Special Approach to Gifted Education and Primary Enrichment Program SAGE/PEP Special Approach to Gifted Education and Primary Enrichment Program

Agenda About Ms. De Jesus Characteristics of gifted kids Goals of SAGE What we do in SAGE reading and math Differentiating with teachers

About Ms. De Jesus 13th year in the Issaquah School District 6 years teaching 3rd 5 years teaching 5th grade 2nd year in SAGE Piloted Eureka Curriculum Scope and Sequence Adoption Committee Masters in Teaching BS in Natural Science Biology at UPS

About Ms. De Jesus Maine Pentel Pens

Why Do We Have Gifted Programs? Research says – in order for gifted children to be challenged to their full potential and intellectually and emotionally validated, they need to be with other students of like ability. Heterogeneous grouping does not directly benefit gifted students.

Characteristics of Gifted Children Learns new material earlier and faster than peers. Retains new learning – review unnecessary. Deals with complex and abstract concepts too difficult for peers. Has a passionate interest in one or more topics, loves to learn about this topic. Does not need to watch the teacher to hear what is being said; can operate on multiple brain channels simultaneously and process more than one task at a time. Does not have to possess all of these characteristics to be gifted. Yet, strong indicator if consistently exhibited.

Risks Associated With Giftedness gifted underachiever disillusioned about education lack of perseverance and/or risk taking anxiety perfectionism

SAGE Goals Goal 1: Intellectual/Academics To enrich and expand each student’s intellectual horizons. To encourage each student to take responsibility for his/her learning. To make learning a life-long habit. Objectives: The student will learn and practice: Problem solving strategies by accurately applying them to real problems; Collect and analyze data using information processing skills such as classifying, inferring, and predicting; Creative thinking skills of fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality; Thinking behaviors by demonstrating risk-taking, goal-setting, decision making, persistence, inquisitiveness, and self-evaluation.

SAGE Goals Goal 2: Social/Emotional To provide a safe environment for gifted students to interact on a regular basis with others who have similar abilities and interests. Objectives: exhibit a sense of confidence, ownership, and independence in his/her own learning. able to work cooperatively in groups, collaborate with a learning partner, and work independently. develop quality work products that reflect excellence, precision, thoroughness, creative innovation, and best effort. be responsible for following through and completing assignments.

Gifted Programs SAGE/PEP Math– pullout or push-in, once per week enrichment program at all elementary schools (K-5th Grade) SAGE Reading – 1 hr. per week pull out; enrichment program 3-5

What Do We Do In SAGE math? Integrated STEM/science/engineering components Open Ended Math Problems with a low floor and high ceiling from youcubed.org, Nrich, and wild.org Social Components

What do we do in SAGE reading? Book clubs Independent Projects Teacher Mini Lessons based on student need and homeroom teacher input Jr. Great Books- Guided Inquiry Method

A Typical Reading Class An entry task to get their minds working What Do We Do In SAGE? A Typical Reading Class An entry task to get their minds working Check in with teacher about social/academic goals Listen in on discussion with book club Work on independent Projects Ask higher level thinking questions pertaining to reading; usually author’s craft, point of view, inferential, and symbolic questions 1 or 2 short activities that reinforce some aspect of problem solving, creativity, thinking skill, etc. Behind the scenes: Working with teacher on various curriculum that can be applied within classroom Assessing students progress and growth Collaborating with teacher on ways to meet goals

Differentiating with Teachers Students Pretest/ With the new math curriculum, creating menus of activities for students to complete when they mastered a concept Guided Reading Groups/Book Clubs Push-In Support with math games and problem solving communication

Contact information Newcastle Monday-Wednesday Maple Hills Thursday-Friday Email: dejesuss@Issaquah.wednet.edu