Kindergarten


The goal of the GATE program at Cold Spring School is to meet the unique educational needs of our gifted and talented students.  This is accomplished through the use of various instructional strategies, and activities designed to provide academic challenge and to nurture individual talents and interests. 

Curriculum is differentiated at the various grade levels in order to effectively and appropriately meets student needs.  Examples of differentiated activities offered to students in kindergarten follow:

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading
Students learn to read using flexible groupings, supported by aides and parent volunteers.  SRA leveled readers and the Lindamood Bell program are utilized when appropriate to support student learning.  Students are offered challenging independent activities including the Explore the Code Challenge workbook

Writing
Students record progress in journals and are offered extension activities in the Think and Write challenge workbook.

Spelling
Spelling tests

MATH
Students learn math in flexible groupings and are offered extension and enrichment activities.  Examples include: Marcy Cook tiles, tangrams pattern blocks and unifix cubes.

Other opportunities offered to gifted and talented fourth graders include:
Music
Art
Science Fair

First Grade

Reading
Flexible grouping
Accelerated reader – comprehension (at students own pace)
Leveled readers (students can progress at their own pace)

Writing
Students are encouraged and expected to add detail and complexity to their writing depending on their capabilities and initiative.

Spelling
A pre-test is given on Monday.  If a student shows mastery of most of the words, they have the opportunity to self-select challenge words to learn for Friday’s test.

Math
Math Club (Arithmetwists – seeing math and using math skills in a different way)
Tiling sheets – different algebraic opportunities, using addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.)

 Second Grade


The goal of the GATE program at Cold Spring School is to meet the unique educational needs of our gifted and talented students.  This is accomplished through the use of various instructional strategies, and activities designed to provide academic challenge and to nurture individual talents and interests. 

Curriculum is differentiated at the various grade levels in order to effectively and appropriately meets student needs.  Examples of differentiated activities offered to students in second grade follow:

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading
Students have the daily opportunity to self select challenging higher level reading literature that will motivate them to become avid readers who learn to analyze, develop critical thinking skills, and compare and contrast story plots and characters. 

Writing
Students engage in self-selected writing activities such as stories, poetry, biographies, and newspapers.


MATH
Students learn math in flexible groupings and are offered extension and enrichment activities, which require higher level thinking skills.




SCIENCE
Students are offered varied presentation options and products reflective of their interests.  Research skills are introduced and the projects become open-ended.

Other opportunities offered to gifted and talented second graders include:
Music
Art
Science Fair

 

Third Grade

The goal of the GATE program at Cold Spring School is to meet the unique educational needs of our gifted and talented students.  This is accomplished through the use of various instructional strategies, and activities designed to provide academic challenge and to nurture individual talents and interests. 

Curriculum is differentiated at the various grade levels in order to effectively and appropriately meets student needs.  Examples of differentiated activities offered to students in third grade follow:

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading
Students read challenging books of their own choosing, write challenge book reports and complete challenge reading assignments. They meet each week in student-teacher conferences and are exposed to diverse literary compositions, engage in discussion and analysis of elements, share opinions and hypothesize using evidence from the text.  Students also read and enjoy core literature books in a homogeneous setting. Advanced students also participate in challenge vocabulary and word study activities.



MATH
Students are engaged in challenging learning activities designed to deepen their mathematical skills and problem solving abilities.  They participate in enrichment activities, which include math movie minutes, multimedia presentations, hands-on problems and challenge math assignments.

Other opportunities offered to gifted and talented third graders include:
Chorus
Art
Science Fair
Independent Study Projects
Service Learning
Student Council

Fourth Grade


The goal of the GATE program at Cold Spring School is to meet the unique educational needs of our gifted and talented students.  This is accomplished through the use of various instructional strategies, and activities designed to provide academic challenge and to nurture individual talents and interests. 

Curriculum is differentiated at the various grade levels in order to effectively and appropriately meets student needs.  Examples of differentiated activities offered to students in fourth grade follow:

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading
Students read challenging books of their own choosing.  They meet in homogeneous book club groups to discuss and analyze the material, and share a passion for good literature.  Progress is assessed with the use of Accelerated Reader software and through weekly student-teacher conferences.  Students also read and enjoy core literature books in a homogeneous setting.  All students are offered the opportunity to participate in Battle of the Books training, offered by the librarian.

Writing
Fourth graders prepare for the fourth-grade writing test, and participate in a rigorous course of essay mastery.  All students must learn to organize, write and proofread effectively in a variety of genres.  Writing opportunities are offered in creative writing, poetry and journalism. Students meet in heterogeneous writing groups to edit and constructively critique each other’s pieces, many of which are taken to the final-draft stage and presented in a variety of formats and products.

Spelling
Students, who have proven mastery of grade level spelling words, are given the opportunity to learn more challenging words at levels appropriate to their abilities. 


MATH
Students meet every day in heterogeneous math groups.  These groups are flexible, and students are regularly assessed to ensure appropriate placement.  Students in the challenge math group participate daily in review, advanced problem solving activities, and accelerated curriculum.  Math Club offers students an opportunity to nurture an interest in mathematics and prepare for possible participation in the Math Superbowl.

Other opportunities offered to gifted and talented fourth graders include:
Chorus
Art
Science Fair
Renzulli Learning
Independent Study Projects
Service Learning
Student Council

Fifth Grade


The goal of the GATE program at Cold Spring School is to meet the unique educational needs of our gifted and talented students.  This is accomplished through the use of various instructional strategies, and activities designed to provide academic challenge and to nurture individual talents and interests. 

Curriculum is differentiated at the various grade levels in order to effectively and appropriately meets student needs.  Examples of differentiated activities offered to students in fifth grade follow:

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading
Students meet in homogeneous book club groups to discuss and analyze the material, and share a passion for good literature. Students also read and enjoy core literature books in both  homogeneous and heterogeneous settings.  They are offered differentiation of product through a choice of creative project options.  All students are offered the opportunity to participate in Battle of the Books training, offered by the librarian.

Writing
Fifth graders participate in individual conferences with teachers, do research reports in various genres, and support each other through peer conferencing.

Spelling
Students, who have proven mastery of grade level spelling words, are given the opportunity to learn more challenging words at levels appropriate to their abilities.  Students also are given the opportunity to participate in the Spelling Bee.


MATH
Students meet every day in heterogeneous math groups.  These groups are flexible, and students are regularly assessed to ensure appropriate placement.  Students in the challenge math group participate daily in review, advanced problem solving activities, and accelerated curriculum.  Math Club offers students an opportunity to nurture an interest in mathematics and prepare for possible participation in the Math Superbowl.

Other opportunities offered to gifted and talented fifth graders include:
Chorus
Art
Science Fair
Independent Study Projects
Student Council




Sixth Grade


The goal of the GATE program at Cold Spring School is to meet the unique educational needs of our gifted and talented students.  This is accomplished through the use of various instructional strategies, and activities designed to provide academic challenge and to nurture individual talents and interests. 

Curriculum is differentiated at the various grade levels in order to effectively and appropriately meets student needs.  Examples of differentiated activities offered to students in sixth grade follow:

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading
Students read challenging books of their own choosing.  Students also read and enjoy core literature books.  All students are offered the opportunity to participate in Battle of the Books training, offered by the librarian.

Writing
Sixth graders respond to differentiated prompts and assignments.  Advanced students explore in-depth research topics and deliver final products with extended requirements. 

Spelling
Students, who have proven mastery of grade level spelling words, are given the opportunity to learn more challenging words at levels appropriate to their abilities.  All are welcome to participate in the Spelling Bee.




MATH
Students meet every day in heterogeneous math groups.  These groups are flexible, and students are regularly assessed to ensure appropriate placement.  Students in the challenge math group participate daily in review, advanced problem solving activities, and accelerated curriculum.  Math Club offers students an opportunity to nurture an interest in mathematics and prepare for possible participation in the Math Superbowl.

Other opportunities offered to gifted and talented fourth graders include:
Chorus
Art
Science Fair
Independent Study Projects
Student Council