March 2017

March 2017

Dear Parents,

    We have been very busy in Target!

    We are so proud of our fifth graders, Last week, they competed in our local school Inventure competition. Every group did a phenomenal job! The winners are.....

1st Place: The Smasher Ladder; Julian F., Holden C., Foster W.

2nd Place: Smart Stand; Aarush P., Ronnie F., Meryl G.

3rd Place: Hot Heads: Aidan L., Avery P., Anna H.

People's Choice: The Third Arm; Aiden W., Gannon M., Will L.

    The winning team will be going on to the state finals at Georgia Tech on March 15th. Good luck!

    5th Grade will now begin the much-anticipated ‘Sharks: Predators of the Underwater Biome’ unit! Dissection field trip forms have been sent home. Please return them as soon as possible. Also, please be aware that students are required to pass a shark anatomy test before dissecting. Study guides will go home prior to the quiz. This is great practice for the studying and memorization that will be needed in middle school and beyond.

    4th graders are wrapping up our Problem-Based Learning unit, Reinventing Shakespeare, by creating a modernized version of a scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. We have begun focusing on research-based questioning for our Genius Hour Products. We're looking forward to some awesome presentations in April and May! As always, if you have any questions about Genius Hour, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

     2nd and 3rd graders are learning about the art and science of Cubism. We’ve begun the first stages of solving the Rubik’s cube – it’s not easy, but we’re going to get there! We’ve also been using our divergent thinking skills to create artwork in the style of Pablo Picasso. 2^nd and 3^rd graders will also be presenting Genius Hour products in April and May.

     1st graders have been doing a wonderful job with PACE. We have been learning about the multiple intelligences and completing self-assessments to determine strengths and areas for growth. We’ve been putting on our detective badges to work on solving logic puzzles and other convergent thinking activities. 1^st graders will be presenting their very first Genius Hour Jr in the Spring! We can’t wait!

     Keep checking back on our blog for information and announcements!

               Thanks for your support,

                       Mrs. Parsons and Mrs. Sanders

February 2017

Dear Parents,

      We enjoyed meeting many of our new parents at the Orientation meeting! If you weren’t able to attend the meeting and would like the PowerPoint presentation, please let us know. We’ll be happy to send it to you.

       Our 1^st grade Target students have had a great start! We have been working on building a Target community which includes recognizing individual strengths and weaknesses, listening to the input of others and taking shared responsibility for group activities. They are doing such an amazing job with our STEM activities. I think we have some future engineers in this group!

       Speaking of future engineers, our fifth graders are working very hard on Inventure! Inventure is an annual STEM competition sponsored by Georgia Tech. We are entering the planning and creating phase of the engineering design process. Be on the lookout for information about our local competition on February 15^th, where you will have the opportunity to see your child’s project on display!

       Tuesdays have been very dramatic! Our 4^th grade students have embraced the ‘Reinventing Shakespeare: Problem Based Learning’ unit. They showcased their individual strengths during the Shakespeare Tic-Tac-Toe project. Thanks for your support in helping ensure the projects were completed and turned in on time. We have been honing our divergent thinking skills through Tableaux. A Tableaux is a group of models or motionless figures representing a scene. Shakespeare was a master at the mannequin challenge!            

      2^nd and 3^rd grade students are about to begin our cubism unit. Part of the cubism unit involves practicing visual-spatial skills through solving the Rubik’s cube.  If you happen to have a Rubik’s cube lying around, we would love to borrow it!

       Genius Hour presentations for will be due the weeks of April 17^th, 24^th and May 8^th. Letters and calendars for Genius Hour will be going home for 3^rd and 4^th grades soon. 1^st and 2^nd graders will be doing Genius Hour Jr. Their letters will go home at a later date.  

      As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

                     Thanks for your support,
                             Mrs. Parsons and Mrs. Sanders

     

ALP Parent Newletter

Please click the link below to see the ALP parent newsletter.

Target Parent Newsletter

                                                                  January 2017
Dear Parents,
    We are excited to have new friends joining our Target classes! Due to the snow days, we will need to re-schedule our new parent meeting. We will send home information about the new date shortly. Please attend if you are able. We’ll have some information about our program curriculum, routines and expectations to share with you. For now, new students need to bring 2 pocket folders and a composition book. 
    We’re also excited to have our old friends back after a long break. We are looking forward to continuing the fun and learning with our spring units.
     5^th grade will continue with Inventure, focusing on the latter stages of the engineering design process. We’re excited to put our plans into action! Please be on the lookout for information about our local competition and needed supplies for prototypes.
     4^th graders will be Reinventing Shakespeare! This unit is an interactive introduction to Shakespeare - his work, his times, and his continuing impact. It is also an exploration of the 21^st Century 4 C’s – Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity.  Students will actively engage in Shakespeare’s works and creative responses to his work. They will read, write, discuss, recite, perform, and create.
      It’s getting chilly on Fridays! 3^rd grade students will be completing a STEM mini unit called The Great Arctic Circle Challenge. Each team will be completing weekly STEM challenges to help a stranded arctic exploration team get back to safety.
      1^st and 2^nd grader graders are Sailing the STEM-y Seas with our pirate-themed STEM mini-unit. Weekly challenges include building a floating pirate ship and creating water-proof treasure chests. STEM can be challenging, but our youngest Target students have shown that they are very capable!
     After our STEM mini-units, 2^nd and 3^rd graders will be exploring our new problem-based learning unit, Cubism. We will study art (mosaics) and art history (Cubism), while incorporating math-based lessons about perimeter and area.  
      1^st graders will be working through our introductory Target unit, with a focus on convergent and critical thinking and primary algebra. We will also be completing additional STEM mini-units as an extension.
   2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th graders will receive information on Genius Hour expectations soon.
   As always, please feel free to contact us with questions or concerns.
              Welcome back!
                  Mrs. Parsons and Mrs. Sanders

                                                         November 2016

Dear Parents, 

     Sadly, our fall units are drawing to a close! We have had so much fun with all of our grade levels. 1st graders have done a wonderful job learning to become "Target thinkers" with Leonardo Da Vinci! They had the opportunity to complete STEAM activities and develop critical thinking skills based on the work of one of the world's most famous innovators. We are so proud of them! Second and third graders have had a blast with our STEAM Sleuths Unit. After learning about the Crime Scene Investigation process, we learned how to collect fingerprints, analyze DNA and use deductive reasoning to narrow down our list of suspects. We’re SO CLOSE to figuring out whodunit! Our 4th grade survivors have honed their survival and critical thinking skills with "Survival: Wit Meet Wilderness". The students really enjoyed our Rescue Rover STEAM activity in which we designed a device to rescue a (stuffed) dog from a sewer drain (trash can). We’re looking forward to our ‘Day in the Woods’ at Red Top Mountain on November 9^th. Fifth graders have been learning about the Engineering design process and famous inventions. They will soon begin developing their own inventions! INVENTURE here we come!

   

     We're looking forward to having some new Target friends in January. Our testing window will begin the week before Thanksgiving break. 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th grade parents of students who would like additional information about the testing process can come to our parent testing meeting in the Media Center at 8:30 am on Tuesday December 6^th.

                          Thanks for your support, 

                                        Mrs. Parsons & Mrs. Sanders

Tuesday, October 4^th, 2016

 

October

 

Dear Parents,

 

   We’ve had lots of laughter and learning in our classrooms this month!

 

    1^st graders are developing their divergent thing skills in Leonardo DaVinci: The Ultimate Renaissance Man. We have been completing weekly STEAM activities that Leonardo would certainly be impressed with! Our flying machines (parachutes and paper airplanes) were a big success! Next week, we’ll be constructing bridges from pasta.

 

     2^nd graders have been working hard to develop convergent thinking skills. They are becoming very adept at brainteasers! They’ve also been developing algebraic thinking skills through the primary algebra program. We have some very talented future mathematicians!

 

     2^nd and 3^rd graders have been working hard to find the missing Coco and Mr. Bones! They’ve been studying fingerprints and DNA evidence in preparation for the crime scene. We’re looking forward to a guest speaker from the Cobb CSI unit next week.

 

   4^th graders have what it takes to survive! We’re enjoying our new unit Survival: Wit meets Wilderness. We’ve been reading ‘A Week in the Woods’ and learning what it takes to survive the wildness – both physically and mentally.  We have been working through various STEAM activities (creating compasses and simple shelters) to develop critical thinking skills.  We’re looking forward to our field trip on November 9^th. Please return the field trip forms as soon as possible.

 

    5^th graders have been practicing their engineering skills and learning about the engineer design process (EDP). They have done an excellent job of collaborating and using evaluative thinking to create products. We’re looking forward to diving into the Inventure program with Georgia Tech very soon!

 

    All grade levels will be participating in the famous Target Buck Bash during conference week! Please send in old toys (or new dollar store toys) for our auction items.

   

    We are also in need of paper towel and toilet paper rolls. We’re offering a buck for each one donated!

 

    As a reminder, students will be receiving progress reports for the 1^st nine weeks on an as-needed basis.

 

           Thanks for your support,

 

                              Mrs. Parsons and Mrs. Sanders

                                                                    MathFest!

For tour third year, Walton High School Math Team will be holding Elementary MathFest, a mathematics tournament for 4^th and 5^th grade students only. This year we will be holding both a Fall tournament and a Spring tournament. The Fall tournament will be held on October 29, 2016 from 9:00 am to 11:30 am at Walton High School. The cost of the tournament is $20. Please visit our website at www.waltonmathteam.com for more information and to register your student.