GFES: Advanced Academics Program Newsletter - ENGLISH

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Advanced Academics @ GFES


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We’ve truly enjoyed engaging with all students so far this year. We are looking forward to more learning to come! Thank you to everyone who attended our AAP information session on September 21st. Please see our October Newsletter below.


AAP Experience Overview

Each quarter, all students in grades K-5 will be working on an AAP experience in their classrooms. Advanced Academic Resource Teachers are working with classroom teachers to provide these opportunities for students. In the first quarter, each grade level will engage in a reading comprehension program called Jacob’s Ladder Affective. In addition to reading comprehension, this program focuses on Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Below is a highlight of each grade level’s Jacob’s Ladder lesson.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students have been enjoying reading Kitten's Full Moon, a story about perseverance and determination. Students then investigated the story using a set of affective questions from the Jacob’s Ladder curriculum. Through this exercise students will communicate and collaborate to dig deeper into the story while making connections with characters and discussing how they change in a story. Students will also be discussing the social and emotional journey of each main character and making connections to their personal lives.

1st Grade: In first grade, students will be reading a book called Owen by Kevin Henkes. After reading the story together, students will discuss what it means to be comforted, and list ways in which the main character is provided with comfort. They will then connect it to their own lives and provide Owen with some advice. This activity allows students to form strong connections between reading and emotions.

2nd Grade: In second grade, students will begin by reading a book called Ish by Peter H. Reynolds. They will then explore what it might feel like to have an idea that you can’t explain or act upon. Finally, they will share their thinking with their classmates, and use critical and creative thinking to develop their own Ish creation based on what they read in the book.

3rd grade: In third grade, students will listen to a story called After The Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Up Again) by Dan Santat. Before reading the story together, the students will discuss the definition of fear and make connections to something they fear. After the story is read, the students will discuss Humpty’s fear and how Humpty overcame his fear. Using the Affective Jacob’s Ladder Recognizing and Analyzing Adverse Situations and Challenges, students will discuss Humpty’s greatest challenge. As a culminating project, students will write about a fear that they had and how they overcame it.

4th Grade: In fourth grade, students will watch the short Pixar movie Geri’s Game. This movie does not have words and is an excellent way for all students to discuss the movie from multiple perspectives. After watching the movie, students will use the questions from the Affective Jacob’s Ladder to discuss the social and emotional journey of Geri and compare his journey to their own lives. After the discussion, the students will write a letter to Geri giving him possible solutions.    

5th Grade: Fifth graders enjoyed Geri’s Game, a Pixar short film about the impact of relationships. Students then investigated the story using a set of affective questions from the Jacob’s Ladder curriculum. Through this exercise students will communicate and collaborate to dig deeper into the story while making connections with characters and discussing how they change in a story. Students will also be discussing the social and emotional journey of each main character and making connections to their personal lives.

 

Schoology

Thank you again to everyone who was able to attend our AAP information session. If you missed it, don’t worry! You can find the recording on our Glen Forest Schoology site. Speaking of Schoology, we invite you to join our Glen Forest AAP Schoology group! Here you can find information related specifically to Advanced Academics, such as important dates, forms, information session recordings, links, and newsletters like this one. To join, see the direction below.

 

To join an existing Group:

  • Click Groups at the top of Schoology.
  • Select My Groups.
  • Click Join Group on the right.
  • Enter the Group Access Code (NCQR-2BGP-348KH).
  • Click Join.

 

Testing Updates

*CogAT - The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is a multiple-choice K-12 assessment that measures reasoning skills with different types of verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal questions. The CogAT is a group-administered aptitude test which is one measure that helps to identify students for the Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) in FCPS. Students in grades 2-5 without a CogAT score will be taking this test in school starting the week of October 12th through October 22nd.

*NNAT - The Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) is a nonverbal test used for qualifying K-12 students for AAP. It is a group-administered aptitude test which utilizes shapes and figures to evaluate the problem-solving and reasoning abilities of a child without relying on their language skills which assesses how a student thinks instead of what a student knows. Students in grades 2-5 without a NNAT score will be taking this test in school starting the week of November 15th-19th.

 

SAVE THE DATE

The AAP Level IV Parent Information Night is scheduled for Tuesday, November 9, 2021, from 6:30-7:30 PM, via Zoom. This meeting is open to parents of 2nd-5th grade students who are interested in referring their student for Level IV AAP Services.

 

Once again, Welcome Back to Glen Forest and to our monthly AAP Newsletter filled with exciting learning opportunities!

Until next month, we are:

Your Advanced Academic Resource Teachers,

Mrs. Patricia Edwards (pwedwards1@fcps.edu) 3rd and 4th grades

Mrs. Avery Rothman (agrothman@fcps.edu) 1st & 2nd grades

Ms. Angela Ulsh (alulsh@fcps.edu) Kindergarten & 5th grade