February Newsletter for Madeira’s Gifted Program
Third Grade
Parents,
Thank you for purchasing the tri-fold boards! Students have been
working hard on all of our projects – Independent Study Project, Bridge
Unit, Architecture unit, Greek Mythology radio show, and our math
simulation called Athenian Secret.
We had an amazing speaker from the Cincinnati Science Museum last
Thursday. Miss Karen taught us about bridges in a fun hands-on way.
Students built mini arch bridges using wooden blocks with a special piece
called a keystone. Students used their bodies as bridges. The best
project was the wooden bridge that students built in our classroom and
climbed across. It was amazing! There will be a photo on my webpage
soon.
This is the time of year where spring break camps and summer camps are
sending registration forms. If your child has an interest, there is a camp
to suit their needs!
We still need newspapers for our bridge building activity!  Please have
your child bring in any newspapers through Feb. 22nd. Thank you!!
Have a great ending to February!
 Dr. Alley
Our second semester projects are as follows:
1. “Athenian Secret” math and language arts simulation – This is a
neat story problem mystery where students discover golden keys in
the city of Athens two thousand years ago. The “golden keys” take
students to certain places in the city. Students find the spot on
their ancient maps then they must solve the complicated story
problems to earn drachmas. The drachmas are accumulated
throughout the unit and will be used to buy items at the Greek
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restaurant in late April. Students collect letter clues to solve an
ancient math riddle as well. We will have a wonderful presentation
about Greece, Pythagorean Theorem, how to fold spanakopita, and
much more from Luke Dobson’s grandparents this spring.
Independent Study Project - I have attached the requirements to
my website if you want to view what students have in their work
folders.
Greek Mythology Radio Shows/Podcasts –Students are researching
famous gods, goddesses, and mythological monsters from Greek
Mythology. They are compiling the information into a radio show
script to record as a podcast. Students learned the program,
Garageband, from fourth graders in the gifted program last fall.
Lastly, I am reading a chapter each week to the students from the
Magic Tree House Research Guide called Ancient Greece and the
Olympics.
We have partnered with the Architectural Foundation of
Cincinnati to enter the competition called “ABC – Architecture by
Children”. The theme of this year’s project is “Museum”. The
theme changes annually. Only third and fourth grade students in
the gifted program from Madeira participate, but it is a
competition open to all students in k-12 in every Hamilton County
school district. Students work with architects three different
times while designing and building the project. DwellBeing
Architecture Firm will send architects to our classroom – Ms. Sara
and Mr. Brent. Thank you, DwellBeing!
Bridge Unit – Students are researching one of the fifteen most
famous bridges around the world and compiling the information
into a slideshow. While students are studying about a famous
bridge, we are going to learn the architecture behind bridges.
During the unit, we will build a newspaper bridge as well as a
toothpick bridge in teams of two.
EXTRA ENRICHMENT IDEAS:
Maple syrup making at Cincinnati Nature Center on Feb. 23rd from 9am4pm! You can call 831-1711 for more information.
The Broadway show Peter Pan, with Tony Award nominee Cathy Rigby,
will be at the Aronoff Center for the Arts March 12-17. This is an
amazing show! I had the opportunity to see it in New York City and loved
it!
Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey presents “Dragons” at the US Bank
Arena March 13-17. For more information, search www.ringling.com
“Nocturnal Adventures” at the zoo – Your family can spend the night
with the manatees on February 23rd. This is a really fun event!
“The Magical Adventures of Merlin” will be performed at the Taft
Theatre on February 23rd by The Children’s Theatre. You can call 5698080 ext. 10 for more information or visit www.thechildrenstheatre.com
Super Saturday is an amazing program for gifted kids offered through
the dynamic parent support group called PAGE (Parent Association for
Gifted Education). Students get a chance to meet with other students
who are gifted from around the county. Students choose various classes
such as theatre, engineering, chemistry, veterinary science, chess,
French, and more. The class offerings change each quarter (Fall, Winter,
and Spring). The classes are held at the University of Cincinnati-College
of Applied Science on Victory Parkway. There is a link on my teacher
webpage, or you can visit the website for Super Saturday at
www.supersaturday.org
There is an exciting book club opportunity for children in grades 2-5
called “Book Explorers”. It is a parent-run book club led by Madeira
parent Cathy Born and her children, Nathan and Lexi. Children read a
book, meet for a book discussion, and participate in a field trip and/or
activity related to the book. If you would like to receive information, you
can contact Ms. Born at ceborn@cincic.com
COSI (Center of Science & Industry) in Columbus is an amazing science
museum. It was voted #1 science center in the entire country! They have
a new exhibit called “Mindbender Mansion & Amazing Mazes” plus their
regular exhibits. The exhibit will end on April 28th.
All four of the Cincinnati art museums offer great programs for kids so
please check out – Weston Art Gallery, Taft Museum of Art,
Contemporary Art Museum, and the Cincinnati Art Museum. All of the
museums have free days so check out their websites. We are so lucky in
Cincinnati to have so many great museums.
The Museum Center at Union Terminal has a great exhibit called “The
Dead Sea Scrolls”. I visited a couple of weeks ago, and I was very
impressed. Also, the I-MAX about the coral reef is fascinating!
The following children’s bookstores offer neat family programs so
checkout their websites: The Blue Manatee Children’s Bookstore in
Oakley, The Blue Marble Children’s Bookstore in Fort Thomas, and
Joseph-Beth Booksellers Children’s Department at Rookwood Commons.
Mindware (online), United Art and Education in Sharonville (lots of craft
kits and science experiment kits), Ted’s Toys in Madeira (lots of our
classroom games can be found here), and King Arthur’s Toys in Oakley
(doors away from The Blue Manatee Children’s Bookstore) are great
places for kid’s gifts. Each site has unique and challenging items.
The LEGO store at Kenwood Mall has a free monthly mini model build on
the first Tuesday of each month. Call 791-4241 for details on hours. They
have 250 available each month. The line can be long so bring a book to
read!