HIGH ABILITY 2017-2018

WELCOME BACK!  

Hello!  I hope you all had a wonderful summer and are now ready to start fresh.  It's going to be another great school year!  Many families are returning, so you're familiar with how we do things in High Ability.  I'm excited to welcome our new families to our program and to fill you in on how everything works.  The first blog is always lengthy because there's so much to share.  Most will stay the same, but there are a few subtle changes.  Read for yourself!

GENERAL HIGH ABILITY INFORMATION

Welcome to our High Ability (HA) blog! This is our weekly blog that will allow you to peek inside our classroom to see what exciting things the children are learning throughout the year.  A weekly email will be sent when the blog is ready to view for the week.  My goal will be to have it ready for you every Friday. You will be able to access the blog from a link at the bottom of the email or from Yost’s homepage under classrooms.

Our weekly schedule will be Mondays and Tuesdays Language Arts (LA) and Wednesdays and Thursdays Math.  If your child qualified for both, I will see them all four days!  On Fridays, I'll meet with the other HA Instructors to share lesson plans for the upcoming week which means no classes on that day.

High ability will meet twice a week during flex time for a half an hour each day.  Flex time is a time set aside at Yost per grade level for students to receive more intensified instruction.  Your child's teacher and I will keep an open line of communication to make sure their needs are being met in both locations.

Occasionally there will be homework assigned.  It honestly tends to be more with the language arts/reading groups than with the math groups.  There will be reading homework in second and fourth grade for sure!  Our third grade unit will possibly be new, so I'm waiting to see what it has in store.  It is critical to their success in the classroom to stay up on the reading assignments!

New for this year I plan on making a reading tracking sheet for HA that the parents can see what is assigned each week instead of waiting to read it in the blog.  I am hoping this allows for students to work on assigned reading throughout the week and have little to none for the weekend!

HIGH ABILITY LA/READING CURRICULUM

We are using the High Ability Language Arts Curriculum Project which was developed by the Indiana Department of Education.  Each grade centers around an umbrella concept that fits every lesson.  They are filled with many fantastic lessons that build upon each other as the year goes.  Teaching under the umbrella allows students to make connections which calls on higher order thinking.  We will use several of the trade and picture books suggested by the state as part of our curriculum.  The gifted lessons use the same models from year to year like Paul's Reasoning Model and the Hamburger Model for persuasive writing.  The added bonus is that students who continue through the grades in High Ability, will become quite efficient and familiar with the similar high ability structures while analyzing literature.

HIGH ABILITY MATH CURRICULUM

For math, we have purchased additional high ability math units to use with each grade.  I'm sure many are looking forward to the giant Yeti or the egg crash test that they've heard about from previous students, but the units are different this year.  We are using the same series, just teaching a different unit.  For the younger grades, we'll be using Mentoring Young Mathematicians (M2).  The upper grades will use Mentoring Mathematical Minds (M3).

It is great teaching math this way!  It's not math in isolation; it's real life applicable situations.  The students are asked to problem solve problems using math as a means to get there.   

It was a bit of a change for the students last year, in that they were required to write and explain their thoughts, ideas, and decisions about math.  By the end of the year they had grown tremendously!   I was proud of them.  Being gifted in math is so much more than just being good with numbers!  When writing and explaining their answers, it will further cement their understanding of the concept.  I will support their writing efforts while in class, but writing and explaining their mathematical answers are something to work on with your child at home.

HIGH ABILITY START DATE

Great news!  Since I am returning from last year,  we will be able to start earlier than usual with students!!!!  There's a little bit of prep before we get started and on the same page with my HA team, but not nearly the work needed to train new instructors.  We usually don't start until after Labor Day.  Whoooohoooo!!!

Yost's start date will be Monday, August 28th for Reading/Language Arts and Wednesday, August 30th for math.  I'll send home permission slips on Friday, August 18th.  Please return your child’s permission slip by Friday, August 25th.  You must have your permission slip in before your child may begin class.  I will use this first week of class to go over classroom procedures and expectations.  We will also do an icebreaker activity to get to know everyone.

MEET MS. LOSINSKI

I am so excited to be returning to Duneland for my second year.  I was previously an instructional assistant with Michigan City Area Schools since 2011.  I worked with students in grades K-6th teaching small reading groups.  It is hard to believe that I am beginning my 7th year in education.

I am a mom to two wonderful children.  I have a daughter in 8th grade and a son in 3rd grade.  A new change for my family for this year is my son will be joining us at Yost and my daughter is at Chesterton Middle School.  They still keep me running in many different directions.  My daughter is a runner and loves to be on the stage - singing and acting.  My son enjoys swimming, Star Wars and sea creatures.  I am also a mother to our little puppy, Pixie.  She joined our family last year over spring break and has grown to all of 10 pounds.  

Some things never change, as I am still a DISNEY Fanatic.  We took our yearly family trip there this summer. Leaving me well-rested and ready for another great school year.  We are already making plans for our next trip.  I have taken my love of Disney one step further this past year, as I now am now an official Disney and Universal Vacation Planner.

This past summer we enjoyed many beach days, movie nights, game nights, campfires and of course my favorite - trips for ice cream!  We packed in as much fun as we could the weeks approaching the school year.  I hope you have all enjoyed your summer and are ready to get back into school mode.  I am looking forward to a great year.  I cannot wait to see all of my students from last year and to meet my new friends.  It is going to be a great year in High Ability.

Please feel free to email me at amy.losinski@duneland.k12.in.us with any questions or concerns.  

Looking forward to a great year!

Ms. Losinski