Second and
Students have been studying Gifts. This unit gives students
the opportunity to discover extrinsic and intrinsic gifts available to them in their
everyday lives. The unit employs a differentiated, integrated
curriculum based on a broad theme. This all-in-one curriculum helps to ensure compliance with
national standards, and most importantly, pique students
natural excitement and interest in discovery. Sentimental,
personal, historical, symbolic, endangered, and fragile gifts are explored. Students also will learn
the concept of supply and demand when assessing value or worth. The process and science of the preservation of national
treasures also is investigated by students. From Egyptian
pharaohs to poor farmers, students will find that everyone
has gifts to offer.
Our Enduring Understandings so far are: Gifts have different values to different people,
Preserved gifts reflect society’s values, and the value of a gift
determines if it will be preserved.
Ask your child about King Tut, The Star Spangled Banner, and
our Egg drops!
The tragic events of September 11, 2001, demonstrated again our
planet’s great need for developing the highest intellectual, emotional, and ethical potential of everyone,
especially those with gifted potential who will be leaders and opinion-
makers in every field and nation—and who will determine whether our
future will be filled with justice or devastation.-E. Susanne Richert, Global Institute for Maximizing
Potential
In our Under the Sea Unit, students have just completed their
graphic organizers on their sea creature that they have chosen.
We are now working on comparing our research findings
to the way the creature was portrayed in “Finding Nemo”,
creating a PowerPoint about our creatures, and creating a new
ocean animal (one that doesn’t already exist).
-Ask your student which animal they researched
Students have been using
the Lego WeDo construction
set and software to build
robotics. The models
feature working motors and
sensors and students
program their own robot.
These activities help
students to develop their
skills in science, technology,
engineering, mathematics,
as well as language,
literacy, and social studies.
About Scratch
With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories,
games, and animations — and share your creations with others in
the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically,
and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st
century. Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. Students are just
starting with this program but have had some time to explore.