G.A.T.E. Program Componenets

GATE Sponsored Programs: High Ability Reading & Thinking groups (HART), Extended Learning Classes (ELC), Mini-Grant Program, Advanced Placement (AP) Program, Future Problem Solvers (FPS), and Destination Imagination (DI). HART and ELC students are chosen based on test scores and teacher recommendations. The Mini-Grant Program is open to all students but targets the area of gifted leadership. The AP program is available for bright and gifted high school students. FPS is open to high ability students. DI targets creative students. FPS & DI are extracurricular and coached by parent volunteers.

Whitewater Talented and Gifted Network (WTN) Sponsored Programs: Southern Lakes Anthology Gr.3-8, Middle School Arts Immersion Day, Middle School Leadership Conference, and Gr. 5-8 Regional Math Meets. These programs require a selection or identification process for participation and target a variety of gifted areas.

Outside Sponsored Programs: Midwest Academic Talent Search (MATS) above level testing, Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth (WCATY) Middle School Co-op Classes, and UW Madison’s College for Kids. These programs have an ability requirement and target intellectual and academically advanced students.

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HART – High Ability Reading and Thinking Classes – Gr. 1-5 - Students at each grade level are selected using reading levels, test scores, teacher input, and performance indicators to participate in a small critical thinking and high ability reading group. The Library-Media Specialists conduct the groups using Junior Great Books materials, research materials, and other reading/writing materials to focus on higher level thinking.

Extended Learning Classes – Gr. 3-5 - Eight Extended Learning Classes are offered throughout the district each year. Talented community volunteers teach one-hour classes in the area of their expertise. Students are selected for these classes based on test scores and teacher recommendations. Classes often focus on math, science, or social studies.

Mini-Grant Program – Gr. 3-12 - Mini-Grant projects provide students with an opportunity to recognize a need in their school or community, develop a plan for addressing that need, and then put that plan into action. Each year, 20+ Mini Grants are awarded. Grant money has been provided by the Blackhawk Chapter of Vietnam Veterans, Fort Atkinson Garden Club, the Optimist Club of Fort Atkinson, and the Daily Jefferson County Union / W.D. Hoard Company.

AP Program – Gr. 10-12 - AP classes are college-level classes offered at the High School to meet the needs of bright and gifted students. Students take AP exams in the spring to determine if they will earn college credit. AP classes offer the opportunity for academic rigor along with possible college credit.

FPS – Gr. 4-12 - Future Problem Solving is an international program where students learn a well-defined problem solving method and research topics of major importance to our future. The problem solving method teaches students to uncover underlying problems, brainstorm solutions, and develop action plans to solve problems. Students write final solutions for several problems each year. Parent volunteers coach teams and help students learn the FPS problem solving method.

DI – Gr. K-12 - Destination Imagination is an international program where students build important lifelong skills such as problem solving, teamwork and divergent thinking. Parent volunteers are coaches who cheer from the side as students make all the decisions!

Southern Lakes Anthology – Gr. 3-8 - Students may enter art, prose, poetry, and cartoons in the Southern Lakes Anthology contest. Twenty-four entries are selected at the local level and comprise a small booklet which is sent to area businesses. These twenty-four entries go on to the regional judging to compete for publication in the regional anthology. Winning students attend a regional awards ceremony in Whitewater.

Arts Immersion Day – Gr. 7-8 - students attended a play at UW- Whitewater, speak with the performers after the play, and participate in classes in art, music and drama. Students gifted in the visual and performing arts are invited to apply for the program.

Middle School Leadership Conference – Gr. 6-8 - students spend a day at UW-Whitewater watching a performance by Ardan James on Leadership, then participate in small group leadership building activities. Students gifted in leadership are invited to apply for the program.

Regional Math Meets – Gr. 5-8 – Gifted coordinators gather teams of students from districts participating in the Whitewater TAG Network together for a math competition. Math Meets are held for 5 th-6 th and 7 th-8 th grade students. Four top math students from each grade participate. Winning teams attend a Mega Math Meet in Madison in May.

(Note: The Middle School also sponsors a Mathcounts team which provides a wonderful opportunity for students to learn interesting math and compete in a regional meet.)

MATS – Gr.4-8 - The Midwest Academic Talent Search is a program sponsored by Northwestern University in Illinois. This program allows students to spend a cold winter Saturday morning taking a difficult above-level test. Information from the test helps direct gifted programming for these students. Students are able to practice taking difficult tests in preparation for high stakes pre-college testing.

WCATY Co-Op Classes – Gr. 5-8 - Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth offers co-op classes to meet the needs of highly gifted students from around the area. These classes are mainly online classes with three days of face-to-face class time. Two levels of classes are offered, 5 th –6 th and 7 th –8 th grade students. Classes are taught at a pace and level commiserate with the learning needs of highly gifted students.

GATE Supported Classroom Differentiation:

Intellectual and Academic Giftedness: (Three Levels)

*Bright Students: Bright students make up about 10% of the population. Most of the enrichments or extensions, supplied by textbook companies, target this level student. Differentiated teaching, using high-level questions and high-level options in assignments, helps to meet the needs of these students. In addition we provide Math “4” Binders at the elementary level and Algebra in 8 th grade to support the math needs of bright students. Guided Reading, Literature Studies, Reader’s Workshop, Writer’s Workshop, and anthologies support the language arts needs of bright students.

*Moderately Gifted Students: Gifted students represent the top 2% of students. Gifted students may know as much as 80% of the year’s material prior to entering a grade. Gifted students need well-designed, high-level extensions and enrichment to bring the curriculum to a level appropriate for their abilities. Faster paced instruction is also important for gifted students. These students require some curriculum and pacing modifications to make appropriate academic progress within the regular classroom.

*Highly Gifted Students: Highly gifted students are rare, representing < 1% of the population. Highly gifted students often know material intuitively and can immediately apply concepts to new problems. Highly gifted students often need acceleration, with radical acceleration becoming necessary in a few situations. Highly gifted students need content that has depth and complexity, instruction paced at a rate commensurate with their learning rate, and options to explore advanced level concepts and problems.

Leadership

Students identified in leadership have demonstrated natural talent and learned skills in the area of leadership. Each year a list of identified students is presented to teachers. Teachers work to make leadership opportunities available to students within the school environment. Class activities, especially cooperative group assignments provide students an opportunity to use leadership skills in the classroom. We encourage students identified in leadership to participate in the Mini-Grant Program, run for student council, and participate in other school activities where their leadership skills will be utilized.

Creative Thinking

Students identified in creative thinking have demonstrated the ability to generate original ideas, manipulate information in new and unusual ways, change their thinking to fit new ideas, generate large numbers and a variety of new ideas, and extend and improve existing ideas. Each year a list of identified students is presented to teachers. Teachers work to provide creative students with more options within assignments. The educational practice that works best for creative thinkers is open-ended options within a structured framework of expected outcomes. Rubrics for grading help students to know the structured expectations and also the range of creative leeway for each assignment.