Ms. Leider's Blog

Denver Art Museum Field Trip

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 07:00:00 GMT

We'll board a bus to have a docent-led tour of the Tlingit exhibit at the Denver Art Museum on Friday, November 14. Everyone needs to pack a sack lunch and beverage (no lunch boxes--container should be something that can be thrown away).
The permission slip for the field trip is available on the 5/6 team page under "documents." The cost of the trip is $6.00.

Pacific Northwest Indian projects: New Due Date!
Monday, November 17.

Remember, all tri-fold boards (if you choose to use one) must be cut in half. You will be standing behind them to give your presentation. We look forward to having parents join us as we give our first presentations to our own classmates. We hope to get started at about 8:30 on Monday. Presentations should only last about 5 minutes, so don't let your little anthropologist go overboard!

Monday Update

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT

LANGUAGE ARTS: We shared our all-time favorite books. Now we have a wall-full of suggestions from peers to help us pick out the next book to read. The first reading strategy will be connections: linking what we read with ourselves, our world, and other books.

WRITING: The focus for the beginning of our writing work will be exploring mentor texts for writing crafts. The first craft will be “color words.” As the name suggests, color words enhance the hues, tonalities, and visual details of our writing.

MATH: Mathematical understanding, or numeration, is the key to success in algebra, geometry, and computation. For this reason, we’ll be spending the week making sure each student knows the why behind the computational strategies they use. Concepts include positional power (place value), mathematical properties (commutative, associative, distributive, identity, zero), positive and negative integers, and how these apply to their mathematical world.

THEME: Geology is our focus and “change” our theme as we explore the forces that shape, mold, and move the earth. The movement of tectonic plates during earthquakes was modeled on Friday using graham crackers and icing. It was messy but delicious!

Monday Update

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:00:00 GMT

LANGUAGE ARTS: We will start changing classes for language arts and math on Friday, September 5. Students will be given their class assignments Thursday afternoon.

LANGUAGE ARTS: We will be self-selecting nonfiction books to read. The genre for this month is realistic fiction. These books reflect characters and situations that could happen in “real life.” Realistic fiction offers students an opportunity to relate the characters, problems, and solutions in the book to what is happening or has happened in their own lives. Good readers make connections to what they are reading. This process aids in comprehension. We’ll be focusing on the strategy of connecting text to self, text to world, and text to text.

WRITING: The focus for the beginning of our writing work will be exploring mentor texts for writing crafts. We will also be participating in a process that combines art with writing. More about that later!

THEME: Geology is our focus and “change” our theme as we explore the forces that shape, mold, and move the earth. Tectonic plates, earthquakes, volcanoes, rocks, and minerals will be investigated. The process of creating a hypothesis and structuring methods to prove or disprove it will be modeled, practiced, and discussed. Students will be using real time data about earthquakes and volcanoes to collect information to support their ideas.

They are participating in a simulation in which the president of the United States asks them to help figure out where earthquakes are occurring, when they will occur, why they occur, and if volcanoes have anything to do with their occurrence. The simulation and its links can be found at http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/musicalplates3/. I highly recommend going to the site and having your child walk you through some of the links. The maps are fascinating!

By the way, did you know that according to the USGS (United States Geological Survey), “Scientists vigorously debate the possible sources of magma: Is magma generated by the partial melting of the subducted oceanic slab, or the overlying continental lithosphere, or both?” Guess you could say we’re studying a really hot topic!

Personal Bio

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:00:00 GMT

I thought you might like to know a little bit about me. So here’s the Readers Digest condensed version!

I was born and raised in Norfolk, VA. My passions as a child included horses, ballet, and music. I graduated with a BS in education from the University of Virginia. I also hold a Masters Degree in gifted education. I’ve taught for 20+ years in grade levels K-6.

Before coming to Colorado five years ago, I taught at a school for the gifted in Huntington Beach, CA called the Pegasus School. I was a gifted center teacher at Hackberry Hill Elementary in Jeffco for three years. Prior to arriving at Stargate, I worked as a Gifted and Talented resource consultant traveling to 15 schools to coach and train teachers.

Today my passions include road cycling (ask the kids about my broken neck!), reading, jewelry-making, collage, and being with my family. I have one adopted son, Connor, who is 13, a 17 year-old step-daughter, a 24 year old step-son, and a 26 year-old step-daughter. We also count our Australian Cattle dog mix, GIR, and miniature Pomeranian, Olive, as important members of our family.

I’m thrilled to be working with your children and their families and look forward to a great year.

Update: Testing

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:00:00 GMT

We've been having a great first week of school so far!

As our "experienced" families know, we spend a great deal of time during the first two weeks of school testing our students. They take a standardized test called the ERB as well as teacher-made tests in the areas of math, reading, and writing. Why? It is vital to know what a child already knows and what skills they may be lacking in order to have them enter instruction at their correct level. We want them to be appropriately challenged, and we want to make sure there are no huge gaps in knowledge. Based on the information gathered through testing, we will place students in reading/writing and math classses to best meet their needs.

Please understand that this testing is not a "waste of time." Instead, judicious pre-testing allows us to move gifted students at their optimal rate by avoiding repetition in the curriculum and working instead on new skills and knowledge.

If you'd like additional information on this process, please let me know. Have a great rest of your week!

Great Start!

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:00:00 GMT

I wanted to let all my families know what a great first (and part of a second)day we've had. I'm thrilled to have students with such varied interests, skills, and hobbies.

We'll be spending much of our time exploring giftedness and learning styles this week. Specifically, we'll be discussing ways to be successful using our strengths and learning styles at school and in the broader world. I'll be sending home articles (via the Monday Folder) addressing various aspects of giftedness that parallel what we are discussing in class. I hope you'll find the articles informative, supportive, and useful.

I'm excited about teaching your children this year and look forward to working with each family.