Transcript Middle School Gifted & Talented Program

Middle School Gifted & Talented
Program
Parent Orientation
September 2009
Challenging ALL Children to Achieve
at Higher Levels
Gifted Students
Profile of High Achieving Students
Bright Student
Knows the answers
Is interested
Has good ideas
Works hard
Top group
Learns with ease
Enjoys peers
Grasps meaning
Good at memorization
Is pleased with own
learning
Gifted Learner
Asks questions
Is highly curious
Has unique ideas
Plays around
Beyond the group
Already knows
Prefers adults
Draws inferences
Good guesser
Is highly self-critical
Reflections from Gifted Students
What do you think being gifted means and what is your
reaction to the term?
How do you feel when parents or other adults compliment
you about something related to giftedness? Is it different if
done privately or in from of friends?
How do you feel about accepting compliments from
friends or teachers? Do you react differently?
Student Comments
Giftedness means you can think on your
feet, be creative and express yourself.
Girl, 13
When people ask if I am gifted, I am
usually silent because I am ridiculed for
being smart. It can get very difficult
because I can’t use my entire abilities on a
subject.
Boy, 13, Iowa
from More Than a Test Score, Robert Schultz and James Delisle
Identification of GT Students
96th percentile on a nationally-normed Aptitude
Assessment on the Total Composite Score
Or two of the three criteria below:
88th percentile on a nationally-normed aptitude test
89th percentile on MAP or PASS tests
STAR test (elementary) or final GPA of 3.75 or
higher (middle)
Middle School Gifted Program
Two Tiers
Bright & Gifted Students
Advanced courses in
English, math, science,
social studies 6-8
Possibility of high school
credit in 2 or 3 courses
Gifted Enrichment
40 minute block for GT
students only
Verbal Course – integrates
critical reading, writing,
and the humanities
Quantitative Course –
integrates reasoning,
problem-solving, and the
sciences
Mission of GT Program
To provide identified students with
educational opportunities designed to
address their academic talents and abilities
including the need to learn faster, explore
topics in greater depth of content, engage in
critical questioning and discussion about
content, and explore complexities around
topics.
Gifted & Talented Curriculum
Framework
Real World
Applications
Communication
&
Argumentation
Critical Thinking &
Inquiry
Standards & Concepts
Curriculum Map
Quantitative Integrated Studies
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
Animal Populations
Quadrants
Fibonacci Sequence
Local Issues Analysis
Math Curse Project
The Sky is the Limit
Trip of a Lifetime
Vacation Project
Force and Motion
White Rain
Fever 1793
Logic
Mathematics Problem
Solving Units
Logic units (bouncing ball,
odds, spreading out, hand
area v. height)
Mixtures
“Leaf it to Me”
Math Around the World
Strategy Games
Animal Adventure
Wildlife Web-quest
Tower Power
Career Projects
Mall Project
Aerodynamics
Ecology
Spatial Visualization
Transformations
Fun with Food
Pythagorean Theorem
Linear Programming
Earth
Financial Literacy
The Curriculum Map
Verbal Integrated Studies
6th Grade
7th Grade
Cultural Universals
“Utopian Society”
World History
Simulations (Dig,
Empires, Egypt,
Greece, Maya)
Defining Nations
Jr. Great Books
Document-based
Questions (China,
Greece, Aztecs, Black
Death, Mongols)
Writing
Industrial
Revolution
World War I
1940’s A Decade of
Change
The Holocaust
The Cold War
Speech Analysis
and Writing
8th Grade
Getting to Know
Hysteria (Salem
witch trials)
Jr. Great Books
Revolutions
Civil War
Threads of
Change
The Jungle
Depression
The Water is
Wide
Screening for Newly Qualified GT
Students in MS
Middle School Identification Timeline
June – July
Review GT list from elementary grades and schedule for
MS GT program
August 12 – 19
Notify parents of students who transfer into middle level
GT Program
August 17
Notify all parents of GT program requirements
September 3
GT Parent Information Night at home middle schools
September 7-30
Fall MAP test (DIMENSION B screening)
October 12 – 23
CogAT testing for new middle school students who have
never taken a nationally-normed academic aptitude test
(DIMENSION A screening)
January 22
GPA reviewed for 6th grade (DIMENSION C screening)
January 26
Admittance of newly screened GT students