This week's blog post comes to us from our Discovery teacher, Mrs. Rebecca De Smith. To learn more about the SCCS Discovery Program, click here.
Teachers at Sioux Center Christian School take our mission
statement very seriously
“to disciple God’s children
by equipping them with a knowledge and understanding of Christ and His creation
so that they can obediently serve God and others as they work and play.” What does this look like for high-ability
students in our classrooms at SCCS?
We know that God created all people with unique gifts and
talents, and the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 reminds us of the
responsibility we have for using those gifts.
In the school setting, one of the tasks Christian teachers have is to
help our students “unwrap” their gifts and learn to develop them in order to
serve God and others as we work and play.
In order to do this, teachers must offer opportunities for
our students’ abilities to be noticed, developed, and used in meaningful
ways. We must provide a classroom
atmosphere where all of our students’ gifts are valued and accepted. We must model acceptance of their gifts and
encourage humility in using those gifts to enrich others.
In the school setting, one of the tasks Christian teachers have is to help our students “unwrap” their gifts and learn to develop them in order to serve God and others as we work and play.
At Sioux Center Christian School, the Discovery Program
supports the classroom teacher in enriching and challenging high-ability
students. Some enrichment activities
happen in the classroom while others happen in small groups in the Discovery
room. Here is what this looks like:
• When 4th graders are studying the Southeast
region of the United States, a small group of high-ability readers meet in the
Discovery room to read and discuss actual letters from a soldier written during
the Civil War. Then students choose key
ideas they learned about the Civil War to share with their classmates, creating
dioramas displaying the information they learned through reading the actual
letters of a Civil War soldier.
• While the 3rd graders are learning about rocks
and minerals in their science unit, some students meet in the Discovery room to
investigate a special kind of rock—a geode.
After using their beginning research skills to gather facts, students
collaborate to create a PowerPoint presentation on geodes which they share with
their classmates so everyone can learn about them.
• During the study of the human body, some 5th
grade students meet in the Discovery room to explore optical illusions. After looking at several examples and
learning what happens between our eyes and our brain when we see them, students
prepare an interactive presentation to share with their classmates so everyone
understands what happens when we see optical illusions.
The common thread in all of these scenarios is that not
only are high-ability students given opportunities to use their academic gifts,
but they are also encouraged to serve their classmates by sharing the
information they learned so everyone is enriched.
Through our acceptance, nurture, and support, teachers at
SCCS can empower our high-ability students to use their academic gifts to
enrich the body of Christ in order to “serve God and others as we work and
play,” even while they are developing their skills and talents at school.
Mrs. De Smith
Mrs. De Smith has been a teacher for over 30 years, with experience in preschool-3rd grade. For the past 24 years, she has been directing and teaching in the Discovery Program at SCCS. She loves working with these students, learning alongside them about interesting and amazing parts of God's world and His work. It is her joy to engage students in their learning, to encourage them to ask questions and find answers, and to challenge them to serve others with their gifts.