 Welcome  Laura Diggs  Gate Coordinator  address:

 Identification  High achievers and gifted learners  RUSD mission statement  Differentiation in the classroom  Clustering students  After school classes  How to help your child succeed  Suggested reading  Gifted intensities

 Many people refer to the CogAt test as the Gate test.  The CogAt test is one of the measurements used to qualify students for GATE.

 COGAT-best from verbal, math, and spatial  Teacher survey  Parent survey

 Only third grade students will be able to take the CogAt test to qualify for GATE this year due to budget constraints.

A High AchieverA Gifted Learner  Remembers the answers.  Is interested.  Is attentive.  Generates advanced ideas.  Works hard to achieve.  Answer the questions in detail.  Poses unforeseen questions.  Is curious.  Is selectively mentally engaged.  Generates complex abstract ideas.  Knows without working hard.  Ponders with depth and multiple perspectives.

A High AchieverA Gifted Learner  Top of the group  Needs 6-8 repetitions  Receptive  Pleased with own learning  Beyond the group  Needs 1-3 repetitions  Intense  Self critical

 Gifted learners prefer idea-mates rather than age-mates. They enjoy the company of peers when the peer group understands the shared ideas.

The core curriculum is the foundation for the differentiated instruction. Students will be permitted to work at an accelerated pace, deal with complex, in-depth subject matter, and demonstrate their talents in creative and unique ways.

 What is a differentiated curriculum?  While the curriculum is the same as that taught to all students, a differentiated curriculum focuses on the following areas.

 Acceleration/Pacing: Students are permitted to move faster through the curricular content and are given credit for what they already know.  Examples: Accelerated Reading and Lexia

 Novelty: Students are given opportunities to share what they know creatively. They are encouraged to propose and execute projects that reflect their interests, talents, and abilities.  Skits, illustrations, power point presentations

 Depth and Complexity Students are given opportunities to study aspects of the curriculum in greater depth. They become experts in fields of study that link to the core curriculum. Example-reports and research in areas of interest

 Unlike the past curriculum, the CCSS has depth and complexity embedded in the curriculum.  Often, all the students within a classroom will be presented with activities requiring depth and complexity. It is the students with high cognitive ability that have the potential to achieve extraordinary results.  New DOK in the curriculum  Sample in textbook illustrating depth and complexity

 The first month of school teachers go over routines, expectations, and learn the strengths and weaknesses of students.  As the year progresses, more differentiation will occur with the classroom.

 Within a GATE cluster class there will be students with a range of abilities. Not all students will be identified gifted.  There are typically 4-6 gifted students clustered in a class.  GATE students may be grouped in a variety of ways within a classroom.  They may be placed in a small group with all gifted students.  They may be part of a mixed group.  Both types of groupings benefit a gifted child.

 Lego Class  Art  Spanish  Others TBA as funding permits  There are many other afterschool opportunities for gifted students including choir, band, and chess masters

 Limited availabilty to GATE fourth and fifth grade students  Dates: Sept  Contact:rachel_malatesta

 Don’t emphasize their giftedness above all else. It’s great to be Gate—and humility goes a long way.  Allow opportunities for challenge/frustration at home through games, so they may develop coping skills in a safe environment.  Being gifted is not an excuse to not do the work or follow the rules. Follow through on consequences.  Help with organization at home.

 Having your child read books about giftedness can help them to better self acceptance.  Read books that can help you understand your child and be more effective in parenting  Read to understand your own giftedness.

 The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted  Kids Sally Walker  Sixty Ways to Assure Success for your Gifted Children Jerry Chris  The Gifted Kids’ Survival Guide Judy Galbraith  The Joys and Challenges of Raising a Gifted Child Susan Golant  Freeing Our Families from Perfectionism Thomas Greenspon

 Polish psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski identified five intensities, which he called "overexcitabilities" or "supersensitivities": Psychomotor, Sensual, Emotional, Intellectual, and Imaginational. Gifted children tend to have more than one of these intensities, although one is usually dominant.

 Sensual The primary sign of this intensity is a heightened awareness of all five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. Children with a dominant sensual overexcitability can get sick from the smell of certain foods or as toddlers will hate to walk on grass in their bare feet. The pleasure they get from the tastes and textures of some foods may cause them to overeat. Sensual

 Appreciation of beauty, whether in writing, music, art or nature. Includes love of objects like jewelry Sensitive to smells, tastes, or textures of foods  Sensitivity to pollution  Tactile sensitivity (Bothered by feel of some materials on the skin, clothing tags)  Craving for pleasure  Need or desire for comfort

 Intellectual This intensity is the one most recognized in gifted children. It is characterized by activities of the mind, thought and thinking about thinking. Children who lead with this intensity seem to be thinking all the time and want answers to deep thoughts. Sometimes their need for answers will get them in trouble in school when their questioning of the teacher can look like disrespectful challenging. Intellectual

 Deep curiosity  Love of knowledge and learning  Love of problem solving  Avid reading  Asking of probing questions  Theoretical thinking  Analytical thinking  Independent thinking  Concentration, ability to maintain intellectual effort

 Imaginational The primary sign of this intensity is the free play of the imagination. Their vivid imaginations can cause them to visualize the worst possibility in any situation. It can keep them from taking chances or getting involved in new situations. Imaginational

 Vivid dreams Fear of the unknown  Good sense of humor  Magical thinking  Love of poetry, music and drama  Love of fantasy  Daydreaming  Imaginary friends  Detailed visualization

 Emotional The primary sign of this intensity is exceptional emotional sensitivity. Children with a strong emotional overexcitability are sometimes mistakenly believed to have bipolar disorder or other emotional problems and disorders. They are often the children about whom people will say, "He's too sensitive for his own good." Emotional

 Extremes of emotion  Anxiety  Feelings of guilt and sense of responsibility  Feelings of inadequacy and inferiority  Timidity and shyness  Loneliness  Concern for others  Heightened sense right and wrong, of injustice and hypocrisy  Strong memory for feelings  Problems adjusting to change  Depression  Need for security  Physical response to emotions (stomach aches caused by anxiety, for example)

 Flyers  School fusion page  RUSD web site-go to parent information