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Grades 4-5
Accelerated Math: This is the assignmed math class for a student placed into the accelerated program. The course is a rigorous compacted curriculum.
Project Challenge Academic: Students are pulled-out and exposed to thinking skills through interdisciplinary lessons, problem solving activities, critical and creative thinking.
Project Challenge Art: Students are pulled-out to further develop their love for the arts, creativity ability, and artistic talents.
Accelerated Math
The gifted and talented math courses in fourth and fifth grade are taught by Mrs. Schaffner and meet daily. These courses move at an accelerated pace, and students have been placed into the program based upon their accelerated math placement test score, local score on the quantitative battery on the CogAT, past report card grades, student portfolios, and rating scales/forms.
Contact Information:
Teacher-Christina Yi: cyi@mahwah.k12.nj.us
Supervisor- Ofeer Kearns: okearns@mahwah.k12.nj.us
Supervisor-Courtney Carrelha: ccarrelha@mahwah.k12.nj.us
Project Challenge 4
Thinking About Thinking
Thinking is a mental activity that is used to resolve doubt about what to do, what to believe, or what to desire or seek. Thinking and understanding how and why we think creates life long problem solvers. During this unit of study, students will understand the importance of metacognition, as they develop their thinking skills. They will explore Gardner's Theory on Multiple Intelligences and use the information they learned to personalize their own learning. They will also examine and build upon their lateral, divergent, and convergent thinking as they explore real world problems, logic puzzles, and brain teasers. Using creativity and logical reasoning, students will be able to develop solutions to problems big and small. The thinking skills taught and reinforced in this unit will provide students the necessary thinking skills to grow as 21st century (and beyond) problem solvers.
Critical Thinking ThrougH Mock Trial
The Mock Trial program provides gifted students in grade 4 with an opportunity to learn basic law principles, trial practices and procedures, leadership skills, and research skills. Students learn how to participate in small and large group discussions, conduct peer debates, and take on the role of jurors to discuss both civil and criminal cases. Students also have the opportunity to learn about what happens when citizens choose not to follow the law in their community and in the United States. The final project of this course is a competition entry of a mock trial, to be submitted to the New Jersey State Bar Foundation for the Law Fair Competition. Students also write scripts and perform their cases for an audience of peers and families.
Innovation and Design
The concept of design is introduced by presenting the engineering design process. Students learn that design is not necessarily restricted to engineering, but a general concept applicable to all aspects of learning and life. Through this unit students will explore the engineering design process while focusing on open-ended problem solving and learning through hands on experience. Students will research the problem, imagine and develop possible solutions, select a promising solution and plan, build a prototype through creation, test and evaluate the solution, and improve as needed. Through critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity students will create innovative solutions to challenges in all disciplines in and out of the classroom.
Project Challenge 5
Global Citizenship
The term Global Citizen means that each individual has rights and responsibilities that come with being a citizen of the entire world, rather than a particular nation or place. So, Global Citizenship is the idea that we are one global community, and therefore our choices and actions may affect people and communities locally, nationally or even internationally. Global citizenship nurtures respect and tolerance for others, global awareness, and empathy. This course centers on contemporary global issues. It is designed to enhance student understanding of Four-Golden Skills: Empathy, Mindfulness, Compassion, and Critical Inquiry. Students will acquire the social and emotional knowledge to understand the need for people to work together from all over the world, the creativity to develop sustainable solutions to complex problems, and recognize that individuals collaborating together can truly make a difference.
Project Citizen
Now that students are aware of what it means to be a Global Citizen they will apply their knowledge to be a problem solver. The goal of this unit is to use the community solving process to gain experience in authentic applications, through the development of a project that solves a real-life problem internationally based upon the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Social Entrepeneurship
Students will develop an entrepreneurial mindset, a mindset of critical thinking and problem solving in an authentic setting. Students will participate in the Stock Market Game is an online simulation of the global capital markets and engages students in the world of economics, investing and personal finance with the goal of preparing them for financially independent futures. Participants are given a virtual $100,000 that they are responsible for monitoring and developing using real-time trading. Played as a team of 3-5 members, students will develop and enhance skills in leadership, management, research, problem solving, and team-building all while remaining directly engaged in the classroom and the real world. Through real-world projects, students will be exposed to different types of innovative entrepreneurial concepts, such as design thinking, rapid prototyping, and team-building. Students will also be challenged to identify and develop their personal professional strengths along with their innovative spirits.
Entrepeneurs in Action
Students have learned how to become entrepenuers through the stock market simulation activity. In this unit the students apply their knowledge to set up their own Joyce Kilmer Corporation. They name their new company, sell shares of stock to raise capital, and develop a product, which they advertise and sell to schoolmates. The goal of the course is to give the students a broader knowledge of business andeconomics and to provide the students with the tools to succeed as an entrepreneur, small business owner, economics student and/or a consumer.
Project Challenge Art
Those students who qualify for the gifted and talented art pullout program meet with the Gifted and Talented Art teacher twice weekly for instruction. The Program is designed to give students who qualify for admission the opportunity to further develop their creative ability and artistic skills.
Students who are identified as being gifted in the arts exhibit several or all of the following characteristics:
1. The student exhibits superior ability in expressing ideas visually and can create art works in drawing and a variety of mediums.
2. The student possesses a high curiosity level and active imagination.
3. The student seeks challenging experiences and is goal‐oriented with high personal standards.
4. The student is capable of original thinking and develops unique, unconventional solutions to artistic problems.
5. The student responds with ease and enthusiasm to creating art projects.
6. The student works well independently, with concentration and focus, for long periods of time.
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