How to Design a Class to Teach the Academic Decathlon Curriculum

Instructions After this slide, when you see the FISH appear, be the first one to stand for a piece of candy!

State Requirements A major portion of class time should be devoted to the development of one or more student competencies established by the Georgia QCCs or GPS. A course cannot require participation in an extracurricular activity. Admission into a course cannot be competitive.

Why Offer a Class? To provide the opportunity for a whole class of students to engage in this rich and rigorous curriculum To motivate underachieving students through the course content To broaden student research, study, and communication skills To provide opportunities for bridging the achievement gap

Important Rule While they may be encouraged to do so, students should not be required to take the offered course in order to be on the GAD team.

THE BIG QUESTION

How do you design a class that will be beneficial to both decathletes and other students? Advanced Composition: –Emphasizes research, composition, and speech –Covers advanced grammar and usage skills –Covers both APA and MLA styles of documentation –Covers a variety of research strategies

THE BIG QUESTION

How do you design a class based on GPS or QCC objectives and yet change the content every year? Advanced Composition: –Teaches the QCC objectives for this class (no GPS for this course at this time). –Teaches a differentiated curriculum for gifted students. –Uses a basic textbook: Research Papers (Coyle and Law). –Requires only that the topics of the research projects change each year (with minor adjustments to fit topics of study).

THE BIG QUESTION

How do you get the money for the curriculum materials? Gifted studies English curriculum (if needed) Principal’s Fund (registration) Academic Decathlon funds (community sponsors; annual art festival)

THE BIG QUESTION

How do you make a class that is challenging, yet fun enough to entice students to take it? Diversity of students Recruitment (by teachers and students) Many hands-on projects (getting “outside the box” on many occasions) BEARS partnership

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