Hulstrom Options School

• Providing for opportunities for open-ended learning
• Promoting the appreciation of diversity and cultural understanding
• Providing independent study opportunities
• Targeting students interest, learning styles and special talents
• Offering in-depth, interdisciplinary units based on district curriculum framework
• Choice
• Differentiation
• Operating at a higher academic level
• Meeting the affective needs of gifted and talented children
• Providing access to advanced technology as a tool for learning

History

In 1999 the Gifted Options Program began offering a 1/2/3 multi-age classroom and a 4/5 classroom at separate schools:  Woodglen Elementary and Thornton Elementary.  The 4/5 class stayed at Thornton until 2002.  The 1/2/3 classroom stayed at Woodglen for two years, then moved to Glacier Peak Elementary, where a 3/4/5 class was also added.  In 2002 the Glacier Peak and Thornton programs were moved to Hulstrom.  The first year, Hulstrom Options had a 1/2 Classrom and a class at each grade level:  3, 4, and 5.  In 2003 the program expanded to house a classroom at each grade level, K-5.

Program Design for Gifted and Talented Learners

Students who are most successful in the Gifted Options program exhibit the following characteristics:

• High motivation
• Independence
• Emotional and social maturity
• Enthusiasm for learning
• Risk taking
• High potential for achievement and production
• Creative and critical thinking
• Parental support
• Takes charge of responsibility

Other characteristics often exhibited by our student population (positive and negative) may include:

• Early and rapid learning
• Rapid language development
• Large knowledge base
• Keen observation
• Superior reasoning, problem solving
• Efficient, high capacity memory
• Extrapolates knowledge to new situations
• Advance and wide interests
• Greater metacognition (thinking about thinking)
• High alertness
• High activity level
• Intense reactions
• Curiosity, question-asking
• Good sense of humor
• Reflectiveness
• High level moral thinking
• Underachievement, especially in uninteresting areas
• Perfectionism
• Emotional sensitivity, excitability
• Intense reactions

Teacher Characteristics

Certain characteristics and strengths are desired and/or needed to work successfully with this population.  An effective teacher of the gifted and talented often exhibits many of the following characteristics:

• Highly intelligent
• Has cultural and intellectual interests
• Strives for excellence, high achievement
• Is enthusiastic about talent
• Relates well with talented people
• Has broad general knowledge
• Mature, experiential, self-confident
• Can see things from students' point of view
• Is imaginative, flexible, open to change, stimulating
• Respects individuality, person self-images, and personal integrity
• Can teach students to evaluate for themselves
• Recognizes individual differences

Other competencies should include:

• Has knowledge of the nature and needs of the gifted
• Can identify gifted and talented students
• Can develop or select methods and materials for use with the gifted
• Is skilled in teaching higher thinking abilities, including creativity and problem solving
• Is adept at questioning techniques
• Is skilled in facilitating independent research
• Can direct individualized learning and teaching
• Can focus on process as well as product
• Able to communicate effectively with parents

Parental Support

There are ways parents can help build positive relationships with all those involved in educating their gifted and talented children:

• Recognize and respect that you have different perspectives than the school and teacher, of your child.  While you may see a particular set of characteristics and/or skills in a one on one setting at home, the school sees your child in a classroom of 25 other gifted individuals.  This may bring out different behaviors and/or characteristics.
• Facilitate your child's interests at home
• Have a sense of humor
• Reach out to other parents
• Realize that even very young children tune in immediately to adult conversation that refers to them
• Parent toward achievement
  • Model achievement - be an achiever yourself, but also share with your children, realistic and positive views of achievement
  • Power and control - Gifted children are likely to sporadically push limits to determine the extent of their freedom
  • Give clear, positive messages - be reasonable with praise, be consistent between parents and within a parent, don't give €œbeat the system€? messages

Curriculum Approach

The Gifted Options Program instruction model is research based and offers best practices for gifted and talented students in a GT classroom setting.  The curriculum model is based on the work of Dr. Joyce Van Tasel Baska and is outlined below.

 ** Based on the work of Dr. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska of College of William and Mary

"Comprehensive Curriculum for Gifted Learners"

Planners

To communicate effectively and to teach student to be responsible and organized, each student will fill out their planners daily. It may include the following

• What was done during the day
• Homework assignments
• Behavior and academic concerns
• Personal notes from the teacher

Parents are expected to sign the planner each day.  It is intended that communication be frequent and problems can be taken care of quickly.  Teachers will check the planner based on need, independence and responsibility of each student.

Homework

Homework is an important part of the home-school communication.  All homework should be: relevant to what is being taught in class; it can be done independently by the student; is practice and is not new material.  There may be special projects that students are required to do at home for a specific purpose.  The projects could be short or long term.  Each teacher will have his/her own homework policy that will be communicated to the students and parents at the beginning of the school year.  These guidelines need to be adhered to:

• Homework will be assigned Monday through Thursday
• On average, homework should fall into the following ranges:          
  • Kindergarten:  10 minutes homework, 10 minutes reading
  • First grade:  15 minutes homework, 15 minutes reading
  • Second grade:  20 minutes homework, 20 minutes reading
  • Third grade:  30 minutes homework, 20 minutes reading
  • Fourth grade:  40 minutes homework, 20 minutes reading
  • Fifth grade:  50 minutes homework, 20 minutes reading

Grading

• Teachers utilize a wide variety/range of evaluations and assessment tools, based on assignment, level of development, and expectation
• Each teacher has his or her own policy for grading-  Fourth and Fifth grade do weekly progress reports
• Grades K-3 use H, HS, S, N, and U for report card grades
• Grades 4-7 use A through F letter grades
• Rubric grades may be used as appropriate
• Not all assignments are graded equally-  Factors such as mastery, practice, length of assignment, and purpose of assignment are all considerations.

Glossary of Terms

Acceleration:  Acceleration offers standard curricular experiences to students at a younger than usual age or lower than usual grade level.  Acceleration includes early entrance to kindergarten or to college, grade skipping, or part time grade acceleration, in which a student enters a higher grade level for part of the day to receive advanced instruction in one or more content areas.

Ability Grouping/Cluster Grouping:  Ability grouping is defined as using test data and school records to assign same-grade children to classes or instructional groups that differ markedly in characteristics affecting school learning.  Cluster grouping is a form of ability grouping in which 3 to 6 students are clustered according to their identified areas of strength in a mixed ability classroom.

Blocking Instruction:  When a school or program utilizes the same block of time each day in all grade levels, to teach a particular content area or subject area; this is defined as blocking.  This allows students to be placed in the appropriate instructional level, regardless of age. 

Differentiation:  A means of addressing the particular characteristics and promoting the continual growth of students in an environment that is respectful of individual differences through modification of pace, depth, and complexity of curriculum and instruction.

Expectations for incoming First Graders

Language Arts:

• Can read and write first grade sight words
• Writes a simple complete sentence
• Uses end punctuation, capitalization and spacing
• Correct letter formation
• Legible manuscript writing
• Capitalization and spelling correct in first and last name
• Recognizes and writes rhyming words
• Know full name, phone number, and parents' names
• Writes a simple story/narrative with beginning, middle and end in order
• Colors neatly and uses scissors correctly
• Mastery of naming all 26 letters and sounds

Mathematics

• Count to 100 by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's
• Knows addition and subtraction facts to 10
• Writes numbers 1 to 100
• Recognizes ordinal numbers
• Recognizes and knows values of coins
• Can count and write the amount of coins up to $1.00
• Knows the number of days in the week, month in a year
• Can tell time to the hour and half hour
• Recognizes simple patterns
• Knows how to add and subtract 2 digit numbers with no regrouping

Computer skills

• Able to log on to a computer
• Able to use a mouse

Conduct

• Completes simple tasks independently
• Sits quietly and listens to a listening activity for a minimum of 15 minutes
• Listens and  follows directions
• Obeys classroom and school rules
• Demonstrates responsibility

Expectations for incoming Second Graders

Language Arts

• Able to read at grade level or above
• Can spell and read all second grade high frequency words
• Knows multi-meaning words
• Writes simple and complex sentences
• Writes a story using beginning, middle and end
• can alphabetize in ABC order
• Can use dictionary and thesaurus
• Knows what a noun is
• Can follow 3 step directions
• Able to read fluently orally
• Able to organize idea around one topic
• Is beginning to read simple chapter books

Mathematics

• Reads, writes and can sequence numbers through 1,000
• Knows addition and subtraction facts to 20
• Knows math symbols =, <, >, +, -
• Can tell time to 15 minute increments
• Can count money up to $5.00
• Recognizes fractional parts of a whole
• Recognizes number patterns

Computer Skills

• Able to save a document
• Able to find and open a program
• Can log on and off a computer
• Able to identify home row
• Has been exposed to some basic keyboarding

Expectations for incoming Third Graders

Language Arts

• Can read independently with fluency and voice
• Is reading chapter books
• Reads and understands fiction and nonfiction at or above grade level
• Can write and identify parts of a paragraph
• Uses correct punctuation and capitalization
• Identifies parts of speech
• Indents
• Regularly uses dictionary and thesaurus
• Recognizes prefixes, suffixes and root word
• Uses proper written and oral grammar
• Manuscript needs to be mastered and exposed to cursive
• Has an attention span of at least 30 minutes

Mathematics

• Has mastered multiplication facts through 10
• Has exposure to division facts
• Has mastered 2 digit numbers with regrouping
• Can tell time to the minute
• Can give change from $1.00
• Can count money to $10.00
• Can read and write numbers to 10,000
• Knows fractional parts of a region
• Has been exposed to median, mode, and range
• Knows all basic three dimensional shapes

Computer

• Has beginning keyboarding skills
• Can save into own folder
• Can get onto the internet
• Has used computer programs such as Kid-pix

Expectations for incoming Fourth Graders

Language Arts

• Reads and comprehends at grade level or above
• Is an independent reader
• Alphabetizes to the 4th letter
• Has mastery of manuscript and cursive writing
• Can write three paragraphs about a topic using topic sentence, supporting details, and closing sentences
• Uses correct capitalization and punctuation in all assignments
• Has an attention span of at least 45 minutes
• Possesses good organizational skills
• Can write complete sentences using a variety of sentence structures
• Can use the dictionary easily for spelling, definitionas and pronunciation of words
• Can use the encyclopedia to find information
• Can write a report in different forms

Mathematics

• Can read and write numbers up to 1,000,000
• Knows automatically all addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts
• Can add, subtract, and multiply three digit numbers using different algorithms
• Can divide 3 digit by 1 divisor
• Can add and subtract fractions using manipulatives
• Reduces fractions to the lowest terms
• Can gather mathematical information from a graph, chart or grid
• Can use measurement to the nearest millimeter, centimeter, meter and quarter inch, half inch, feet and yards

Computer

• Saves and retrieves documents and pictures
• Imports pictures
• Uses keyboarding skills
• Knows how to use Microsoft Word
• Knows how to use AutoShapes
• Can use power point
• Knows how to search the internet

Expectations of incoming Fifth Graders

Language Arts

• Reads and comprehends at grade level or above
• Uses reading as a tool to learn independently
• Has research skills
• Consistently uses legible cursive and manuscript
• Can write three to four paragraphs with topic sentence, supporting details and closing sentences
• Uses correct punctuation and capitalization in all assignments
• Has an attention span of at least one hour
• Possesses good organizational and decision making skills
• Can write complete sentences using a variety of sentence structure using good word choice and voice
• Can use the dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia
• Can determine fact from fiction and opinion
• Uses writing to communicate ideas and information for various purposes

  Mathematics

• Can read and write numbers to one billion
• Automatically knows all basic facts
• Can add subtract, multiply and divide multi digit number
• Can multiply 3 digit numbers by 3 digit numbers
• Can divide 4 digit numbers by 2digit numbers
• Can make change from money, understands profit and debt
• Can gather mathematical data from a graph, chart, grid, and recognizes benchmarks
• Can use English and metric rulers
• Can measure angles with a protractor, construct congruent angles with a compass
• Knows exponential notation
• Understands and can convert fractions to decimals and to percents
• Understands negative numbers

Other curriculum skills

• Independent planning for research projects
• Can report in a variety of ways
• Has an awareness of global current events
• Understands the interrelationships of people and cultures
• Can use globe, maps, atlas, and charts to locate and gather information about the world
• Knows the 50 states and capitals
• Uses computer in various ways regularly
• Can troubleshoot and solve problems with the computer
• Is proficient in keyboarding