North Plainfield Gifted and Talented Program
2011 - 2012
Mrs. C. Crawford - Enrichment Teacher
PROJECTS! PROJECTS! PROJECTS!
This past week all Inspiration students began bringing in their PhD projects. These independent projects centered around a personal interest and are displayed using various formats. Thus far our classes have had the pleasure of viewing commercials for both a "Stowaway Bathtub" and "Laser Scissors", slideshows on Energy Sources, The History of Microsoft and Apple, Greek Mythology, How Color Affects Mood, Television, Optical Illusions, Mountains, Disney World, and reports on Paradoxes and Batman.
Students in grades 2-6 who participate in the Inspiration program have weekly homework. Challenges come in the form of anagrams, logic puzzles, plexers, figural analysis, and/or word puzzles. They may or may not be directly related to our current studies but are assigned to help students transfer knowledge and utilize higher order thinking skills. All homework is reviewed at the beginning of each new class.
SCAMPER!! What comes to mind when you read this word? SCAMPER is a strategy that students in the Inspiration program will be using this year. Developed by Robert Eberle, SCAMPER is an acronym using verbs as a springboard for brainstorming and problem solving. SCAMPER may be used in any subject in large or small groups. It fosters creativity and critical thinking as it encourages the production of new ideas.
Simply put, the letters represent the following words - S for substitute, C for combine, A for adapt, M for modify, magnify, and/or minify, P for putting to other uses, E for eliminate, and R for reverse or rearrange.
Students put their minds to work illustrating this strategy in class this year.
The North Plainfield INSPIRATION Program services academically gifted students who possess or demonstrate high levels of ability, in one or more content areas, when compared to their chronological peers and require modification of their educational program in order to achieve in accordance with their capabilities. (New Jersey Department of Education Gifted and Talented)
INSPIRATION is a pull-out program in which gifted students meet weekly along with their intellectual peers for instruction. The design of the program encourages student independence, self-awareness, risk-taking, curiosity, and intellectual integrity. Scope of instruction differentiates from the regular education classroom with regard to content, pacing, and depth. Learning is predominantly student driven and fosters constructive peer interactions which allow students to initiate and reflect upon their learning and cognitive processes.
Students are identified as candidates for the INSPIRATION Program through multiple criteria including cognitive aptitude tests, standardized tests, and recommendations (teacher and parent) as applied to a rubric of admission. Nominated students are screened each spring for the following academic year.
Students who will be participating in the INSPIRATION program during the 2011-2012 academic year will focus on the following overarching themes:
Grade 2 - Diversity: Commonalities and Differences
Grade 3 - Structure: How Parts Interrelate
Grade 4 - Connections: Patterns, Order, and Predictability
Grade 5 - Systems: A Study of Interactions
Grade 6 - Universal Problems: Global Solutions
