Enrichment News

Gifted Enrichment Update

New Information:

• October Enrichment Sessions
• Enrichment Session Slideshow
• October Enrichment Photo Gallery
• November Enrichment Schedule
• Spelling Bee
• Brain Bowl
• Rubik's Cubes
• Design Lab for 9-12
• Fall Gifted Testing Results

In Every Issue - General Information:

• Enrichment Pullout Groups
• NEW Accelerated Math Program
• Gifted Education 101
• Great Sites to Check Out
  
• TEMOTAD :-)
  

Enrichment sessions include a variety of activities and tasks that challenge students to use critical and creative thinking abilities while developing skills in communication and collaboration.

I set up my Enrichment Sessions on a four week rotation. Weeks 1 & 3 focus on Math, and weeks 2 and 4 focus on ELA. I try to add Science and Social Studies concepts into lessons when possible.

Click the button below to see the slideshow used for our October week #3 lesson. Ask your student to model how we approach each task.

Directive Detectives are a very challenging reading and comprehension activity that requires students to apply critical thinking skills to understand and follow written directions. Easy? No. Very challenging and confusing. Here is an example of one of the directions:

"Find the line where the first two letters of the fourth word on that line and the first letter of the fifth word on that line combine together to make the sixth word on that line, circle the first three-letter word to appear in front of the last six-letter word on that line and number it 40."

These types of activities are why I am called TEMOTAD (The Evil Mistress Of Torture And Doom) - because they make your head HURT!!!

The PRM Spelling Bee returns for 2024-25!

We will hold the first round of the Spelling Bee the week of December 2 - 6 during Library Class for each 6-9 and 9-12 community. During the first round, we select the classroom Spelling Bee winner who will be invited to compete in the school Spelling Bee in January.

A few classes will be on field trips that week so we will schedule those classes for the following Monday in my room.

Spelling word lists will be shared the week of November 12th. Any student that wishes to participate is welcome to do so. Classroom winners will receive a certificate, and the school winner will receive a medal and be invited to advance to the next level of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The first round of tryouts for PRM's Brain Bowl team will be held the week of November 18th.

Our team must be made up of 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students, with no more than 50% being 6th graders. We only take 16 players, which allows us to make sure every team member gets to play in each match.

The first round of tryouts consists of a written quiz made up of questions from prior Brain Bowl competitions. We take the top scoring students from each grade and then invite them to participate in the second and final round of tryouts which is set up just like a regular Brain Bowl match. The second round of tryouts will take place on December 6th from 2:30 to 4:30. We look for how well students handle the competition setup, sportsmanship, and overall performance.

The team selection will be announced on Monday, December 9th and our first practice will be Thursday, December 12 from 2:30 to 4:00.

I am looking for more Rubik's Cubes for our Enrichment Program. If you have one collecting dust or would like to purchase one to donate to our program, it would be greatly appreciated.

My goal is to have at least 500 cubes in our collection so that students can design and build mosaics.

Push Play is the theme for the 2025 DesignLAB competition. I am looking forward to a terrific year with our 9-12 level creative thinkers as we return to the regional competition. I am pulling the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders for Design LAB sessions this month!

Bo Hubbard is returning as our volunteer architect, and will start meeting with us in January.

The district should be releasing results from Fall testing later this month, or in early December. It is my understanding that the results will be shared in FOCUS. If you have questions about your student's results or gifted qualifications, please contact me at bonfiej@cpsboe.k12.oh.us.

Once I have a list of students that meet the criteria to be identified as gifted, I will send a notification letter home to parents along with a permission form to pull the student if I am not already working with them.

CPS uses various assessment instruments to test for giftedness in specific academic areas.

MAP, i-Ready, and the Iowa Assessments are approved by the State of Ohio for gifted identification in Reading and Math. Students in grades 2-6 who score at or above the 95th percentile on a reading or math assessment will be identified as gifted.

There are more than 100 students at PRM identified as gifted, and that number will grow to over 120 after we complete the Fall testing. My goal is to be able to work with every single PRM student on a regular basis, no matter what their area(s) of identification. I have posted my program below to give you an idea of the frequency that I might be pulling your student. If you are not sure when your student will be pulled to work with me, please reach out to me at bonfiej@cpsboe.k12.oh.us

Superior Cognitive Ability Groups

1st grade - Every Wednesday

3rd grade - Every Tuesday or Wednesday

4th grade - Every Monday and Wednesday

5th grade - Every Tuesday and Thursday

6th grade - Every Tuesday and Thursday

Creative Thinkers/DesignLAB

3rd grade - Fridays, Weeks 2 and 4

4th grade - Fridays, Weeks 1 and 3 (during semester 1)

5th grade - Fridays, Weeks 2 and 4 (during semester 1)

6th grade - Fridays, Weeks 2 and 4 (during semester 1)

Math, ELA, Science, Social Studies, Performing Arts (musical or visual)

Frequency of participation will vary based on area of identification, but students should see me at least once or twice a month for enrichment.

3rd grade - Thursdays

4th grade - Fridays

5th grade - Fridays

6th grade - Wednesdays

7th Grade Accelerated Math

Every day.

We are expanding our gifted services to include accelerated math!

In the 6-9 Montessori setting, informal math acceleration can occur naturally for first and second grade students but it becomes difficult to meet the needs of a third grader who is performing consistently above grade level. Formal math acceleration is most often the best option to meet the needs of these students. Starting this year, third grade students participating in the acceleration program will take fourth grade math with our Math Specialist, Ms. Alexa Fulmer in a daily 40 minute pullout class. Ms. Alexa will be the math teacher of record for these students, and will be responsible for providing math lessons, grades, and differentiation as needed. These students will take the fourth grade Math OST in the spring.

When these students rise to the 9-12 level classrooms, they will take fifth grade math as fourth graders, and sixth grade math as fifth graders. In sixth grade they will be enrolled in the middle school math class 7AA which is an accelerated math class covering both 7th and 8th grade math. The 7AA math class is taught by me in our gifted & enrichment room.

Eligibility for the program is determined through scores on a state mandated rubric, the Iowa Acceleration Scale. This instrument evaluates academic achievement in math, participation, attendance, academic self-concept, and completion of assigned work on time to a high standard.

A student can be referred for math acceleration at any time during the school year. If you are interested in learning more about math acceleration please reach out to me.

We have a beautiful new space for our gifted and enrichment program! This space will allow me to build the program that I have dreamed of for the past ten years. I am in the process of redesigning my curriculums and overall program model, so it will take a bit of time for all the pieces to fall into place. Once I have it worked out, we will have a program that will set standards of excellence for gifted programs in a Montessori setting.

In Ohio, public school districts are required to identify students in grades K-12 for gifted identification in the following areas:

• Superior Cognitive Ability
• Creative Thinking Ability
• Specific Academic Ability - Reading
• Specific Academic Ability - Math
• Specific Academic Ability - Science
• Specific Academic Ability - Social Studies
• Performing Musical Arts: Instrumental
• Performing Musical Arts: Vocal
• Performing Visual Arts
• Performing Arts: Dance
• Performing Arts: Drama

Unfortunately, school districts are not required to provide any form of service or enrichment to those identified students. In most cases, it is the responsibility of the classroom teachers or fine arts specialists to provide differentiation or enrichment opportunities to meet the needs of our gifted students during the school day.

Education Standards for the Classroom

Educators are expected to follow the state learning standards for the grades and content they teach. At PRM, our teachers also follow a Montessori curriculum which often provides gifted students the opportunity to explore content and express their understanding in unique and creative ways.

Gifted Education Standards for Enrichment

I use the National Standards for Gifted Education to develop my gifted and enrichment programming. These standards focus on creating and providing learning environments that encourage awareness and understanding of interests, strengths and needs, along with the development of cognitive, social, emotional, and psychosocial skills.

Gifted & Enrichment Pullout Groups

Students are pulled out of their regular classrooms for enrichment activities and gifted services. Some groups meet weekly, some monthly, or quarterly. Groupings and schedules are determined based on grade levels, area(s) of gifted identification, and need.

Superior Cognitive Ability

Students identified as gifted in Superior Cognitive Ability have unique characteristics and needs, often requiring additional support to fully develop their talent potential. Enrichment options and expectations are tailored to meet the specific needs of each student.

I am so happy to be torturing, er, I mean working with the amazing students, staff, and families of Pleasant Ridge Montessori. I consider it a great honor to be given the opportunity to enrich the lives of this community and to help guide our future scholars, leaders, and creatives.

Since 1999, I have worked with more than 2000 gifted students in grades K through 8 in various public school settings.

Email: bonfiej@cpsboe.k12.oh.us

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