Mrs. Litolff's EXCEL

EXCEL=EXceptional Children's Education in Lamar County

The students did an awesome job wrapping up their Medieval Times Unit.  They presented slides, stories, and "bottle people" to their homeroom classes and received rave reviews from classmates and teachers.  Students have brought home their products to share with their families as well.  Please make sure reports are signed and returned.

We are now conducting a Mystery Science Unit-The Case of the Missing Lunch.  Students are learning how to use deductive reasoning and analogical thinking to locate the culprit.  This unit is ideal for developing critical thinking skills and moving students away from just guessing to actually locating evidence and being able to evaluate and investigate.

Please see the link below to see pictures from our Renaissance Presentation.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DB&Dato=20111130&Kategori=PHOTOGALLERIES&Lopenr=111300801&Ref=PH&odyssey=mod|galleriespic|umbrella

2nd grade gifted process skills

analogical thinking(ability to identify a relationship between two familiar items or event for the purpose of problem solving or creative productivity)

attribute listing(identifying qualities, characteristics, and dimensions of a product, process, or problem)

writing skills/creative writing(expression of one's own unique experiences, feelings, perceptions, and creative thoughts)

deductive reasoning(involves arriving at a conclusion based on a process that moves away from the general to the specific)

fact & opinion(something that is known to have happened vs. a judgement or belief)

figural reasoning(involves concrete forms that are perceived through sensory experiences)

fluency, flexibility, originality, & elaboration(creative thinking skills)

listening skills(giving meaning to the sounds one hears)

research skills, descriptive & definitional(formalized curiosity, designed to provide new knowledge or understanding in a particular area)

spontaneous thinking(arises from within, without apparent external cause, self generated, voluntary, impulsive, and unpremeditated)

visualization(ability to recall or create pictures in the mind)

 

3rd grade gifted process skills

(all of the above + the following)

divergent thinking(to generate many answers to different situations)

intuitive reasoning(to recognize intuitive reasoning when it occurs and be able to use the steps of intuitive reasoning as tools for personal growth)

 risk taking(to understand affective behavior of risk taking, experience exposing oneself to failure and ctiticism, and defend one's ideas)

prediction (to exercise ctitical judgement and creative thinking to gather, evaluate, and use information for effective problem solving and decision making in the future)

4th Grade Process Skills

(All of the 2nd & 3rd plus the following)

problem solving (creative, scientific, prepare/incubate/illuminate /verify)

higher order thinking skills (Bloom's taxonomy-synthesizing & evaluating)

interpersonal relationships (making connections and affiliations)

leadership styles (providing direction, implementing plans, motivating others)

5th Grade Process Skills

(all 2-4 plus the following)

debating skills (distinguishing between vital and unimportant information)

decision making (evaluate ideas, identify alternatives)

inductive reasoning (generate possible solutions for various examples)

morphological analysis/synthesis (generating matrix of attributes and connections)

propaganda techniques (serving an agenda, influencing attitudes)

speaking skills (participate in oral activities that articulate thought, opinion, and feeling)