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SEEKING TO PROVIDE INDIVIDUAL RELEASE OF INTELLECTUAL TALENT

S.P.I.R.I.T

Students will continue problem solving practices with an emphasis on the critical thinking attributes. For the purposes of SPIRIT, A critical thinker is one who knows the following:

  • There is a difference between things that MAY be true & things that MUST be true
  • There is a difference between facts and opinions
  • Sometimes more information is needed in order to draw a conclusion
  • It is useless to argue over facts
  • Listening carefully to what others are saying is vital
  • Sometimes one must admit a personal lack of understanding of a topic
  • Must be willing to gather all the facts before making a judgment
  • The same word may have more than one meaning
  • Keeping an open mind to new ideas is essential to problem solving
  • Change is necessary and one should not resist change when it enhances thinking

SPIRIT classes use the Scientific Method and

Suggested Teaching Strategies for Teachers of the Intellectually Gifted

as a basis for study.

  • State the problem               Form an hypothesis               Experiment
  • Collect data                        Draw conclusions                   Make an evaluation

SPIRIT is Franklin Academy's program for intellectually gifted students. 

  • Assessment for new students and students in grades 2 through 4 is on-going year round. 
  • Students may be referred in several ways including their teachers, parents, peers, anyone who has reasonable knowledge of the student and self-nomination.
  • The annual referral of first grade students will begin February 1, 2009.
  • Homeroom teachers will complete the referral package and return it to me.
  • I will complete the process and submit the referral to Mrs. Lindsay, the CMSD psychologist.
  • After a ruling to determine eligibility to continue testing by the Local Screening Committee, documentation requiring parental permission to test will be sent to parents.
  • Testing will occur by either a psychometrist or a psychologist during the spring.
  • Notification of the results will be sent in the last report card given to you in May.
First grade students who are eligible in the 2010 screening
will begin classes in Fall 2010.

Traits of Gifted Learners

  • Intense Sensitivity: A keen sensory system allows many gifted individuals to process the nuances of the world at a rapid rate. This heightened sensitivity, however, may also cause them to more quickly reach sensory overload. Similarly, gifted children may have a keen sense of justice, compassion and emotional understanding uncommon among their age peers.
  • Intensity of Interest: Gifted children, and especially Highly Gifted Children, will often develop intense areas of interest. In school they may be reluctant to transition from these interest areas.
  • Rapid Learning: Gifted children will often be able to learn academic content much more quickly than their age peers.
  • Advanced Vocabulary and Sense of Humor: These are the children who hear a word once and instinctively know how to use it. They may also find enjoy puns and word play from a very young age.
  • Early Reading: Although many gifted students are not early readers, it is not unusual for gifted children to be self-taught readers well before school begins and to love books from infancy.
  • Perfectionism: Gifted individuals often set unreasonably high goals for themselves or measure their achievements unrealistically

IQ testing to identify intellectually gifted students allows for appropriate placement of gifted and talented students who require an advanced and differentiated curriculum.

Purpose of Testing

While there are a variety of IQ and achievement tests used to identify giftedness, it is important that the tests have a high ceiling. Thus, IQ tests like the WISC-IV and Woodcock-Johnson Achievement test are often used for this purpose. In additon, CMSD uses the Weshler Non-Verbal, KABC, UNIT, WRIT and Reynolds in an effort to provide the most appropriate instrument for the individual student. It is administered by a psychometrist or psychologist in surroundings familiar to the student which is usually at the student's local building.

Along with determining a child's intelligence quotient, testing will hint at a child's specific needs.

Tests May Reveal

  • Specific areas of strength and weakness: Students may not be universally gifted. Testing can determine whether a child needs specific challenges in addition to on-level or remediated instruction.
  • Twice Exceptional (2E) students: Administering both an achievement and an IQ test can also determine if there are differences between potential and current ability.
  • Learning style: All students learn best when instructional method meets individual learning styles.

For more information regarding the gifted education program,
please contact   Sylvia Collins .

 

Web Master: Sharon Weems Last Revised: September 10, 2009