Welcome to 2007!

We would like to welcome you to the second half of our school year!!  We started off the year with great units in which the students expanded their knowledge and enjoyed.  It is time to move on to new units and open new doors for the students to explore.  January is the month when we do our testing for the Target program.  We will be testing identified students on all grade levels.  This is quite a lengthy process as most students tested must receive more than one test.  Many of the tests we give are administered over several sittings.  Therefore, Target will not resume until sometime late in January or early February.  We will be trying to finish all testing so that our classes are not interrupted throughout the remainder of the year.  Students will be notified as to the exact date we will be starting.  Please read on to find out what your children will be studying for the second semester.  We hope they will find the units challenging and exciting!  If you have resources or a special interest in a unit please feel free to contact us as we are always looking for ways to apply our units to real world knowledge.

New Units for Second Semester Target

We would like to remind parents as we approach the Second Semester of the 2006/2007 school year that our new units will be addressing the following Gifted Skills:

Autonomous Learner:

• Works independently in a self-sufficient manner
• Develops skills of information gathering, both traditional and technological
• Manages time, materials and resources
• Uses effective decision-making skills
• Develops tolerance for ambiguity

Creativity:

• Offers unusual and unique responses
• Applies creative principles to planning, problem-solving, generation of original products and production of quality academic work
• Generates a large number of ideas or solutions to problems or questions
• Demonstrates willingness to take risks and accept challenges
• Elaborates on ideas and adds details
• Uses materials in an original way

Critical Thinking:

• Uses higher level thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation)
• Identifies cause and effect relationships
• Expresses ideas with clarity, logic, accuracy, and persuasion
• Develops, implements, and evaluates a plan of action
• Makes choices based on criteria
• Decides on possibilities based on their consequences and implications
• Checks or verifies ideas and guesses against facts
• Defends own ideas

Predators of the Aquatic Biome

Fifth Grade will be working on this interdisciplinary unit on oceanography, biology and environmental science.  By increasing a student’s knowledge of life in the underwater biome, he/she will gain a better understanding, a different perspective and a greater appreciation for the shark’s symbiotic relationships in this habitat.

There are several Essential Questions that we will be trying to answer during the course of the unit.

1. What is the shark’s role in the underwater biome?
2. How and where do sharks fit into the life of the ocean?
3. How does the shark’s anatomy contribute to the symbiotic relationships in the aquatic biome?
4. What role does the shark’s anatomy play in medical advancement?

Gadgets & Gizmos & Robotics

Fourth Grade will start the process of studying robotics and continuing this unit next year with two of our teams participating in the First Lego League competition.

The focus of this unit is engineering and technology as well as research.  Students will explore the field of engineering and technology as they learn to build and program a robot that will perform specific behaviors.

Throughout this unit, students have the opportunity to build broad skills useful throughout their lives, regardless of the specifics of the challenge.  In using this open-ended approach that leads to the creation of numerous designs, students are challenged to apply their individual knowledge, personal experiences, interests and talents to the process of creating an inventive, team driven solution.  This approach creates a powerful learning experience, where students are intrinsically inspired to learn and have pride in achieving a goal as a team.

Inventing “connects” technology to other curricular areas.  Teaching invention builds and strengthens skills in problem solving, planning, research, experimentation, oral and written communication, decision making, creativity and inquiry.  The process of inventing helps children make connections across curriculum disciplines in math, science, technology, and social studies, supporting state and national standards.

Money Matters

Money Matters is an interdisciplinary unit on economics. The unit is designed to increase student’s knowledge of money, budgeting, banking, careers, and entrepreneurship. Some of the objectives for this unit are:

• Students will learn the history of money.  They will be exposed to money from around the world.
• Students will research and learn about occupations.
• Students will apply math to real life experiences as they choose an occupation, budget their money and pay their bills.
• Students will develop decision making skills and interact with their peers as they work in groups to develop a town.
• Students will learn a variety of resources to develop research skills.

This unit promises exciting and innovative ideas and activities.  An economically literate population is essential to the well-being of our nation.