Students in Donna Rymer’s fourth and fifth grade AIG (academically and intellectually gifted) reading class at Bostian Elementary hosted a “Meeting of the Minds” on Jan. 20 in the school library.
Each student had to pick an innovator or inventor and complete a research project consisting of several components.
At the “Meeting of the Minds,” students dressed in the persona of their chosen individual.
The presentation included skits, songs, monologues and slide shows.
Guest speaker Lisa Wear, director of Horizons Unlimited, talked about the importance of enrichment and brain-compatible learning.
Students showcased their research projects on the day of the event for the entire fifth grade and guests.
In class, students participated in problem-based learning challenges and carried out several design projects to coincide with the unit. They designed abstract art structures, built straw towers, created gum-drop toothpick structures to see which would hold the most amount of books, and they designed structures that would sustain a raw egg when dropped from a certain height.
Students also made inventions out of junk to correlate with a PBL scenario presented to all AIG fifth grade reading students in preparation for an upcoming Literary Festival.
Several guest speakers visited the class during the unit on innovative thinking: Michelle Gay, Surgical Technology Program Chair of Cabarrus College of Health Sciences, discussed how Bloom’s Taxonomy works in the workplace; Beatrice Hair, owner of Salisbury Tutoring Academy, shared information about how to market ideas; and Miss Cabarrus County highlighted the benefits of public speaking skills.
The following personalities were researched by the students:
• Daniel Pell – Kevin Planks
• Carter Rodgers – Albert Einstein
• Cade Rodgers — Leonardo DaVinci
• Riley Johnson — John Browning
• Damian Sechler — Jeff Fisher
• Hannah Jones — Florence Nightingale
• Kelsie Ritcie — Rudy Guiliani
• Ainsley Moore — Juliette Gordon Low
• Lillie Tucker — Lucille Ball
• Ally Black — Major Dick Winters
• Chloe Kirkpatrick — Nerfertiti
• Emma Milem — Zale Parry
• McKayla Post — Horse Therapy Organization
• Ian Ramirez — Milton Hershey
• Devin Gay — Alfred Blalock
• Zac Lee — Walt Disney
• Max Steele — George Beauchamp
• Collin Wilson — Michael Jordan