Friday, November 4, 2016

Learning in Depth (LiD)


As mentioned at the TAG meeting on Tuesday night, we will be launching Learning in Depth next Tuesday, Nov. 8.  Students will be able to go to the computer lab during lunch to pick their LiD topics.  It will be fun!  If your child would like to participate, please fill out this 

This will alert us that your child will be attending the ceremony at lunch time.

If you are unsure, you are welcome to give it a try and see what you think.  Or, if you decide later that you would like to participate, you can always choose your topic at at later date.

This year we are lucky to have Atkinson parent, Justin Birmingham, volunteering to run LiD and keep the students on track.  Justin plans to have lunch time meetings with the LiDsters once or twice a month.  

We look forward to having your participate!

Friday, October 21, 2016

TAG Information Night and Learning in Depth

Atkinson's TAG Information meeting has been rescheduled for 
Tuesday, November 1 at 6:00pm.

If you are interested in learning more about the Talented and Gifted program in PPS, please join us! We will share information about the identification process and answer questions.

In addition, we will be discussing the Learning in Depth program that we introduced to interested TAG families last year.  If your child participated and you would like to continue, please email Ms. Culley or Ms. Essex to let us know.  

We will have a choosing ceremony for the new LiD participants on November 8 during lunch.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

POSTPONED - TAG Information Meeting

The TAG Informational Meeting originally scheduled for tomorrow night (Sept. 22) at 5:30 has been postponed to a later date to be announced.
I'm sorry for any confusion.


Thursday, September 1, 2016

TAG Family Nights at OMSI!

This year, the Portland Public Schools TAG Department is offering 3 exciting nights at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (aka: OMSI) for TAG students and their families!  You will be getting more information and reminders in your TAG newsletters from the district, but if you want to get them on your calendar, here they are:


6:00-8:00 PM
October 10
February 13
April 24

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Learning in Depth Presentations

Last night, students who participated in our "pilot" of the LiD program presented their projects to each other.  It was an engaging evening full of fascinating information!

Several projects are on display in the front hallway.  Please stop by and have a look. 
Students who have shared their electronic presentations with me are posted below:

Cal B's Presentation on Cells


Friday, April 29, 2016

TAG Testing Results Are In!

The TAG testing results have arrived.  2nd grade families and any other families who had their children tested in the areas of Reading, Math or Intellectual will receive their results by mail directly from the TAG department.

Monday, April 11, 2016

TAG Scholar's in Science Competition!

The PPS Department of Talented and Gifted Education is now accepting essays from students who have a passion for science and are identified as TAG.
Two students will be selected for the quality and content of their essay and will have the opportunity to attend a summer camp offered by OMSI, at NO COST.
We will accept scholarly essays from current 5th and 6th graders only. This competition is open to all schools and requires the student to write a one page essay describing how science has impacted their life and how they plan to study science to help make the world a better place.  Also, each essay will need to include why he or she wants to study a specific  area of expertise offered this summer at OMSI. All essays are due to the Department of Talented and Gifted Education by May 15th, 2016.


Moby Max

Mrs. Culley has signed up our Math and Intellectual TAG identified students for an online math website called Moby Max.  Students will be coming home with information on how to access their accounts this week.  The program will begin with a placement test and then track students through fun activities that will take their math knowledge to a new level.

Please give us feedback on if/how you use it and if you think it is worthwhile to continue next year.
Thank you!

TAG Results

TAG results are still not in.  When I get more information I will let you know via the blog, FYI, etc.

Friday, April 1, 2016

SCIENCE FAIR!

The Science Fair is coming to Atkinson!  This is a great opportunity for TAG students to work through the scientific process and explore a question of interest to him/her.  Bright pink packets are coming home with more information.

Science Fair Dates:

April 18  -  Deadline to turn in research plans
April/May - RESEARCH! :)
May 9 - Science Fair in morning at school, at OMSI that night.

For more information, contact Larissa Brown, Science Fair chair at larissa.golden.brown@gmail.com

Science Fair Website and forms can be found here:
http://atkinsonsciencefair.wordpress.com


Friday, March 18, 2016

Single Subject Acceleration for Math

The TAG Department has been working to update the single subject acceleration process for math.  If you are interested in learning more, please see the following documents:

Course Pathways, 2016

SSA Parent Guide, 2016

SSA Process Guide, 2016

Applications can be found on the PPS TAG Website.


Monday, March 14, 2016

CONGRATULATIONS to the Return of the Title Wave!

Congratulations to Atkinson's own OBOB team, Return of the Title Wave! They made it to the top 8 out of 59 teams at the district level!  WOW!
Nice work by all of the teams, parents, volunteers and Mrs. Culley!


Tuesday, March 1, 2016

OTAG Winner!

Atkinson has a winner for the Oregon TAG state spelling bee!
The speller is Jonah Tebbe from Mrs. McArthur and Mr. Ferguson's class.
Way to go Jonah!

Jonah will be invited to participate in the district level spelling bee sponsored by Oregon TAG.

Friday, February 19, 2016

ACCESS Academy

ACCESS Academy provides an alternative program for PPS students who are highly gifted (99th percentile in Reading, Math or Cognitive) AND in need of an alternative educational program based on various factors.  Some possible factors that could indicate a need for alternative placement might include disengagement from school, social-emotional challenges, etc.  If you feel that ACCESS might be the right placement for your child, please find more information about the school and application process HERE.

Expected number of openings per grade level:
1st = 12-13
2nd  = 2-3
3rd = 40-42
4th = 2-3
5th = 1-2
6th = 2-4
7th = 2-4
8th = 2-3

ACCESS INFORMATION for 2016-2017

Informational Sessions:  March 2 (am), March 16 (pm), April 7 (pm)

Application Deadline:  April 15, 2016

Decisions Expected:  May 15, 2016


Learning in Depth Sign Up

If you are interested in signing your child up for Learning in Depth, please click this link:
SIGN UP.   Please sign up by Friday, February 26.

If you were unable to attend the informational meeting and would like to learn more, please click this link to go to the LiD page:  LiD Information.


At Atkinson, we plan to hold our choosing ceremony for topics in early March.  Students will work independently on their topics at home, although we will offer in school check-ins and after school work sessions twice a month.

Our final celebration will occur in late May or early June.

We would like the students and families who participate in this "trial run" of the program to give ongoing, informal feedback.  We will also have an opportunity for formal feedback at the end of the school year.  Thank you.

If you would like more information, have questions or would like to give feedback, please contact Beth Essex or Lori Cully.  Thank you.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Math Night - A Success!

1st grade immersion teacher, Christine Klein, has been working to offer students and families an opportunity to come together and practice math skills and games.  It is also a great chance for TAG (and all) students to check out math skills at a variety of levels.  This year's second math night was last week.  Students and parents had a great time exploring our math curriculum through hands on activities at a variety of grade levels. 

The date of the next Math Night will be announced soon.  Join us if you can!










Teacher Feature: Mr. Ford and Ms. Smith!

Teachers at Atkinson Elementary work hard to provide exciting and relevant curriculum for all students to reach their full potential. Two such teachers are Rian Ford and Nicolette Smith, 5th grade teachers who strive to differentiate instruction for all of their students.  In addition to partnering with Franklin High School to introduce students to Socratic Seminar, conducting reading marathons and collecting food/supplies for families in need, Ms. Smith and Mr. Ford have recently designed and implemented a science unit around the magic of Harry Potter. The excitement was palpable as Mr. Ford's students shared their magic with 2nd graders from Ms. Essex's room:

 






 
 

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

OTAG Spelling Bee

This year, several classrooms at Atkinson will be participating in the Oregon TAG statewide spelling bee!  The contest will all be written.  Students will begin by taking the test (with words supplied by OTAG) in their classrooms.  Classroom winners will advance to the school wide contest (date TBD), and the school winner will advance to the district competition.

If your child's teacher is not participating as a whole class and you would like your child to have the opportunity, please talk to your teacher about allowing your child to participate with another classroom for the first round.  I will update this blog soon with more specific information about the dates.

Thank you!

Spelling Bee Schedule:

Feb/March  =  Classroom and School Spelling Contests

Mar/Apr = District Spelling Contest

Apr/May = County or Regional Spelling Contest

Sat. Sept. 3, 2016 = Oregon Statewide Spelling Championship,
Oregon State Fairgrounds.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Updated School Wide TAG Plan

Our school wide TAG plan has been updated and submitted to the TAG office.  If you would like to take a look, please click this link:  ATKINSON TAG PLAN.

You can also find copies outside of the main office beside the TAG bulletin board.

Any feedback can be sent to Ivonne Dibblee, Beth Essex or Lori Culley.

Thank you!

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Learning In Depth (LiD) coming to Atkinson!

We will be holding an informational meeting for TAG (and other) families interested in learning more about the Learning in Depth program from Canada.  Representatives from Irvington School (which has implemented the program for the last couple of years) will join us to present information and answer questions.  We hope all interested families can join us.

It is our goal to start the program this spring with TAG (and other interested) families and launch school wide next fall with parent and student input.

Please join us!

If you think you might be coming, please email Beth Essex so we have an idea of how many people to expect.  Thank you!

LiD Information Night

Tuesday, February 16 (before PTA meeting)
Room 122 (Mr. Ferguson's room, lower hall)
5:30 - 6:00ish



MAKE UP DATE

For nominated students who missed TAG testing in December, there will be a make up day on Saturday, March 5.  The TAG Department will be sending more information on time and place to the affected families.

TAG TEST RESULTS

This year, the TAG department will be sending results directly to families by mail.  This includes all 2nd grade families who took the CogAT assessment in December.  In addition, all children who were nominated by families and teachers for additional testing in Reading, Math or Intellectual will also receive notification in the mail.

Although the TAG office has not told us exactly when results will be sent out, it will most likely be in the next month or two.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Upcoming CODING Class for K-2

Hello TAG Families!
There will be a new session of coding begin offered on Thursdays, 3:05-4:05 beginning on January 28.   This is a great opportunity for TAG (and all!) students to get hands on experience with computers.  Please look for registration forms coming home soon.