[eMINTS] eMINTS Digest, Vol 46, Issue 10

[Nicole Umphrey]

Hi Leslie,
I teach 5th grade.  We have an hour a day when part of our classes go to
band.  Those who choose not to go to band stay in the room and we have to
find "something" for them to do.  So.... my co-teacher and I try to do
various "FUN" units that we wouldn't normally get to teach in our 5th
grade curriculum.  One unit that is ALWAYS fun is our mythology unit.  You
could have your "gifted" students do independent studies and then maybe
they could come together and plan a Greek Olympics Day for the rest of
their classmates.  When we did it, we would dress up in togas and divide
into teams like the Trojans, Spartans, etc...  Then we would play games in
our teams.  Below is the URL for the Greek Olympics Site I used for ideas,
but your "gifted" students could make up their own.

Ancient Olympics Ideas......
http://members.aol.com/MrDonnUnits/GreekOlympics.html

Alsom, here is the URL to my mythology links collection......
http://www.sturgeon.k12.mo.us/elementary/numphrey/subjectpages/languagearts/mythologyunit.html

Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK!!!
Nicole Umphrey
Sturgeon RV School
5th grade teacher
numphrey at sturgeon.k12.mo.us

QUOTE: "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and
to think critically....intelligence plus character--- that is the goal of
true education."  ~Martin Luther King, Jr.





> I haven't done this before.... If there is some kind of protocol or
> something that I am doing wrong, let me know! :-)
>
> My issue. Next fall I anticipate having 3-4 *very* gifted kids in my
> class. They need to be challenged. They are the kind of kids that do not
> make great peer tutors. They speak a different language and think
> differently from the average kid. TI'm told they don't make great team
> leaders in mixed ability groups for much the same reason--or they get
> bored doing grade level stuff. Naturally, I will expect them to do some
> stuff with the rest of the class, but..... They need advanced curriculum
> and creative outlets. I teach 6th grade language arts and reading. I was
> thinking of finding them some interesting web quests and turn them
> loose--it would be good if they could dovetail with the social studies
> curriculum (ancient cultures). But I've been searching and am struggling
> to find something that is age appropriate and still well above what you
> might ask of the average 6th grader. Any ideas?
>
> Thanks.
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