Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program AAP(Level IV) Center Fairfax County Public Schools Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program

Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program

Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program

Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program AAP(Level IV) Center Full-time academic placement in English, social studies and science for highly gifted students found eligible through a screening process Follows FCPS Program of Studies Is different in depth, breadth, and pace of instruction Emphasizes higher level thinking skills Provides opportunities to develop independent research skills Incorporates advanced reading materials Mathematics placement according to test results Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program

Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program Differentiation Curriculum can be differentiated in one or more of the following three ways: Content – What students learn Process – How students learn Product – How students demonstrate what they have learned Differentiation though content- use advanced reading, resource and research materials. Present content with greater levels of depth Differentiation through process – accelerated the pace of teaching and learning. Compact basic knowledge and skills in core content areas Apply ideas and skills to context that are unfamiliar and dissimilar form those explored in class Provide opportunities to make choices to explore deeper understanding and apply new knowledge. Differentiation through Product – Offer assignments that are more open-ended or ambiguous in nature. Assign products that require greater levels of independence. Access work with indicators of quality that model the work of experts in the field. Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program

Language Arts 7: Beowulf Guiding Question: How do we grow through conflict? English 7 Lesson: Students will explore the archetype of the Hero’s Journey and the themes of perseverence and good vs. evil as they read Beowulf. Honors Lesson: Students explore the concept of duality, annotating the text to find examples of how the author uses symbolism and other literary devices to reveal his themes related to good vs. evil and the nature of heroism. GT Center Lesson: Students independently annotate Beowulf, identifying and analyzing key passages and literary devices, then develop an original thesis about the author’s intent based on this evidence. They will write an argumentative essay featuring a claim, text evidence, and commentary. Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program

Science 7 Creating Order Out of Chaos Concept: Classification Science 7 lesson: Classification lab in lab manual – “Putting Things in Order- Classifying leaves.” Students learn how to use a dichotomous key to classify leaves. Honors lesson: Classification is tied to a concept – order vs. chaos. Lab is focused Parallel of Practice – working like a botanist. Students take lab a step further by developing a flow chart to classify organism. Generalizations are developed. GT Center lesson: Students can develop their own dichotomous key for their objects. Students can determine how order is created out of chaos in nature/real world. What are the implications for scientist? Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program

How does Local Level IV differ from the Full-time AAP Center? The teachers in both settings are trained in gifted education and teach the same advanced academic curriculum to students who are ready for a highly challenging instructional program in the core subject areas.  The main difference is in the make-up of the class.  All of the students in a full-time AAP center-based class have been identified as center-eligible by a central selection committee and will be coming from several neighborhood schools to comprise the center class.  In a Local Level IV classroom, the students are a mix of students who are center-eligible and high achieving students who are capable of working at advanced levels, all enrolled in their local school.    Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program

Langston Hughes Middle School Gifted and Talented Center Homogeneous Grouping Curriculum Framework Teacher Training Amielia.mitchell@fcps.edu Langston Hughes Advanced Academic Program