| Pattie Elementary School has a site-based gifted education program. This
pull-out program offers a variety of educational opportunities that provide
enrichment, extension, and acceleration of the classroom curriculum. Our
goal is to challenge our students to think critically, creatively, and
reflectively. We encourage our students to be independent workers, but also
to work with their intellectual peers in developing ideas and conclusions
based on real problems.
Our program offers intellectually challenging materials and provides
students the opportunity to explore areas of the curriculum in depth through
research and hands-on learning. Students also have opportunities to develop
computer skills that go beyond the regular curriculum.
The gifted education teacher also works with classroom teachers assisting
them in locating supplemental classroom materials and providing for the
needs of gifted children in their classrooms. In addition to the pull-out
program, the gifted education teacher offers lessons in the regular
classrooms for students, and several staff development sessions for teachers
throughout the year.
THE SIGNET PROGRAM
SIGNET stands for Students In Gifted Needs Education Today.
Fourth and fifth grade students who are identified as gifted are placed in
the SIGNET program. Pattie SIGNET students meet in the gifted resource room
for two half days each week. Students are offered a variety of
opportunities to excel in all areas of the curriculum, participate in
independent studies, and actively engage in cooperative learning and problem
solving.
WARM-UPS
Students are given problems to solve that require creative and critical
thinking. They work independently and in groups to solve these problems.
ALGEBRA
Fourth and fifth grade SIGNET students participate in a Hands-On-Algebra
program where they learn to solve equations involving positive and negative
numbers. In solving these equations, students learn many of the properties
that are introduced in a beginning level algebra course.
ODYSSEY OF THE MIND
Each week in SIGNET there is an Odyssey of the Mind (OM)competition.
Students participate in competitions with their cooperative groups. Groups
change every nine weeks. Most of the competitions involve short-term
problems and are completed the same day. A few of the OM competitions are
long-term and take several weeks of active planning and presenting.
NEWS TEAMS
SIGNET students keep up with current events and have an opportunity to
participate in news team competitions. The Potomac News is delivered to our
class every Monday.
TAG (Techniques for Achieving Goals) Units
TAG units are fun and challenging. Examples of some of the TAG units we
have had are designing web pages, inventions and inventors, learning styles,
electing a president and holding a debate, science experiments, stock market
simulations, critiquing classical literature, acting in a theater
production, learning about Bloom's Taxonomy and using it to design a
learning center, the physics of roller coasters, and public speaking.
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
SIGNET students have opportunities to go beyond the required curriculum and
learn some advanced computer skills. They incorporate computer technology
in many of their projects and use the Internet as a tool for research. They
are encouraged to become proficient in using Word, advanced applications of
PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher and HTML coding for web pages. Four of the
fifth grade SIGNET student teams who entered the ThinkQuest Junior web page
contest last year were semi-finalists. Although SIGNET students may not
enter this contest every year, they will still have opportunities to learn
how to do web pages.
2000 SIGNET web pages
FIELD TRIPS
Students in SIGNET go on field trips once or twice a year. Field trip
destinations vary each year according to units of study.
LEARNING CENTERS
The Pattie SIGNET program offers a variety of learning centers and
independent study. Most of these centers correlate with or extend beyond
the county SOLs (Standards of Learning). Here are some of them:
MATH
Beginning Geometry
Geoboards (geometric problem solving)
Math in Art
Pentominoes
Tangrams
Whiz-Kids (pre-algebra)
SCIENCE
Amusement Parks and Roller Coaster Physics
Back to the Future
Chemistry
Endangered Species
Human Body Systems
Inventor's Workshop
Microscopes
Oceanography
Astronomy
Geology
ENGINEERING
Mechanical Engineering
Pneumatics
Robotics
Structural Engineering
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
Digital Technology
Travel the USA (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Lights, Camera, Action!
Web Page Design
HUMANITIES
Drama
Drawing and Art
Architecture
LITERATURE AND WRITING
Ancient Myths
Cartooning
Fantasy Lands
Novel Ideas
Super Sleuth
Visual Poetry
Writer's Workshop
Classical Literature
LANGUAGE
French
Spanish
German
Latin
SOCIAL SCIENCE
Ancient Egypt
Famous Wars and Battles
Famous Women (Herstory)
Fun and Amazing Places (Trip planning and geography)
Knights and Castles
Roots and Branches (Genealogy)
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