Guess What We Are Doing In TAG?!
1st-2nd Grades – “Pilgrims’ Challenge” – We are learning about the difficulties Pilgrims encountered when arriving to the new land (America). Students learn that at the onset the Mayflower was not the only ship that set out to the new land. There was also a smaller boat called the Speedwell that did not quite make it because of leak and the fear that the boat would sink was left behind and a total of 102 passengers piled into the Mayflower (crowded). The Pilgrims succumbed to sea sickness, scurvy, storms, death, hunger, wet clothes, and unsanitary conditions. Students engaged in mystery lessons to determine what did the pilgrims bring to the new world—lemons, oranges, and apple cider vinegar! Students compared and contrasted the size of the 90 foot long Mayflower with the Symphony of the Seas Royal Caribbean ship. Huge difference! Students learned the differences in not only the size but the amenities and the alarming fact that the Mayflower was not really a passenger ship, but a ship that was to carry supplies and cargo and not meant for human travel. Students continually examine the first Thanksgiving and seeing differences between the first Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving today. Did you know there were no mashed potatoes, turkey, cranberry sauce, or pumpkin pie like today and instead there was lobster, eel pies, wild plums, deer (venison), and roasted duck! Students will work throughout unit on choice boards based on their learning styles and interest where students get to choose activities that allow them to select what would interest then and have the option of working collaboratively with a partner or choose to do individually to complete a task. 3rd Grade – “Endangered (“Where Is The Dodo Bird”?) – This unit jumpstarts with what is the Dodo bird? The students learn and understand what really happened to the Dodo bird and what contributed to its extinction. Students are and will be engaging inductive inquiry lessons, compare and contrast lessons, decision making lessons, and creative problem solving activities, metaphorical expression lessons, and mystery lessons. Through these activities students will address: * terms that are important to know in relation to endangered animals * causes of animals becoming endangered and extinct * the impact extinction has on our world and what we can do about it * the biggest threat to particular animals Throughout this unit the students will engage in Think-Tac-Toe activities where students can choose activities based on their interest and learning style. 4th Grade – “Flight”- This unit allows students to be engaged in various strategies for them to think critically and at a higher level. Students will engage in visible thinking activities – (color, symbol, and image), carousel brainstorming, compare and contrast, 6 thinking hats (problem solving), creative problem solving, SCAMPER, and mystery lessons. This unit will address various essential questions while engaging in these strategies: * How has flight impacted our world? * How do birds fly? * How do the four forces affect flight? * How did the Wright brothers change life in America during the turn of the century? * What risks did the pioneers of flight take in order to create progress? * How does a plane’s design affect its purpose and ability to fly? * What actually happened to Amelia Earhart? * How do Newton’s Three Laws of Physics affect flight? How can you design a successful rocket? 5th Grade – “Epidemic”- This unit starts with understanding the words epidemic, bacteria, and viruses and what they mean. Students will understand how bacteria and viruses are treated and how they can actually travel across the world. Understanding how they travel is important as students examine how to prevent spreading of illnesses. Students will engage in mystery lessons, advanced research, communication skills (presentations), decision making, and creative problem solving. As students engage in these activities students actually follow the Escherichia Coli (E Coli) break out that occurred at a county fair. They are to switch between the roles of health inspectors, nursing staff, and government agencies to find out the source of the outbreak, how to prevent future outbreaks, while they are continuously investigating, interviewing, and examining contagious disease reports (CDRs). Students will continue examining this breakout along with other diseases that could potentially affect us all---not just physically, but emotionally, financially, and mentally. What really happens when things occur in epidemic proportions?! What about a pandemic?!
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Hello TAG Parents!
Talented & Gifted (TAG) Classes will start the week of Monday, August 13th. The first week of TAG we will focus on expectations for our class and familiarize/introduce creative problem solving, higher order thinking, advanced research, and communication skills through varied activities. Parents/Students will soon receive a letter advising the actual day of service for each grade. I look forward to working with you and your children this year! 2nd-3rd TAG “What’s The Matter in The Kitchen? (2nd)/”Cooking Chemistry” (3rd) This unit examines a couple of things. It will focus on the digestive system in conjunction with changes in matter (solids, liquids, and gases). Changes will be examined through changes in heat, cooking, and mixtures of various ingredients. Students have learned about the importance of the first part of digestion –the tongue and how it is necessary and how our tongue has different areas that can taste sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. Ask your child about the tongue mapping activity!
4th TAG “Camp Interdependence” This unit focuses on interdependent relationships between plants and animals in National Parks. The students will study national parks and their importance and why they are necessary. Students will examine popular parks such as Yellowstone and the Everglades as well as not so popular ones like Biscayne and Great Basin. Students will learn about the attributes of a National Parks and what makes a National Park an actual National Park. Ask your child about Mr. Wealthy and what they did with his 262 million acres! 5th TAG “Changes of Georgia’s Coast” This unit focuses on Georgia’s barrier islands and why Georgia needs them! Students will look at changes that have occurred over time and what must be done to save the islands. Students will engage in research about the importance and history surrounding the lighthouses located on the islands as well as discussions of tides, endangered animals in ocean habitats, and beach ecology to name just a few topics. Ask your child about their lighthouse adventure/history! There will be a focus on one particular barrier island – Tybee Island, which will culminate in an overnight field trip February 28th-March 2nd, 2018. NOTE: Final payments for field trip is on Tuesday, January 9th, 2018. 2nd-3rd Freedom-Students will continue to learn about the 10 amendments and the freedoms Americans are afforded. In addition, students will examine several scenarios and analogies. They will put themselves in many situations to determine what they would do if faced with violations of their right? Ask your child about “Mr. Terry’s Stop” and which amendment does this relate to?
4th – Space Exploration – Is there intelligent life out there? That is the big question. Students will examine through research and critical thinking activities as to whether there is life out there and how would they communicate with them if it does exist. Ask your child about the golden record and what did they put on their golden record and why? 5th Amusement Park – Students will continue to learn about Newton’s Laws of Motion as it relates to amusement park rides. Students learned about centripetal force - a force that makes a body follow a curved path. Its direction is always orthogonal to the motion of the body and towards the fixed point of the instantaneous center of curvature of the path. Please ask your child about the water and cup outdoor experience. What did they learn and what does centripetal force have to do with an amusement park ride? 2nd-3rd Freedom-Students will continue to learn about the 10 amendments and the freedoms Americans are afforded. We will continue with Amendment 2-The Right to Bear Arms, Amendment 3 – Housing of Soldiers (no longer required), Amendment 4: Searches, Seizure, and Warrants, Amendment 5 – Rights in Criminal Trials & the Rights of Property, and Amendment 6 – Rights to a Fair Trial. Student will continue practicing briefing cases and understanding the meaning of each right. Students will also compare America’s freedoms to rights and freedoms in other countries. 4th Space Exploration – Students will continue to examine whether space exploration is necessary. During the next few weeks students will look at the possibility of other beings in space, the importance of discovery and why we are intrigued by this possibility. Students will look at spacesuit design, the water system at the space station and compare it to the natural water cycle. One big idea is whether or not travel and colonization to planet Mars is possible. Students will make their own conclusions about this after reading articles and research. 5th Amusement Park – Students will continue to learn about Newton’s Laws of Motion as it relates to amusement park rides. Students will specifically look at the speed of roller coasters as they turn and move on rails. In addition, students are to think as we progress in the unit about an innovative and original theme they will use when they create their own amusement park! (stay tuned for details at a later date). Students will use creative thinking in this class to not only entertain guests but also generate revenue. Creation of an amusement park is very hard work but yet so much fun! September will be a busy and exciting month! We have started our units with introductions to the content and great activating strategies!
Please see the key areas we will focus on this month. 2nd-3rd TAG “Freedom Express” This unit will focus on the Bill of Rights! We began with determining if we are in fact free and what are we free to do. In addition we explored and defined the word freedom and what does it mean to be free. We will explore several rights this month. 1. Freedom of Religion (Do WE have a choice?); Freedom of Speech, Press (Expression); and finally Freedom of Assembly. We will look at current events that are taking place in the America today to connect the content to real life experiences. 4th TAG “Space Exploration” This unit will focus on Space Exploration. By the end of the unit the students will form their own thoughts and opinions as to whether space travel is a good thing or a bad thing and why or why not? Students were introduced to this unit by understanding what space exploration entails. They will examine how one is chosen to explore a place (characteristics needed and required) where no human has been before; Is space travel/exploration really a worthwhile investment? Why or why not? 5th TAG “Amusement Park” This unit was introduced with student(s) sharing their experiences with amusement parks, festivals, fairs/carnivals. This month students will understand Newton’s Laws of Motion. They will examine the laws and see how they relate to amusement park rides—especially roller coasters. Students will also compare old amusement parks to new amusement parks. Creativity, innovation, and theme are key words students will delve into as they think about a park they would like to create! Hello TAG Parents!
We are almost a month into our units and the students are learning a lot already! 1st & 2nd Graders are studying the unit “Pilgrims’ Challenge”. They are learning of course about Pilgrims moving from England to the New World (America), but most importantly they are learning about the many challenges that the Pilgrims encountered on the way to the New World as well as what they encountered when they arrived. Please ask your son or daughter about scurvy and the importance of citrus fruits and apple cider vinegar! 3rd Graders are studying the unit “Biomes Big & Small”. This unit will involve 6 land biomes. So far the students have learned about the temperate deciduous forest and the tropical rainforest. The will learn about taiga, desert, tundra, and the grasslands. Please ask your son or daughter which land biome we live in and why? Does the biome we live in really make decisions? 4th Graders are studying the unit “Native Americans”. The students are understanding the reasons why Native Americans came up with legendary myths to explain science and natural happenings, things they fear, and many unexplained circumstances in the world. For example, how stars came to be…../why do tigers have stripes?/ why does the son and the moon exist, and so many more. Students were able to write awesome myths this past week. Here are some of the titles: How Oceans Came to Be by Caleb Sadler, The Crying Baby with No Name by Ethan Wadley, How the Moon Was Made by Iran Marquez, Twinkling Night by Marianna Villarreal, How Mountains Came by Nicholas Azevedo, and Why The Bear Is Brown by Mary Oyefuga. 5th Graders are studying the unit “Epidemic”. The students have a clear understanding of what makes an epidemic and know the difference between a bacteria and a virus. Weekly the students will track where the Zika Virus is and what is the status as it continues to plague the world. In addition to looking at diseases and epidemics in the world—students will be studying a mystery disease for the next few weeks. They will make a diagnosis and rule out several diseases that it is NOT based on the analysis of symptoms. As students bounce back and forth between the roles of the nursing staff in a rural county to health inspectors for the health department they will continue to examine how illnesses are tracked, find its origination, and ways to prevent future outbreaks. Ask your son or daughter what they think is really going on in Jamestown. Sabrina O. Manning (Talented & Gifted Teacher)
I am from the “Big Easy” or the “Crescent City” of New Orleans, Louisiana and love seafood! Seafood gumbo is my favorite! I am going on my 19th year of teaching. (11 years as a Talented & Gifted Teacher -TAG & 7 years as a 2ndgrade general education teacher) and have been a TAG Teacher Mentor for 3 years—helping other TAG Teachers in Fulton County. I am a graduate of Spelman College (BA in Political Science w/a concentration in Urban Studies)and furthered my education through Brenau University (early childhood teaching certification) and Grand Canyon University (Masters in the Art of Teaching). I enjoy learning new concepts and just completed a coaching endorsement last spring which qualifies me to be a Culturally Proficient Coach. I am a mother of twin sons (Seniors in High School), a dog “Scottie” the Scottish Terrier, and a caregiver to my mom. I enjoy painting, museums, reading, traveling, trying new restaurants/foods, and spending time with friends. As a child I thought I would be a gymnast, but realized that I was way too tall. I am 5’10”! I have several mottos I live by. One is to live each day like there is no tomorrow because time waits for no one! Another is “Storms can be oh so awful, but they will pass and reveal clear skies!” |
Ms. ManningT.A.G. Teacher Archives
September 2018
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