The primary purpose of the Gifted and Talented Program is to serve the academically gifted and talented students of our school district. Students are identified for this program by assessment on a standardized cognitive test, achievement tests, in combination with teacher recommendation scores. Identified elementary students receive pull out services in a resource room provided by the Gifted and Talented teacher. ISD 196 has selected the Otis-Lennon School Abilities test to measure cognitive ability. The test is administered to all 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students in October when they take the Standford achievement Tests which are used to measure academic learning. If a child qualifies for gifted and talented services, a letter of notification and permission to participate is sent home to the child's parents.

The GT curriculum includes units in creative thinking, critical thinking, problem solving, invention, research, and selected special topics. The GT curriculum may include some enrichment activities that relate to the classroom curriculum, but it is not designed to accelerate any academic areas taught in the classroom. Core curriculum enrichment is handled within the regular classroom and may include ability grouping for certain subject areas. Flexible grouping techniques are also used within the regular classroom to meet the needs of high ability students. Gifted and talented students meet with the GT teacher for 30-90 minutes per week.

Students in grades K-5 may be selected to participate in enrichment groups with other students of high ability (those performing above regular expectations) at their grade world with puzzle piece cut outlevel. Teachers may select students for these groups based on test scores and/or classroom observation. Content covered in these groups may be subject-specific (i.e., math or reading), or in areas such as research or problem solving. These groups are flexible so that some students may be part of one or two during the year, while other students may be included in groups throughout the year. Enrichment groups usually meet once per week for 30-45 minutes.

The Creativity Festival celebrates creative intelligences by introducing students to a variety of creative professionals. The students will be able to attend three hands-on, brains-on sessions led by scientists, inventors, explorers and visual artists. Third anhair standing up from static electricityd fifth grade GT students attend this event at Ted Mann Concert Hall on the U of M campus in January, and the fifth grade GT students attend at the Science Museum of Minnesota in November. More information at this link: http:// www.successbeyond.org

The ISD 196 Inventors fair teaches and encourages students to use creative and problem solving techniques to bring creative ideas to life through the medium of invention. All ISD 196 students in grades four and five are eligible to participate. This fabulous event takes place every January. Ask Mrs. Madson for the details. The Young Inventor's Fair web site, maintained by Metro ECSU has an updated site that contains the new version of the Prior Art Gazette. The gazette's purpose is for inventors to do required research of their inventive ideas during the actual inventing process. This site also contains a lot of other useful invention information: www.successbeyond.org

Other programs and opportunities offered at Southview include: The Young Author's Conference (4th Grade), Geography Bee (4-5th grade), and Young Scholars Program (K-3 grade).

Do you know about the Minnesota Council For the Gifted and Talented? It is a nonprofit organization of parents and professionals dedicated to promoting better understanding of, and curriculum for, gifted and talented children. The MCGT office is an important source of information on gifted and talented topics in Minnesota. In addition to providing bimonthly newsletter; participates in a national network through its affiliation with the National Association for Gifted Children and other organizations; sponsors and annual state conference with a special children's program; offers information, literature and referral services; and is active in legislative efforts on the state level in collaboration with the Minnesota Educators of the Gifted and Talented (MEGT).

National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
Minnesota Educators of the Gifted and Talented
Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented
Hoagies Gifted Education Page