Your child has been identified as Gifted.

So what’s next… How was he/she identified? What does it mean to be gifted? Will my child be separated from his/her classmates? Does he/she have to take the test every year? Will the teacher just give him/her more problems to solve? What will happen when he/she misses classwork?

How does the process work? The gifted teacher enters the 2 nd grade classrooms and conducts a series of lessons with the students that include writing, problem solving, creativity, etc… The lessons are then scored by a group using a rubric. The highest out of these scores are then totaled with his/her aptitude score and teacher observation score and placed onto a Matrix form. The total Matrix score must be at least 17, out of 20 points possible, to qualify. Once a student qualifies for gifted, then he/she will remain in gifted through 6 th grade unless stated otherwise in a letter by the parent/guardian.

What is Gifted? According to the State Code, a gifted student is a student who performs, or who has demonstrated the potential to perform, at high levels in academic or creative fields when compared with others of their same age, experience, or environment.

Common Characteristics and Behaviors that may be observed in a Gifted Child Superior vocabulary Curious Wide range of interest Advanced ideas and opinions Special talents Easily frustrated Stubborn Highly sensitive to criticism Lack of organization and study skills Difficulty with social interactions

What are some of the ways gifted can be demonstrated? Giftedness comes in many forms. Your child may display high levels of performance in one specific area or multiple areas. Some examples include, but are not limited to…

Academics

Critical Thinking

Problem Solving

Music

Creativity

Art

Humor

Meeting Your Child’s Needs If a child shows that he/she can or has the potential to perform at higher levels in some fields, then he/she most likely has special needs that can be accommodated for outside of the classroom through gifted education. The gifted students of Talladega County are served through a resource room pull-out service in 3 rd through 6 th grades. After 6 th grade the student’s needs can be met through other methods such as advanced classes, electives, acceleration, etc…

Classes The students will participate in gifted classes 1 day a week. They will remain in the regular education classroom the rest of the time. – 3 rd grade: 2 hours – 4 th grade: 2 hours – 5 th grade: 3 hours – 6 th grade: 3 hours

Missed Classwork Your child will be working on advanced, in-depth lessons that cover a variety of subjects while in the gifted classroom. Therefore, the work done in gifted takes the place of what the student would be doing in the regular education classroom at that time. If needed, peer helpers are used to catch the student up once he/she returns to class. A student is not required to make-up classwork, unless it is for a grade. Then the child would be allowed extra time to make it up at a time that is agreed between the student and teacher to be convenient.

GEP (Gifted Education Plan) 2

Field Trips Our field trips are optional to attend, but we try to plan exciting field trips for the students each year that tie in with our units of study. Pending on board approval, the 3 rd grade trip will most likely be in November at the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coke. We travel on charter buses. We encourage parents to attend!

Supplies I try to provide most of the supplies, but I will send a note home with the student when he/she needs special materials for projects in class. Of course, you are always welcome to make donations to our gifted class.

Questions?

Thank You I appreciate your time and support. I’m looking forward to a great year with your child!