We had a wonderful opportunity to hear from Mr. Rick Parker, Gifted Lead, at Daniell Middle School.  He shared his "Overview of Middle School for Gifted Learners" Presentation.  I have a link to his presentation on my Glog.  The kids learned a lot, asked some VERY good questions, and feel more comfortable with the thought of middle school now.  Even though Mr. Parker teaches at Daniell, the information he shares applies to all of the middle schools our kids would attend.  

Unit Study:
The kids kicked off our day with some intense work on their Genius Hour Projects.  We have two more class periods to work on the Projects before the kids present on March 15th.  Many of them are choosing to do additional work at home, so they will be well-prepared when Presentation Day comes.  You are welcome to join us for the Presentations from 8-9am on March 15th.

Algebraic thinking skills:
Our kiddos stretched their algebraic thinking in a Versatile activity this morning.  They did very well, with what could have been a challenging activity.  I guess they're ready for a bigger challenge next time!

Novel Study:
We read a couple more chapters in our book, Ungifted.  The kids really enjoyed matching their wits against each other in our Kahoot game that involved inferences, idioms, and recall of important details from the reading.  Great job kiddos!

Affective Skills:
We continued our exploration of Big Dreams with a follow-up discussion of the risks vs. rewards and the costs vs. rewards of going after a BIG Dream.  The kids showed a lot of deep thought in their reflections after our discussion!

HW:  None!
Enjoy your Winter Break!
​Dr. Kraeger

Today was filled with big dreams and genius at work!  The kids started off by commenting on Genius Hour Project Ideas from our 4th Grade Partners at Baker Elementary.  These youngsters really look forward to the feedback and helpful suggestions from our wise and wonderful 5th graders.

Stations:
We stretched our divergent thinking with a February F2OE.  The ideas were so clever and creative!  We also challenged our convergent thinking with some logic puzzles called Perplexors.  The kids did pretty well on these!

Algebraic Thinking:
We changed things up for math with a fun Valentine's Day Glyph involving solving equations, long division, and order of operations.  The finished products look great, as does the problem solving behind their creations!

Affective Skills:
We revisited an old favorite for our mindfulness practice with 4-7-8 Breathing.  Quite a few of the kids said that they've used this to help relax.

We also talked about big dreams and the sacrifice that may come with pursing a really BIG dream.  We discussed the Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle Disasters and reflected on whether the astronauts' sacrifices were worth it in the end.  Some powerful thinking here!

Novel Study:
We read a bit more of our book, and are still trying to figure out what Donovan's gifts really are.  None of his teachers know for sure.  

Unit Study:
Our work on Genius Hour went pretty well today.  Most of the kids are well on their way with their projects.   We will be presenting these projects in class on March 15th.  At this point, the kids may need to do some work at home if they haven't accomplished a moderate amount yet.  For those learning a craft or skill, it is helpful to take photos of the progress.  Those photos can be included in the Project Presentation.

HW:  Edmodo-Genius Hour Update & Feedback for Partner School

Until next time,
Dr. Kraeger