Challenge Chat Wednesdays

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 Hi Friends,

If anyone is interested in this Week’s Challenge Chat, here are the details!

 

Challenge Chats

An optional weekly Microsoft Teams’ chat meeting (no video) to connect Gifted learners across the district. The chat will have brain teasers and logic puzzles to solve, as well as an opportunity for students to share their creation for the Challenge of the Week. Please note the time change below!

Please join the Team ahead of time if you have not already done so.

Intermediate Chat (Gr.4/5)

Chat time: Wednesday, June 3rd 9-10am

Team Code = http://tinyurl.com/yaduu58w

 

In our chat, students may be using the following tool to support learning at home:  Nearpod

Note this is an online service located outside of Canada and therefore we need consent prior to using this service. Students will not need to create a log in, just enter their first name only so we know who is who.  Students should avoid adding pictures or videos that include information which could be used to identify themselves or other persons, such as faces.

Consent:  Should you have any concerns about your child using this tool, please let us know.  If we do not hear back from you, we will take it that we have your consent.

 

 

DISTRICT CHALLENGE CHATS- Tuesdays at 10am

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Hi Challenge Class!

I have emailed this opportunity to your parents. The district is having Challenge Chats with gifted students from across the district. Each week they are providing you with a challenge– This Week’s Challenge is to Build a Zipline!  Prior to the Challenge Chat, you will build the contraption and then during the Challenge Chats, you will share your creation with the other participants.  I am sure you could join the meeting even if you didn’t build the zipline just to see what others built and to contribute to the conversation.  If this sounds fun to you, please ask your parents to check their email.  If you build a zipline, please share it with us here on our blog!

Have fun and stay curious 🙂

xoxo,

Ms. Tabata

Esti-Mystery

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Hello Friends,

Here is a fun activity called an Esti-Mystery– you need to look at clues and guess the mystery number! It’s definitely tougher than it looks and will require you to use some critical thinking and creative problem solving…GOOD LUCK, my friends! Click on this link to learn more and to choose from a variety of estimysteries.

https://stevewyborney.com/2018/11/esti-mysteries-estimation-meets-math-mysteries/

Let us know which Esti-Mystery #’s that you recommend for us to try in the comments section!

 

Love,

Ms. Tabata

Week 6 Update

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Hi Challenge Class Students!

Welcome to week 6 of remote learning together.  Last week I introduced you to a website called Renzulli Learning and I only received 4 requests for login information. Please scroll down to my Week 5 post to see the introductory video to Renzulli Learning and comment on the post.  I will email your login information  to your parent’s email and then you can login to the website and take the Profiler survey. You will answer a series of questions and the program will customize a learning environment for you based on your interests, strengths and learning preferences. From there you can explore the activities and resources in order to learn more about topics of interest to you.  There is a Project Wizard that you can explore to create a project to share with us here on our classroom blog.

Happy Learning, Friends 🙂

Love,

Ms. Tabata

Week 5 Challenge

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Hi Challenge Class! Welcome to Week 5 of Remote Learning and welcome to a new month, MAY! I can’t believe we are in the homestretch of our school year together. Traditionally, I save the last month for a self-directed project based learning unit.  All year, I have been giving you challenges to develop your critical thinking and creative problem solving repertoires while working collaboratively with others.  These are crucial life skills that will serve you well as you continue on your educational journeys but more importantly, they will continue to be useful skills as you enter the adult world and join the workforce.

However, it is also important for you to begin exploring topics of interest and to be self-motivated to dig deeper into topics that you are passionate about.  Therefore, for our last month of Challenge class, I’d like you to choose a topic that you would like to learn more about– it can be anything– an animal, a career, a place, a game, ways to help your community, etc.  While scrolling on my favourite social media sites this weekend, I came upon a wonderful website that lends itself perfectly to this self-directed project based learning unit. Renzulli Learning is an interactive online system that provides a personalized learning environment for students.  You begin by taking The Renzulli Profiler survey that will identify your strengths, interests, learning and expression styles and then it matches your profile with thousands of personalized, engaging enrichment activities!  The Project Wizard then helps you plan and create a project that showcases your research and ideas in a variety of formats.  Please check out the video below for an introduction to the Renzulli Learning website and then let me know if you are interested in exploring a topic. I have your login and passwords and will provide them to you if you request them by commenting below.  As always, this challenge is optional and you are reminded that the activities assigned to you by your classroom teachers must take priority.  Your Renzulli account will be active until August 15, 2020 so this is something that you can explore during summer break.

 

https://renzullilearning.com/video-studentintroduction/

 

I will be emailing this information to your parents as well.

 

Have a wonderful week, boys and girls 🙂

 

Love, Ms. Tabata

Week 4 Challenge- My Dream Vacation

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Hello Challenge Students and Welcome to Week 4 of remote learning.  Your teachers are so proud of how well you have adapted to this new way of learning.  Together we are navigating through new online platforms and this week, I’d like to explore a free app that is part of your Office 365 account.  Sway is a really cool way to put together a presentation for others to enjoy.  It is very easy to add pictures, texts, videos and links in a visually stunning way.

This week, I’d like you to login to your Office 365 account and experiment with all the options on Sway.  Here are some instructions that may be useful to get started.

1- Login to your Office 365 account and click on Sway– for me its in the bottom row, second icon.

Once you are in Sway, choose “New Document”.

Then add a title and click on add image.

A side bar will appear where you can search any topic- you can choose between pictures and/or videos. Make sure the Creative Commons Only box is ticked so that you are using media that you have permission to use.  You can drag any of the images to the left and it will insert itself to your Sway.

Click on the text box and you can add in text.  When you are ready to start your next slide, click on the plus sign.

When you are finished, you can click on the Play triangle near the top.  If you don’t like the layout, you can press the Remix button (under the play button) and Sway will show you other options.

I prefer the look of Vertical in the Styles but you might like Horizontal or Slides– explore to see what it looks like.

When you are done, click on Play to see your presentation.

Here is my first quick attempt at Sway.  When you click on the link, you will need to click on the Play icon on the top right to see the Sway presentation.  I chose My Dream Vacation as my topic.  While we are stuck at home during the Covid 19 pandemic, it’s a nice escape to plan a dream vacation.  You can use this topic or choose one that interests you.  Please share a link to your Sway presentation so that we can see your work.  This activity is completely optional.  If you have time to give it a try, then go for it. If not, no worries!

https://sway.office.com/EE9Ous9l8Dj9SueA?ref=Link

Have a wonderful week!

 

Love, Ms. Tabata