Transcript Slide 1

Kendra Berry Nikki Brooks
Valerie King
The Cobb County School District
Advanced Learning Curriculum integrates
interdiscipinary processes, content, and
concepts through the study of real world
problems.

The Georgia State Board of Education defines a gifted
student as a student who demonstrates a high degree of
intellectual and/or creative abilities, exhibits an
exceptionally high degree of motivation, and/or excels in
specific academic fields, and who needs special instructional
services to achieve at levels commensurate with his or her
abilities.

Cobb County provides services for identified gifted students
in first through twelfth grade. The gifted program (known as
ALPS) is designed to meet the specific needs of these
students and extend competencies in the areas of cognitive
skills, learning skills, research and reference skills,
communication skills, and metacognitive skills beyond the
experience of the regular classroom.
Gifted?
There are two methods:
1.
2.
Eligibility Option A:
Psychometrically
Eligibility Option B:
Multiple criteria
Two Indicators: (Must be a nationally
normed tests. We may not use the CRCT.)

Mental Ability Test Score (CogAT/OLSAT)
› 96%ile on composite only

Achievement Test Score (ITBS/Stanford)
› 90%ile in Total Reading or Total Math or
Composite
Must meet criteria in three of the following four areas:

Mental Ability (CogAT/OLSAT)
› 96%ile on composite or appropriate component (Verbal,
Quantitative, Nonverbal)

Achievement (ITBS/Stanford)
› 90%ile on Total Reading, Total Math, or Total Battery

Creativity (Renzulli Rating Scale/Torrence)
› 90%ile

Motivation (Renzulli Rating Scale)
› 90%ile
In K-3 General Education Classroom
Acceptable progress is defined as:
 Maintaining a majority of 2’s and 3’s in each content area
during a nine-week reporting period (reading, English,
mathematics, science, and social studies)
 Meeting standards in core subjects on the Georgia CriterionReferenced Competency Test (CRCT)
In 4-5 General Education Classroom
A student must maintain acceptable progress, defined as:
 A minimum average of 80 (or all A’s and B’s) in grades 4-5 in
the core subjects of reading, English, mathematics, science,
and social studies
All students must meet expectations in 14 out of 20 areas on
Target report card.
Displays Analytical Problem Solving
 Is a Collaborative Team Member
 Is an Effective Communicator
 Is a Perceptive Thinker
 Is a Self-Directed Learner
 Comes to Class Prepared
 Is Not Afraid to Take Risks

15- 30 minutes per day is devoted to
brainstorming activities
Daily brainstorming activities may include:
 Scratch
 Visualizations
 Transformations
 Elaborations

30 minutes per day is devoted to critical
thinking activities.
Some examples are:
 QuoteFalls
 Versatiles
 Pentominoes
 Analogies
 Matrix and Non-Matrix Logic

Answer
With the answer case open on the desk, complete each question by placing the
tile with the number of the question on top of the letter in the Answer Case that
corresponds to the correct answer.
Close the Case & Flip
Turn the closed case over. Then open the case to check the pattern shown on the
tiles.
Match
If the pattern on the tiles matches the pattern shown on the bottom of the
activity page, all of the answers are correct. If not, remove any tiles that do not
match, and flip over the case again.
Learn
Reread the incorrectly answered questions and rethink the solutions. Place the
number tiles on the right letters in the Answer Case. Flip it over again. When
the patterns in the case and the book match, the activity has been successfully
completed!
A pentomino is a shape composed of
five congruent squares connected by
at least one side. Since there are
twelve pentominoes made of 5
squares each, there are 12 pentomino
shapes. They are named for the
letters they represent: F I L N P T U
V W X Y Z.
RIVER CROSSING:
A man needs to cross a river in a
canoe. With him, he has a bag of
grain, a chicken, and a fox. He can
only carry one of the three at a
time. If he leaves the grain and
the chicken, the chicken will eat
the grain. If he takes the grain,
the fox will eat the chicken.
How does he successfully cross the
river with his load?
Solution:
The man first takes the chicken across,
leaving it on the other side. He returns
alone in the canoe and picks up the bag
of grain. After bringing across the
grain, he takes the chicken back to the
original side, dropping him off, and
picking up the fox. After bringing the
fox to the other side, and leaving it with
the grain, the man returns back to the
original side, retrieving the chicken, and
making his 3rd and final trip crossing
the river. At no point was the fox left
alone with the chicken, or the chicken
with the grain.
An analogy is a comparison of certain
similarities between things which are
otherwise unlike.
Hands-On Equations is a visual and kinesthetic system
developed by Dr. Henry Borenson for introducing students in
grades 3 to 5 to essential algebraic concepts. It is a system
designed to enhance student self-esteem and interest in
mathematics. Students learn to solve equations such as:
4x + 3 = 3x + 9 and 2(2x + 1) = x + 8.
Later lessons teach additional concepts. The students
physically set up the equation using the game pieces and a
flat laminated balance and then proceed to carry out "legal
moves" to solve the equation. The legal moves are the
physical counterpart of the abstract mathematical principles
which are used to solve these equations.
Beyond The Magnifying
Glass
Essential Questions
How can deductive reasoning, analysis, and
methods used for crime-solving be applied
in real life?
How can reading and writing mysteries and
learning about solving them help me be a
better critical thinker?
Overview
Differentiate between valid
conclusions and invalid
assumptions to reach valid
assumptions, recognize false
premises, solve deductive
matrix puzzles, decode a
secret message.
Each logic puzzle presents
clues that allow students to
narrow the field of suspects to
the one guilty person. Extra
worksheets give you related
deductive logic puzzles for
extra practice
When a book of unexplainable occurrences
brings Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay
together, strange things start to happen:
seemingly unrelated events connect, an
eccentric old woman seeks their company, and
an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears.
Before they know it, the two find themselves at
the center of an international art scandal,
where no one — neighbors, parents, teachers —
is spared from suspicion. As Petra and Calder
are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious
labyrinth, they must draw on their powers of
intuition, their problem-solving skills, and their
knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a
crime that has left even the FBI baffled?
Essential Questions:
How is scientific inquiry practiced? How can
we use scientific inquiry in our daily lives?
How can we use scientific inquiry as concerned
citizens of the world?
When using scientific inquiry, fourth and fifth grade students will use
higher order thinking skills and learn science from a minds-on
approach. While learning to ask questions, design experiments, conduct
investigations, and present findings students are engaged in higher
order critical thinking. The focus of this unit is for students to
determine that scientific inquiry is an age-old skill that has played a
large part in shaping the world we live in, and will continue to shape it
in the future. Much of the science that students typically engage in is
teacher directed and demonstration oriented. This unit will allow
students to focus on the process of learning how to question and
research as scientists and use the tool of inquiry in many aspects of life
instead of focusing on only one topic (science). Students will ask
questions, formulate explanations, gather evidence, make evaluations,
and communicate their findings.
The process that scientists use to learn
about the natural world is characterized
by:
asking questions that can be answered through
investigations
designing and carrying out scientific investigations
thinking logically to make relationships between evidence,
explanations, and conclusions
communicating procedures and explanations
using higher level thinking skills to investigate, evaluate,
and create
Your child will have the opportunity to investigate his or
her own scientific question by completing a project for our
Science Extravaganza. This is a required project which
will be completed in Target class. Students will have the
option to work individually or with a partner.
Your child will be able to choose a topic that interests him
or her. The students will do research to find out more
information about the topic in order to form a hypothesis
and design an experimental procedure related to their
topic. The students will perform the experiment, collect
data, and draw conclusions. Students will write up their
experiment and research in the form of a report. Students
will also create a visual to communicate their work to
others. We will go over how to do this in class.
Students will have a schedule indicating when each part
of the project is due in order to help them with their time
management and project planning. Please check this
schedule on a weekly basis in order to keep track of your
child’s progress.
We look forward to their final projects!
Advanced Content: Gifted students in middle school
are served through advanced content classes in
English/Language arts, science, and social studies.
Foreign Language courses are also considered Advanced
Content in the middle school. Students in middle school
advanced content classes are expected to go beyond
baseline standards and develop the critical thinking,
reasoning, and writing skills in core content areas that
will ensure academic success during their high school
and college academic careers.
Target Tally
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