1. Welcome to the SES GT Learning Laboratory! Ms. Kim Morgan Week of Feb. 1 - 5, 2016 “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” Dr. Suess If you need to contact me, please email me at kmorgan@effingham.k12.ga.us or call 754-3326 and leave a message. Thanks! kmorgan@effingham.k12.ga.us Mark your Calendar! Feb. 16 – 17 –(Tues. & Wed.) overnight trip for 5 th grade Gifted students to Kennedy Space Center. Field Trip #10130 March 8 -(Tues.) for Gifted 3 rd and 4 th graders to South Carolina State Museum Field trip #10128 May 5 – County Chess Tournament (2 chess players (4 th / 5 th gr) will attend (based on class tournament results) Kelly Tours Contact Information phone number - 1-800-442-6152. Email kellytours@kellytours.com kellytours@kellytours.com website www.KellyTours.com www.KellyTours.com Parents, if you plan on attending any field trips this year, please read the message and follow the instructions below: MANDATED REPORTER TRAINING FOR PARENT VOLUNTEERS As established by Georgia law, any parent, guardian, or caregiver who volunteers in any capacity within the school system must participate in a training session for mandatory reporting prior to working with students. As mandated reporters, any adults who work with children on a regular basis are legally required to report observed or suspected child abuse and/or neglect. This training is accessible online and may be viewed at home or at school for your convenience. Please follow these directions to access and complete the training module: Parents will access and complete the Mandatory Reporting training module by logging onto www.compliancedirector.org.www.compliancedirector.org On the left hand side of the Compliance Director homepage, parents will find a link entitled “Georgia”. That link will connect them to a list of standard modules, one of which is “Mandated Reporting”. Once parents click the “Mandated Reporting” link, they will be prompted to enter a username and password. Please use the following access information: Username- Effingham County Password- football Once parents have completed the module, they will be required to enter information so that they can be identified as having completed the online training. When asked to enter one’s name “as it appears on your paycheck”, parents should enter their legal name. Parents should also provide a valid email address in order to receive confirmation of module completion. Please keep this confirmation email as evidence of module completion.

2. Loads of Learning in the Gifted Lab! 2 nd Grade Critical Thinking Skills – Visual Analogies, Primary Education Thinking Skills – Inventive and Divergent Thinking Communication Skills – Spanish – Months of the Year, Days of the Week, and Body Parts Independent Projects that can be used as Media Projects. Students have chosen their favorite historical figure from 2 nd grade standards and are beginning the research process. They will create Google Slides Presentations. States of Matter – solids, liquids, gases. Students learned about molecules in solids, liquids, and gases. They learned that water is special because it exists in all 3 states of matter on our planet. Students experimented with a penny, water, and eyedropper, and dawn dish detergent to learn about the surface tension of water. 3 rd Grade Critical Thinking Skills – Visual Analogies, Perplexors, & Math Perplexors, Primary Education Thinking Skills decoding and encoding secret messages or ciphers Latin – All About Latin adverbs, A British Traveler's Tale Defined Stem – Light and Energy Chess – Chess Basics Strategies for Beginners 4 th Grade Critical Thinking Skills - Analogies, Perplexors, Primary Education Thinking Skills, Word Bogglers Convergent Thinking – Students will learn the steps to convergent thinking. 1. Find and organize the clues. 2. Take time and reflect (think). 3. Put clues together. 4. Determine the answer. Latin – All About Latin Verbs, Greek Myth – Pandora’s Box Chess – Review Chess Openings 5 th Grade Critical Thinking Skills - Analogies, Perplexors, & Math Perplexors, Primary Education Thinking Skills Defined STEM – Space Food – Complete your Research and Your brochure (in the computer lab), choose your 7 day astronaut menu, and decide how to best package your space food Latin – All About Latin Verbs, Greek Myth – Pandora’s Box Chess – – Review Endgame Strategies 3 rd – 5th Grades Levels This Week – STEM Christmas Challenge – Engineering or planning, designing and building structures to meet challenges. Mathematics and science will be part of the projects.