3rd Grade ESG

Here are some examples of work from our third grade ESG students. This work (and others) should go home this week. At the end of the post please find the attached letter for parents. Cheers!

Dear Parents and Supporters:

Students qualify for an AIG Enrichment Study Group (ESG) based on either a high aptitude measure - in ACS that’s the Cognitive Abilities Test - or a combination of aptitude and additional achievement measures like the EOG, BOG, or iReady assessments. These groups are designed as multi-curricular enrichment opportunities for students. Inherent also is the time to work with like-ability peers.

At Jones this year, these groups began with a pretty extensive review of AIG services and qualifications. As part of this introduction, we shared a book called Insects Are My Life by Megan McDonald which depicts a girl who has an intense interest in bugs.

It is my experience that gifted kids often have such interests, and our first activity was to rework the title to reflect each individual’s passion. Many examples are included in my blog, noted below - or you can access it through the Jones website.

After this work, I introduced the students to a character named Fat Cat. Fat Cat stars in his/her own comic strip that is written in code students had to both break AND use to complete the story. You now know the only clue the kids had - it’s about Fat Cat. Check out their translation and, more importantly, how they ended the story!

It has been interesting to get to know these students! Please check out the blog as I’ll post examples of our work and other points of interest there.

Students will continue to work with ThinkFun thinking games in the coming weeks and do some reflecting on their experiences.

Do check out the blog:  http://pruettaigibj.blogspot.com

I do occasionally tweet, so here’s my handle:  @pruett_john

Please feel free to be in touch with any questions, comments, or concerns!