Landstown Mind Vine

Hello readers of the Landstown Mind Vine and welcome to a great new school year!  As we get the year started, it seems appropriate to repeat some former posts with general information.  Below you will find an explanation of the Mind Vine metaphor.  You will meet your GRTs and be given an overview of gifted services available at Landstown Elementary.  If you have questions after reading this info, please feel free to contact me at kim.cabotaje@vbschools.com.

If you’re interested in learning about referral deadlines and gifted testing dates, use the “Important Dates” link in the column on the left to get that information.  Invitations for parent workshops are forthcoming as are regular posts about the exciting new things that will be taking place in the cluster classes.

While we’ll be expanding our knowledge and use of new technology and gifted strategies and materials, we will continue some tried and true learning experiences.  Students in grades 3-5 will again participate in the Word Masters competition as well as conduct rich novel studies, read and discuss Junior Great Books, solve Math Exemplars, investigate M3, complete gifted units and performance tasks and use the Creative Problem Solving process to solve authentic problems.  Finally, students in grade 5 will again take bridge lessons from life bridge master Early Lee Miller.

So, please use The Mind Vine blog as your window into the halls and classrooms of LES as we continue to build and improve gifted services.  If you are new to the blog, Landstown or gifted services, continue beyond the newer posts to see the kinds of learning students engaged in last school year.

Here we go!

Why “mind vine?” you might ask.  I like the vine as a metaphor for the continually evolving gifted learner. 

     A vine, like a growing mind, may take one of many paths—sometimes meandering here and there, often turning back on itself and frequently shooting straight ahead at a rapid pace.  The vine, like the intense gifted child, will sometimes wrap itself firmly around a single sturdy stem or other support.  At other times, quite similar to the gifted learner who demonstrates multiple interests and potential, the vine attaches itself to several objects at once.  When properly nurtured, the vine and the mind can be found regularly unfurling lush new growth and sprouting new, delicate tendrils. 

     And so, the Mind Vine seems an appropriate metaphor for the gifted mind for which we are building services that we hope will support ongoing growth and learning.  Come, have a look at what’s sprouting at Landstown Elementary! 

Kim Cabotaje is beginning her 4th year as the full-time GRT for Landstown Elementary.  In addition to planning and teaching collaboratively with the cluster teachers in grades 2-5, Kim will also be providing weekly lessons in critical and creative thinking to Ms. Hillegass’ a.m. and p.m. kindergarten classes. Kim works with the cluster teachers to provide afterschool training four times a year and will present two workshops for parents of gifted students, one in the fall and one in the spring.  Kim will work with her partner GRT, Ms. Messina, to present a parent workshop on 1st grade referrals and screening in January.  More information on parent workshops will soon be available.

Barbara Messina is beginning her second year as a part-time GRT at LES.  Barbara will work with K and 1 teachers to provide weekly lessons to the students on Tuesdays.  She is at two additional schools during the remainder of the week.  Four times a year, Barbara will provide training to the first grade teachers and will present the parent workshop on first grade referrals and screening with Kim in January.

An Overview of Gifted Services

If your child has been identified as intellectually gifted in VBCPS and you opt to keep him/her in their neighborhood school, they are placed in a gifted cluster classroom. Every school has at least one Gifted Resource Teacher (GRT). Every grade level has at least one Cluster Teacher (CT). Intellectually gifted students as well as other students are placed in the cluster classroom where they receive ongoing gifted services. The CT receives training and support from the GRT. The GRT provides after hours training for the CT four times a year. Every week the GRT and CT plan collaboratively and at least twice a week they teach collaboratively.

Creating a Talent Pool in Grades K and 1

Beginning in kindergarten, the GRT works with the classroom teacher 2-4 times a month to deliver whole group lessons that encourage critical and creative thinking. First grade teachers also receive training from the GRT four times a year to support their efforts to nurture students’ critical and creative thinking.  The classroom teacher may  extend lessons presented by the GRT with materials provided by the her.  These lessons continue throughout first grade.

In first grade, every child receives screening from the gifted testing department. Students who are identified gifted are then placed in the gifted cluster classroom beginning in second grade and throughout their elementary school education.

 More information about the first grade screening process will be provided by the gifted testing department in October. At that time, a four-page flyer will be sent home to the parent of every LES student.

Hold Students

If your child has been tested for gifted and you received notification from the gifted testing department that your child has been placed on “hold,” this simply means that they would like to gather more information before making a final decision about gifted identification.

Students who were screened and tested by the gifted testing department in grade 1 and put on “hold” have been placed in the gifted cluster classroom for second grade. These students will complete a series of performance tasks throughout the year and will be tested again in the spring.

The GRT and CT will work together to administer tasks in Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies. You will receive word from the gifted testing department about a decision by the end of the school year. After second grade, only students who have been identified as intellectually gifted are guaranteed placement in the gifted cluster classroom.

ODC Dance and Art Programs

LES students will attend ODC Art and Dance Programs on Friday this year beginning September 17.  Students must arrive early to LES so that they can catch the ODC bus that picks them up at 7:10 a.m. Students are to attend ODC on all regular school Fridays with the exception of testing periods and the dates when ODC is working on their screening process for new applicants.

Both of these programs provide newsletters for their students. If you are interested in having your child apply for either the art or dance program, contact your GRT. More information about the application process for these programs will be provided by the gifted testing department in October. At that time, a four-page flyer will be sent home to the parent of every LES student.

Middle School Programs

Will your child be moving on up to Middle School this year? If so, he or she will have the opportunity to apply to the full-time gifted program at Kemps Landing Middle School (KLMS) as well as the Middle Years Program (MYP) at Plaza Middle School. More information about the middle school options will be provided later this fall.