After a bit of coordination, we have identified a speaker, date, and location for our Community Event.

Underachievement to Suicide: How Students Cope with Being Gifted Presented by Dr. Tracey Cross, Executive Director,College of William & Mary Center for Gifted Education

Wednesday, April 28 at 7pm in the auditorium of Gildersleeve Middle School

It should be about a 45 minute presentation with time for Q&A afterward.

I hope all of you will be able to attend.

Best regards,

Rob McCord

Our in class reading of Secret Garden started on February 15th and is winding down. All work is due Monday March 22nd and our test is March 23rd. Since this is an in class reading assignment students have been given 30- 60 minutes to work on the assignments each day. I would like to address the Secret Garden Novel study book sharing as some students have chosen to share with partners taking the book home to catch up on reading. Again I have made the assignment “easier” than the original gifted by allowing in class time to read. The Penguins have finished the HOME  novel study ( a seperate book that shares the same themes as our unit “change”) that goes along with this series and on Wednesday March 24 the Leopards will begin their HOME Novel study. The Leopards will turn this in on April 21st. Like I said Both of these novels were to be read at home but I felt this was too much work for some of our students. One last thing some of our Secret Garden books, which are shared with another student, have gone missing. I will contact you if your child has lost their book.  Thank you Mrs. Stolen

Follow this link to the Secret Garden E-Book

http://www.literatureproject.com/secret-garden/index.htm

PRUDEN

Ansley Zachary Z
Hunter Brittney
Olivia Baker
Alyson Domenek
Sequoia Anne Morgan
Ben Sydnee
Lewis Taylor
Caroline Alyssa
Josh Maya
Alan Adam
Cambrie Shane
Cameron

STOLEN
Leah
Emily Ashley
McKenzie Eleanor
Jose ` Helen
Jeremiah Sam
Jacob Lexie
Christian Katherine
Arri Wyatt
Zachary S. Sara
James Chelsea
Mason
Carson

To differentiate and meet the needs of our students we have separated our classes into two groups. This decision was based on many factors; ease of understanding and mastery of new skills, ability to complete a task in a timely manner, and self motivation to do well on assignments.  As always, our students are our highest priority. These groups are flexible and will change as warranted.

The Peninsula SPCA is looking for donations and the S.C.A. wants to help.

Please send in items by December 21, 2009.

Animal Care Supplies
Purina ONE kitten food
Purina ONE puppy food
Canned cat and dog food
Purina Brand Animal Food weight
circles
Non-clumping Litter
Dog bones and treats (no toys except
KONGS)
Cage shavings
Hamster/Gerbil Food
Pet carriers
Collapsible Metal Crates
Cracked Corn
Cat Toys
Shoe boxes (cats like snuggling in
them!)
Towels
KONG STUFFERS (no peanut butter,
cheese whiz, only crackers)
Leashes
Collars
Pet wipes
Non-tip stainless steel dog bowls
Non-tip stainless steel cat bowls
Pooper scoopers
Brushes
Hair Dryers
Grooming clippers & kits
Shampoo
Hand Sanitizer
Pill Pockets
Vienna Sausages
Cleaning Supplies
Bleach
Clorox wipes
Liquid laundry detergent
Paper Towels
Anti-bacterial Dish Soap
Anti-bacterial Hand Soap
Heavy Duty Scrub Brushes
Clinic and Medical Supplies
Rubbing Alcohol
Large Disposable Latex Gloves
Brooms
Cleaning rags
Office Supplies
Sharpies (permanent markers)
Paper
Avery Name badges
Highlighters

Where are We Digging Now?

Take a look at this interesting information on Jamestown.

This winter the fourth grade talented and gifted classes along with the fourth graders at Riverside are hosting an all school talent show. We will have many more details later. As  of now our plans are for the students to organize and run the show themselves. Any parent involvement will be the talent or supervision the night of the show.  We will keep you posted as updates come forth after the new year.  All proceeds will go to the “Wounded Warrior” project.

Hello Parents,

Thank you for your patience while my son was ill. Hopefully I am back for good.

Our conferences have been moving along smoothly thank you for your patience again we are trying to see all 45 students once  by Christmas. Again, any questions may be emailed to us in the meanwhile.

First a few reminders:

Have you asked your child how many AR points and do they have at least a 85% average? You may be surprised by his or her answer. Students should have about 6 points or reading a book that will cover these points by now. A low average can be fixed by reading picture books once or twice and making a 100% when taken. This fixes the average quickly but only add .5 pts to the total. AR is homework. Your child should be reading 20-30 minutes nightly.

Our research project and new novel study have begun. Thank you for sending in 20 blank note cards. During this project your child has selected a topic interesting to them. He will then research media sources and make note cards, take interviews and survey other students at Riverside.   We will create a wiki page for our final project adding videos and pictures and of course a well written essay concerning their topic. Along with this we are reading the second novel from  our William and Mary curriculum. This novel is titled ” My Daniel” again the novel will not come home and your child will have to practice time management in c0oompleteing this work at school. I was pleased with our last novel studies and you should be proud of your son or daughter.  Please scroll down to see our last years wiki concerning the environment. this year we are covering two topics: school and environmental issues. Both projects are in class assignments but if your son or daughter falls behind or wants to work at home they may. Ask them to show you his or hers wonderful work on THINK.COM.

In math we are covering LONG DIVISION. Yikes!!! I am so thankful for Mrs.Pruden’s wonderful method of teaching this tough topic. Please continue to review multiplication facts nightly. In science we are studying energy force and motion.

Have a safe and happy week!!

Hello parents,

Whew! I am so glad quarterly benchmarks are over. Please give your son or daughter an extra hug for working so hard during the week. We are proud of the results achieved. The data helps Mrs.Pruden and I tune our teaching to the students needs.

We are working on some exciting things the next nine weeks starting with our in class research paper and Wiki. The students this week will decide on a topic. Stay tuned for more info. Along with this project, we will learn how to write a report and more importantly how to write a persuasive essay. We worked on writing a persuasive paragraph in the past few weeks now the students will fine tune this skill into a full essay using data, research, interviews and media.

In Math we will venture into multiplying decimals. Please continue to practice those multiplication facts. In Social Studies we begin to study the colonization of Jamestown. Have a great week!

we need:

**Tissues

**Hand sanitizer

We have plenty of wipes for the tables.

If you have sent in your items already hold on for a bit some parents waited because we only have so much space to store items. Thank you to all of you for your help during this nasty flu season.