Friday, September 26, 2014

Jacob's Ladder

We talk a lot about "higher level thinking skills" and how they apply to the gifted classroom, but how do students know when they are using them?  One way is through the Jacobs's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program, which is published by the Center for Gifted Education and the College of William and Mary.  Jacob's Ladder always starts with a short story, poem, or nonfiction reading selection.  Next, the students must complete a series of comprehension steps, or a ladder.  There are four types of ladders employed by the program: consequences and implications, generalizations, theme and concept, and creative synthesis.  Each ladder begins with a question or task at the lower end of Bloom's Taxonomy, and gradually builds to questions or tasks that require higher level thinking.  Each reading selection is accompanied by two ladders.  Sometimes, the students work in groups, and other times they works as individuals.  What I love about the program is how students relate to the physical ladder.  It is easy to understand that the low tasks are not as complex, and that the high ones involve rigor, depth, and complexity.  This concept is easily transferred to the other content areas.  Since they are practicing all levels of thinking skills, they can use their experience to attack problems and activities with the ability to analyze, evaluate, and create.  

This week, the ASPIRE 5 students read a story about the life of Christa McAuliffe.  As the students climbed the task ladders, they made inferences about how the space shuttle program could have been different if Challenger had been successful, and how McAuliffe exemplified bravery.  The students worked together to transform a simple reading selection into intelligent and meaningful conversations and written responses about the consequences and implications of a significant event in our nation's history.  I am very excited about the potential of the Jacob's Ladder program, and I am looking forward to using it with the students throughout the year.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Alternative Energy PBL

This week, the ASPIRE 5 students continued their first science PBL (Project Based Learning) voyage of the year.  Our driving question is, "How can Glenhope Elementary use more alternative energy sources."  We started last week by compiling a list of what they already knew, what they wanted to know, and how they wanted to learn.  From there, the students took a day to research the various types of renewable energy, including solar, wind, hydro-electric, biofuel, and geothermal.  Next, the students drew their vision of Glenhope Elementary with alternative energy structures.  We were going to walk around the school, but rain forced us to rely on satellite images from Google Earth.

The next step required students to shop for alternative energy sources that would supply the school with 200 kilowatt hours.  The next day, students compared their costs to the current traditional energy expenses for a school the size of Glenhope.  They also predicted 25 year costs, and the potential savings of alternative energy sources.

During the past two days, groups have created 3-D models of their Glenhope energy plans using the Sketchup program, which allowed them to add alternative energy structures to images of the school.  Next week, they will explore the barriers that may stand in their way such as city ordinances and hidden costs.  The class will also present their findings to other grades in the ASPIRE academy.  My goal is for all of you to see their products Thursday at Curriculum Night.

PBL is a great strategy for gifted learners.  It allows them to explore a topic in depth, gives them the freedom to choose an area of focus, and confronts them with real-world problems that affect their lives.  PBL also requires students to work collaboratively, and improves their public speaking skills.  Overall, this has been a great introduction to PBL.  In the future, students will have the opportunity to learn from professionals in the field we are studying, and present to members of the community.  For now, I believe the ASPIRE 5 class has gained confidence in this method of learning, and I am excited about their ability to offer amazing solutions to problems facing our school and community.


Friday, September 12, 2014

Financial Literacy

This has been a very exciting week in the ASPIRE math class.  Because of the new math curriculum in Texas, every grade level will be teaching Financial Literacy.  For many math teachers such as myself, this is a dream scenario because few things keep a student's attention like money!  For gifted classrooms, Financial Literacy provides a golden opportunity to integrate rich problem solving activities and high-level discussions.  The highlight of the week had to be our Gator Candy Sales lesson.  After an overview of net and gross income, students were given 4 Gator Bucks and a bag with a particular flavor of candy.  After initial excitement, they learned that they could not keep either of the items.  What a letdown!  However, spirits lifted again when they were told to buy any 4 pieces of candy in the room with their Gator Bucks, and that they were able to keep all of the Gator Bucks that other students gave to them for candy sales.

When everyone was done buying and selling candy, the students moved on to their calculations.  They were excited to learn that each Gator Buck they received represented $250.  After finding their gross income, they had to calculate their sales and income tax, which they used to find their net income.  Many higher-level TEKS were integrated in this lesson, as proportions, percents, and multiplication and subtraction of decimals were all required to solve the problem correctly.  In addition, the students learned lessons about supply and demand when they assessed which groups made the most and least profit from their candy sales.

The students had many opportunities to write and speak about their opinions on Financial Literacy this week.  They shared their views on which method of payment is the best, wrote analogies for financial concepts, discussed why taxes are fair or unfair, and compared taxes to pictures of sharks, cake, presents, and a waterfall.  I enjoyed reading and listening to all of their ideas about money, and I know that you would too.  If you get a chance sometime this weekend, ask your child a few questions about personal finance.  I guarantee you won't be disappointed!


Friday, September 5, 2014

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

After week two, one of the activities providing the most insight has been picture analysis and reaction.  Pictures are powerful tools in the GT classroom.  There are many strategies that require students to use depth and complexity when thinking about a picture.  First, we have used pictures and short videos as warm-ups. For example, I showed quick videos of a ping pong match and a time lapse of a snowfall to our math class, and asked them how we could make a scatterplot based on what they observed.

A more open ended approach is Birdie Kingore's 3-2-1, which requires students to make three observations, two inferences, and one question about a picture such as a polar bear standing on a small part of an iceberg.  We have also used pictures as writing prompts, symbol drawing exercises, and concept reinforcement.

Without question, ASPIRE 5 has been most impressive when asked to make inferences.  Their ability to relate new concepts and previous learning to a picture allows them to make conjectures based on evidence and apply their imagination and creativity.

In addition, the students bring multiple perspectives and different experiences to the classroom, which allows us to share 19 opinions about a single picture!  The students obviously enjoy communicating their unique ideas and observations with each other, so we will continue to use pictures to stimulate thinking all year long.

What questions can you generate about an intriguing picture?  Give it a try at http://www.101qs.com/ !


Soup Bowls