K-4 Program Overview

In a child's early years, formal identification of giftedness is very imprecise. A rich home environment, highly verbal children or exposure to more mature learners can often contribute to an early "gifted" identification. However, often these skills level off as other less exposed students quickly catch up by second or third grade. Therefore, the elementary program does not rely on formal identification for participation in in grade K-2, but rather strives to provide academic enrichment for many students to further develop their talents in a variety of curriculum areas. Quarterly referrals are usually made by classroom teachers, but may be made by other school personnel or parents.

Pull-out units

Participation in the pull-out units folow the revolving door model. Many students revolve through the program based on their individual talents or needs. Pull-out units are offered primarily in the areas of reading, math , writing and thinking skills. The goal of the pull-out units is to provide a format for students with particular strengths or talents to work on advanced projects as well as work with their intellectual peers. Examples of pull-out units for K-4 are:

Kindergarten:

Domino Logic

Junior Great Books

Sets and Venn Diagram

Look at the Shape of Things (geometry)

Jacob's Ladder

Grade 1

Magical Fairy Tales

Junior Great Books

Thinking Skills/Logic

Math Blasters

Jacob's Ladder

Grade 2

Math Wizardry

Cinderella Around the World

Chess

Mysteries

Grade 3

Ancient Number Systems

Writers Workshop

m3 Analyze This

DBQ Documents/Common Core readers

Topology

Grade 4

90-Second Newbery Video / BizMovie

Deductive Thinking/Logic

Mall Madness

Scholastic Common Core Readers/DBQ Documents

Jacob's Ladder

Writers' Workshop

Cluster Classrooms

Cluster classrooms are provided at grades 3 and 4. Students are formally identified at the end of grade 2 for placement the following year. Identified students are placed into classroom with trained teachers to better serve their academic needs throughout the day. Students placed in cluster classrooms may be provided with independent studies, enrichment units, differentiated materials and acceleration opportunities. See the identification process tab for more information about the process.

Schoolwide Elementary Enrichments

• Publishing Center

The Publishing Center is a work station where students may submit their literary works for local publication. The center is manned by parent volunteers and publishes more than 500 books per year.

• Battle of the Books

Battle of the Books is a program open to all interested 3rd and 4th grade student to promote reading. The goals of the program are to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, broaden reading interests, increase reading comprehension, and promote academic excellence comprehension.

•Science Fair

The science fair is open to all students in grades K-4. It is held every other year. Students may display their work and are given feedback about their projects

•Art Show

The art show is open to all students in grades K-4. It is held every other year. Students may submit their artwork for display in the show. Quality projects are presented with ribbons

•Continental Math

Students in grades 2-4 participate in a monthly math problem solving competition. High scores from each grade are highlighted each month and medals and ribbons are presented at the end of the school year for the top 15-20% of the students.

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