October Newsletter for Madeira’s Gifted Program
Second Grade
Parents,
Hello! We are having a great year learning about a wide-variety of topics such as mysteries, Australia, oceanography, equation building, marsupials, and more. Please check out my teacher website for photos and great parent resources.
I have listed our first semester projects below as well as ideas for evening and weekend enrichment. All of our projects last an entire semester since I only teach students one day a week. Plus, it is a chance for students to study topics in-depth. Research is at the heart of our program. This is a lifelong skill students need to master.
I will e-mail newsletters each month as well as post them to my webpage in case you delete the e-mail and need more information.
We have a peppermint jar in our classroom, and children are allowed a few peppermints a day to help them with concentration and memory. We would appreciate a donation of one bag of peppermints for the school year. Thank you in advance for your peppermint donations. You only need to donate one bag a year.
Enjoy the lovely fall foliage!
J Dr. Alley
We will be participating in four multidisciplinary units in our second grade class during first semester. Here is a summary of our current projects:
1. The Honey Bee Mystery – Students will be reading a mystery surrounding the disappearance of honey. The mystery is a fourth grade level reading experience with complicated logic problems. As we read the mystery and figure out clues through the logic puzzles, we will be learning about the importance of bees in our society, beekeeping as a hobby/profession, and tasting honey in various forms. It will be a fun and sticky adventure!
2. 3 Pigs and Scientific Wolf – Students will be reading the story of “The 3 Pigs and the Scientific Wolf” while learning about the simple machines in the story utilized by the wolf and pigs. We voted to write stories using ideas from “The 3 Pigs” to create interactive online stories in a program called Storybird. Students are working independently or in pairs. The other major component of our “3 Pigs” unit is to work with Lego WeDo robotics and create simple machines which students program.
3. Oceanography –We are participating in a math/science simulation called “Into the Unknown”. Students will be solving mysterious “Magic Square” math problems and simple algebraic equations. We will be earning sand dollars weekly. The sand dollars will be used at our end of the unit party in December called “Under the Sea” party. While we learn about the unknowns in equations, we will learn about the creatures that call the ocean home.
4. Marsupials & Australia – We will be reading The Mystery on the Great Barrier Reef by Carole Marsh and learning about the mysterious continent of Australia as well as the unique group of animals called marsupials. Students will select one of the many marsupials to study and create a slideshow using photos and research notes. We will watch the marsupial movie in a “movie theatre” environment in our classroom. Students will earn play money for their movie production which will be used to “buy” their ticket to enter the “theatre” as well as “purchase” movie treats.
*Our days begin with a logic puzzle from a third/fourth grade book. Students complete another logic puzzle after first recess. We will be playing various brain games each week as well.
EXTRA ENRICHMENT IDEAS:
1. The Ohio Renaissance Festival is a great deal of fun for the whole family. It opened on Sept. 1st and will close on Oct. 21st. Discount tickets are available at www.renfestival.com
2. Artrageous Saturdays are held on the campus of UC Blue Ash. They have five performances this year. The first is “Rumplestilzkin” on Oct. 27th performed by the Frisch’s Marionette Company. Parking is free and easy on campus. You can find more information at www.ucblueash.edu/performingarts or call 745-5705.
3. The Blue Man Group will perform at the Aronoff Center Oct. 16-28. You can call 621-ARTS for more details. This is an incredible show to watch!
4. Have you checked out Cat Canyon at the Cincinnati Zoo? It is an excellent new exhibit. I visited the zoo a few weeks ago to see it. Plus, I watched a 4-D theatre show. It was awesome!
5. Super Saturday is an amazing program for gifted kids offered through the dynamic parent support group called PAGE (Parent Association for Gifted Education). Students get a chance to meet with other students who are gifted from around the county. Students choose various classes such as theatre, engineering, chemistry, veterinary science, chess, French, and more. The class offerings change each quarter (Fall, Winter, and Spring). The classes are held at the University of Cincinnati-College of Applied Science on Victory Parkway. Registration is open now for fall. There is a link on my teacher webpage, or you can visit the website for Super Saturday at www.supersaturday.org
6. There is an exciting book club opportunity for children in grades 2-5 called “Book Explorers”. It is a parent-run book club led by Madeira parent Cathy Born and her children, Nathan and Lexi. Children read a book, meet for a book discussion, and participate in a field trip and/or activity related to the book. If you would like to receive information, you can contact Ms. Born at
7. Cincinnati Museum Center offers cultural experiences at various festivals throughout the year. The first event is the Latin American Culture Fest October 20-21. The series is called “Passport to the World”.
8. Cincinnati Pops Orchestra (381-3300) will perform “Superheroes” at Music Hall on Oct. 12th and 13th
9. Cincinnati Ballet will perform “Alice in Wonderland” Oct. 26th-28th. Tickets start at $31 (621-5282).
10. COSI (Center of Science & Industry) in Columbus is an amazing science museum. They have a special exhibit beginning Sept. 29th and ending Jan. 6th for LEGO fans called “LEGO Castle Adventure”.
Stores:
The following children’s bookstores offer neat family programs so checkout their websites: The Blue Manatee Children’s Bookstore in Oakley, The Blue Marble Children’s Bookstore in Fort Thomas, and Joseph-Beth Booksellers Children’s Department at Rookwood Commons.
Mindware (online), United Art and Education in Sharonville (lots of craft kits and science experiment kits), Ted’s Toys in Madeira (lots of our classroom games can be found here), and King Arthur’s Toys in Oakley (doors away from The Blue Manatee Children’s Bookstore) are great places for kid’s gifts. Each site has unique and challenging items.
The LEGO store at Kenwood Mall has a free monthly mini model build on the first Tuesday of each month. Call 791-4241 for details on hours. They have 250 available each month. The line can be long so bring a book to read!