October is a screening month for new nominees-welcome new G and T students! Work with deductions continued, getting more complex with each passing week. Each grade also learned about a famous American icon's talented work. The listened (auditory learning) to the artist's work and answered questions, then viewed (visual and auditory) a video of the artist to see if perceptions changed. After some comprehension questions, we delved into the artist's life and accomplishments. The artist was Dolly Parton-the song was "Coat of Many Colors."

The third graders conducted their first experiments-magnets.The third graders at DPs wrote letters in the style of Lydia Grace from The Gardener. The Mayan alphabet was the topic at Genet and Bell Top. Green Meadow extended topics on wolves and the northern lights.

The 4th grade finished up their Native American legends, made Grape Dumplings or Indian Fry Bread, or took a virtual tour of Albany. They also began practice sets for the NYS Math League contest to be held in the spring.

The 5th graders began practicing strategies and vocabulary building for Math Olympiad's first contest in mid-November.

Pictures (courtesy of Mrs Hurley) have been posted from the Enrichment Fair-many fantastic projects from some fantastic students!

All grades completed the unit on syllogisms, concluding with the students creating their own syllogisms for their classmates to solve as valid or invalid. They were fun!

Third graders competed in the National Science League exam, culminating a year of science experiments. Check the first week of May for a complete list of the results. They also submitted their original stories to WMHT for the Reading Rainbow book writers and illustrators contest--we are ANXIOUSLY awaiting to hear the results.

Likewise, the fourth graders competed in the New York Math League contest. Results will also be posted during the first week of May. The fourth graders also competed against each other in a contest of problem solving in the area of "Analysis"- the ability to break down material into it's various parts. A winner will be declared at each school.

The fifth graders have been competing against each other in the problem solving area of "Synthesis"-the ability to put different parts together to form a new whole."

The Shockwave Odyssey of the Mind team earned a third place finish at the New York State championships at Binghamton University this year. In spontaneous problem solving, the team placed ahead of the first and second place teams.

I received confirmation today that Allison Puglisi is an Honorable Mention award winner in the Letters About Literature contest for 2009 at the New York State level.

The announcement was made by Pamela McLaughlin, Director of the New York Center for the Book, in conjunction with The Library of Congress.

The contest received 54,000 entrees at the national level, which was reduced to 5,000 entrees distributed to individual states. Of New York's 1100 entrees, 71 were named honorable mention awards, with nine named as state semi-finalists.

Participants write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, from any genre-- fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic, explaining how that author's work changed the student's way of thinking about the world or themselves.

Allison was invited to participate on this project as an extension activity with the elementary enrichment program. Her teacher, Mrs. Vicky Marino, suggested that Allison, as a strong writer, would benefit from joining the elementary enrichment program's extension of classroom topics with Mr. Greene. Allison practiced her author's craft for several weeks before submitting her award winning entree.

I am teaching about syllogisms this month. Students are finishing projects for the Enrichment Fair on 3/28.

Students had been working on analogy brainteasers, but have now moved into sequencing.

The fourth and fifth graders have been avidly researching their self-selected topics for presentation at the Enrichment Fair on March 28th.Research will be conducted in school through the end of February. Two weeks are set aside for assembling project boards or powerpoints. (weeks of 3/2 and 3/9) "Dress rehearsal " for projects will be the week of March 16th. Revisions and bibliographies are due the week of March 23rd.

DPS 4th graders looked into "free form' Haiku, deviating from the 5-7-5 pattern. Many other 4th graders are expanding on colonization of NY, using Cobblestone magazine. In addition to higher level reading, they will be making a gun powder horn in February.

The third graders have learned a great deal about aerodynamics by studying the effects of gravity, thrust, drag, and lift, while designing and flying paper airplanes. In addition, the third graders are entering the Reading Rainbow Writers and Illustrators contest, focusing on social studies topics covered in their classrooms.

The 5th graders have also competed in Math Olympiad contest number 3 in January-the competition is really heating up! Who will win the trophy in 2009?? The next contest is the week of February 9th.

The students have continued working on analogies, word benders, and sequencing for brain teasers.

The third graders tried their hand (and mind) on spontaneous Odyssey of the Mind problems. We also did experiments with sound and hearing. A math mystery using decimals and multiplication was also solved. Classroom extensions included The Gardener at DPS, parts of speak using Mad Libs, and a reader's theater at Red Mill to highlight Native Americans.

The fourth grade at DPS, as an extension of habitats in science, learned about Habitat for Humanity, tieing social studies with a science concept.

They also had the opportunity to compete in the "Letters About Literature" contest sponsored by the Library of Congress. They also solved OotM spontaneous problems and a math mystery.

The fifth grade continues on with Math Olympiad, taking contest #2 in December. In addition to the 4th grade activities, they also began discussing self-selected topics, which begins research in January.

All grades have been writing Halloween stories based on The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburg. They could choose either "A Perfect Lift-Off" or "Just Desserts."

The 4th and 5th grade also solved the mystery of Harry Houdini. A classic "who dun it, " the students learned how to conduct handwriting analysis, sequence events in chronological order, and narrow suspects to find the suspect that committed the forgery. Students were also introduced to new vocabulary, such as, authenticity, memorabilia, and forgery.

Of course, the students love being challenged by a new brainteaser every week. We have been looking at analogies this month.

As extensions of classroom topics, 3rd graders have been writing friendly letters (DPS), exploring volcanoes (Red Mill), and learning about the life of Japanese people (Bell Top and Genet).

4th graders have been using Cobblestone Magazine and websites to dig deeply (no pun) into the Erie Canal.

5th graders mapped the World Geography hall of Fame, learning locations such as the Mariana Trench, the Andes, and the Dead Sea.

All grades have been creating team names and team handshakes, learning the art of compromise, shared decision making, and team building. Brain teasers continue to challenge with Dr. Funster.

4th and 5th grade students also learned their learning styles. After completing an online questionaire, they found out how each student individually learns the best and how to study to maximize learning potential. Parents can contact me if interested in reviewing the results.

I have also shared the information with classroom teachers to better support their efforts.

Extensions of classroom topics has been very interesting from observing optical illusions that fool the mind, an introduction toThe Erie Canal prior to a 4th grade field trip, learning about latitude and longitude at the NOVA website for 5th graders, and also sign language.

Joey displays his hard work.	large view Sarah informs about global warming
Lyana explains life in the coral reefs	Mr Greene listens proudly to Danny's presentation
Gabby presents a wonderful project on polar bears	large view Teamwork by Marcus and Justin
Jared knows all about aerodynamics	large view Katie was thrilled to learn about Japanese theater
large view Megan and Natasha demonstrates absorption and reflection of light	Alisha goes into great depth for her ocean project
large view Lego man!!	large view Ashley constructed a balloon and straw to demonstate puffer fish