Students will:
Understand their "giftedness"
Increase their ability to persevere when given a difficult task and apply appropriate problem solving skills.
Show self acceptance and personal grace when he/she perceives they have failed at a task.
Develop social skills to better communicate and improve interpersonal skills.
Become more comfortable with public speaking and develop proper public speaking skills (posture, volume, eye contact, accurate content).
Apply effort toward thinking skills, improve organization, take responsibility for educational opportunities & social skills.
Build a solid base of mathematics "conceptual knowledge" with programs like Into the Unknown, Beast Academy, Hands on Equations, and units designed by the instructor.
Develop critical thinking, reading and written language skills.
Have thoughtful contributions when participating in discussions centered around fiction and nonfiction texts.
SEEK students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades will be working for the JBES Detective Agency. Throughout the year they will be putting their critical thinking skills to good use. The detectives will be solving problems while working in cooperative groups. They will be sharpening their writing, reading, math, problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity skills.
Red's Missing
The Detectives have been employed to solve a missing person's case; Red Ridinghood is missing. They will be reading texts that are written at the 4th grade reading level. They will analyze these texts, respond to questions by referring back to the text, and writing responses in complete sentences. Each correct submission will allow the detective to question one of the suspects. The Chief is certain once they have all the evidence from each suspect, they will be able to correctly identify the culprit and the motivation behind the crime.
Where's Walnut
My pup, Walnut, is looking forward to coming to our agency to meet all of the detectives. Chief Stark suspects Walnut will be in close communication with the investigators all year. Walnut the Wondermutt will be supporting our geography study. This year we will focus on the United States. More information will be coming soon.
The third grade SEEK students will be participating in a reading challenge this year called "Battle of the Books". Chief Stark has purchased 20 books that the students will checkout and read on their own. Students are also encouraged to go to their public library and/or John Baker's library and check out books from the list. Once a student finishes reading a book, they will give an oral presentation detailing the events of the book. They will be assessed on their public speaking skills: (voice volume, eye contact, knowledge of topic, and body stance). In addition, each student will submit 5 questions with answers about the book. An example of a good question would be..."In the book The World According to Humphrey, there is a character name Sayeh Nasiri. Sayeh does not like to talk. Why does she refuse to speak?" The reason why Sayeh does not like to speak in class is because English is not her first language.
The students should try to read as many of the 20 books as possible. The books are written at a variety of reading levels. If your child finds a book too challenging to read independently, it is perfectly acceptable for someone to read aloud to them or they may listen to the book on an audio recording. At the end of the year, we will have a friendly competition where the students will be placed in groups and the groups will answer questions about the books. We will have a bracket elimination to determine the "winners".
Brain Games
We will again be partnering with other elementary students in gifted programs around Albuquerque. We are in the midst of designing curriculum where the students can collaborate and share their creativity and experience some critical thinking challenges. Students will be assessed on their teamwork skills, problem solving skills, and product output for each challenge.
When students attend the SEEK program, they will receive enriched learning opportunities in reading, written language, math, critical thinking, creativity, science, social studies, and problem solving. The students will be given time to learn abstract, complex, advanced, and atypical content. They will be exposed to different learning processes involving higher-order critical thinking, creative and flexible thinking, open-ended discussions and assignments, interactions with like-minded peers, varied pacing, and explorations of self and others. Products are differentiated to include real-world problems, choice of products and product types, and opportunities to present products to audiences. Within this learner-centered environment, students will be given time for independent leaning as well as a variety of groupings, and experiences designed to develop a community of gifted learners.
An IEP is a meeting that consists of a parent, teacher of the gifted, general education teacher, IEP specialist, and on occasion the student. These meetings are held once every school year. At an IEP meeting, the student's academic and social/emotional present levels are shared. The team looks at the growth or regression a child has made over time. The IEP meeting is scheduled by the school and you will be informed with plenty of notice of the date and time of the meeting. Most IEP meetings will be held virtually; however, you have the option to meet in person if you wish. The IEP paperwork must be updated yearly in order for the child to continue with gifted services.