How Come ?? Stories and Jill

We have a new twist on our usual Stories With Holes this year. Our GT kids absolutely love Stories with Holes and if you are not familiar with them, they are a series of Stories, by Nathan Levy, with a unexpected outcome. Students try to guess the outcome by only answering yes or no questions.
Besides the students loving to participate, Stories with Holes offer:

• growth in imagination 
• divergent thinking
• cooperative problem solving
• change of pace from task oriented environment
• we especially like them at CSI as they encourage "good question asking" ability!

An example: Tim loves his work. He spends all day making faces, but nobody thinks he's very funny.
                       WHY?

Student question: Is Tim a clown?
Teacher: No
Student question: Does Tim make mean faces?
Teacher: No
Student question: Does Tim make faces at his job? *** (great question!)
Teacher: Yes
The dialogue continues.....
Student question: Is the "face" a face besides his own?
Teacher:  Yes
Finally one student will think they know the solution and stand and share:
Student solution: Does Tim make clocks?

It is always a celebration when we are able to solve a Story. This year, my teacher partner, Mrs. Oertli, mentioned a book which she had shared with her family several years ago. The book was titled, "How Come" and pre-dates Nathan Levy's work. This book is out of print, but has the same types of question - answer stories that our students crave. Best of all, four of our students wrote their own "How Come" question and answer book and brought it to CSI this week.

Hanna, Lily, Moriah and Ryan sharing "How Come"

I think Colton J. may have helped out a bit, too! Thanks for the great book and the dedication was especially nice for me and Mrs. Oertli.

Jill:
An Amazing All About Me Presentation. Jill shared her knowledge of dog and cat rescue. She named each of her animals and how she got them. She also has donkeys and horses. One student asked her how she took care of so many animals and she explained that her brothers, sisters and parents all take turns with chores. Thank you Jill, for sharing your experiences with us!

Jill sharing her knowledge of dog and cat rescue!

Duck Tape Inventions and Enigma Research:

All About Me last week brought us Kayci sharing her Duck Tape Inventions. She has made some excellent and top notch cases for organization using  Ziploc bags as well as, pen covers, bows, and pouches.

Her favorite duck tape was the pattern with the mustaches!

Thanks to Kayci for sharing her creativity.

We began working on our Google Presentations as a product to demonstrate our learning on our Enigma Project. The Enigma Project is a Texas Performance Based Project for Gifted kids which allows each student the chance to research an enigma of their choice and form their own conclusion based on research and evidence. Of course we have had to experiment a lot in the lab, to practice forming our scientific conclusions. Mrs. Oertli completed the "Tiny Bubbles Lab" which is a spin on the "Dancing Raisins" activity. CO2 bubbles form on raisins placed Sprite causing them to rise and fall from the surface. This week, we will explore how Stonehenge may have been built.

As a history study, we looked at the video of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge (Discovery Ed: New York Up Close, Modern Day New York) and the occurrence of "Caissons Disease". Scientists had to research and figure out what exactly was making those workers sick as they constructed the Brooklyn Bridge. Ah yes, which leads us to forming a conclusion.