Course Syllabus

Sixth Grade: Gifted: Advanced Thinking Enrichment Teacher: Mrs. Kristin Riley

E-Mail: Rilekr@centennialsd.org Room: 31-A Phone: 215-441-6000 Ex. 11613

WELCOME TO MIDDLE SCHOOL! I hope that you are as excited as I am for the beginning of this new school year. The following information will offer you a general idea of what to expect from this class this year; however, I reserve the right to mold this class around your child’s needs, which means that our focus may shift in various, unnamed directions at times. I hope your children are prepared to be challenged through a variety of opportunities this year in the gifted class!

Major Class Components:

• Short Stories: Junior Great Books: We will be reading a few selections from this series and will develop our active reading and shared inquiry discussion skills.
• Novel: The Girl Who Owned a City OR The Giver: This selection will be read by the entire class. We will cover background information, various literary devices, and analytical thinking skills.
• Independent Reading Projects: Students will self-select books to read and then report out to the class.
• Social Studies: Then and Now Research Project: Investigating the past will help explain the current conditions of an area. Students will compare and contrast ancient civilizations with the present day countries that now hold their land. Looking at present day information, students will determine if their selected country is considered to be “developed”, “developing”, or if it has “regressed”. Students will focus on countries that have been discussed in their social studies classes.
• Science: Think Tank: Coming together with a group of peers to think about, research, discuss, and to finally provide possible solutions or hypotheses on a given topic, problem, or situation.
• Utopia: Create your very own society or civilization.
• Independent Goals: You will be choosing subject areas, topics, and goals that you would like to work to complete this year. We will meet together once every two weeks, outside of class time, to review the progress that was made and to then plan how to effectively move forward. Purpose: The purpose of developing independent goals is to provide students the opportunity to further explore areas of interest. Students can work on these goals throughout the school day, if they finish their class work ahead of their peers.
• Starting at the end of September, every Friday’s class period will provide time for students to work on goals, critical thinking, and/or reading. During these designated class periods, students will be able to choose how to spend their time. Students may either work on completing their independent goal(s), developing their critical thinking skills, or continuing to work on their independent reading projects.