Elementary Services

Gifted students are clustered in groups of four to seven within classrooms. This ensures placement with intellectual peers. Appropriately differentiated curriculum and instruction is provided by the regular classroom teacher within and/or beyond the current core curriculum adopted by Montgomery County Public School. The gifted resource teacher collaborates with the classroom teacher to facilitate differentiation of curriculum and instruction that includes research-based best practice and instructional models for gifted learners.  Students experience differentiated instruction that is aligned with curriculum standards and provides greater depth of content, advanced inquiry, and a high level of rigor and challenge.

At the elementary level gifted students participate in weekly pullout sessions led by full-time gifted resource teachers. These sessions provide opportunities to promote problem solving and critical, creative, and higher-level thinking and reasoning.  Pullout instruction is aligned with individual student strengths and provides gifted students with rigorous learning opportunities in a setting that includes age-level academic peers. During this time students are able to collaborate and develop research skills through student-directed projects and project/problem based learning units.  

Gifted resource teachers are available for co-teaching and modeling of instruction within the regular classroom.  Advanced level materials and curricular resources are available to all teachers through the MCPS Gifted Resource Collection, a Gifted Department shared drive, and MCPS Math and English/Language Arts Department Google sites.  

iLEAD stands for innovation with Leadership Education through Academic Design. iLEAD was created in order to provide additional direct services to students identified as gifted at the elementary level. Through iLEAD, upper-elementary gifted students learn and work together throughout the school week outside of their homeroom classrooms. Students engage in a multi-age setting to pursue individual and group interests guided by the Gifted Resource Teacher. In addition, the key skills of communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and citizenship shape student learning. Students build leadership skills through interaction with community resources and inquiry based units to make learning meaningful. 

Curricular opportunities for iLEAD students may include:

• Multi-age grouping to allow students time with academic peers

• Project and Problem Based Learning Units

• STEM and Engineering Units

• Coding and Robotics instruction

• Introduction to leadership styles and guidance in developing personal leadership skills

• Independent Research Projects to allow students time to pursue personal interests in order to foster independent learning 

• Thoughtful planning of curriculum based on the 5Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Citizenship)

• Integration of advanced mathematics and reading units

 Additional information can be found here: iLEAD Description