Welcome To Our High Ability Blog!
Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful summer and are now ready to start fresh. It's going to be another great school year! Many families are returning, so you're familiar with how we do things in High Ability. I'm excited to welcome our new families to our program and to fill you in on how everything works.
A Little About High Ability:
Welcome to our weekly blog! This is an area where I post a weekly update to allow you to take a peek inside our classroom. I try to post lots of pictures, so you can see what they are working on each week. This is also a great location to monitor any assignments they may have to complete. You will also find a calendar highlighting some important dates coming up around the school. My goal is to have the blog posted on Friday. I will send a weekly email when the blog is posted. You can access the blog at the bottom of my email or through Bailly's homepage under classrooms.
Language Arts and Math groups will meet twice a week for 30-minute sessions during flex time. My Language Arts students meet on Monday and Tuesday. My Math students meet on Wednesday and Thursday. Our start date this year is September 18th. For this week, I will see my Language Arts students on Wednesday and my Math students on Thursday for an introduction day.
It is important to use the most of our time together, so we will go over procedures and expectations the first couple of days to help our classroom run efficiently. I will also do several Leader in Me (LIM) lessons with all of my classes. Bailly is entering our fourth year of being a Leader in Me school which is very near and dear to my heart! I will weave the lessons into our weekly High Ability lessons. If you're curious or interested in seeing how LIM can impact your family, I strongly recommend reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen R. Covey. It's one that I find myself re-reading for a little boost now and then.
LANGUAGE ARTS CURRICULUM:
We are using the High Ability Language Arts Curriculum Project which was developed by the Indiana Department of Education. Each grade centers around an umbrella concept that fits every lesson. They are filled with many fantastic lessons that build upon each other as the year goes. Teaching under the umbrella allows students to make connections which calls on higher order thinking. We will use several of the trade and picture books suggested by the state as part of our curriculum. The gifted lessons use the same models from year to year like Paul's Reasoning Model and the Hamburger Model for persuasive writing. The added bonus is that students who continue through the grades in High Ability, will become quite efficient and familiar with the similar high ability structures while analyzing literature.
MATH CURRICULUM:
We are using the same math series called Mentoring Young Mathematicians (M2) for 2nd grade. The upper grades will use Mentoring Mathematical Minds (M3). I just love teaching math this way! It's not math in isolation; it's real life applicable situations. The students are asked to problem solve problems using math as a means to get there. It was a bit of a change for the students last year, in that they were required to write and explain their thoughts, ideas, and decisions about math. By the end of the year they had grown tremendously! I was proud of them. Being gifted in math is so much more than just being good with numbers! When writing and explaining their answers, it will further cement their understanding of the concept. I will support their writing efforts while in class, but writing and explaining their mathematical answers are something to work on with your child at home.
It is important to use the most of our time together, so we will go over procedures and expectations the first couple of days to help our classroom run efficiently. I will also do several Leader in Me (LIM) lessons with all of my classes. Bailly is entering our fourth year of being a Leader in Me school which is very near and dear to my heart! I will weave the lessons into our weekly High Ability lessons. If you're curious or interested in seeing how LIM can impact your family, I strongly recommend reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen R. Covey. It's one that I find myself re-reading for a little boost now and then.
We are using the High Ability Language Arts Curriculum Project which was developed by the Indiana Department of Education. Each grade centers around an umbrella concept that fits every lesson. They are filled with many fantastic lessons that build upon each other as the year goes. Teaching under the umbrella allows students to make connections which calls on higher order thinking. We will use several of the trade and picture books suggested by the state as part of our curriculum. The gifted lessons use the same models from year to year like Paul's Reasoning Model and the Hamburger Model for persuasive writing. The added bonus is that students who continue through the grades in High Ability, will become quite efficient and familiar with the similar high ability structures while analyzing literature.
MATH CURRICULUM:
We are using the same math series called Mentoring Young Mathematicians (M2) for 2nd grade. The upper grades will use Mentoring Mathematical Minds (M3). I just love teaching math this way! It's not math in isolation; it's real life applicable situations. The students are asked to problem solve problems using math as a means to get there. It was a bit of a change for the students last year, in that they were required to write and explain their thoughts, ideas, and decisions about math. By the end of the year they had grown tremendously! I was proud of them. Being gifted in math is so much more than just being good with numbers! When writing and explaining their answers, it will further cement their understanding of the concept. I will support their writing efforts while in class, but writing and explaining their mathematical answers are something to work on with your child at home.
HOMEWORK:
Occasionally there will be homework assigned. It honestly tends to be more with the language arts/reading groups than with the math groups. Second, third and fourth grade will complete book studies in their curriculum and can expect weekly reading assignments. It is critical to their success in the classroom to stay current on the reading assignments.
A Little About me:
I live in Chesterton with my husband and 7 year old son. He is a first grader at Bailly. I also have two adult daughters. This is my first year working with the High Ability program. I am so excited to get started and get to know all of the students!! This will be a bit of a learning experience for me so please bear with me as I settle in to this amazing new opportunity. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. I will be happy to assist in way I can. I am looking forward to a great year!!
Mrs. Marquardt
