1st Grade - Around the WorldOur last stop on our travels around the world was to Australia! Students enjoyed learning about the fascinating animals, geographical wonders, and people in this country and continent! 1st graders made Aborigines inspired dot hand paintings and didgeridoos. We also had a special treat as one of my 3rd grade students, Madeleine, came to teach the students about her travels to Australia! This was a really exciting unit and a fun conclusion for our 1st graders. Our last two TARGET days were spent in the Media Center as a combined 1st grade TARGET group with mine and Mrs. Herbel's students. Students participated in Exploration Stations focusing on convergent and divergent thinking skills the first week. Our last TARGET day was all about ROBOTS! Students loved previewing just a few of the activities they'll get to do next year as part of our 2nd grade Robotics and Coding Unit. A special "thank you" to our 4th grade TARGET students who volunteered to help the younger students with their robotics stations. 2nd Grade - PicassoWe concluded our Picasso unit with original works of art inspired by Picasso's A Bouquet for Spring. Mothers, I hope you enjoyed this homemade gift for Mother's Day! Students worked so hard on these over several weeks in TARGET! Second graders also worked on constructing and creating different types of cubes! Students made "Magic Cubes" out of straws and chenille stems then made movable number flags to work out "magic" equations solving for the same total sum on each face of the cube. This was challenging but students persevered! Way to use those quantitative reasoning skills, 2nd graders! Students used their visual and perceptive reasoning skills to create a cube using only card stock and glue! This challenge took some patience and team work, but again, the 2nd graders impressed me with their determination and their willingness to help other students! For our last TARGET day, Mrs. Herbel and I combined our classes for some fun Brain Stations! Mrs. Herbel's room served as our Convergent Thinking Headquarters with chess and Ozobots and my room was the Divergent Thinking Headquarters with watercolor painted bookmarks and Echo Drawings. What a fun summer send off! 3rd Grade - Mini-SocietyThe citizens of Logictopia have been working feverishly to prepare for Market Day! These 3rd grade entrepreneurs and small business owners created and manufactured products to sell to 2nd grade TARGET student consumers, and then to each other! I'm not sure which group of TARGET students enjoyed themselves more, the business owners or the shoppers! I loved seeing the creativity and perseverance of 3rd graders as they worked to meet deadlines, problem-solve, and trouble shoot when things din't go their way. 4th Grade - National ParksI can't say enough about how proud I am of the 4th graders! Students admitted that this was probably the biggest school project they've completed thus far in terms of scale and information, but they completed the assignment and exceeded my expectations! The 1st grade TARGET students were in awe as they "toured" the National Parks created by the 4th grader TARGET students. Just WOW! I would definitely say our first National Park Fair was a success! Parents, thank you so much for your ongoing support of this project! From purchasing materials, to allowing computer time for research, encouraging your student to meet deadlines, and supporting our National Park Fair with your presence, we couldn't have done it without you! Many thanks! 5th Grade - ShakespeareOur culminating project for our Shakespeare Unit was performing excerpts and adaptations of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. Fifth graders have been rehearsing for weeks, practicing their lines and stage notes, creating props and scenery, and at last, performing "on stage" for Mrs. Herbel's TARGET students. My class was also the audience for Mrs. Herbel's students as they performed several scenes from The Tempest. Fifth graders, some of you were made for the stage! I can't wait to see what you become and make of your futures, whether it's theatrical or not! We will miss all the spunk and sass you bring to our TARGET classes next year when you're in middle school! Best of luck on all future endeavors, 5th graders! Have a wonderful summer, Teasley TARGET students! See you in August!
~Mrs. Husack
0 Comments
1st Grade - Around the WorldBrain Stations have been a hit with the 1st grade TARGET students! This has been a fun way to introduce some of the different convergent thinking skills we utilize in TARGET. This week's Brain Stations focused on visual-spatial reasoning: Noodlers, pattern blocks, tangrams, Q-bitz, and pentominoes! We've enjoyed "traveling" to different countries for this unit! We had a guest speaker from my 5th grade TARGET class come and share about her travels and adventures in Northern Ireland! What an exciting treat this was for students to hear from another student! 1st graders were a captive audience too! After leaving Ireland, we ventured on towards Paris, France. We've visited several remarkable buildings and studied the history and architecture of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Cathedral of Notre Dame, Arc de Triumph, Champs Elysees, and of course no trip to Paris would be complete without "visiting" some of the cafes, chocolateries, and patisseries! Students are building a 3-D paper Parisian city that we'll finish before traveling to the outback of Australia after Spring Break! Au revoir! 2nd Grade - CubismSecond graders are studying the life and work of famous Cubist painter, Pablo Picasso. We began working on another masterpiece using Picasso's Bouquet of Peace as inspiration! Students studied and drew their hands to hold the bouquet and we'll use watercolor paints to create flowers after the break! Students found it fascinating that Picasso could paint better than he could write! Most children learned to draw with a pencil, but he actually learned to "draw" with a paintbrush in his hands. Our unit also incorporates lots of other activities with cubes, so we spent some time studying and creating optical illusion cubes. The cubes appear to be moving different directions based on where the shading is located. Students also assembled Sudoku cubes from nets containing different patterns. This tricky puzzle to arrange the cubes in a 2x2 square so that no pattern repeated on the top, sides, or bottom layers was challenging! Those who were able to solve the puzzle and find a solution should feel very proud of what they accomplished and the perseverance they demonstrated by not giving up! 3rd Grade - Mini-SocietyThe citizens of Logictopia are hard at work creating products to sell for Market Day! Students have shopped for supplies at our community store and are learning to use their resources and materials wisely to cut down on production cost. There are various methods of production taking place from mass assembly of parts to quality control and inspection at every step. It's been enlightening to watch students divide and conquer this multi-step assignment! Students are also working at their jobs of paymaster, treasurer, and money cutters to ensure currency is circulating within the economy. There have been bonuses awarded for jobs well done, and unfortunately, some lost wages due to errors of employees. Citizens with dependable and above-average workmanship have also been awarded raises! Keep up the good work, 3rd graders! 4th Grade - National ParksOur "Create Your Own National Park" project is underway! Fourth graders are completing several steps to think critically, logically, and creatively about the national park they wish to create. So far, students have created maps of their national parks and written a brief history about the early inhabitants of their park and how it came to be a national park. Students are in the process of writing about the flora fauna and wildlife in their parks. In addition to creating their parks, we've been practicing our survival skills! Students completed a cooperative learning challenge on outdoor safety and survival. We've discussed common dilemmas and potential challenges when hiking or camping in the woods and also discussed and debated the essential items students would pack to ensure survival. Our novel to accompany this unit is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Although students are certainly not required to do so, if they would like to bring in a personal copy or one borrowed from the library to follow along as we read each week, they are welcome to do so. 5th Grade - ShakespeareAs we immerse ourselves weekly in Elizabethan culture found at the time of Shakespeare, students are beginning to see just what a lyrical genius he was! We completed a Pop Sonnet Mystery Lesson where students were given lyrics to modern day music rewritten in Shakespearean English to decipher, decode, and identify the songs. This was a lot of fun! Taylor Swift sounds much different when written in old English! We also spent time discovering the correlation between Shakespearean Sonnets and hip hop music. Iambic pentameter is the driving beat behind both works and the students found the similarities fascinating!
The performance aspect of our Shakespeare unit involves Reader's Theater "plays" of two of Shakespeare's works that students decided upon: Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet. Students are working in small groups to read and recite the scripts and also create minor props and costume accessories to enhance their performance. As Shakespeare would say, "All the world's a stage!" 1st Grade - Around the WorldOn Thursday in TARGET, 1st graders traveled to Ireland to learn about the traditions, customs, and culture, of the Irish and also have some St. Patrick's Day fun! Students used their knowledge of Vietnam from our last trip to compare and contrast with what they learned about Ireland. They worked with a partner to complete a Venn diagram to compare countries by location and terrain, culture, language, economy, and climate. Students were taught a creative thinking technique called SCAMPER that we utilize frequently in gifted education. Today's SCAMPER was on Lucky Charms. This was definitely a fun (and tasty) activity! 2nd Grade - Cubism2nd graders worked really hard this week as we integrated art into our unit with some work on tiling and mosaics! This was a difficult task and required a lot of visual and perceptual stamina and reasoning, but students persevered and I'm so proud of them and the masterpiece mosaics they created! We read and discovered more about Pablo Picasso's life in our unit novel: Who Was Pablo Picasso? by True Kelley. This week, we focused on the obstacles and successes he encountered on his journey as an emerging artist travelling between Spain and France. 3rd Grade - Mini-SocietyThis week was Market Research Day in our Mini-Society Unit. The citizens of Logictopia joined with Teasley's Kidville (Mrs. Herbel's class) to put their prototypes on display and conduct research before beginning production. Students asked whether consumers would buy the product, how much they were willing to pay for it, if they had any suggestions for product improvement, and ideas for optional related products and accessories. This experience was invaluable! Upon discussion following Market Research Day, we talked about competitors in the market and also how to respond to negative reviews. I feel confident that students are prepared with valuable feedback and ideas for improvement as we begin production next week! Any supplies that students have at home should be brought to TARGET next week. There will be supplies for sale (using Smartcash that students have earned) in our Logictopia Supply Store next week too. 4th Grade - National ParksAlthough Wednesday was a short day with Early Release, we managed to get through all the National Park presentations! I was very pleased with the time students put into their research as well as the quality and variety of products to "show what they know" about his and her National Parks! We had everything from puppet shows to jigsaw puzzles, board games and interactive posters to PowerPoints, Reader's Theater, and photo booths! Very impressive, 4th graders! I also introduced our next big project - Create Your Own National Park. Students should have brought home the information on a bright green piece of paper but the important dates are listed below.
5th Grade - ShakespeareFriday in TARGET, 5th graders participated in station rotations reading through a variety of information and completing graphic organizers focusing on the theatre, the works, and the world of William Shakespeare. This important information was very helpful to give show students the contextual significance of England under the rule of Elizabeth, during the Bubonic Plague, and then under King James' rule. Students were shocked (and slightly appalled) at the entertainment at the time of Shakespeare: bear baiting, fencing, and public executions. Plays, dances, and feasts were a ]highlight of their entertainment scene as well. Next, we decided to use English creatively as Shakespeare would've done so after a review of the parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives), students wrote their own Shakespeare Mad Libs. These were hilarious! According to students' writing, Shakespeare had a budding career at Starbucks and then retired to flipping burgers in China. The humor of 5th graders is always appreciated! :-) Another favorite activity today was Lingo BINGO! Students were to study the modern translation of many Shakespearean vocabulary words and deciphered BINGO clues accordingly.
1st Grade - Around the WorldOur first stop on our journey around the world was to Vietnam. We visited the Mekong River and learned about the water markets and why fish is such a dietary staple for the Vietnamese. We also discussed the climate and how that impacts what they are able to grow, harvest, and eat. We read Everybody Cooks Rice and took a virtual field trip to a rice paddy. We finished our travels by making Vietnamese puppets and watching a traditional water puppet show. Next week we'll travel to Ireland - just in time for St. Patrick's Day! 2nd Grade - Cubism2nd grade students are enjoying exploring the artwork and life of Pablo Picasso! Students have several choice activities that they are completing: "Roll a Picasso Portraits" where a dice is rolled and that number indicates what type of facial feature is drawn, "Mystery Mosaics" where a hidden picture is revealed after colors are added to a coordinating position on a grid, and "Interactive Lap Books" about Pablo Picasso's life. Students are advancing well on their Rubik's Cube work each week! Most have solved the white cross and several have already solved the white face and are moving on to Stage 4, solving the red and blue faces. 3rd Grade - Mini-SocietyThe citizens of Logictopia have interviewed for positions and are now gainfully employed! They've completed their first day's work and have met with me individually to have their Prototype Report approved before starting production. Next week we will conduct market research with both 3rd grade TARGET classes so students can receive feedback and suggestions on their ideas. Students should bring in a sample prototype that's ready for market research next week. 4th Grade - National Parks4th graders have been researching a National Park of their choice and preparing for a "Museum Walk" presentation next week. We've spent time in the computer lab exploring the www.nps.gov websites and all the resources our National Parks have to offer. Students created brochures of their chosen National Park to showcase the things tourists must see and do, warnings of potential dangers inside the park, and also what conservation efforts are in effect to preserve the parks and their natural beauty. To compliment their brochures, students worked on additional projects of choice based on their preferred product style so they can show what they know to the class! 5th Grade - ShakespeareWe started our second unit of the year with an introduction to Shakespeare's life and works through a Webquest. Students constructed models of the Globe Theater and we began a virtual field trip traveling back in time to Shakespearean England to submerse ourselves in his writings and culture. Students completed an Inductive Reasoning activity matching Shakespeare Lingo to Modern Lingo. We were surprised to find that many of the words commonly used in Shakespeare's writings are still found in the dictionary, although students agreed that they seem a little "out of date." Next week we'll play Lingo Bingo, create Shakespearean Mad Libs, and begin working on a Pop Sonnet project! Students, don't forget to look over your Shakespeare Translation Guide for Lingo Bingo!
Kid Chess Lessons!We've had two FULL weeks in TARGET! Chess lessons from the coaches at Kid Chess were definitely the highlight of our TARGET time together! If your child enjoyed the chess lesson, please go to www.kidchess.com to check out additional resources and opportunities like summer camps and tournaments. It really was an awesome experience! Unit Highlights1st Grade - Around the World1st graders said Bon Voyage to America as we set off on an adventure to China just in time for Chinese New Years' celebrations! Students loved learning about the customs and traditions of China, especially listening to Chinese music as they worked! We discussed the ancient art of puppetry and the symbolism of the dragon and the color red in China for luck! Next time in TARGET we'll travel to another Asian country and learn about the rice harvesting in Vietnam! 2nd Grade - Cubism2nd graders LOVED creating Doodle Cubes! We learned about lines, patterns, continuation of artistic ideas, and introduced geometry with the folding of nets for the Doodle Cubes. Students completed their Picasso-style self-portraits by highlighting their best features with a fine point black marker to really make them pop! We're working diligently on solving the white cross and white face on the Rubik's Cubes and have had many students reach this goal! As our unit continues, we are continuing to study the life and artwork of Pablo Picasso. 3rd Grade - Mini-SocietyAll is well in our mini-society and the development of Logictopia is advancing nicely. We've established currency (Smart Cash) and minted our first bills! Students elected their first community officials, the mayor and vice-mayor of Logictopia after presenting their campaign speeches and a very close election! We discussed the difference in a plurality and majority and even had a run-off because the competition was so stiff! Congratulations to our winners. Your constituents are expecting great things! 4th Grade - National ParksStudents in 4th grade have chosen a National Park to research and are in the process of creating brochures as well as other products to teach the class about their National Park of choice. We enjoyed "traveling" to Yellowstone and are looking forward to learning more about the National Parks, thought to be "America's best idea" as quoted by Wallace Stegner. As our unit continues, we'll study the historical impact of the development of National Parks and take an in depth look at the instrumental work and of conservationist John Muir and President Theodore Roosevelt. 5th Grade - EpidemicOur Epidemic Unit concluded as health officials from Barrow County met one last time to discuss existing E.coli cases and develop a plan to prevent future outbreaks from occurring at next year's fair. Students prepared to present their findings as a team of epidemiologists and we had a round-table discussion to debrief their presentations and look for commonalities between the suspected source of the outbreak and their prevention plans. This has been an exciting unit but we're looking forward to finishing our year in TARGET studying Shakespeare!
1st Grade - Around the WorldThis week in TARGET we made our community snack mix. We compared and contrasted a melting pot soup to a snack mix where everything is combined, but the individual attributes are still there, much like the cultural makeup of our country. We discussed the following as we made our snack mix: Do the snack mix ingredients get mixed up and become indistinguishable? Or all they are still separate entities that taste better and are more interesting because they are all mixed together, just like the US? We visited the Statue of Liberty where students made a souvenir to commemorate our trip! Our final stop in NY will be visiting Ellis Island and reading an immigration story called My Name is Yoon next week. TARGET travelers had their passport photos taken and their bags are packed for our trip to next trip to Vietnam! 2nd Grade - CubismThis week in TARGET, 2nd graders previewed the art history section of our Cubism unit by learning about the life and work of Pablo Picasso. We read his biography and how his artwork changed based on the mood and events of his personal life. Students began working on a Picasso-style self portrait. I can't wait to see these finished and painted with watercolors! Students are getting to know their Rubik's Cubes and the directional vocabulary needed to solve. Some students are close to solving the white cross and the white face which are the first two steps to "doing the cube!" This is going to be a fun challenge to solve as a class! 3rd Grade - Mini-SocietyToday in Logictopia, students submitted an idea for a flag design and told the class what the colors and images symbolized. Next, we explored how money is created and coins are minted. The students enjoyed learning about this fascinating process as well as the top security measures taken to prevent counterfeit money from circulating. Kids made a symbol to represent our class currency for Logictopia and generated names for the units. Students voted anonymously on the symbol (a detailed L) and the unit name (Smartcash). Students are working on their ideas for a class bill. Next week, students will finish their currency designs and then we'll have another anonymous vote to determine what our 1, 5, 10, and 20 Smartcash we use in Logictopia. We're also reading Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill. Third graders are enjoying this fictional tale of a young entrepreneur who's quite creative and has a strong sense of financial literacy! 4th Grade - National Parks4th graders worked on their posters with property recommendations for Mr. Wealthy's two million acres of land to either use the resources for a national park, preserve the land, develop the land, or use the land as a military base. I shared with students that the land in question was Yellowstone National Park. We took a virtual field trip to Yellowstone to view the park. Highlights of our trip were viewing the hot springs, geysers, and all the wild animals, especially the elk and bison. Some students began their online journey to be Junior Webrangers. Students can go to www.nps.org/webrangers to complete virtual park missions and earn badges. This is a really interesting program and I encourage students to explore it at home! 5th Grade - EpidemicThe TARGET 5th grade epidemiologists are working feverishly to retrace their efforts and analyze new and old information to help victims of the E. coli outbreak at the Barrow County Fair and prevent other patients from dying of E. coli complications like HUS (hemolytic-uremic syndrome). Students are drawing conclusions and creating plans to prevent E. coli outbreaks at future fairs. Next week students will begin their final presentations stating the cause of the outbreak and recommendations for future fairs. Our unit will conclude as students present their findings on Friday, February 16. The pressure to synthesize information and save lives is building quickly!
After some Frosty fun, we're back to work on our TARGET units! All grade levels are working on Perplexors and Link Winks for Brainteasers and focusing on analogies for our Vocabulary work. Take a look to see what each grade level's working on in TARGET. 1st Grade - Around the WorldThis week we traveled to New York before heading abroad! We visited the Statue of Liberty, learned some interesting facts about this great American symbol, and discussed immigration and why the United States may now be more accurately described as a snack mix instead of a melting pot. Students had an opportunity to share about their family's cultural background and we discussed how our unique differences make each individual a special part of our TARGET community. Next week we'll take passport photos, share a special community snack, and read a story of immigration called "My Name is Yoon." 2nd Grade - CubismTo begin our study of Cubism, students participated in an Odyssey of the Mind Spontaneous Challenge to brainstorm as many cubes as possible. Students then shared their answers and we decided as a class if we felt the answers were common or creative and awarded points accordingly. Next students were given a STEM challenge to construct a cube using clay and toothpicks. After constructing, we observed the properties of a cube such as how many faces, vertices, and edges a cube contains. We viewed several of Pablo Picasso's pieces from his Cubism period and discussed why this style is referred to as "Cubism." 3rd Grade - Mini-SocietyOur Mini-Society is underway! The first lesson in our unit was teaching students about scarcity through popcorn economics. When there wasn't enough popcorn to go around, we had to brainstorm resource allocation mechanisms to evaluate a fair way to handle the popcorn scarcity. Students listed the benefits and downfalls of a variety of resource allocation mechanisms and we voted on the one that best suited our class' needs. We then discussed the need for government and how resources are allocated in America. The class brainstormed and voted on a name for our TARGET mini-society: Logictopia. Students are designing a flag and will be coming up with a monetary system for Logictopia soon! 4th Grade - National ParksOur first National Parks lesson focused on interdependence and how things work together. The students worked together to decide on a table name and mascot. Points will be awarded throughout the unit for participation and teamwork! Next, fourth graders participated in a Decision Making lesson to decide as a group what to do with Mr. Wealthy's two million acres of land. The possible land uses were to preserve the land in its natural state, to develop the land for homes and businesses, use the land as a military base by the U.S. government, or to turn the land into a National Park. Students created criteria to evaluate the possibilities and listed the pros and cons of each land usage idea. Spoiler alert - the two million acres of land is actually what is now Yellowstone National Park! We'll tour the park and view it's natural beauty next time in TARGET. Our winning table for Day 1 was Team Wings! Way to go! 5th Grade - EpedimicFifth graders survived a poisoned picnic on Friday in TARGET! Students acted as disease detectives to analyze interviews, menus, pathology reports, and food preparation guidelines to identify the culprit of the poisoned picnic. After much discussion and debate, students deduced that the culprit was the green bean casserole. Once students identified the tainted food, they researched to figure out what bacteria caused the food poisoning at the picnic. The "wanted" bacteria was botulism! We've got a few weeks more of our Barrow County Fair Mystery Disease and then our Epidemic Unit will be complete!
Although our schedule's been a bit wacky with the January snowdays, we've had a great time getting our TARGET classes back in 2018! For everyone's first day back to TARGET, we took a break between units for some winter fun! Students completed a Creative Problem Solving lesson where they identified problems in the "Frosty the Snowman" song, brainstormed possible solutions, established criteria, and evaluated their solutions using a problem-solving matrix. Some classes also participated in a STEM challenge to design a new home for Frosty the Snowman after learning about insulation and friction. Other classes explored the work of "Snowflake" Bentley and his photography of snowflakes under a microscope. Then students identified, categorized, and created their own snowflakes, from stellar dendrites to stars, plates, and columns! All classes strengthened their Convergent thinking skills by solving Frosty the Snowman brainteasers, perplexors, puzzles, wordokus, and memory builders. Students expanded their Divergent thinking skills by SCAMPERing a snowman, playing a Scattergories brainstorming game, and creating a winter glyph. It's been SNOW much fun!
Attention parents of newly qualified 1st and 3rd graders:
The Welcome to TARGET information meeting will be postponed to a later date due to the school cancellations this week from winter weather. Please be on the look out for information coming home with your child about a rescheduled meeting date in the future. Thank you for your patience! Thank you students and parents for your patience during testing! I know it seemed like a long time without coming to TARGET... trust us, we missed you guys too! :)
We are looking forward to adding some new friends to our classes in January! Due to class sizes and the addition of new students, we've had to make some changes in our schedule. Please see below for the new TARGET days. TARGET classes for 2018 will begin on Monday, January 8, 2018. Monday - 2nd Grade Tuesday - 3rd Grade Wednesday - 4th Grade Thursday - 1st Grade Friday - 5th Grade Thank you all for your support in 2017! I'm looking forward to serving your children in 2018! :) Warm wishes for a wonderful holiday season! Mrs. Husack |
Mrs. HusackGifted Specialist Teacher at Teasley Elementary Archives
May 2018
Categories |