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The START Program
START stands for Strategies for Teaching And Reaching for Talent.
Young children (grades K-3) who are placed in the Pattie START program for
gifted education services participate in classes once a week with the gifted
education teacher. The amount of time spent per week depends on the grade
level of the student.
Grade K - 1/2 hour a week
Grade 1 - One hour a week of in-class instruction, small group or
independent activities
Grade 2 and 3 - Two hours per week in the START resource room
WARM-UP ACTIVITIES AND UNITS
Students in the START program have a variety of opportunities to excel in
all areas of the curriculum. They are encouraged to solve problems and
develop skills while thinking creatively and critically. Many units in
START class coincide with their regular curriculum topics and SOLs
(Standards of Learning), but extend beyond what they study in the regular
classroom.
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
START students have the opportunity to develop computer skills while writing
and preparing reports, making PowerPoint presentations, typing in data on
spread sheets and graphs, using a digital camera, and creating web pages.
Here is an example of some web pages done by third grade START students.
Click here.
LEARNING CENTERS
START students (grades 1-3) choose an area of the curriculum to study in
depth. A part of START class is devoted to independent learning centers and
research. Parent volunteers assist the gifted education teacher in
answering student questions during center time. Centers are an extremely
popular part of the Pattie START program. The centers are differentiated for
different ages and grade levels of children. Almost all of the centers offer
a computer technology component.
Some of the centers that were developed by gifted education teacher, Mrs.
Chris Miller, are listed below.
Ancient Civilizations (Egypt, China, Greece, Rome, Africa)
Infinity Landing (geometry, problem solving, multiplication, logic)
Ocean Resort (oceanography)
Production Studio (story writing, poetry, research or film making)
Cartooning
Newsroom (interviewing and creating a newspaper)
Tunnel to the Past (Native Americans and Colonial America)
Tunnel to the Future (imagination and creativity regarding the future)
Space Station (study of the universe)
Land of Simple Machines (designing and building of simple machines using
Lego Dacta products)
World of Toy Design and Structure (early structural engineering)
Tropical Rainforest (research projects involving the rainforest environment)
Nature's Zoo (research on animals or plants)
Invention Station (taking apart inventions and making new ones)
Math and Beyond (fractions, number sense, geometry, statistics, patterns,
graphs)
Game Room (logic and making an original game)
French
Art History
Unexplained Phenomena
Jurassic Junction (dinosaurs)
U.S.A. Travel Agency (Planning and budgeting for a vacation)
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