Alpena School District
Alpena School District
Gifted and Talented Curriculum Summary of the Program Kindergarten, first and second grade students receive whole class enrichment lessons weekly in the areas of creative and critical thinking, problem solving, art, and technology. Students are identified at the end of second grade for the Pull-out Program. Multiple criteria are used for placement. Gifted and Talented students participating in the Pull-out Program are pulled from their regular classroom for 150 minutes each week. During this time, they participate in a variety of experiences with an emphasis in common core standards, literacy, math and technology. In the Pull-out Program, students develop an awareness of self through curriculum designed to foster their abilities. Students also learn to recognize, understand, and appreciate their own strengths and weaknesses. The Gifted and Talented program is a non-graded service provided to gifted and talented students. Students use the higher order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation to reason and show evidence of their thought processes. Students utilize critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving skills applied to real-life situations and problems.
K-2 Enrichment K-2 students receive enrichment lessons each week in the areas of creative and critical thinking, problem solving, art, and technology. The Gifted and Talented specialist provide opportunities for the whole class to experience and further develop thinking skills in an enrichment and diagnostic approach using various thinking models including Primary Education Thinking Skills (PETS). Major learning themes are: Kindergarten – Deductive, convergent, divergent, evaluative, creative, inventive and analytical thinking, thinking by comparing and contrasting and using analogies, analyzing patterns, and collecting factual information
First Grade – Deductive logic, analytical convergent, critical and inventive thinking, decoding, visual thinking, creative problem solving and creating and applying criterion questions.
Second Grade – Review convergent thinking skills and introduce problem solving strategies, introduce the concepts of deductive logic using an elimination grid, provide practice for deductive logic in other formats, practice divergent thinking skills in problem solving using visuals such as maps, graphs and charts.
Pull-out Program - Grades 3-6 Curriculum for the pull-out program is based on an interdisciplinary method that includes vocabulary development, written and oral communication, research, reasoning, critical and creative thinking, self-awareness, and problem solving. Students develop analytical and interpretive skills. The objective is to provide a flexible curriculum that is qualitatively different and that extends above and beyond the standard school program.
Alpena School District Pre-AP and AP Program 7th – 12th Grades
The Pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP) and Advanced Placement (AP) classes are provided for students in the 7th-12th grades. The Pre-AP curriculum is designed to prepare students for AP classes and to meet the needs of the gifted student. AP classes provide students with opportunities to pursue college-level studies while still in secondary school and to receive credit for college. The primary objective is to provide students with opportunities that will further develop their exceptional talents.
Sarah Shields, Gifted and Talented Coordinator Alpena School District [email protected] 870-437-2220
Gifted and Talented Curriculum Summary of the Program Kindergarten, first and second grade students receive whole class enrichment lessons weekly in the areas of creative and critical thinking, problem solving, art, and technology. Students are identified at the end of second grade for the Pull-out Program. Multiple criteria are used for placement. Gifted and Talented students participating in the Pull-out Program are pulled from their regular classroom for 150 minutes each week. During this time, they participate in a variety of experiences with an emphasis in common core standards, literacy, math and technology. In the Pull-out Program, students develop an awareness of self through curriculum designed to foster their abilities. Students also learn to recognize, understand, and appreciate their own strengths and weaknesses. The Gifted and Talented program is a non-graded service provided to gifted and talented students. Students use the higher order thinking skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation to reason and show evidence of their thought processes. Students utilize critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving skills applied to real-life situations and problems.
K-2 Enrichment K-2 students receive enrichment lessons each week in the areas of creative and critical thinking, problem solving, art, and technology. The Gifted and Talented specialist provide opportunities for the whole class to experience and further develop thinking skills in an enrichment and diagnostic approach using various thinking models including Primary Education Thinking Skills (PETS). Major learning themes are: Kindergarten – Deductive, convergent, divergent, evaluative, creative, inventive and analytical thinking, thinking by comparing and contrasting and using analogies, analyzing patterns, and collecting factual information
First Grade – Deductive logic, analytical convergent, critical and inventive thinking, decoding, visual thinking, creative problem solving and creating and applying criterion questions.
Second Grade – Review convergent thinking skills and introduce problem solving strategies, introduce the concepts of deductive logic using an elimination grid, provide practice for deductive logic in other formats, practice divergent thinking skills in problem solving using visuals such as maps, graphs and charts.
Pull-out Program - Grades 3-6 Curriculum for the pull-out program is based on an interdisciplinary method that includes vocabulary development, written and oral communication, research, reasoning, critical and creative thinking, self-awareness, and problem solving. Students develop analytical and interpretive skills. The objective is to provide a flexible curriculum that is qualitatively different and that extends above and beyond the standard school program.
Alpena School District Pre-AP and AP Program 7th – 12th Grades
The Pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP) and Advanced Placement (AP) classes are provided for students in the 7th-12th grades. The Pre-AP curriculum is designed to prepare students for AP classes and to meet the needs of the gifted student. AP classes provide students with opportunities to pursue college-level studies while still in secondary school and to receive credit for college. The primary objective is to provide students with opportunities that will further develop their exceptional talents.
Sarah Shields, Gifted and Talented Coordinator Alpena School District [email protected] 870-437-2220
