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?

Websites for Every Interest

Recently, our team came across a very unique blog called, "The Kid Story."  In this blog, an eight year old works with her mother to share resources and experiences growing up as a gifted child.  There is a great section of the blog entitled, "Websites for Gifted Children."  We found many links to be very interesting and engaging.  There are links for a variety of content areas including science, social studies, and a few for students who love to craft.   Most of sites are free; however, there are a few that require a fee.  A great resource to check out especially during the extended weekend off!

http://www.thekidstory.com/websites-for-gifted-children/

BHS Science Blast!

The award winning BHS Robotics team is inviting kids K-5 to join them for a day of science fun! Here are the details:

·        Saturday, November 10^th, 9:00 – 11:30 am

·        BHS Cafetorium (enter on the Main Street side)

·        $40 T-shirt included/$70 for families.

Kids will meet their latest robot and take home all of their creations!

Email: BHSRoboboosters@gmail.com for an electronic registration form.

November 3rd: SciTech Masters of Lightning

Looking for something fun to do this weekend?! Check this out!

The Masters of Lightning is coming to the SciTech Museum!  See precisely controlled "bolts of lightning" - some 15 feet long leap from huge Tesla coils and play music from Bach's Toccata and Fuge and even the 8 bit theme from the Super Mario Brothers!  "Dr. Zeus", adds an astonishing element to the show by standing between the coils wearing a metal suit of layered chain mail and interacting withe the lightning bolts! A show not to be missed!
*Doors open at 6pm, the show starts at 7 pm
*Stay and explore the Museum after the show, will be open until 9 pm
*Adult tickets are $20, and children 12 and under are $15

Tickets are available online  http://scitechmuseum.org/masters-lightning

Learn more by calling (630) 859-3434
Address: 18 W. Benton St. Aurora, Il 60506

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a website that uses videos to show a variety of math concepts.  You can type your topic of choice in the search bar and then chose a clip to watch or you can chose from the the list of concepts found at the bottom of the page.  This might be a helpful site for students to use as a review or to get additional support.  The link to the site is listed below.


http://www.khanacademy.org

Student-Friendly Search Engine

Looking for content-rich, kid-safe online resources? Then eThemes may be the answer! Click on the link located on the right side of the blog.

Here is some information directly from the site:

“eThemes is your source for content-rich, kid-safe online resources…. eThemes provides free, fast access to over 2,500 collections of websites, on topics ranging from Aerodynamics to Zebras and everything in between!Teachers and their students, parents and their children, librarians and curriculum specialists — anyone who works in a teaching role can use our extensive database of eThemes knowing the resources are up-to-date and safe.”

Journeys Information

This year the district has rolled out the new reading series, Journeys, which is aligned to the Language Arts Common Core Standards.  We are very excited about the new reading series which offers more rigorous reading materials including new engaging and challenging guided reading books to provide differentiation for all students.  Much of the reading instruction will focus on reading and questioning strategies that are used to think deeply and critically about literature.  Having piloted the series with some of our teachers last year, we are very pleased with the challenge and opportunities for differentiation that the new curriculum provides.    

Enrichment Opportunity for 5 - 8th Graders

In partnership with Jewel Middle School in North Aurora, Northwestern University will be hosting an Accelerated Weekend Experience Nov. 10-11 for gifted 5th-8th graders. The 5th-6th grade course is Google SketchUp 3D Modeling and the 7th-8th grade course is Veterinary Science. The classes will be held at Jewel Middle from 9a to 2:30p Sat., 11/10, and Sun., 11/11. For more information on this event, please visit the following website: http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/sep/program/awe/dates-locations/. Preregistration is required. 

Fall 2012 Conferences

Conferences for our gifted cluster students will be scheduled to coincide with a team conference held with the child's classroom teacher.  All efforts will be made to attend cluster students' conferences.  Should schedule conflicts occur, a separate conference time or phone conference can be scheduled.  Parents whose children participate in talented math and/or reading groups should schedule their conferences with their child's homeroom teacher.  Information will be shared among grade level teams to be able to communicate with parents information about their child's progress.

MAP Testing FALL 2012

MAP testing for FALL 2012 - 2013 has officially concluded.   This year, BPS101 will be using the new Common Core test questions to measure student learning and growth.  This is the same set of test questions used in previous years, but the goals are different.   Rit scores are also the same.  Keep in mind if looking at previous scores that there may be differences in your child's performance as the new common core standards are new goals.  There is an official Common Core website that has a great FAQ section that can help all stakeholders learn more about Common Core Standards.  It is www.corestandards.org.

Vocabulary Site

Welcome to Freerice.org (see the icon on the lower right-hand side of our blog.) Freerice is a non-profit website that is owned by and supports the United Nations World Food Program. According to their website, Freerice has two goals:

• To provide education to everyone for free.
• To help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

 

According to Freerice, learning new vocabulary has tremendous benefits. It can help you to:

• Better formulate your ideas
• Write more effective papers, emails and business letters
• Speak more precisely and persuasively
• Comprehend more of what you read
• Read faster because your comprehension improves

Have fun exploring the site!

Fall 2012 NWEA MAP testing

NWEA MAP testing window will begin on September 10th, 2012.  Testing can occur anytime from Sept. 10th to Sept. 28th.  Each building creates a schedule with its teachers to allot for testing time.  Since the MAP test is an important piece of the data that is collected to help teachers understand the needs of all students, we encourage parents to read the NWEA Parent Toolkit.  A link to this document can be found to the right.  Be sure to click on the tab that says "Students and Parents."  This tab will guide you to this informational document specifically designed to help parents understand the MAP test.

Thank You

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation for your presence at last night’s Gifted and Talented Open House. Your attendance reinforces our united commitment to the education of Batavia’s gifted and talented children. We look forward to working with all of you this year!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Conant and Dr. Ciway

Now Available!

After all of the collaborative efforts of parents, teachers, gifted specialists and administration we are excited to share with you that the Batavia's academically gifted and talented handbook is now available through our site and the BPS 101 main website. We have added a link to the PDF in our side column.

Welcome

Welcome to the new BPS 101 Gifted and Talented blog. Over the course of the year we will be using this blog as a way to keep you updated on what is happening with our gifted services. We will offer a variety of information ranging from important dates to interesting web links. Check back from time to time to see what we have added!
Here's to a fabulous year!
Mrs. Anderson, Dr. Ciway and Mrs. Conant