Landstown Mind Vine

Hard work leads to success!

Though The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Robotics Challenge Club was not a gifted initiative, gifted cluster teacher Nancy Saunders worked with second grade teacher Amy Godfrey on the project, and some of our gifted kids won honors in the competition.  The challenge required students to use the skills of critical and creative thinking, design, drilling, sautering, photography and report writing among others to build two remote control robots from scratch and then operate them during a competition involving 22 schools.  The investment of over 100 hours in after school preparation paid off as one of the Landstown teams won the honor of Best All Around Elementary School.  The students won this honor because they skillfully completed all of the requirements which included reports, photos and videos.

Ms. Saunders said of the students, “We are very excited and proud of them.  The winning team, comprised of 3 girls and 3 boys, is deserving of this distinction and recognition.  They did all of the work themselves with negligible help from any adult.  In fact, the adults and other teams went to them for help!  They understood how everything was supposed to work and were excellent trouble shooters and problem solvers.  Even with seconds to go before a match began, they figured out how to get their robot working.”

This authentic application of problem solving is a great example of 21st Century teaching and learning and all students benefited.  Of particular note, however, is the fact that the competition puts girls in the middle of science, math and technology—a discipline that has historically been lacking in female participants. 

Innovation is the wave of the future and these students have caught a ride.  Do what you can to continue to nurture their skills and interests!

Caine, creator of Caine's Arcade.

What will your kids do this summer?  How will you build in time for creative thinking and exploration of imagination?  If you haven’t seen it already, take a moment with your child to watch the story of Caine’s Arcade told through a very short independent film.  Not only is it likely to give you a little mood boost, but it may also provide you with inspiration to take advantage of the increased freedom that summer affords you to let your imagination soar!

Here is a link to the video:

http://vimeo.com/40000072

After you watch the video and before you leave the blog for the year, please scroll down to read several pages of posts about contest results and classroom happenings.

Have a wonderful and safe summer!

~Ms. Cabotjae

Jordan F. & Chanel H. make observations.

“We should not teach children the sciences; but give them a taste for them.”
 ~Jean Jaques Rosseau

“Did you know that songbird populations are in decline, some by as much as 80% in the last 40 years?”  So began the letter from Scotts Seed company that came in a packet of materials including a lesson plan.  This authentic problem caught the eye of third grade cluster teacher at Landstown Elementary, Ms. Nicole Myers.  For her, it served as a springboard to the creation of a more rigorous learning experience on sustaining wildlife.  Ms. Myers got to work designing a problem based learning task that had children experiencing science. 

First, the children considered what they knew and wanted to find out about the habits and needs of birds in our region.  They did research to improve their understanding of the issue.  They used the Creative Problem Solving Process to search for a way to help the birds and decided to create a songbird haven on school grounds.  The class walked the school campus to find the best location for their bird refuge and discovered that the outdoor classroom, if cleaned up and improved, would work well. 

Caleb H. & Kevin F. compare notes on possible locations.

 In the meantime, fourth grade cluster teacher, Ms. Taylor, had her students do research to determine what plants best support songbirds and compiled a list of suggestions.  Mr. Castiglioni, the art teacher, designed a lesson for small groups to create bird baths that would provide a water source for the birds.  The students will even consulted an expert landscape architect from the city who evaluated their plan and made suggestions for further improvements.

The class’s goal was to have the first phase of the project completed by the end of this school year, but this will only be the beginning.  In fact, former LES student, Jimmy Howe, has volunteered his Eagle Scout troupe to continue the work that Ms. Myers’ class began.  The scouts have already made some improvements and have more changes planned.

Not only will this project contribute to sustaining the songbird population, but it can be integrated into every level of the elementary curriculum.  Because it is real science, it will sustain the interests of children for some time to come.  As Ms. Myers, the class and I were walking outside, she commented on how quiet, mindful and engaged the students were.  I think this may have been the result of her giving them a taste of science instead of putting them in front of a buffet of facts and telling them to eat.   

*Look for this article in the city-wide Gifted Bulletin.

Alizza thinks like a scientist as she reflects on her observations.

Grade 3 

3^rd Place:              Jamie G.              

2^nd Place:             Drenzelle B.

1^st Place:              Jordan C.

Grade 4

3^rd Place:             Karmina B., Anna B., Lily B., Brooke C., Avery G.,       

                            Justice C.

2^nd Place:            Ciara G.

1^st Place:              Jared S.

Grade 5 

3^rd Place:              Ashleigh C.

2^nd Place:             Aimea T. & Artesia S.         

1^st Place:              Ashanti B.

75 challenging vocabulary words, 60 contest analogies and months of study later, the Word Masters Champions for the year have been determined!  Great job everyone who participated and congratulations to the champs!

Grade 3 

3^rd Place:              Marquis M., Amberli S. & Jackson C.              

2^nd Place:             Drenzelle B. & James G.

Champion:       Jordan C.

Grade 4

3^rd Place:              Brooke C.

2^nd Place:             April S.

Champion:      Jared S.

Grade 5 

3^rd Place:              Sarah M. &  Samantha C.

2^nd Place:             Kriselle M.         

Champion:     Ashanti B.

86 students in grades 3, 4 and 5 participated in the annual Virginia Math Challenge.  They had to solve 30 problems in 30 minutes.  The contest is intended to be very challenging.  In fact, few students score as high as 24 points and a student scoring even half that, 12 points, is to be congratulated.  Here are the results for this year’s contest:

Third graders completed the 4^th grade contest:

Tied for 3^rd Place: Vy T, Kyle S and Amberli S

2^nd Place: Christopher M, Jordan C and Kaleb C

1^st Place: Kane H–18 points!

In Fourth Grade:

3^rd Place: Christopher W

2^nd Place: Ciara G

1^st Place: Jasmine R–20 points!

In Fifth Grade:

3rd Place: Ashanti B

2^nd Place: Samantha C

1^st Place: Kriselle M–23 points!

In Ms. Haberdash and Ms. Spruill’s rooms, students continued to work with Math Exemplars and Math Extensions.  Much of the final part of the year was spent working on the gifted unit “ZooTo Do.”  In this problem based learning unit, students were presented with a scenario in which the Norfolk Zoo had money to spend and was seeking proposals for habitat exhibits.  In order to create a habitat plan, students made scientific observations, kept science logs, conducted research and used the problem solving process.  Their final product was an exhibit that helped the public to better understand the relationship between the animal, its habitat and the systems within that habitat.  It was very exciting to see children engaged in reading and research that included books and the internet.  The second graders even learned to use OneNote this year to take notes and document resources. 

To finish up the year, 2nd graders returned to the William and Mary unit where they continued to take a close look at language.  They learned about and wrote similes and metaphors and began working with analogies.  As a result, they wrote Magic Box Poems with some amazing imagery and they will be in great shape to get started with Word Masters next year!

Kaylee and Matthew ponder some new information.

Students work in interest based groups.

Kalyssa adds to research she completed independently at home.

Third grade students continued to work with Math Exemplars and were introduced to Hands On Equations (a program that teaches kids to solve algebraic equations) with Ms. Myers.  In addition, Ms. Myers created and implemented a problem based learning task with the children (see the article above that will also appear in the city-wide gifted newsletter).  Many students from this class also participated in the Virginia Math League Contest which consists of a set of 30 challenging problems that students must be completed in just 30 minutes.  What is unique about their participation is that the contest they do is written for 4th graders.  High ability math students in 3rd grade are invited to participate in the 4th grade contest, and some of these 3rd graders scored higher than some 4th graders on the 4th grade contest! See the results for the contest in the earlier post.

With Ms. Cuthbertson, some 3rd grade students worked on the William and Mary unit Journeys and Destinations.  These children read and discussed the novel The Green Book in which a final group of inhabitants of the ailing planet earth barely escapes the destruction of the planet and must explore and settle a new and unknown planet.  Because they represent a pocket of the population that is not wealthy, they receive old equipment and can take very little with them.  It is a story of problem solving, teamwork and creating life almost from scratch.  One of the bigger issues that students considered in the novel was whether technologically advanced methods of preserving memories is superior to traditional ones, as this was a dilemma that the characters from The Green Book faced. 

All students in the class continued to participate in Word Masters, read Junior Great Books stories and completed a final Curriculum of Identity piece.  In this learning experience, they chose a career that they thought they might pursue as an adult and considered how their skills and knowledge might help them prepare for the work.  They then tried to determine what skills they would need to continue to develop and drew a picture to show how they would dress, what their work environment might look like and what tools they might use.  Though the students’ conception of work and what they are interested in is likely to change many times, getting them into the habit of visualizing themselves in different roles will help prepare them for informed decisions in the future.

Fourth graders in Ms. Saunders’ room have taken a close look at language in the second half of the year.  They focused on grammar using the work of Michael Clay Thompson and learned a little Latin, broke down the eight parts of speech and diagrammed sentences.  They read and discussed Junior Great Books stories and did a novel study and finished up the final Word Masters competition (see results in an earlier post).  In addition, they studied the etymology of words.  After reviewing some words in use during the Jamestown period as well as today and how their meaning has changed over time, they selected a Word Masters word for which they traced the history.  In doing so they learned that the English language is comprised of words from many different languages and that our relationship with or use of words changes including the spelling, pronunciation and meaning.  Students chose to create diagrams, comics or short stories to illustrate these changes in their words. 

Their work with Ms. Taylor continued to include Math Exemplars, M3and Hands on Equations.  In addition to doing research on the plants that attract and support songbirds for the third grade bird sanctuary project (see the article for third grade), the class created worm composters.  They were inspired by an article that one of the students brought in about a family who had an incredibly small amount of waste each year—less than a garbage bag full!  The students also learned that you can put tissue and pencil shavings in a worm composter.  With the paper recycling project in place, we began to wonder if worm composting might be a way for us to further reduce the amount of classroom waste we create.  As we learn the best approach to setting up and maintaining the worm composters and the worms quickly multiply, we hope to successfully set up other classrooms for composting next fall! 

Worms hard at work!

Fourth grade students analyzed primary source documents when they looked at multiple portrayals of Pocahontas in paintings that spanned many years.  After reading information in a primary source reader, watching a video and considering the perspective of Chief Roy Crazy Horse of the Powhatan Nation, they thought like historians to try to determine the truth about who Pocahontas was.

To finish out the year and tie up the theme of relationships, students are reasoning about the disappearing honeybee after being inspired by a project they did with their art teacher, Sharon Bivens.  They’re taking a close look at the possible causes of the disappearing bee and how each of those potential contributors to the issue have a host of stakeholders who have something to gain and lose as we try to solve the bee problem.  For example, pesticides are used on plants to ensure crops are not destroyed by bugs.  However, there is evidence that pesticides may be causing hive collapse disorder in the bee population.  Though farmers may feel they must use pesticides to guarantee high yields and keep prices down for consumers, they may not have any crops if they depend on pollination by the bees.  We hope that by looking at all of the connections to this one problem, students will solidify their understanding about relationships: everything is related in some way, all relationships are meaningful and relationships change over time.

Japanese internment camp

After reading three multicultural novels with Ms. Sykes that were all set in America from the 1920s through the1930s (Journey to Topaz; Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry or Bud, Not Buddy; Esperanza Rising), students were given a task that required they tie several elements together: World War II, The Great Depression, The Harlem Renaissance, Black Southerners, Mexican Migrant Workers and Change, as applicable.  Students were given training in several technology formats (Frames, Share and PowerPoint) and chose one to convey their understanding of the novels, their historical context and their connection to change.  The results were impressive and many students demonstrated great research skills, technological proficiency and sophisticated understanding.  Here is just one sample to give you an idea of the work students did:

Museum_of_Change_Product

In addition to this substantial research project that involved collaboration between Ms. Sykes, Ms. Cabotaje, Mr. Johnson (our computer resource teacher) and Ms. Troia (our library media science teacher), students continued with the Word Masters competition (see the final results in an earlier post here), reasoned through issues and read and discussed Junior Great Books selections.  They finished up the year by working in interest groups to closely examine a variety of current issues from the  impact of technology on intelligence to the dangerous reduction of oxygen for fish in the oceans.  To look at the issues from multiple perspectives, they used Paul’s Reasoning Wheel, a structure that helps students consider the point of view, assumptions and evidence for beliefs of many different stakeholders.

With Ms. Swager, the students completed their bridge lessons and competed in an inter-city tournament (see an earlier post here).  They also worked with a social-emotional unit that included reading a Junior Great Books selection about introverts and extraverts, creating metacognition metaphors, engaging in Socratic discussions about stress, reading and taking notes from the biographies of several eminent adults, and creating biopoems that outlined the unique strengths and challenges of these gifted individuals.