Hello everyone,

Welcome to the end of the 1st trimester.  Below you will find a summary of the activities and skills that we worked on in Thinking Skills in Grades K-2 and in Direct GTD Resource Services provided in grades 3, 4, and 5.

Kindergarten:
Kindergarteners have been working very hard on PROBABILITY.  We first discussed the words ALWAYS, SOMETIMES, and NEVER and made personal connections to those words with events that happen at those occurrences.  We then discussed PROBABILITY and the CHANCE of something happening by guessing what was in the secret bag of bears.  We then made a chart/graph of what was in the bag and completed an experiment to see if our PREDICTIONs came true based on the information or data we had.

1st Grade:
1st Graders had the experience of meeting DOT at the beginning of the trimester and going on an adventure with DOT at school.  We then transitioned over and met one of many characters we will meet from Crystal Pond Woods to teach us HIGHER LEVEL THINKING SKILLS.  That friend was Dudley the Detective who teaches us to:  GET ALL of the INFORMATION;  DON'T JUMP to CONCLUSIONS, and unless we are being creative there is only ONE RIGHT ANSWER.   We created badges to help remind us of these important skills and we then completed several logic activities.  We are ending the trimester by working with ATTRIBUTE blocks and talking about ATTRIBUTES and relationships.

2nd Grade:
2nd Grade students have been working on Algebraic Thinking Skills and learning how to solve for unknowns using pictures and clues.  Students learned that numbers can be represented with pictures and shapes, they learned that once a picture is assigned a value it stays the same throughout a problem, and they were encouraged to write number sentences to help support and prove their final answers.

3rd Grade:
Math:
Students who are pulled for GTD Direct Services in math were supported in their transition into 4th grade EVERYDAY MATH through mulitplication review and strategies, solving logic problems, and learning how visualization can help them solve a problem. 

Literature:
Students read Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories" (How the Camel Got Its Hump, How the Alphabet Was Made, and How the Leopard Got Its Spots) and had activities to expand their knowledge of each of the stories.  They had to create skits for How the Camel....using main idea and character as a focus, they had to create a 6 panel comic strip for How the Alphabet..., and for a final activity they are writing their own Just So Story using Google Docs.

4th Grade:
Math: 
Fourth Grade math students learned about data collection and using a sample group to make prediction and applying those skills to predicting the winner of the Presidential election and the numbers.  They did a great job.  They also have been learning about different number systems and different strategies for compuation not found in EVERYDAY MATH.

Literature:
Students are continuing to read and discuss "The Westing Game".  They learned some strategies for reading mysteries and continue to talk about important terms like MOTIVE, EVIDENCE, and ALIBIS.  Hopefully we'll soon discover the secret of the WESTING GAME.

5th Grade:
Math: 
Students have finished the first 3 units of 6th GRADE EVERYDAY MATH and continue to work into Unit 4.  They completed data collection projects and created PowerPoint Presentations of their work and their findings.

Literature:
We have finished up our Unit on Edgar Allen Poe and are looking for a play to perform.

That's all for now.  Happy Holidays to all.

Mr. Packer