Roselle Schools - Gifted and Talented

Philosophy
"Equal treatment of unequals is the most unequal treatment of all." Education of Gifted and talented students is an extension of the doctrine of individual differences. Since gifted and talented students are able to comprehend the greater complexity and higher levels of thinking skills, the district's program focus is to develop these characteristics to the highest degree possible. Our educational program employs an open-ended curriculum that provides pupils with learning situations where they can develop cognitive, creative, and affective learning processes. Further, the curriculum addresses the individual needs of students, and at the same time, provides for group and class needs. Moreover, our curriculum provides students opportunities that will enable them to be creators of knowledge as well as receivers of knowledge. Finally, the district's program for the gifted and talented is designed to develop each student's desire for excellence and sense of responsibility to themselves, their school, community, and ever-changing world.

Program Goals

The Academic Challenge Program will provide its students with opportunities to develop and extend convergent and divergent thinking, investigative processes, communicative arts, and affective skills.
The Academic Challenge Program will provide its students with a variety of learning situations that will address individual differences, group and class needs, self-directed learning, and encourage pupils to strive for excellence.
The Academic Challenge Program will provide its students with opportunities to develop responsibility not only for themselves, but for their school and local and world communities.

Grades K - 4 Program Outline
Grades 5 - 7 Program Outline
Grade 8 Program Outline

Grades K-4 Program Outline
UNIT I - DEVELOP PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES
Concepts:
1. Discuss the role of problem solving as an activity in daily life
2. Specify the difference between exercise & task
3. State the characteristics of a problem solving strategy

UNIT II - DEVELOP CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS
Concepts:
1. Bloom's Taxonomy
    a)Knowledge
    b)Application
    c)Analysis
    d)Synthesis
    e)Evaluation

2. CPS Skills     a)Fluency
    b)Originality
    c)Flexibility
    d)Elaboration

UNIT III - DEVELOP CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
Concepts:
1. Logical reasoning
2. Finding patterns
3. Deductive reasoning
4. Sequencing
5. Decision making

UNIT IV - DEVELOP MATH CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS
Concepts:
1. Number patterns
2. Word problems
3. Motion problems
4. Clock problems
5. Money problems
6. Calculator CPS

UNIT V - MULTI-DISTRICT PROBLEM SOLVING DAYS
Concepts:
1. Teacher authored problem solving days are planned with fellow G&T students from Cranford, Kenilworth, Mountainside & Springfield
    a)The Great Brain
    b)The Car of the Future
    c)Bike Helmets
    d)Turtle Trouble
    e)The World Around Us

UNIT VI - DEVELOP RESEARCH SKILLS
Concepts:
1. Develop & sharpen the ability to use various research techniques in order to investigate chosen topics & broaden knowledge of the world
2. Develop & strengthen the ability to use gathered research in order to produce a written report, visual product, and/or oral presentation

UNIT VII - DEVELOP COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Concepts:
1. Expository writing
2. In depth research project
3. Short stories
4. Journalistic techniques
5. Poetry skills
6. Oral communication
7. Listening skills

UNIT VIII - DEVELOP BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS
Concepts:
1. School store
2. Snack sale
3. Banking system
4. Wee Deliver postal system

UNIT IX - DEVELOP CHILD INJURY PREVENTION SKILLS
Concepts:
1. To empower student to keep each other safe from unintentional injury
2. To act as peer leaders to spread this message to family & students district-wide

UNIT XI - DEVELOP AFFECTIVE SKILLS
Concepts:
1. Develop & sharpen an understanding of self & others
2. Develop & sharpen leadership through decision-making & risk-taking responsibility & independence through self-directed learning

UNIT XII - THE ARTS
Concepts:
1. Develop various levels of dance skills
2. Perform teacher choreographed & student choreographed pieces
3. Develop an aesthetic appreciation of dance as performers & also as an audience
4. Understand the history of dance
5. Demonstrate the self-discipline, time management and dedication required to successfully master various dance techniques
6. Develop an awareness of the way in which the arts are interrelated & cross-curricular
7. Mime as an international language
8. Develop a non-verbal communication system
9. Develop a knowledge of self and in doing so, develop a better understanding of others
10. Cross-curricular arts
11. Assignment/research for G&T students will promote various artistic forms as a method of self-expression

Grades 5-7 Program Outline
UNIT I - DEVELOP PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES
Concepts:
1. Discuss the role of problem solving as an activity in daily life
2. Specify the difference between exercise & task
3. State the characteristics of a problem solving strategy

UNIT II - DEVELOP CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS
Concepts:
1. Bloom's Taxonomy
2. CPS Skills

UNIT III - DEVELOP CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
Concepts:
1. Logical reasoning
2. Finding patterns
3. Deductive reasoning
4. Sequencing
5. Decision making

UNIT IV - DEVELOP MATH CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS
Concepts:
1. Number patterns
2. Word problems
3. Motion problems
4. Clock problems
5. Money problems
6. Calculator CPS

UNIT V - MULTI-DISTRICT PROBLEM SOLVING DAYS
Concepts:
1. Teacher authored problem solving days are planned with fellow G&T students from Cranford, Kenilworth, Mountainside & Springfield

UNIT VI - DEVELOP RESEARCH SKILLS
Concepts:
1. Use various research techniques to investigate chosen topics and broaden knowlege of the world
2. Use gathered research to produce a written report, visual product and/or oral presentation

Grade 8 Program Outline
UNIT I - SHAKESPEARE
Concepts:
1. Identify the universal elements in Shakespeare's art
2. Develop the ability to read and analyze literature
3. Attain knowledge of the Elizabethan theatre, Globe theatre
4. Recognize the element of drama that add to the effectiveness of a play
5. Analyze symbolism and imagery
6. Recognize dramatic techniques used by Shakespeare
7. Trace the development of Shakespeare as a dramatist
8. Understand the origin of the theatre in England
9. Identify figures of speech
11. Develop skills in writing a formal analytical paper
12. Develop skills in dramatizing a Shakespearean scene

UNIT II - TECHNOLOGY
Concepts:
1. Describe a word processor
2. Enter a nd modify text
3. Select menus from the Menu Bar
4. Save a document on disk
5. Load a previously saved document
6. Close a document
7. Print a word processed document
8. Set formatting options
9. Emphasize areas of text
10. Edit blocks of text
11. Copy/cut and paste blocks of text
12. Find and replace text
13. Use the spelling checker
14. Use the thesaurus
15. develop a thematic slide show
16. Describe and use the Draw and Paint tools
17. Create objects in a Draw document and images in a Paint document
18. Use graphics as a means of illustrating literary works
19. Describe a data base
20. Define records, fields, entries, and layouts
21. Plan and design a layout for a computerized data base
22. Create and modify a data base layout
23. Enter data into a new data base
24. use find to display specific records
25. Use sorting to change the order
26. List the computer components needed to use the Internet
27. Use an Internet Browser
28. Use Internet search services
29. Understand and use Uniform Resource Locators(URLs)
30. Use the Internet as a research tool
31. Use a hypertext link
32. Download information from Internet sources
33. Cite on-line resources
34. Give a brief description of hyperemia
35. Create and save background
36. Add graphics to a presentation
37. Add text to a project
38. Create and edit button
39. Add sound
40. Plan a presentation
41. Crate a thematic stack
42. Create Roll Credits New Button Actions
43. Create Hide Show New Button Action
44. Create frame animation
45. Create path-based animation
46. Add QuickTime^TM movies to a presentation
47. Create automatic timer buttons and objects
48. Create hypertext links