Dusting But Not Vacuuming

Here are a few of the things we've been up to... This Week (and last!) In Gifted.

Ballooning Prints

The students are now experts at taking their own fingerprints, both using ink and using graphite.  A couple of classes also got to put their prints on barely inflated balloons, which when fully inflated really magnified the prints!

Dusting for Latents

The next step was to be able to dust for latent prints.  We tried two different techniques; dusting a dark surface with talcum powder and dusting a light surface with cocoa powder.  We learned a number of things in the process:

- dusting and lifting good prints is challenging and takes persistence

- it was easier dusting with talcum powder (though perhaps it was the surface we were using?)

And some students (the ones who did not heed their teacher) discovered that cocoa powder, though it smells really good, doesn't taste great.

Mystery Prints

The Summerland AIM/ASPIRE class as well as the Penticton grade 2/3 class pulled out their magnifying glasses and got to work trying to figure out who the culprit was in the water bottle caper.  A latent print was compared to prints from our databanks and students were able to make a match pretty quickly.  It was an open and shut case!  

Five Card Photo Stories

The Penticton 5s came up with stories involving the images in the slides below (link).  

Students were partnered up and shared ideas to come up with their stories.  The stories were told / performed in front of the class.  Students did a fantastic job collaborating on their stories.  We saw a variety of formats--some students used props and acted out their stories, one pair's story was a race that was told in play-by-play format, and a couple of pairs summarized their stories in song!  The audience did a wonderful job of giving 'appreciations' at the end of each story; highlighting what each group did well.

Thanks for stopping by to see what we've been doing!

Mugshots, Spaceman Spiff, & Fingerprinting

The first few weeks of classes are in the bag and here are some of the things we've been up to.

Getting To Know You

The first week of classes for students involved meeting new people and getting reacquainted with friends from last year.  During social time students connected and played games or built structures.  We also played a few name games.

Great structure!

Mugshots

With our theme being Operation Identification we started out with 'mug shots' of each of the kids.  The 'smiley' mug shots are now posted in the classrooms.  The serious ones will become a part of their TWIG Police Department file.

Part of the 'Most Wanted' wall in the Penticton classroom.

Spaceman Spiff and the Specimens from Planet Zorg

During our first class we imagined that intrepid Spaceman Spiff had returned from Planet Zorg with intriguing specimens for us to identify!  Students named the specimens and wrote out descriptions.  These were compiled into a Field Guide to Planet Zorg.  This week the challenge was to see if students could correctly identify the specimens.  We discovered that whether a specimen was easy to identify or not was often due to how unique it was and how much detail there was in the description. 

Fingerprints

Fingerprint done with graphite and tape.

We watched two short videos on fingerprints and then we got to work making our own fingerprints.  All of the students got the opportunity to take their fingerprints using graphite and clear tape--these turned out really well!  The Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon classes also took their fingerprints using ink pads (the other classes will get a chance to do this too.)  In future classes we'll be analyzing our own prints and learning how to take latents. 

Thanks for dropping by to find out what we did... This Week In Gifted!

Start-Up Schedule

Early dismissal has wreaked a bit of havoc with the start-up schedule for Gifted classes.  Normally I do not adjust the schedule due to early dismissal since every elementary school has a different schedule and my students come from a variety of different schools.  For two of the classes though, all but one student had early dismissal on what was to be their first Gifted class.  For those two classes only (Tues pm and Weds pm) I have adjusted the schedule and notified the families. 
So, here is the updated schedule for class start-up:

Tuesday afternoon: AIM/ASPIRE first class October 27th.
Wednesday morning: Penticton grade 5s first class October 21st
Wednesday afternoon: Penticton grade 4s first class October 28th
Thursday afternoon: Penticton 1 - 3s first class October 22nd

	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri
8:45 - 11:40am			Penticton 5s @ Wiltse Elementary
12:30 - 2:30pm		AIM/ASPIRE @ Trout Creek Elementary	Penticton 4s @ Wiltse Elementary	Penticton   1 - 3s @ Wiltse Elementary

   
I keep the calendar with the class schedule on it updated, so if you are ever uncertain about when classes are you can check it out here.

Have a great weekend!

And This Year's Theme is...

A sneak peak at this year's theme.  See you soon!



Link to video here.

Coming Soon...

Slides link here.



Classes start the week of October 19th -- see you soon!

Class Schedule for 2015-16

E-mails have been sent out to families with their child's class time. Below is the overall schedule for Gifted Program classes this school year. In addition, if you click on the 'Calendar' tab at the top of this page you will be taken to a calendar showing all of the class times for the year. Classes will start up the week of October 19th. More information will be posted here and e-mailed home closer to the start of classes.  Cheers!

	Mon	Tues	Weds	Thurs	Fri
8:45 - 11:40am			Penticton 5s @ Wiltse Elementary
12:30 - 2:30pm		AIM/ASPIRE @ Trout Creek Elementary	Penticton 4s @ Wiltse Elementary	Penticton   1 - 3s @ Wiltse Elementary

Welcome Back!

Welcome back!  I hope that you and your family had an enjoyable summer.  The first few days of school are under our belts and so now you may be wondering about Gifted Program Classes.  Classes will start the week of October 19th.  I am still in the process of firming up the class days and times.  As soon as the schedule is set (hopefully by next week) I will contact every family and post the schedule here.  Have a great first week of school!