Students who are qualified for the program in grades 3-5 meet with the high potential teacher once a week for 1 hour and 15 minutes in a small group. The class is designed to focus on higher level thinking skills utilizing high interest topics that are not usually covered in the regular curriculum.

The 2006-2007 G.E.L. Program will explore the following content areas:

3rd Grade- Study of Egypt
Inventions Unit
WordMaster Competitions

4th Grade- Famous Explorers of the United States
WordMaster Competitions

5th Grade- Colonial America
Courtroom Unit
Knowledge Master Open Competition

In addition to the main content areas, critical thinking and problem solving skills will also be taught. These classes feature small class sizes with opportunities for more individualized instruction. Students are graded on effort, participation in discussions and group activities, completion of in-class and homework assignments, as well as attendance and creativity. Students will need to maintain a high level of achievement in the regular classroom and small group settings to remain in the G.E.L. program.

The OLSAT (Otis-Lennon School Ability Test) is a tool to identify gifted students for the 2006-07 school year. This test is designed to measure those verbal, quantative, and figural reasoning skills that are most closely related to scholastic achievement. The series is based on the idea that to learn new things, students must be able to perceive accurately, to recognize and recall what has been perceived, to think logically, to understand relationships, to abstract from a set of particulars, and to apply generalizations to new and different contexts. This complex of abilities is assessed through performances on such tasks as detecting similarities and differences, solving analogies and matrixes, classifying, and determining sequence.

We also offer Enrichment Classes to challenge more students in grades 3-5. These classes are offered to students who are recommended by their classroom teacher. They show a love for learning, the determination to do well in school and maybe advanced in one or more areas of the report card. Some units that may be offered for these students this year are: Knights and Castles, Reading a Novel, Writing in Different Genres, Readers Theater, Ancient Number Systems, and Science Experiments.

First and Second Graders also have the opportunity to work with the High Potential Teachers. Students are recommended by their teachers to be enriched with reading or math units throughout the school year.

GEL Program Coordinators