2nd Semester

Welcome back!

2nd semester has begun and we are running full speed ahead!

Middle School Happenings

• Schedule Change - students have a schedule change this semester. I will be meeting with 6th & 7th graders in multi-grade class times once per week for a traditional TAG class, and with 8th graders once per week.
• The TAG class period will involve MEAs, which stands for Model Eliciting Activities. These are stand-alone lessons that involve critical thinking under pressure, often working in groups, pairs, or individually to solve a real-life problem.  When we are not doing MEAs, we will be doing Socratic Seminars, which are lively discussions based on challenging questions. Socrates started this method of education, and we are continuing his lasting tradition.
• Math Counts - select 8th graders who have met the criteria and who have indicated they want to participate are competing for a spot on West's Math Counts team. The first competition is February 7th, and I'm hopeful we make it past this round and onto the next level. 
• Math Bee - select 6th graders are taking weekly challenge "tests" to compete for a spot on West's Math Bee team. Competition is later in early March. 
• Algebra - the 8th grade algebra students have two different teachers who are highly qualified and excited to teach algebra. As the TAG teacher at West, I am also "pushing in" to their classes once per week in their morning sections. If parents have questions or concerns please contact me or your child's teacher.

At Mulberry

• Wow! There is so much to report!
• 5th grade
• We have begun our unit on ECONOMICS! This is such an exciting unit and it will culminate with an Economics Fair in March. We will be touring Central State Bank, learning about supply & demand, the role of money, the economy, and so much more! Students will be playing new games on the computer, and will be working on projects for the Econ Fair. Stay tuned - resources will be added to my blog as we continue to learn.
• 4th grade
• We just started a unit that is very similar to a Mock Trial! It involves The Big Bad Wolf and how he has been arrested for some major crimes. Students are learning trial vocabulary, and the ins and outs of our criminal justice system.
• As part of my Master's program, I am conducting a research project. I am curious to see if computer-aided instruction will have any positive effects on student achievement, specifically related to math achievement as measured by the MAP test. Parents of 4th graders will receive a note home in the near future.
• 3rd grade
• We are continuing our divergent thinking in the GT classroom! We've been doing paper building, word webs, Rube Goldberg chain reactions, and more!
• 2nd grade
• We are still working our way through the P.E.T.S. curriculum, which uses critical and creative thinking to challenge students.
• 1st grade
• We are working on reading, analyzing texts, supporting our opinions with evidence from the text, and exploring language.