

At CBC Radio, Daybreak South host Chris Walker was our guide.  He and Daybreak South producer Marion Barschel spoke to the students about how the show is put together.  Chris took the students into the studio where they got a chance to read a one minute news bulletin and the opportunity to operate the sound board.  We learned that it is not easy to read the news clearly, fluently, and in under a minute!  The news bulletins did not go on air, but I hope to get the recordings to share with students and their families.  A few lucky students from the last group on Thursday's trip were chosen to read the Mind Breakers quiz questions for next week's show.  The questions should be aired each day next week at approximately 6:55am.

Thank you to the parent chaperones who joined us; Tammy Drobe, Sharon Herman, Sarah Larsen, Julie MacIntyre, Dave Singleton, Sherralee Sailes, Michelle Kincaid, Heather Allen, Keith MacIntyre, Joy Wang, Jo-Ann Apolzer, and April Smith.  Your help was greatly appreciated!

Below are some photos from the trip or check them out here.

Marshmallow Challenge

This week the AIM students took on the Marshmallow Challenge!  Their task was to build the tallest structure they could out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, 1 metre of tape and 1 metre of string.  They did not have to use all of the materials, but their structure needed to be freestanding and be able to support a large marshmallow on top.  They were given the materials and 18 minutes to complete the task.  What we learned, among other things is that a marshmallow is heavier than it looks!

Welcome to the Black Chamber

The Penticton grade 1/2 class operated their own black chamber this week.  What is a black chamber?  Black chambers are secret rooms operated by nations where they attempt to decode messages sent by their rivals.  The students first set about deciphering some messages that were enciphered using the Pigpen Cipher.  We then looked at, and listened to Morse Code.  Students enciphered their names using Morse Code, the Pigpen Cipher and the Caesar Shift Cipher.   Perhaps Room 32 is becoming the current day Bletchley Park?! 

Upcoming Events

May 5th: AIM Open House.  AIM parents/guardians are invited to join us for all or part of the class.  The class runs from 12:30 - 2:30pm.
May 7th: Penticton Grade 1/2 Open House.  Parents/guardians are invited to join us for all or part of the class.  The class runs from 12:30 - 2:30pm.
May 12th - 15th: Last Week of Classes
Parent Meetings: Dates and times to be announced.

Thanks for checking in to find out what we've been up to... This Week In Gifted!

Open House

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

Open House

Last week it was the field trip for the grade 3 - 5 students, and this week it was Open House for the classes with grades K - 2 students.  We were lucky to have moms, dads, grandma's, grandpa's, great aunts and uncles, little brothers and sisters, nannies and a puppy drop by to visit us!  A big thank you to everyone who was able to make it!  It was busy, and crowded and a little chaotic at times, but we hope that you got a good glimpse at some of the things that we do each week.  I know that the children were pleased to show our visitors what they've been up to.

Finishing up Projects

The Tuesday morning and the Thursday classes spent a large part of their time putting the finishing touches on their inventions.  Glitter glue was applied to packaging, animations to advertize inventions were produced and  Tori, Ronesca, and Stephanie did a live performance of the advertisement for their robot invention.  The Tuesday and Thursday morning classes were also introduced to the wiki that James (a student in grade 5) set up for us.  Students added information to their pages detailing what their invention is called, what it does, and how much it costs.

Last Week of Classes & Interviews

Coming up is our last week of Gifted Program classes.  Where has the time gone?  The following week parent interviews begin.  I sent home a schedule of times with your child this week.  If you are unable to attend at the time I have down for you, please contact me to arrange a different time.  I look forward to those meetings; we'll have a chance to talk about your child's progress this year and to review their individual education plan in preparation for next year.

Advertising our Inventions

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

Sell That Thing!

The Tuesday afternoon and Thursday classes looked at different strategies that advertisers use to try and get you to buy their products (the Tuesday morning class did a similar thing a few weeks ago).  We watched a number of different TV ads and identified different strategies.  Students then played 'Sell That Thing!'  They went forward in time 5 years using the portal and were charged with creating advertisements for some of the inventions that their peers from the other classes had designed and that were now ready to be marketed.  Students had 5 minutes to come up with an ad that they then acted out.  The ads were creative, funny, and did a great job of using the different strategies!  This type of activity is challenging as students have a limited time to come up with a skit and often team members have quite differing views on what they'd like to do.  I was impressed in particular with the Tuesday afternoon class in terms of their ability to work collaboratively, solve problems and include all team members.   This group of grade 2 and 3s has come a long way since the beginning of the year!

Inventions

The Wednesday afternoon class continued to work on their playground inventions.  Students are either creating 3D models of their inventions using craft supplies, or making a Pivot Stickfigure animation of their invention.  Some of the inventions are whimsical and others packed with adventure! 

The other classes continued to work on their inventions.  The focus now is on deciding how to advertise their inventions; poster, TV ad (as a skit), Power Point presentation, Scratch animation, poster...

Cubism Art Projects

Students in the Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon classes finished up their cubism drawings.  You can view student artwork from these classes as well as the Thursday afternoon class in this post.  For slideshows of the Picasso style portraits created by the Tuesday afternoon class see here and the Wednesday afternoon class here.

Reminders

There are a number of important events occurring in the upcoming weeks:

• Field trip to UBC-O Engineering labs Wednesday May 1st.  This field trip is for students in grades 3, 4 and 5.  
• Regular Elementary Gifted Classes Cancelled Tues April 30, Weds May 1st, Thurs May 2nd.
• Open House Tuesday May 7th and Wednesday May 8th during the afternoon classes.  Parents of students in those classes are invited to join us for all or part of the class.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns about anything mentioned here please contact me, Claire Thompson, at (250)770-7694 ext 6283 or cthompson at summer dot com.

Playground Inventions

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

Playground Inventions

Students in the Wednesday afternoon class were hired by PlayZone (slogan "Our Work is Child's Play!") to invent new playground equipment.  After looking at photos of traditional and not so traditional playground equipment, it was decided that we really needed to do a bit more research.  So it was outside to check out the playground equipment at Wiltse!  I think it is fair to say that many of the students have been dying to do this all year ;-)  After a good session of 'field research' students went back inside to start designing their playground equipment.  Some are making models using a variety of craft and recycled materials, others are using Pivot Stick Figure to make animations of their equipment.  Students will be working on their playground inventions over the next few classes.

My Favourite Thing

The Tuesday classes played 'My Favourite Thing'.  Students in teams of 3 to 5 are given an object and then they each in turn have to tell the rest of the group why it is their favourite thing.  Students have to think on their feet, be creative and lateral thinking is encouraged.  Both classes did an excellent job, with students coming up with funny and creative stories.  It was the first time for the afternoon class and I was really impressed with how they did!  The best part was that even though initially two students wanted to pass (just observe, not participate) in the end everyone participated with my 'passers' being some of the most prolific :-)

More Cubism

This week it was the Tuesday morning class's turn to try creating pastel and / or pencil crayon drawings incorporating features from cubism (as described in last week's post).  The two Thursday classes also spent time on their cubism drawings this week.  The diversity in the works produced is amazing; it is fascinating to see each student's individual style show through.  I'll be posting completed drawings here soon.

Field Trip Prep

I went over the itinerary for our upcoming grade 3 - 5 field trip with students and we discussed behaviour expectations.  The field trip is on Wednesday, May 1st and we are going to visit the Engineering labs at UBC-O in Kelowna (more on this in this post); it looks to be a great day!  Thank you to everyone for returning your field trip forms.  Thank you also to those parents who volunteered to help out and join us on the trip.  I'll be in touch with you soon.

Open House for the Tuesday and Wednesday Afternoon Classes

Most of the students in these two classes are in grades K, 1 and 2 and so won't be going on the field trip.  We will, however, be having an open house for parents.  During the regular class times on Tuesday May 7th and Wednesday May 8th parents are invited to drop in and see what we're up to.  Children will have an opportunity to show you some of the things they have been working on, and parents will be able to participate in some of our regular activities.  Parents are invited to drop in any time during the class and to stay as long as you like.