Welcome to Curriculum Night at Briarlake Elementary School!

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Welcome to Curriculum Night at Briarlake
Elementary School!

• This session DISCOVERY
• Instructors Ms. Melissa McMillan
• Ms. Tanya Fields
• Moving Students Forward in the 21st Century

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Gifted or not, we all have our moments. ?
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Words to live by

• Finish each day and be done with it.  You have
  done what you could some blunders and
  absurdities have crept in forget them as soon as
  you can.  Tomorrow is a new day you shall begin
  it serenely and with too high a spirit to be
  encumbered with your old nonsense.  --Ralph Waldo
  Emerson
• A mind that is stretched by a new experience can
  never go back to its old dimensions. - Oliver
  Wendell Holmes
•  Any activity becomes creative when the doer
  cares about doing it right, or doing it better.  
  
• - John Updike

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What is Discovery?

• Discovery is the name given to the gifted program
  at the elementary level (grades 1-5) in the
  DeKalb County School System.
• Discovery falls under the umbrella of Exceptional
  Education and is funded by the state.
• Discovery is taught by a certified Teacher of the
  Gifted for a minimum of 225 minutes per week.

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DeKalb Countys Gifted Program Goals

• To bring gifted children together to experience a
  variety of challenging activities.
• To support teachers in the area of educating
  gifted children.
• To educate and support parents of the gifted.

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Gifted Delivery Models

• Resource Model- more commonly referred to as a
  pull out model where students are served for a
  minimum of 225 minutes per week by a certified
  Teacher of the Gifted. During this time, students
  experience interdisciplinary enrichment or
  extension activities.

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Gifted Delivery Models

• Cluster Grouping Model- ten or fewer identified
  gifted students served in a regular classroom
  setting by a certified Teacher of the Gifted.
• Collaborative Model- gifted resource teacher
  collaborates and plans with the homeroom teacher
  to differentiate instruction for gifted students.
  The homeroom teacher delivers the instruction.

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Qualifications for Gifted

• In Dekalb, students are automatically tested for
  the gifted program in grades 1, 3, 5 and 7.
• Students are given the CoGAT (a mental ability
  test) and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (an
  achievement test) in October. The Renzulli is an
  assessment that measures creativity and
  motivation and is given in November.
• Students testing into the gifted program must
  qualify in 3 out of the 4 areas of gifted- mental
  ability, achievement, creativity and motivation.

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Qualifications for Gifted

• These test scores are good for 2 years.
• Students new to DeKalb County Schools in grades
  2, 4 and 6 may be referred to the gifted program
  to receive testing.

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Qualifications for Gifted
Mental Ability Achievement Creativity Motivation
Minimum of 96 in at least one sub-test area (CogAT) Minimum of 90 on the total reading, total math, or complete composite (ITBS) Minimum of 90 on an assessment for creativity (Renzulli) Minimum of 90 on an assessment for motivation (Renzulli)
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Gifted Curriculum

• The curriculum for Discovery at every grade level
  is the GPS, the Georgia Performance Standards.
• Each interdisciplinary unit correlates to the
  Georgia Performance Standards for that grade
  level, and possibly, the grade level above.
• Previous Units of Study- Interdependence, Money,
  Inventions, Chemistry, Life Cycles, Matter,
  Botany, Geology, Fables, Economics, Culture,
  Water and many more. Units typically last 4-6
  weeks.

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Curriculum Extras

• Social Studies Fair (for 5th grade school fair
  by Dec. 3, county fair on Jan. 11)
• Spelling Bee (school bee Dec. 17-Jan. 21
  county bee Feb. 8)
• Essay/Poetry/Art Contests (ongoing - see
  teacher websites)
• Serendipity Summer Enrichment Program

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21st Century Skills

• Inventive Thinking
• -Adapting and Managing Complexity
• -Self-Direction
• -Curiosity
• -Risk Taking
• -Higher Order Thinking and Sound Reasoning

• Effective Communication
• -Teaming and Collaborating
• -Interpersonal Skills
• -Personal Responsibility
• -Social and Civic Responsibility
• -Interactive Communication

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21st Century Skills

• High Productivity
• -Prioritizing, Planning, and Managing for Results
• -Effective Use of Real-World Tools
• -Ability to Produce Relevant, High Quality
  Products

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Grading System

• E 100-90
• S 89-80
• N 79-70
• U 69 and below
• Conduct S, N or U

• 40 - participation classwork
• 30 - tests/quizzes
• 25 - projects
• 5 - homework

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Classroom Management System

• Our Classroom Agreements for 2010-2011
• We agree to be polite and respectful to everyone
  at Briarlake.
• We agree to be responsible- bring our supplies
  everyday, carry notes home, complete our work and
  PARTICIPATE.
• We agree to follow directions the first time they
  are given.
• We agree to raise our hand to speak.
• We agree to respect personal space by keeping our
  hands, our feet and other objects to ourselves.
• See Ms. Fields website for her slightly modified
  version of classroom rules.

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Classroom Management System

• Rewards
• The last Friday of each month is Fun Friday.
  Students who have not had an action plan, phone
  call home for behavior or a visit to the office
  for that month may participate in Fun Friday.
  
• Consequences
• Verbal warning
• Time Out/Action Plan
• Phone call home
• Office visit

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Discovery Schedule
McMillan Fields
800-845 5th Grade Discovery Taylor Laster 800-845 5th Grade Discovery Bouda
845-930 4th Grade Discovery McDaniel Rich 845-942 4th Grade Discovery McLarty (Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri)
930-1015 3rd Grade Discovery Francis Cernoch 945-1030 3rd Grade Discovery Davis/Pittman
1015-1100 2nd Grade Discovery all classes 1115-1200 1st Grade Discovery- TBD
1230-115 1st Grade Discovery TBD
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Useful Websites

• www.gifteddekalb.com This is the DeKalb County
  School System web page for gifted.
• www.gagc.org Georgia Association for Gifted
  Children
• www.nagc.org National Association for Gifted
  Children
• http//fc.dekalb.k12.ga.us/melissa_a_mcmillan/
  
• Ms. McMillans web page
• www.MsFieldsClass.com
• Ms. Fields web page

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Questions and Answers