Mrs. Husack's TARGET Class
Weekly Newsletter
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!
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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! |
Mrs. HusackGifted Specialist Teacher at Teasley Elementary Archives
May 2018
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