Welcome to the 2019-2020 School Year!



It's going to be another great year!  Many families are returning, so you're familiar with how we do things in High Ability.  I'm excited to welcome our new families to our program and to fill you in on how everything works.  The first blog is always lengthy because there's so much to share.  Most of the information will be the same, but there are a few subtle changes.  Read for yourself!

Schedules and Possible Homework

Our blog is where you can go weekly to get a peek into our classroom.  You'll read about all that's going on in our world and it'll help you bridge our two worlds together. I've heard from parents that they often use it to prompt their child into opening up about their week.  I also do my best to rotate through pictures of the students "in action" in the classroom.  How fun to see them in their learning environment!    
 

Occasionally there will be homework assigned.  It honestly tends to be more with the language arts/reading groups than with the math groups.  

Our weekly schedule will be Monday/Tuesday for Reading/Language Arts and Wednesday/Thursday are for math.  If your child qualified for both, then I will see them all four days!  I do not see students on Fridays as that is the time all the HA Instructors have meetings and work together on lesson plans plans for the upcoming week.


High Ability LA/Reading Curriculum

We are using the High Ability Language Arts Curriculum Project which was developed by the Indiana Department of Education. Each grade centers around an umbrella concept that fits every lesson.  They are filled with many fantastic lessons that build upon each other as the year goes.  Teaching under the umbrella allows students to make connections which calls on higher order thinking.  We will use several of the trade and picture books suggested by the state as part of our curriculum.  The gifted lessons use the same models from year to year like Paul's Reasoning Model and the Hamburger Model for persuasive writing.  The added bonus is that students who continue through the grades in High Ability, will become quite efficient and familiar with the similar high ability structures while analyzing literature.

High Ability Math Curriculum

We are using the same math series called Mentoring Young Mathematicians (M2) for 2nd grade.  The upper grades will use Mentoring Mathematical Minds (M3).   It's not math in isolation; it's real life applicable situations. The students are asked to problem solve problems using math as a means to get there.   It was a bit of a change for the students last year, in that they were required to write and explain their thoughts, ideas, and decisions about math. By the end of the year they had grown tremendously! I was proud of them. Being gifted in math is so much more than just being good with numbers! When writing and explaining their answers, it will further cement their understanding of the concept.  I will support their writing efforts while in class, but writing and explaining their mathematical answers are something to work on with your child at home.

Meet the teacher

Hello! I'm Mrs. Golday! My husband and I are both Chesterton High School and Purdue Northwest graduates. I have 4 children: 3 girls and 1 boy. My youngest is 10 and she goes to WIS. I also have a 3 1/2 year old grandson, who just began preschool. We also

have 2 dogs and 3 cats! I was a Duneland Schools substitute teacher for a number of years until I was invited to become part of the staff at Brummitt Elementary as the Title 1 Aid. Then this year, I was offered the position of High Ability Aid, which I'm very excited for! Having three children that have graduated high school, and have since gone on to college, I'm very familiar and experienced with the academic challenges kids may face. I'm very much looking forward to being an advocate for my students, and helping them be the best student they can be.