Grades K-3
The following describes the services that are provided to students who are identified in the Primary Talent Pool through data collected during the Thinking Skills Lessons, MAP, and other informal pieces of evidence.
Once a student has been informally identified for the Primary Talent, students are offered the following services:
Differentiated Instruction in the regular classroom by student’s teacher (Classroom teacher may consult with the GT Resource Teacher).
Whole Class lessons (Kindergarten) or Resource services with the GT teacher that focus on Thinking Skills (see below).
Projects offered by their regular classroom teacher or Gifted/Talented Resource teacher.
Convergent Thinking Skills (logical thinking)
Convergent Thinkers.....
Find and organize clues.
Take time to reflect.
Put clues together.
Determine one right answer.
Divergent Thinking Skills (creative thinking)
Divergent Thinkers know that....
The more ideas, the better.
Changing categories is great!
Wild and zany ideas are welcome!
Combining ideas is cool.
Lots and lots of details is great!
Visual Thinking Skills:
Visual Thinkers....
Look at things in different ways.
Use what you see as clues.
Move shapes around in their mind.
Recognize patterns.
Evaluative Thinking Skills:
Evaluative Thinkers...
Determine the problem.
Brainstorm possible solutions.
Develop criteria.
Judge the best answer.
What is the Primary Talent Pool?
The Primary Talent Pool is a group of students who possess demonstrated or potential ability to perform at exceptionally high levels at the primary years (Kindergarten through Third grade) The purpose of selecting a Primary Talent Pool is to provide early enrichment for those students whose talents must be nurtured in order for those talents to fully develop.
How are students selected?
A minimum of three informal assessment measures are used to provide evidence that students should participate in the Primary talent Pool. (Informal Assessment Measures rely on observations and professional judgement rather than standardized test scores.) Evidence can be from classroom observations of students behaviors and work samples. A school committee reviews the evidence to determine if a primary is a high potential learner and should be included in the Primary Talent Pool.
How are Primary Talent Pool Students served?
Students in the Primary Talent Pool should receive differentiated services that are matched to their needs, interests, and abilities. For some students this may require pull-out while others’ needs may be met in the regular classroom by differentiating instruction.
Do Primary Talent Pool students automatically qualify as gifted students once they exit the primary grades?
No, Primary Talent Pool students must be formally identified in one or more areas of giftedness at the 4th grade level. (Formal Identification requires Standardized Test scores of 96% or higher for content areas.)
Students nominated for other areas in the Primary Talent Pool receive differentiated instruction and enrichment opportunities in the regular classroom. (Some examples may include: opportunities such as running for Class Office if identified in Leadership, choosing artistic, musical, and creative projects if nominated in the Arts.)