CRT Testing Week

CRT (Criterion Referenced Test) May 5th-8th

Monday & Tuesday Reading Test

Wednesday & Thursday Math Test

Below are some tips to help you assist your child to have a positive testing week: 

1. Reassure your child that he or she does not have to answer all the questions correctly to pass. It is not expected that students answer every question correctly. 


2. Tell your child to attempt to answer all of the questions and not to leave any blanks. There is no penalty for guessing, and students can get partial credit on the open-ended items.


3. Remind your child that the test is important.


4. Explain to your child the importance of using time wisely. If your child gets stuck on a question, encourage him or her to make the best guess or place a mark in the test booklet by that item and go back to it after finishing that section of the test.


5. Ensure that your child gets a decent night's sleep and a good breakfast before taking the test.


6. Make the morning of the test a pleasant one. Do not add to your child's stress.


7. Get your child to school on time the day of the test.


8. Remind your child to listen carefully to the instructions from the teacher and to read the directions and each question carefully.


9. Encourage your child to stay focused on the test, even if other students finish early.


10. Remind your child that it is okay to mark in the test booklet as a help in taking the test --i.e., underlining key words, etc. --but to mark all answers on the answer sheet.

Dr. Cash- Self-Regulated Child

GATE Parent Support 

Assisting Your Gifted Child in Being 

Self-Regulated: A Parent's Role 

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 6:00pm 

RENO HIGH SCHOOL Theater 

395 Booth St, Reno 

Presented by: RICHARD CASH, Ed. D. Educational Consultant

Gifted students, when under challenged, do not acquire the learning and academic skills essential for success in school beyond high school. Some of our brightest students fail within their first two years of college because they don't know how to be a "little fish in a big pond." This session will guide parents through the understanding of self-regulation and give you tools to assist your child in developing the acumen to be prepared for more advanced courses with other advanced learners as well as success in the 21st century.

Dr. Richard M. Cash has worked in the field of gifted education for over 25 years. His range of experience includes teaching at the elementary and middle school levels as well as the college level. Most recently, he served as Director of Gifted Programs for the Bloomington Public Schools, in Minnesota. Dr. Cash received his doctorate in Educational Leadership and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, MN, both with a focus on gifted education. His areas of expertise are educational programming, rigorous and challenging curriculum design for gifted students, differentiated instruction, 21st century skills, brain compatible classrooms, and self-regulated learning.

Yogurt Beach Fundraiser

Yogurt Beach is proud to be hosting an 

all-day fundraiser benefitting... 

The Washoe County School District 

Gifted and Talented Education 

(GATE) Program 

on Wednesday, May 14, 2014, at all 

three store locations! 

(Mayberry Landing, Sparks Crossing 

and Village at Double Diamond) 

*** All you need to do is mention your support for GATE 

when you make your purchase***  

Happy Spring (Break) !!!

Hello Families!
Hope you are all having a wonderful break, the weather sure is perfect to be outside having fun. I just wanted to remind you about the Spring Break Challenge. It is a packet of reading, writing, and online activities that was sent home the week before break. This is optional, but I know many students enjoy doing these activities anyway, so this is a fun way for them to earn rewards from Ms. Keane. If your child can't find the packet, just keep logs of reading and online activities. Include the dates they read or were online, what they read or did online, and how long (in minutes) they read or were online doing an educational activity. For writing the goal is 10 writing prompts- of at least 8 sentences long each.

Click the Link Below to see the letter with awards from Ms. Keane

Spring Challenge Awards

Upcoming GT Events

·         GT Parent Connection is hosting a GT Resource Fair at Wooster High School on Monday, March 10^th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. This is an excellent opportunity to find out what resources are out there for you and your child.

·         GT Parent Connection is also providing a parent support class on GATE students at Perfectionism on Wednesday, March 13^th from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Vaughn Middle School.

Survival Unit

During the next several weeks, our class, along with Mrs. Behm’s 3/4 SWAS class at Roy Gomm, will be focusing on the driving question: 

What characteristics needed for survival will enable you to be successful in life?  

Throughout this unit, we will be looking at various topics of survival, from natural disasters, examples of survival from a historical perspective, as well qualities to achieve personal goals. 

To kick start the unit, we will participating in a mock drill game next week.  The purpose of the mock drill is to spark their thinking and discussion on what steps should be followed during an emergency situation.  While this is a simulation, we want to approach it as a game to alleviate any stress.  We feel this will be a fun and educational experience.   When the students come home the day we conduct the simulation, please ask questions about how they felt, what they learned, and what steps their team came up when placed in that given situation.

In ELA this semester we will be reading several fiction and non-fiction stories on the topic of survival.  Embedded throughout the literature, we will analyze the text to identify characteristics necessary for survival. They will also learn how to accurately cite sources and create a bibliography of their sources.

Some of the ELA, Science and Social Studies activities students will be participating in are:

                Creation of a public service announcement

                A first-hand experience of surviving in the “wild” through a field trip

                A Pioneer Simulation

                A field trip to Donner Lake to learn about the historical events that occurred

                Writing Pen-Pal letters between the classes to share learning experiences

                Writing an essay to answer the driving question with text support from a wide variety of       sources

 This is an exciting unit that will tie many essential academic skills together with fun and realistic content. I feel strongly that each student will walk away from this unit more prepared for learning deeper content next year, but also with a clear understanding of how to be successful in life.

 If you have any questions about this unit please don’t hesitate to contact me. If you have any resources you’d like to contribute to our class just let me know.

Valentine's Day Party

Friday, February 14th 

2:00-3:00

Students will be making lunch for another student in the class for Valentine's Day. A form will be completed by each student as to what they like and can not have. Please help and encourage your child create a thoughtful lunch for someone. The SWAS kids did this last year, and really loved it! 

We will also have a party with treats and a Valentine exchange. If you'd like to bring in/send in a treat for the party you can email Jane Owen for ideas. The students can also bring in valentines for the other students as well, please make sure that everyone is included. Thanks! 

Click HERE for the Class List

Happy Valentine's Day