SES Focus Newsletter February 2019 Hello SES Focus Families! My goal is to keep you updated with what your child is doing during their Focus pull out time. Here's what's been happening in room 200 in February! ALL grade levels always focus on building our growth mindset and critical thinking skills (think: productive struggle). 1st Grade Focus Our games this month have been focused on visual spatial skills. WE have played SET, Top That!, and Dr. Eureka. Along with our critical thinking challenges and games we also solved a Mystery Science investigation to find out how airplanes fly and why they can’t fly to space. We discussed how the incline of the wings effect how the plane flies, as well as the angle that it flies, then we built our own airplanes and tested them! We adjusted our designs each test round to see if they would stay in the air longer. 2nd Grade Focus 2nd graders completed their Lego Robotics WeDo challenge this month! Students learned how to use the Lego WeDo kits to build and code robots and applied this knowledge to build a robotic predator and it's prey. Students chose their animals and prey and coded their predators to move to catch their prey. I am so proud of all that they accomplished this month as this unit required a lot of GRIT, growth mindset strategies, and problem solving and critical thinking skills. SES Focus Newsletter
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SES Focus NewsletterFebruary 2019
Hello SES Focus Families!My goal is to keep you updated with what your child is doing during their Focus pull out time. Here's what's been
happening in room 200 in February!
ALL grade levels always focus on building our growth mindset and critical thinking skills (think: productive struggle).
1st Grade FocusOur games this month have been focused on visual spatial skills. WE have played SET, Top That!, and Dr. Eureka.
Along with our critical thinking challenges and games we also solved a Mystery Science investigation to find out how
airplanes fly and why they can’t fly to space. We discussed how the incline of the wings effect how the plane flies, as
well as the angle that it flies, then we built our own airplanes and tested them! We adjusted our designs each test
round to see if they would stay in the air longer.
2nd Grade Focus2nd graders completed their Lego Robotics WeDo challenge this month! Students learned how to use the Lego WeDo
kits to build and code robots and applied this knowledge to build a robotic predator and it's prey. Students chose
their animals and prey and coded their predators to move to catch their prey. I am so proud of all that they
accomplished this month as this unit required a lot of GRIT, growth mindset strategies, and problem solving and
critical thinking skills.
SES Focus Newsletter
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The dinosaur eats the plants!
SES Focus Newsletter
The Flamingo eats the shrimp!
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SES Focus Newsletter
The Tarantula eats the cricket!
3rd Grade Focus3rd graders have also completed their Lego Robotics unit this month. We completed our Lego WeDo CHALLENGE!
Students researched how animals use their senses to interact with the environment then chose an animal robot to
create that was coded to use its senses to interact with its environment. Some went a step further and used their
creativity to create the environment! I am so proud of all that they accomplished this month as this unit required a lot
of GRIT, growth mindset strategies, and problem solving and critical thinking skills.
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SES Focus Newsletter
The chipmunk runs from the fox!
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The cat catches the mouse!
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The frog eats the fly!
SES Focus Newsletter
The fox runs after the lemming!
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4th Grade Focus
SES Focus Newsletter
4th graders have been applying their knowledge of analyzing art to our Propaganda unit. We have learned what
propaganda is, different techniques used, and why propaganda is created. We completed a Digital Gallery Walk to
analyze and evaluate the different types of propaganda. We will soon apply our knowledge and create our very own
piece of propaganda about something that we are passionate about!
SES Focus Newsletter
SES Focus Newsletter
5th Grade Focus5th graders created their very own breakouts (students use their critical thinking and collaboration skills to solve clues
to unlock the locks and solve a mystery) last month and spent time redesigning their breakouts to improve them based
on feedback from their peers and what they learned from the first attempts. We then resolved each other's breakouts
and I am so proud to say that almost all of the groups were able to breakout in 30 minutes! The design process
emphasis helped students with creating/attaining a growth mindset and to understand that things are not going to
always be perfect the first try - and that's okay! Their creativity and critical thinking was so apparent during this unit
and watching their growth was such a pleasure.
SES Focus Newsletter
SES Focus Newsletter
SES Focus Newsletter
STAFFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
FOCUS ON EXCELLENCE
SES Focus Newsletter
Each year, the GAP (Gifted and Accelerated Programs) Department sponsors an evening to showcase student work.
Our Focus On Excellence night this year is scheduled for April 11, 2019, and will be held in the cafeteria at Brooke
Point High School from 6:00-8:00pm. The night is designed to allow students an opportunity to present on a topic of
personal choice. Each student that participates completes in-depth research and creates a project to display their
knowledge. On that night, they will also have the chance to see other students’ work from around the county. Student
do not have to complete a project in order to attend or have to attend if they are completing a project.
Our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders will have projects on display. If your child would like to create a project at home to be
displayed he/she is invited to do so! Please contact me with any questions or for more information!
Click here to view all of the pictures of our Focus fun - check back often as the folder updates with new pictures!
There are a ton of awesome links to various critical thinking and challenging games!
