GIFTED AND TALENTED
PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
WELCOME
AGENDA
Curriculum and Programming for GT
Calendar of Events
Destination Imagination
Volunteer Opportunities
Question and Answer
DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOUR CHILD?
CURRICULUM AND PROGRAMMING
 Current Model
 2 week rotations at each elementary building/5 rotations per year
 45 minute pull-out sessions for each grade level/group
 Book Club: Optional before and after school literature groups
 3 rd Grade PETS Curriculum (Primary Educational Thinking Skills)
 Convergent, Divergent Thinking; Curriculum for higher level thinking
 Project Based Learning Activities;
projects aligned to science and math standards
 4 th and 5 th Grade
 Destination Imagination— m o r e d et a i l s to f o l l ow i n t h i s p r e s e n t a t i o n
 Project Based Learning Activities; projects aligned to science and math standards
GT AND RIGOR
NOT HIGHER--DEEPER
ELEMENTARY LEVEL
GIFTED ADVISORY COUNCIL
 Review Current Instructional Practices
 Investigate Best Practices in Gifted Education
 Make recommendations to the district about direction of the
program
 Gifted Advisory Council will be created this spring
 Ideal Membership:




1 Administrator
1 Teacher of Gifted and Talented
1 classroom teacher from each building
1-2 parents from each building
OUT OF SCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES
OUT OF SCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES
 These are not school sponsored activities and you are in no
way obligated to attend these events, I just want to keep you
informed of opportunities that exist outside of school that
would enrich your child’s home learning experience .
 Shattuck-St. Mary’s: STEM Outreach Programs
 Hometown Hi-Tech Tours
 Behind the scenes tours of local businesses
 District One Hospital, MRG Tool and Dye, Environmental Tillage Systems, Energy Park
 Encounters
 Saturday Mornings
 Monthly Inquiry Challenge Series for young innovators
 Other courses and summer classes available
OUT OF SCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES
 SSC (Southeast Service Cooperative) Rochester
 Courses and sessions
 Katie Sue Cunningham, 507-281-6667
 Khan Academy
 Free online learning resource for EVERYTHING!
 “Hour of Code” December 8-14
 Computer Science
CALENDAR
 Lots of Events in January, February and March — details
 GT Showcase Night—sometime in May
to follow
SHATTUCK FIELD TRIPS
Lincoln GT Students
Thursday, January 15
9:00-2:00
Roosevelt and Jefferson GT Students
Thursday, February 5
9:00-2:00
SHATTUCK FIELD TRIPS
Highlights
Visit Engineering Class and the Design Lab
Breakout session with International Students
What to wear: Tan or Khaki Pants
Students will receive a red S-SM uniform t-shirt,
that matches other students, theirs to keep 
Students will experience the Dining Hall at Shattuck
(like something out of Hogwarts!)
FAMILY ENGINEERING NIGHT
Family Engineering
Night
Thursday, January 22
5:30-7:30pm
Lincoln Elementary
All GT Families Welcome
DESTINATION IMAGINATION
Saturday, March 7
Harding High School
St. Paul
WHAT IS DESTINATION IMAGINATION??
ENCOURAGES TEAMS OF LEARNERS TO:
 Have fun, take risks, focus on solving challenges
while incorporating STEAM, and the collaborative
problem solving process.
 Learn 21st century skills including creative and
critical thinking, teamwork, perseverance, courage,
and respect for others and their ideas.
HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?
 Through Challenges!
 Student teams choose a challenge they want to solve.
 Work on solutions during GT pull out time and additional time as
scheduled with GT and classroom teachers.
 Teams present their solutions at Regional Tournament.
DI TOURNAMENT
Saturday, March 7
East Metro Tournament
Harding High School, St. Paul
 If your child is NOT able to attend, please let me know right away!
 “Family” Field Trip – Saturday, February 21
 West/Southwest Metro DI Tournament
 Maple Grove Senior High School
This will allow our students to “experience” a tournament.
 Not an official field trip, just a chance for families to expose their child to
the tournament environment.
 I will be attending and anyone is welcome to join me!
DI TOURNAMENT—POSSIBILIT Y OF
ADVANCEMENT…
 Teams who do well at the Regional Tournament may advance
to further competition!
 MN State Tournament—Saturday, April 11
 Champlain Park, MN
 Global Finals—May 20-23 Knoxville, Tennessee
IF…If we have students who advance, we will hold specific parent
meetings about logistics, costs, etc.
DI—NO INTERFERENCE…
A big part of the program is the Interference policy: in
short,
Kids have to imagine, create and develop solutions
on their own .
Parents, Team Managers, family and friends can’t suggest
ideas or force teams in certain directions. Outsiders can
only facilitate the acquisition of skills and knowledge .
Interference Contract: Your child will bring home this
signed contract. Please read it over and sign the parent
line with your child.
WANT TO VOLUNTEER?
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
 Shattuck Field Trips
 Chaperones: 2-3 parents from each building
 Ride the bus with students (times not definite yet)
 1-2 Chaperones per student group
 Free Lunch!
 Family Engineering Night
 Activity Volunteers: 5-10 volunteers
 The Works Museum staff will train volunteers
 Please plan to arrive at 4:30 —one hour prior to start time for training
 Destination Imagination
 At least one parent volunteer for each student group
 Help group keep track of time, stay together, cheerleader for them
WEBSITES AND RESOURCES
 National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
 Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG)
 Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented
 GirlStart—empowering girls in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math
 Davidson Institute for Talent Development
 Minnesota Department of Education
Gifted Education
QUESTION AND ANSWER