Welcome to MOSAICS!

Overview One designated weekday per grade level Students attend lunch, recess, and specials with their general education class. Students will receive over 200 minutes of gifted instruction per week. The state requires 150 minutes. Push-in lessons will be provided to grades K-1 at least 3 times per year in the general classroom setting.

Gender Ratio (as of Aug.09)

Weekly Schedule Mondays – 1st Grade Tuesdays – 4 th Grade Wednesdays – 5 th Grade Thursdays – 2 nd Grade Fridays – 3 rd Grade

Sample Schedule (ex: 4 th grade) 9:05-10:10 Specials (attend with regular class) 10:10-10:40 Thinking Skills activity 10:40-11:40 Special Unit lesson or project 11:40-12:10 Affective Needs lesson 12:10-12:40 Spanish 12:40-1:05 Math or Vocabulary 1:05-1:40 Lunch/Recess 1:40-2:05 Literature and/or Writing 2:05-2:30 Choice Time (choice of thinking game) 2:30-3:35 Students in regular classroom (This is my screening and K-1 push-in lesson time.)

Parkway’s Gifted Frameworks Logical Thinking Creative Thinking Research Affective Thinking For more information, please visit: ulumAreas/Gifted/index.html

Student Evaluation Student understanding will be assessed each trimester according to the following areas: Research Communication Creative and Critical Thinking Affective Thinking / Responsibility Work Habits

Curriculum Math – challenge math, mystery math Thinking Skills – Stories with Holes, strategy games, logic puzzles, etc. Social/Emotional lessons – various sources Language Arts – pertinent and award- winning literature, projects that go along with readings, advanced vocabulary, analogies, creative writing Research projects Beginning conversational Spanish

Units of Study An example of units each grade level will complete at some point during the school year… 1 st grade: Friends Around the World 2 nd grade: Inventors and Inventions 3 rd grade: Really Seeing Art 4 th grade: Ancient Egypt 5 th grade: Architecture All units are cross-curricular and include research components!

Make-up Days Because we are absent from school on certain days more than others, we have come up with a plan to even out the number of days each grade level attends MOSAICS per school year. Please note these changes on your calendar. 1. Tuesday, October 6 will be 1 st grade 2. Wednesday, November 11 will be 3 rd grade 3. Thursday, November 19 will be 3 rd grade 4. Tuesday, December 1 will be 2 nd grade 5. Tuesday, February 16 will be 1 st grade 6. Wednesday, February 17 will be 3 rd grade 7. Thursday, March 25 will be 3 rd grade

Class Rules 1) Respect others. 2) Don’t talk over the teacher. 3) Always follow directions. 4) No inappropriate words or stories. 5) Share your ideas knowing that we are all friends. 6) Have fun!

Behavior System When rules are broken, the sequence of consequences is as follows… 1 st time: Warning – name goes on chart 2 nd time: Thinking time – sheet is filled out by student 3 rd time: Lose choice time, get a second thinking time, fill out another sheet 4 th time: Mrs. Zurmuehlen calls home 5 th time: Talk with Mr. Dutton or Mr. Schultz

Rewards System Every day that a student does not get his or her name on the behavior chart, a sticker is given. Stickers are for exceptional behavior and it is expected that every student will have off-days and lose his/her sticker at some point. Students can save these up for the following rewards… 1 sticker: one piece of candy 5 stickers: 15 minutes of extra choice time 8 stickers: school supply prize 12 stickers: teach the class a 20 minute lesson of choice (with teacher approval)

Supplies Needed 1 package of pencils to share 2 spiral notebooks (with holes for binder) 1 two-pocket folder to take home papers  A box of tissue, Ziploc bags, and paper towels are also much appreciated but not required! More information will be sent home if the need arises.

What I believe in… Expanding on academic areas studied in the general classroom Incorporating student interests into the classroom Allowing students to be creative and implementing their ideas as well as parent ideas Giving parents the opportunity to play an active role in our gifted community Creating cultural awareness and helping give students a vehicle for making a difference in our community Differentiating the curriculum - The goal is to challenge, not to completely overwhelm. Addressing the affective needs of my students, as they are an at-risk population with differing emotional needs

Open Door Policy My classroom door will always be open to parent visitors. No appointment is necessary! If you wish to visit us and introduce a special lesson, please contact me and I would be thrilled to include you in our school day!

Contact Information Please feel free to contact me anytime… At Barretts Elementary: Via

Parent Organizations GAM (Gifted Association of MO) NAGC (National Association for Gifted Children) SAGE (St. Louis Association for Gifted Education) Parkway PAGE (Parents Advocating for Gifted Education) Contact me about joining!!!!

Thank You… for your continued support!