September 2009

        Welcome to PFLEX!  I send a newsletter home once a month to keep
parents up-to-date on what we are doing in PFLEX class and important
happenings.  In between, you can check my website by going to
www.pflexonline.net and clicking on your child’s school.  Please feel free to
contact me if you have any questions or concerns.  Since I travel between
several spots each week, email is the best way to reach me, and I am very
happy to meet with you if you need to talk to me further. 
 Thank you so much to everyone who has sent in supplies from the PFLEX
Wish List, bags of recyclables, and the student information sheets.  The
students are itching to start building with recyclables, so keep them coming!
 If you are new to PFLEX, interested in Destionation Imagination, Math
Pentathlon, or Robotics, please come to our district-wide PFLEX Information
session on Tuesday, September 29th, at Springhill Elementary, 6:30 – 7:30
p.m.  PFLEX teachers and parents will be there to tell you about our programs
and answer your questions.
        Students may want to explore computer programs we used in PFLEX last
year, such as Google SketchUp (http://sketchup.google.com/), a three-
dimensional drawing tool, or Storytelling Alice (www.Alice.org), a computer
programming tool that lets you you make three-dimensional worlds and games. 
Both SketchUp and Alice are free downloads and from reputable sources.
 I am looking forward to an amazing year with your child!

 

September 11, 2009

Wow! It has been a busy first week of PFLEX!  I can't tell you how incredible
it was to see all my students from last year, and how exciting to see all my
new students! 

At Brookhollow, we are in the portable, and one of the 3rd graders announced
that the room is like a clubhouse, with a couch and bookshelves and fun
things all around.  It IS a great room, big and wood-paneled, and we can work
actively without worrying about disturbing other classes!  Wednesday we
thought about what super powers we would like to have, showed our classmates
what the power was, and wondered how we could invent things that would make
us invisible, super-fast, able to leap tall buildings, fly, or be super-
stretchy in real life.  Some really great ideas came out of these discussions!

At Dessau Elementary, we have the computer lab on Tuesdays, and the library
for Thursdays.  This Thursday, we studied slides of different artists' self-
portraits, from the 14th century to the present, and then made our own self-
portraits.  I was most impressed with the focus and detail all the students
showed as they discussed the portraits!

Keep an eye out for a letter home this week -- it explains what we are doing
this year, and how you can contact me and find my website.  There is a
membership application for TAGT, the Texas Association for
Gifted and Talented, which offers great parent resources and information, and
access to the annual state conferences.  If you are interested in joining,
simply fill the form out and send it in to the TAGT address on the
application.  In addition, there is a contact information sheet that you can
fill out and send back to me with your PFLEX student. 
 
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and I am looking
forward to an amazing year with your child!

Ms. Sparkman

May 25, 2009

   
     PFLEX Project Fairs on Wednesday, May 13th at BES and Thursday, May 14th at
DES went very well!  There were many interesting projects, from pirates to
World War I, from Vietnam to dolphins, from the origins of dance to the
origins of Krispy Kreme donuts, and even such real world issues as global
warming and plant and animal extinction.  Students had a real variety of
products -- scrapbooks,brochures, business cards, photographs, posters,
PhotoStories, Powerpoints, Publisher documents, SketchUp drawings, original
art, interviews, plays, models, games, choreography, websites, newsletters,
puzzles, books, magic tricks, food, Paint pictures, claymation movies, science
experiments,journals,and more. Hooray for all the students who shared what
they have learned!

    Math Pentathlon 4th/5th grade teams were greatly disappointed when the
original Math Pentathlon tournament in early May was cancelled due to concerns
about swine flu.  Luckily, the tournament has been rescheduled, and will be
Saturday, May 30th at AISD's Covington Middle School in south Austin.  These
students have really worked hard and put in extra time -- good
luck to them at the tournament!

    This truly has been an interesting and busy first year for the PFLEX
program, and we look forward to an even better year next year.  Thanks to all
the teachers, parents, and administrators who have offered support and help to
the PFLEX students and the program this year!

 

April 21, 2009

     After many weeks working on independent study projects, many of the PFLEX
students are finishing their projects.  That is good, since next week there
will be three days of TAKS tests for different grades, and we won't have PFLEX
class at all at DES, and only on Monday at BES.  Projects are due the next
week, so everyone can practice presenting and then fine tune their projects.
PFLEX Project Fairs are Wednesday, May 13th at BES and Thursday, May 14th at
DES.  There are many interesting projects, from pirates to World War I, from
Vietnam to dolphins, from the origins of dance to the origins of Krispy Kreme
donuts, and even such real world issues as global warming and plant and animal
extinction.  Students will have a real variety of products -- scrapbooks,
brochures, business cards, photographs, posters, PhotoStories, Powerpoints,
Publisher documents, SketchUp drawings, original art, interviews, plays,
models, games, choreography, websites, newsletters, puzzles, books, magic
tricks, food, Paint pictures, claymation movies, science experiments,
journals,and more.

    Math Pentathlon 4th/5th grade teams have been meeting after school at both
BES and DES to practice their math games.  The tournament is Saturday, May
2nd, at LBJ High School, and information will come home next week with
details.  These students have really worked hard and put in extra time -- good
luck to them at the tournament!

February 4, 2009

We are continuing to work on Math Pentathlon games, finalizing our
independent study topics, and beginning our research.  We want our projects
this semester to be more in-depth and creative.  We are looking at examples
of possible projects that are different than posters and powerpoints, and
asking many questions to extend our projects. Classes at both BES and DES
will learn how to use PhotoStory, as an option for their projects.

At Brookhollow Elementary, kindergartners begin PFLEX classes in early
February.  They will meet with Ms. Sparkman in room 409 on Wednesdays from
2:00 - 2:30.  Information packets will be going home soon.

At Dessau Elementary, PFLEX students will create a garden in one of the
garden plots in front of the school.  We will dig up the plot, decide what
to plant, plant, and take care of our garden.  We hope to eat the fruits of
our labor later in the spring!

Math Pentathlon teams still need parent volunteers.  Please contact Ms.
Sparkman if you can help your child’s Math Pentathlon team.  We do have a
2nd/3rd grade team and a 4th/5th grade team at both Dessau and Brookhollow
Elementaries, and are starting after-school practices the week of February
9th.

Google SketchUp is a 3-dimensional drawing tool program that is available
for free on the internet.  It is a lot of fun, and some students are
considering using it for their independent projects this semester.  On the
internet, go to     http://sketchup.google.com/     to find out how to
download SketchUp. There are lots of ways to get help with how to use
SketchUp -- the website has a HELP section, there is a card you can print
with basic instructions, and there are videos that show you how to use the
program.  Try it out!




January 12, 2009

   Welcome back to the second semester PFLEX classes! We have started with
Math Pentathlon games, and will be evaluating last semester's independent
projects as we think about how we can make our new projects even more
creative
and thoughtful. 

   Please take a look at the calendar page to see the progression of Math
Pentathlon games.  If your child enjoys these games, and would like to join a
competitive team of like-minded math-lovers, keep an eye out for the Math
Pentathlon information letter, coming home later this week.  Parent
volunteers
are needed for after-school game practices and a Saturday competition day
later in the semester.  While Math Pentathlon needs at least one volunteer
for
every two children participating, it is not an activity that takes a lot of
time.  Let me know if you would like to help!

December 18, 2008

November 11, 2008

PFLEX classes are working on independent research projects relating in some
way to the Egypt unit we have been studying.  Some children are interested in
mummies, some in comparing pyramids from around the world.  Others are
researching people from the past, such as Cleopatra, Hatshepsut, and, of
course, the ever-interesting, King Tut!  Several children wondered about
children from the past. What games did they play?  How did they live? What did
they wear?  Hieroglyphics and the Egyptian number system, Egyptian mythology
and gods, and how Egyptian warfare compares to later warfare are all topics
your students are researching. 

We will be working on these projects through December, and I hope to have a
day close to the winter holidays when parents can visit and see what their
students have accomplished.  We are using both computer and print resources,
from Renzulli to NetTrekker to encyclopedias, with resources ranging from a
great Fun with Mummies site that shows how the Egyptians mummified bodies, to
a Nova site that puts you right in a pyramid's passages and chambers, then
lets you stand on top of a pyramid to see the view all around. Children are
using GoogleEarth, and will be using PowerPoint, Word, and other programs for
their projects, as well as building models, writing plays, creating artworks,
and pretending to be people from Egypt's past.

Your children are welcome to work on their projects at home, in class when
there is time, and in PFLEX class -- at both Dessau Elementary and Brookhollow
Elementary, we have access to computers in PFLEX.