Grades 5-8

40 Pages·2012·0.65 MB·English

Flemington-Raritan Regional School District
Flemington, NJ

G&T Stretch Curriculum
Grades 5-8

Gregory Nolan, Superintendent
Daniel Bland, Assistant Superintendent
Carol Baker, Language Arts Supervisor

Mary Jane Custy
Jeffery Miller
Melissa Stager
Barbara Stewart

Council of Instruction Review: April 18, 2012
BOE Curriculum Committee Review: April 18, 2012
Board of Education Approval: June 18, 2012
Flemington-Raritan Regional School District

G&T Stretch Curriculum
Grades 5-8

Table of Contents
Page No.

District Mission Statement ............................................................................. 3
Program Philosophy and Goals ...................................................................... 4
Program Overview ......................................................................................... 5
Interdisciplinary Connections ........................................................................ 6
Modifications ................................................................................................ 7
Pacing Guides ................................................................................................ 8

Grade Five
Lincoln Douglas Debate Unit ........................................................................ 10-12
Bridge Unit..................................................................................................... 13-15

Grade Six
Mock Trial Unit .............................................................................................17-19
Toy Unit .........................................................................................................20-21
Persuasive Ad Unit ........................................................................................22-23

Grade Seven
CSI Flemington ............................................................................................. 25-27
Car of the Future ............................................................................................ 28-29
Video Game Unit ........................................................................................... 30-31

Grade Eight
Rationale for Grade 8 Program ...................................................................... 33
All Units are in One Document ..................................................................... 35
Flemington-Raritan Regional School District
District Mission Statement
The Flemington-Raritan Schools, a caring and proactive district, in partnership
with the community, will provide each student with:
 A sound educational foundation,
 The guidance to strive for his/her full potential, and
 The inspiration to become a lifelong learner and a responsible, productive
citizen in an ever-changing global society.
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Flemington-RaritanRegionalSchoolDistrict
Stretch(GiftedandTalented)Program
PhilosophyandGoals
Giftedlearnerspossessthecapacityforhighachievementinareassuch as intellectual,creative,
artistic,leadership,orin specificacademicfields(NoChildLeftBehind,2002).Theyrequire
flexibleinstructionthatnurturesthedevelopmentoftheirstrengthsandtalentsandthatmeets
theiracademic,social,andemotionalneeds.
Thegoalsofthe Flemington-RaritanStretchProgramsupportthespecificneedsofgifted
children.Thegoalsoftheprogramareas follows:
 Toteachstudents tobecomemastersoftheirownlearningthroughreflectionand
metacognition;
 Toteachstudents tobecomeproblemsolverswho takerisksandchallenge
themselves;
 Toteachstudents tocommunicateinavarietyofmultimediaforms;
 Toprovideanovel,challengingcurriculumthatincludes higher-orderthinkingskills;
 Toprovidestudentswiththeopportunitytoexploretopicsin greatdetail,research a
topic,createaproduct,andpresentanddiscusstheproductoverseveralcurriculum
areas;
 Toprovidestudentswiththeopportunitytolearninaninterdisciplinarycontext;
 Toteachstudents that mistakes areapartoflearning;
 Toprovidestudentswithaplaceto “belong”;
 Tofosterapositiveattitudeaboutschool;
 To buildstudents’self-confidence;
 Tohelpstudents understandtheirlearningdifferences.
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Flemington-RaritanRegionalSchoolDistrict
Grades5-8 Stretch(GiftedandTalented)Program
Overview
TheGrades5-8 Stretch Programprovidesstudents withopportunitiesforactiveengagement,
inquiry,andproblem-solving.The21stCenturyLifeandCareerSkillsareintegratedintoeachof
theunitsinGrades5-8.
TheStretchProgramin Grades 5-6isdeliveredduringtwodaysofthesix-dayThe Write
Coursecycle. Studentsworkonunits thatincludedebate,bridgebuilding,persuasive marketing,
productdesign,and mocktrials.
TheStretchProgramin Grades7-8is delivered asatrimestercoursethatincorporatesforensics,
extendedmocktrials,developmentofproductsandbusinessplans,mechanicalengineering,and
colorpsychology.Technologyskills areinfusedintotheprojectsandunitsin grades 7-8.
Studentsin grade8takeatechnologyproficiencyassessmentatthecompletionoftheirStretch
course.
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Flemington-RaritanRegionalSchoolDistrict
Grades3-4 Stretch(G&T)Curriculum
Interdisciplinary Connections
TheGiftedandTalented programnaturallylendsitselftointerdisciplinaryconnections.Students
employlistening,speaking,andviewingskillsineachunitoftheGiftedandTalented
Curriculum. Specificinterdisciplinaryconnections arenotedinboldanditalics inthespecific
subject-areaunits.
InterdisciplinaryconnectionsthatareevidentinGiftedandTalented Curriculumareas follows:
LearningExperiences/Skills Interdisciplinary Connection
Research/ InquirySkills Social Studies,Science, Mathematics,
LanguageArts,Computers, LibraryMedia,
Art,Music
UtilizingWeb-basedResources LibraryMedia,Technology, Art,Music,
LanguageArts
CurrentEvents Social Studies,Music,Art,Computers,
Library/Media
Designing,Delivering,andEvaluatingOral Social Studies,Science, Mathematics,Health,
Presentations Art,Music, LibraryMedia,Technology,
LanguageArts
ReadingNon-FictionText Social Studies,Science, Mathematics,Health,
Music, LanguageArts,Art, Library/Media
DeterminingInfluenceofCultureinaText Social Studies,Music,Art,LibraryMedia,
LanguageArts
EffectivelyUtilizingTechnologyin Technology, LibraryMedia, LanguageArts,
Presentations Art,Music
CreativitySkills Social Studies,Science, Mathematics,
LanguageArts, LibraryMedia,Computers,
Art,Music
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Flemington-RaritanRegionalSchoolDistrict
Grades5-8 Stretch(GiftedandTalented)Program
Modifications
TheStretchProgram,byitsnature,providesstudents withthemodificationsthattheyneedtobe
successful. Studentshavetheopportunitytoworkindependentlyandin groups onavarietyof
projects.Thechoicethatis encompassedwithintheprogram allowsfornaturalmodificationsto
meetstudents’needs.
SpecificStructuresto ModifyCurriculum
 Teacherconferences
 Smallgroupinstruction
 Useofvariedlevelsofmaterials
 CooperativeLearning
 Problem-solvingstrategies
 Individualizedinstruction
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Flemington-Raritan Regional Schools
Grades 5-8 Stretch Program
Pacing Guide
Grade 5
 September - December: Debates (Lincoln-Douglas Style)
 January -June: Truss-Style Balsa Wood Bridges
Grade 6
 September -December: Mock Trials
 January -March: Toy Development using Erector Sets
 April -June: iMovie Commercials promoting 5th grade bridges
Grade 7
One Trimester per Year
 CSI Flemington
 Car of the Future
 Video Game
Grade 8
One Trimester per Year
 Ads and Advertising
 Political Change
 Innovative Product Design
 Successful Business Plans
 Electronic and Internet Content and Delivery
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GRADE 5
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Flemington-RaritanRegionalSchoolDistrict
Grade5StretchProgram
Grade5Unit:Lincoln-DouglasDebates
OverarchingEssentialQuestion(s):
 HowdoIpersuadeorconvincesomeone toaccepta contrary pointof view?
TopicalEssentialQuestion(s):
 Whyisdebateimportant?
 Whatskills arenecessarytoconvincesomeone toaccept theirpointof view?
Understandings(BigIdeas):
 Acquiring theskillsnecessaryto beagooddebaterwillhelpthestudentbecomea moreeffectivecommunicator.
Grade5Debate
Knowledge/Skills/ Standards& LearningExperiences Interim Resources
Understandings Indicators Assessments
(Objectives)
Studentswillbeableto…
21stCentury
Effectivelyandefficiently 9.1.B Individually,studentswilllocatedata Teacherreviewof Teacherselectedon-line
researchbothperspectivesofa Technology whichsupportsbothperspectivesofa student-selected articles,studentselected
specificresolution. 8.1.E resolution. Primarysourcewillbethe articles on-linearticles
ELA5 internetwithinitialarticlespreselected
RI7,RI8 byteacher.
W7
Sortdataandresearchfindings Afterdirectinstructionandcontinuous Studentsrecord
forrelevanceandreliability. 21stCentury monitoringfromateacher,studentswill sourcebackground Teacherselectedon-line
9.1.B determinetherelevanceofinformation infoillustratingitas articles,studentselected
Technology foundandalsodetermineifthesource reliable on-linearticles
8.1.E ofthegiveninformationisreliable.
Activelyparticipateinasmall 21stCentury Studentswillberandomlydividedinto Studentcreated
groupandshareinformation 9.1.C twogroups. Afterwhich,theywill postersshowing
appropriately. appropriatelysharetheirdataand researchresults
researchthatsupportstheirassigned
debateposition. Theinformationwill
becompiledasasingledocument.
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