Gifted Child Seminar 2/12/13

CANDO and the Gifted Specialists are co-sponsoring a seminar for parents, educators, and community members about the unique characteristics of gifted children.   Liz Selander-Hutchins, who is an Aurora University Instructor and a former BPS Gifted Coordinator will be the key speaker for the evening.  Ms. Selander-Hutchins teaches a gifted course frequently through Aurora University and has a great deal of experience and expertise.  The event is free and open to all community members.  Anyone who is interested in learning more about what it means for a child to be gifted would find this seminar very helpful as Liz will be discussing characteristics of giftedness as well as the differences between gifted and talented children.  

This seminar, "How Well Do You Know Your Gifted Child?," will be held on February 12th, 2013 at the Rotolo Middle School Learning Resource Center at 7:00 PM.   For more information about CANDO or this seminar, interested attendees should go to: http://bataviacando.weebly.com or e-mail BataviaCANDO@gmail.com.  

Parents, educators, and community members can learn more about unique opportunities for gifted and talented students as well as news and information about BPS101 gifted services by visiting http://bps101gat.blogspot.com/.

Registration

Students and parents across the district have begun the school registration and course selection process.  During this time, students in grades five through eleven will collaborate with their parents and guidance counselors to select courses for the 2013/14 school year.   At the elementary level, we are assisting our fifth graders and their families in this process by providing information to help students in their transition to Rotolo Middle School next fall.  While parents of students in kindergarten through fourth grade do not need to select courses, all parents must update their student’s demographic information in PowerSchool.  For more information on the registration and course selection process, please visit: http://www.bps101.net/registration-and-course-selection-process-begins-january-29-2013

Updated Handbook

In an effort to make sure that most current information is available to parents, teachers, and community members, the gifted handbook will be updated twice a year.  This January, minor revisions and updates were made to the handbook to improve clarity in services as well as reflect the ongoing expansion of services offered in BPS101.  The new handbook does include the changes in middle school math course names as well as an updated flowchart for parents to understand how students progress through middle school math courses.  Updates have also been made to the second grade identification information as well.  Testing for cluster or gifted students in second grade will be given to those students who have scored in the 90th percentile or higher in both reading and math.   Parents should have received letters via messenger or classroom teachers about Winter MAP testing for grades 2, 5, 6, and 7 that included this information.

New Middle School Course Offering

The following information was sent by RMS to parents via messenger on Friday, January 25th.  Please take the time to read through this messenger as this is an addition to services at RMS.  A copy of the messenger has been included below.

RMS: 5th Grade MAP test information

Dear 5th, 6th, and 7th Grade Parents,

Over the next few weeks, your child will be taking the Reading and Math winter MAP test as he or she did in the fall.  Please be aware that besides providing a benchmark for student growth and learning, the MAP test is a part of our screening process for our enriched literature/language arts classes.

Fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students who score in the 90th percentile or higher on either the Fall/Winter reading and math MAP tests, will be considered for additional testing. This additional testing will take place in early March.  The testing includes a CogAT assessment as well.  This additional testing along with the winter reading and math MAP scores for fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students will be used to determine qualifications for an enriched literature/language arts course at the middle school next year.  The MAP testing window for Batavia begins on January 28th.

The middle school gifted services mirror those used in grades three through five. The Batavia school district uses a cluster grouping model that utilizes the expertise of the classroom teacher or a gifted specialist to meet the unique needs of identified academically gifted and talented students.  Within this service model, identified students will receive appropriate instruction in an enhanced Literature/Language Arts class.

If your child scores in the 90th percentile or higher on the Fall/Winter MAP test, you will receive a detailed letter in early February further explaining the process for identification which will include dates for the March testing.
For more information about gifted and talented services offered by district 101, please read the Gifted and Talented Handbook found at http://bps101gat.blogspot.com/.  

Sincerely,
Stephen Maciejweski
Principal, Rotolo Middle School

Winter MAP Testing

Winter MAP testing begins this week for elementary and middle school students.  Individual class schedules are set by each building.  Students should try to get plenty of sleep, a good breakfast, and remember to take their time on each test.  In addition to using this information to guide daily instruction and planning, this data also will be used for screening purposes for both 2nd grade gifted and talented identification as well as 5th, 6th, and 7th grade gifted and talented identification.  Students are encouraged to do their best!

More information about MAP testing can be found in the parent guide which is located at http://www.nwea.org/support/article/930.  It is in PDF format.  Be sure to click on the link to download the Parent Toolkit.

Is it Summer Yet?

It is never too early to be thinking about summer! Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development offers a wide variety of enrichment programs for academically gifted students age 4 through grade 12. Many of their programs are offered at an off-campus location - some as close as Elmhurst, Illinois! The application period began January 1, 2013 and the application deadline is May 13, 2013. They recommend that if you are interested you should enroll soon because spots fill quickly! The link below will take you right to their website where you can explore the options available and download a catalog and application. Enjoy! 

http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/docs/Summer%20Program%202013%20web.pdf

Discover the Dinosaurs

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Discover the Dinosaurs is for the entire family, and especially kids, to explore the mystery of pre-historic life in an environment of learning, discovery, and fun. Discover the Dinosaurs is a unique hands on exhibit that consists of up to 60 museum quality and animatronic dinosaurs that gives you the opportunity to actually get close and touch the dinosaurs! Beyond the exhibit, additional fun activities are available for kids of all ages, which make spending the day with the dinosaurs a great experience for the entire family.  The exhibit is being held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Il.

Click on this link to find out more:

http://dino.bluestarshows.com/

Read.gov for Kids

The Library of Congress invites people of all ages to discover the fascinating people, places and events that await you whenever you read. Kids - Read.gov has online books (many of the classics) in their original format just waiting for kids of all ages to explore. You can read books ranging from Cinderella to Treasure Island - in addition to these amazing books there are contests and other links. Check out the link to the right of the blog. Enjoy!

Accelerated Weekend Experience at Northwestern University

What do you do with a bright adolescent with a thirst for knowledge but a full schedule?  How can parents continue to enrich their child's studies when extracurricular activities and other obligations compete for a young adult's time?  For academically talented students, the answer to both questions can be the same – the Accelerated Weekend Experience!

Accelerated Weekend Experience (AWE) provides academically bright students in grades 5 through 8 an opportunity to explore a subject of study in depth and with concentration, with an expert in the field, over one weekend. 

Since older students often juggle many commitments, the Accelerated Weekend Experience affords them the chance to be inspired, invigorated and impassioned in a short two-day session. Participants investigate a subject that is new to them and learn about its practical applications by collaborating with like-minded peers and vanguard instructors.

View the 2012-2013 AWE Course Offerings today!

REGISTRATION IS CURRENTLY OPEN!

Metacognition and Reading

I came across this section of an article from Bertie Kingore (long time researcher and specialist in gifted education and differentiation).

The tips included in her article are a quick and easy way to stretch students' thinking about their reading.  Many of these questions may seem natural and subconscious for a reader but good readers must be trained in this type of thinking despite their reading level.  For students whose thinking is developing and growing, making these questions part of their reading habits is essential to better understand and guide their understanding of a text, whether they are an elementary student or in high school.  The article mentioned below brings to the forefront the importance of asking these types of questions.

Full article: http://www.bertiekingore.com/readinginstruction.htm

Metacognition. As children read in school, they need to be guided in their development of metacognitive or self-monitoring strategies so that these important skills become an internalized part of their regular reading behavior (Cecil, 1995).Metacognition is referred to as thinking about thinking. It invites children to bring their thinking to a conscious level and provides a window that increases adults' understanding of students' behaviors. A parent reported that her gifted second-grade daughter did not want to participate in a discussion about a book she had immensely enjoyed, because "I have already discussed it with myself." Since gifted readers are so consciously involved in introspection, teachers [and parents can] continually analyze students' behaviors and talk with them to make sense of what is occurring in learning situations. (Abilock, 1999) Metacognitive Questions • What can you tell me about your reading? • What did you think was easy to do and hard to do? • What changes would you want to make? • What is the most important thing you learned from this? • What do you do when you are reading and you find a word you do not know? • When might it be a good idea to reread something? (Really important for strong readers who skip or miss nuances in the text due to speed of reading) • Why do you think that is so? • How did the author cause you to infer/conclude that? (This supports higher level thinking.) • What evidence can you use to support that? (One of the best questions to ask.  Many times under further investigation, opinions can change about a text!) • If you did not know, what would you do to get the most information?