High Ability Learners

The Curriculum and Instructional goal of the GCPS Gifted Program is to work in collaboration with classroom teachers to provide differentiated curriculum and learning opportunities that are responsive to the unique cognitive, social, and emotional needs of advanced learners. We provide enrichment services designed to extend the learning experiences for students in K-5 and support middle school teachers instructionally for students in grades 6-8.

At the elementary level, a gifted resource teacher, endorsed in gifted education, assists the classroom teacher in delivering differentiated core instruction. The gifted resource teachers develop concept-based curriculum units based on themes, issues, and real world problems to promote problem-solving skills in core instruction.

Elementary Themes for the 2021-2022 school year by grade level are:

Kindergarten/First:

Wonders – In the Wonders curriculum students will be encouraged to wonder about trees and forests and animals that roam about at night. They will simulate going into space and wonder about the many jobs necessary to go on a space mission. Students will participate in hands-on experiments related to seed scattering, camouflage, and fossils.

Second Grade:

Changes – In the Changes curriculum students will extend their mastery of the Va. SOL objectives as they investigate how weather can affect and change many events as well as change the shape of our planet Earth. The needs to conserve and explore the uses of resources, both natural and man-made are analyzed. The increase of technology and the needs of mankind constantly force change. Societal changes are also a focus of this curriculum as students begin to understand our laws and how they relate to human rights in America.

Third Grade:

Faces – In the Faces curriculum, students will learn about different faces in our world. They will learn what a façade is in relation to concrete objects, and to people. Students will analyze and scrutinize faces in art as well as on the moon and Mars. Students will be introduced to practical geometric problems and learn to view the world from an entirely different perspective.

Fourth Grade:

Viewpoints – The Viewpoints curriculum helps students examine the concept of viewpoints from many angles. From the history of child labor laws to optical illusions, students will use critical thinking skills to learn about different points of view. Viewpoints takes students through a variety of critical thinking activities. Students learn to consider others’ perspectives as they learn the process of formal debate.

Fifth Grade:

Choices – In the Choices curriculum, students analyze, organize, and categorize the choices they make on a daily basis. They learn that choices have consequences, sometimes positive and sometimes negative. They also learn that not making a choice is a choice. Decision-making strategies such as flow charts, tree diagrams, drawing straws, and flipping a coin are explored. Students investigate bulling, ethics, and nutrition. Students compare fractions and make real-life choices based upon the comparisons. This curriculum is designed to extend the state standards while helping students grasp the importance, responsibility, and implications of the choices they make each day.