GT Seminar groups
- Actors Guild
- Book Club
- Creative Writing
- Debate
- Green Team
- Mystery Club
- Movie Making
- Robotics
- School News
- Television Production
- Web Design
This is a summary list of the Enrichment Seminars that will be offered this school year. Students have the opportunity to show interest in any of the seminars, they are only typically permitted to participate in three at a time.
Actors Guild:
This will be a group of students who are interested in doing some acting and working with plays. We will be working with one or two different plays from Shakespeare and then we will be presenting them at the Howard County Shakespeare Festival in April and also the Enrichment Fair in May.
Book Club:
The Middle School Book Club, organized and led by advanced-level readers, is an intellectual collaboration where passionate readers engage in meaningful discussions of a literary work, strengthen critical reading and leadership skills, hear insightful peer perspectives, and have fun.
The Middle School Book Club is actually composed of two related activities: 1) The school-based Middle School Book Club and 2) the countywide Middle School Book Club. The school-based Book Club is organized by the G/T Resource Teacher and is open to avid readers in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Each middle school reads the same literary selection each month. The G/T Resource Teacher arranges at least one meeting of the Book Club’s members each month to discuss the selection.
The countywide Book Club meetings take place once a month at the Miller Branch Library in Ellicott City. Two to three representatives from each school-based Middle School Book Club attend the meetings for high-level, in-depth discussions. Each month, one or two middle schools are responsible for leading the discussion of that month’s selection.
Creative Writing:
The Creative Writing Seminar is for students who enjoy having the opportunity to write. This seminar will meet and we will discuss certain types and genres of writing and the students will also have the opportunity to do some writing. The goal will be for the student to increase their enjoyment of writing and to try and get some of the writings published.
Debate:
The Debate Instructional Seminar motivates a group of students to engage in meaningful, persuasive discourse about contemporary issues, thereby strengthening their leadership, critical thinking, and presentation skills. Students use research skills to develop logical arguments supported with evidence to be applied to debates following a prescribed format. Debate skills have many cross-curricular applications and extend many curricular objectives. Among the skills classroom debates can foster are: abstract thinking, analytical thinking, citizenship/ethics/etiquette, cross-examination/questioning, point of view, distinguishing fact from opinion, identifying bias, language usage, organization, persuasion, public speaking, research, teamwork/cooperation
In addition, the Debate Instructional Seminar prepares participating students for high school, and potentially collegiate, Debate Teams in later years.
Green Team:
This group will work to make Lake Elkhorn a more "green" school. This group has gotten the classroom recycle program up and running. They collect every Wednesday to make sure that things are running smoothly. They also are participating in the Pepsico Recycle program that focuses on collecting plastic bottles and aluminum cans.
Movie Making:
The Movie Making Enrichment Seminar group will meet to create new and original movies to be shown at school. This group will have 6th graders working to learn the art of movie making and then make a group film at the end of the seminar. 7th and 8th graders will work to make movie for the Environmental Film Festival. The group will be using iMovie to create the different films, as students learn about storyboarding, planning, filming, editing and producing movies.
Mystery Club:
The Mystery Club Seminar will be to work on what it is like to solve mysteries. This group will be presented with different facts and information about a crime and then work to try and solve the mystery. This will be a sort of roll playing club that will allow the students to use a lot of deduction and problem solving skills in order to solve crimes. The Seminar will use printed materials from other mystery clubs and the internet to solve.
School News:
The School News Seminar will be for students who would like to try and create a school newspaper of some sort. The goal will be to create a weekly or biweekly paper that shares school news and information with the community. The plan is to create a document and then publish it on the school's web site. The group will meet weekly and during some lunch periods.
Robotics Team:
The Robotics team will be working with the Lego NXT robots and learning how to program them. Students will work to be able to have a robot perform the functions necessary for certain tasks. This group will work towards being a part of a competition with other schools, where they must problem solve using the robots and programming them in a timed situation.
Television Production:
As members of the television production team, students create a daily, live television broadcast utilizing highly developed skills in journalism and technology.
Anchors emulate professional public speakers as they develop skills in clarity, enunciation, poise, eye contact, and vocal expression. Crew members utilize technology, such as cameras, mixers, soundboards, and computers, to maximize the effectiveness of the broadcast for a student audience. Producers and directors demonstrate leadership skills in the management of the team and the assessment of its needs. To ensure the highest quality production, the television production team incorporates feedback gathered via primary research.
Web Design:
This is will be a small group of students who will be working to learn about creating and updating web pages. This group will have a selection process, which means it is a seminar that not every student who is interested in will be able to participate. Students who are accepted into this seminar will actively create and update web pages that provide information on events and other things to the school and community.
Actors Guild:
This will be a group of students who are interested in doing some acting and working with plays. We will be working with one or two different plays from Shakespeare and then we will be presenting them at the Howard County Shakespeare Festival in April and also the Enrichment Fair in May.
Book Club:
The Middle School Book Club, organized and led by advanced-level readers, is an intellectual collaboration where passionate readers engage in meaningful discussions of a literary work, strengthen critical reading and leadership skills, hear insightful peer perspectives, and have fun.
The Middle School Book Club is actually composed of two related activities: 1) The school-based Middle School Book Club and 2) the countywide Middle School Book Club. The school-based Book Club is organized by the G/T Resource Teacher and is open to avid readers in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. Each middle school reads the same literary selection each month. The G/T Resource Teacher arranges at least one meeting of the Book Club’s members each month to discuss the selection.
The countywide Book Club meetings take place once a month at the Miller Branch Library in Ellicott City. Two to three representatives from each school-based Middle School Book Club attend the meetings for high-level, in-depth discussions. Each month, one or two middle schools are responsible for leading the discussion of that month’s selection.
Creative Writing:
The Creative Writing Seminar is for students who enjoy having the opportunity to write. This seminar will meet and we will discuss certain types and genres of writing and the students will also have the opportunity to do some writing. The goal will be for the student to increase their enjoyment of writing and to try and get some of the writings published.
Debate:
The Debate Instructional Seminar motivates a group of students to engage in meaningful, persuasive discourse about contemporary issues, thereby strengthening their leadership, critical thinking, and presentation skills. Students use research skills to develop logical arguments supported with evidence to be applied to debates following a prescribed format. Debate skills have many cross-curricular applications and extend many curricular objectives. Among the skills classroom debates can foster are: abstract thinking, analytical thinking, citizenship/ethics/etiquette, cross-examination/questioning, point of view, distinguishing fact from opinion, identifying bias, language usage, organization, persuasion, public speaking, research, teamwork/cooperation
In addition, the Debate Instructional Seminar prepares participating students for high school, and potentially collegiate, Debate Teams in later years.
Green Team:
This group will work to make Lake Elkhorn a more "green" school. This group has gotten the classroom recycle program up and running. They collect every Wednesday to make sure that things are running smoothly. They also are participating in the Pepsico Recycle program that focuses on collecting plastic bottles and aluminum cans.
Movie Making:
The Movie Making Enrichment Seminar group will meet to create new and original movies to be shown at school. This group will have 6th graders working to learn the art of movie making and then make a group film at the end of the seminar. 7th and 8th graders will work to make movie for the Environmental Film Festival. The group will be using iMovie to create the different films, as students learn about storyboarding, planning, filming, editing and producing movies.
Mystery Club:
The Mystery Club Seminar will be to work on what it is like to solve mysteries. This group will be presented with different facts and information about a crime and then work to try and solve the mystery. This will be a sort of roll playing club that will allow the students to use a lot of deduction and problem solving skills in order to solve crimes. The Seminar will use printed materials from other mystery clubs and the internet to solve.
School News:
The School News Seminar will be for students who would like to try and create a school newspaper of some sort. The goal will be to create a weekly or biweekly paper that shares school news and information with the community. The plan is to create a document and then publish it on the school's web site. The group will meet weekly and during some lunch periods.
Robotics Team:
The Robotics team will be working with the Lego NXT robots and learning how to program them. Students will work to be able to have a robot perform the functions necessary for certain tasks. This group will work towards being a part of a competition with other schools, where they must problem solve using the robots and programming them in a timed situation.
Television Production:
As members of the television production team, students create a daily, live television broadcast utilizing highly developed skills in journalism and technology.
Anchors emulate professional public speakers as they develop skills in clarity, enunciation, poise, eye contact, and vocal expression. Crew members utilize technology, such as cameras, mixers, soundboards, and computers, to maximize the effectiveness of the broadcast for a student audience. Producers and directors demonstrate leadership skills in the management of the team and the assessment of its needs. To ensure the highest quality production, the television production team incorporates feedback gathered via primary research.
Web Design:
This is will be a small group of students who will be working to learn about creating and updating web pages. This group will have a selection process, which means it is a seminar that not every student who is interested in will be able to participate. Students who are accepted into this seminar will actively create and update web pages that provide information on events and other things to the school and community.