
G.A.T.E. News
...from the desk of Mrs. Adams
International Dot Day was a HUGE Success!
AES celebrated International Dot Day on September 15th with approximately 1,000 people participating! Students and teachers read and/or watched the story of THE DOT by Peter Reynolds. In this inspiring story, a little girl named Vashti learns to gain confidence in her own creativity through the help of a kind teacher. She learns to "pass it on" to a new student who also lacks self-confidence. AES GATE students wondered how many other kids would be affected by Vashti's story as we all learn to support and encourage each other.
GATE 4th graders painted gorgeous watercolor dots on gold framed paper (just like Vashti), created "GOAL" dots with their photo and a personal goal for this school year, typed "dot words" into taxedo.com for word dots, and "tangled" dots using Zentangle. All of our dots have been displayed for AES students and teachers to enjoy and will come home soon. These would make special Christmas ornaments for your tree this holiday season!
Gorgeous watercolor dots!
www.tagxedo.com
Torn paper Self-portraits
Selfies...the old fashioned way!
Torn paper self-portraits....so cute!
I LOVE torn paper self-portraits! These are precious and they show so much of each student's personality through the tearing and gluing of random scraps of paper! Students are well versed in taking "SELFIES" with the latest technology, but this year we will be taking a closer look at ourselves through art, personality/learning style activities, self-selected research topics, and interest surveys. Each class will have these works of art on display in the hallway this semester before they come home to the parents. Kids' art makes me happy and I hope this art makes you happy, too! Be looking for your child's masterpiece to come home with them in the next few months.
Ben shares his finished masterpiece!
John has a little fun with the blue paint!
Preston and Shawn show off their torn paper!
Technology Competition Update
Regional Technology Competition will be held in Rainsville on Friday, April 7th. All 4th grade GATE students have selected a topic to research and should have all their notes completed and in our classroom. Please ask your child if he/she had enough notes. There are still a few kids who need to do a little more research. All projects will be completed in class. My goal is for every 4th grade GATE student to earn a spot on our AES Tech Team. If they are diligent in class, they will create high quality projects and will advance to the competition. The students know that I am here to guide and assist, but ultimately, their success is up to them! I know they can dream big and achieve fabulous projects that will WOW the judges. AES is fortunate to have a school board and central office staff that believes in our students and will cover all costs for registration, lunch, and the bus ride to and from competition! I am thankful to work in a system who believes in my gifted students! Our projects are of high quality and will take a while to create. These projects will be on display at the AES Science/Social Studies/Technology night next semester.
Using iPads to program robots
These kids attached a xylophone to Dash!
All smiles with Dash and Dot!
Thank you, Albertville City Schools Foundation!
The Albertville City Schools Foundation board supports teachers and students in all kinds of learning! This summer Miss Rogers and I received a grant for a Dash and Dot robot set with all the bells and whistles! The students and I are busy learning how to program these robots for fun activities! Dash can dance, talk, play a xylophone...and there is much more for us to learn as we learn to program these robots with our iPads!
Mrs. Dianna Adams
Gifted Education Specialist
Albertville Elementary School
Follow us on Instagram: aesgate
Email: dadams@albertk12.org
Website: http://www.gateaes.blogspot.com
Location: 1100 Horton Road, Albertville, AL, United States
Phone: (256) 894.4822