Talent Development in Grades 4 and 5

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Talent Development in Grades 4 and 5
April 11, 2012

• By Trinette Atri
• TD/Catalyst Teacher

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• It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken
  joy in creative expression and knowledge.
  Albert Einstein

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Our Mission Our Goal

• To support the development of a content-rich
  educational experience for students from all
  cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds throughout
  CMS.

• To provide gifted students the opportunity to
  maximize their potential, demonstrate their
  motivation, and realize their contributions to
  self and the global community.

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The TD program provides opportunities and
resources for learners to

• attain levels of academic achievement consistent
  with their abilities
• engage in abstract, creative, and affective
  reasoning
• apply insightful questioning
• develop a capacity to see interconnections among
  disciplines
• practice self-directed learning and independent
  problem solving
• strive for self actualization
• maximize their leadership potential
• become active participants in the global community

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The Catalyst Model

• Gifted learners are gifted all the time Mary
  S. Landrum
• Therefore, gifted education is not an add on for
  ninety minutes a week.
• The focus of the Catalyst Model is to
  differentiate instruction for the gifted and high
  performing students.

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So how does the Catalyst Model work?

• The classroom teacher and TD/Catalyst teacher
  share responsibility for the education of gifted
  students
• The TD/Catalyst teacher provides lessons and
  activities for teachers to use in the
  heterogeneous classroom or teaches students
  directly
• The TD/Catalyst teacher provides enrichment and
  acceleration for students who have shown mastery
  (90 ) of objectives being taught in the regular
  classroom through direct or indirect instruction

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What are Direct Services?

• Direct services, or face time, are lessons that
  are created and taught by the TD/Catalyst Teacher
• Direct services can be pull out (students
  pulled into TD/Catalyst classroom) or push in
  (students remain with classroom teacher when
  TD/Catalyst teacher comes in to co-teach with
  classroom teacher)

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What are Indirect Services?

• Indirect services are lessons and activities
  developed by the TD/Catalyst teacher and provided
  to the classroom teacher for him/her to use in
  his/her classroom
• Examples are centers, independent contracts,
  projects, alternative homework/classwork, lessons

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What is the breakdown for direct and indirect
services?
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Why the need for direct and indirect services?

• Often there are too many students for one person
  to reach alone. Differentiation is required in
  the regular classroom to provide all students
  with the education they need and deserve.
• Since the TD/Catalyst teacher cannot see all
  children, all day, every day, the classroom
  teacher requires activities and lessons from the
  TD/Catalyst teacher for those students while they
  are in the regular classroom.
• Without differentiation, everyone would move at
  the same pace, be evaluated in the same way, and
  complete the same activities regardless of
  their prior knowledge or individual needs

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How do I teach gifted and high ability learners?

• Focus on creative thinking, problem solving and
  logic
• Ask higher level questions during novel studies,
  rather than lower, knowledge level questions
  (Blooms Taxonomy)
• Engage students through project-based learning
• Utilize research-based resources for gifted
  students (William Mary, etc.)
• Work in abstract thinking and concepts
  symbolism, themes, etc.
• Increase awareness of the global community
  through novel studies and discussion
• Teach problem solving strategies in math

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How do you determine who is in your math and
reading groups?

• Depends on pre-assessments math and reading
  behavior and ability to work independently class
  work space in the classroom formative testing
  teacher-created assessments MANY data points
• Groups are flexible and can change from unit to
  unit, novel to novel, and/or quarter to quarter
• See both TD certified and catalyst students
• Direct 40, Indirect 60 services
• Students can be seen for both or just reading or
  just math, depending on their individual needs
  and the factors listed above

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• The man who does not read good books has no
  advantage over the man who cannot read them.
• - Mark Twain

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4th Grade DWT

• Students are pre-assessed for reading levels and
  comprehension using CMS and teacher-created
  assessments
• Students showing mastery on 90 of the objectives
  pre-tested are placed into DWT group until the
  class cap is reached
• Students will work on novel studies, figurative
  language, themes/concepts and higher order
  thinking
• Students will also focus on academic writing
  that is responding to literary questions through
  essay writing

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Examples of 4th Grade Literature Units Novels

• SEM-R (School-wide Enrichment Model for Reading)
  students pick own appropriately challenging
  novels
• Art Mystery Unit From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs.
  Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg, Chasing
  Vermeer by Blue Balliet and Masterpiece by Elise
  Broach
• Survival Unit Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and Island
  of the Blue Dolphins by Scott ODell
• Spy Unit I, Q Independence Hall by Roland
  Smith, The Genius Files Mission Unstoppable by
  Dan Gutman and Keepers of the School We the
  Children by Andrew Clements
• Poetry Unit Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Edgar
  Allen Poe, Carl Sandburg, Walt Whitman and
  Langston Hughes, analyzing poetry

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5th Grade DWT

• Students are pre-assessed for reading levels and
  comprehension using CMS and teacher-created
  assessments
• Students showing mastery on 90 of the objectives
  pre-tested placed into DWT group until the class
  cap is reached
• Students will work on novel studies, figurative
  language, concepts/themes, and higher order
  thinking
• Students have been working on essays and academic
  writing to prepare them for the expectations in
  middle school

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Examples of 5th Grade Literature Units Novels

• SEM-R (School-wide Enrichment Model for Reading)
• Holocaust Unit Number the Stars by Lois Lowry,
  Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy Milkweed by Jerry
  Spinelli
• Utopias/Dystopias Unit The Giver, Gathering
  Blue, and The Messenger by Lois Lowry (trilogy)
  Tunnels by Roderick Gordon
• The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
• Civil War Unit Sarny A Life Remembered by Gary
  Paulsen, Chasing Lincolns Killer by James L.
  Swanson, Bloody Times by James L. Swanson
• Afghanistan Unit The Breadwinner by Deborah
  Ellis, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and
  Extra Credit by Andrew Clements
• Mystery Unit The Name of This Book Is Secret by
  Pseudonymous Bosch, The Mysterious Benedict
  Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, The Westing
  Game by Ellen Raskin

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• The essence of mathematics is not to make simple
  things complicated, but to make complicated
  things simple.
• S. Gudder

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4th Grade Mathematics Enrichment

• Math Superstars (problem solving often given as
  weekly homework given Thurs., due next Thurs.)
• Math Olympiad (problem solving) 5 contests per
  year, starting in November in class
• Number Systems study (Roman, Egyptian,
  Babylonian, Primitive, additive and place value)
• March Madness (decimals, fractions, probability,
  graphing, measurement conversion)
• KNex Math using building toys to understand
  geometric concepts
• Hands On Equations (algebra)
• Junk Mail graphing project (science, math
  writing)

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5th Grade Mathematics Enrichment

• Math Superstars (problem solving - usually given
  as weekly homework given Thurs., due next
  Thurs.)
• Math Olympiad (problem solving) 5 contests per
  year, starting in November in class
• Number Systems study (different base systems)
• Geometry and Finances (bridge building ties in
  with science, cooperative learning)
• Stock Market Game (decimals, percents and
  investing)
• Amaze-ing Shapes/Polyhedraville (geometry
  cooperative learning)
• March Madness (percents, decimals, fractions,
  graphing/data collection, essay, measurement
  conversion)
• Hands On Equations (algebra)

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Student Performance Ratings

• At the end of each year, each TD certified
  student in grades 2-5 receives a TD student
  performance rating, in addition to their regular
  report card. Each of the 4 sections are scored
  from 1-4, as follows
• 1 Needs immediate improvement
• 2 Needs some improvement
• 3 Meets expectations
• 4 Exceeds expectations

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Opportunities for Gifted Students

• Chess Club
• Odyssey of the Mind (OM)
• Science Olympiad
• Lego Robotics Club
• Duke T.I.P. (Talent Identification Program)

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Middle School

• No formal TD program in middle schools Honors
  Classes
• Students must score between 97-98 percentile on
  EOGs in 5th grade to place into Honors classes
• EOG scores alone are NOT to be used to place TD
  certified students in middle school, per
  department instructions
• Alternative schools magnet schools (I.B.
  Randolph, Performing Arts Northwest, Languages
  E.E. Waddell)

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Questions?

• You may contact me at school
• [phone]
• Or via email (fastest) trinettej.atri_at_cms.k12.nc.
  us
• Homework, projects and newsletters or updates
  will be posted on my website http//www.giftedtea
  ching.com