Academics are the center focal point of the GT program in Kentwood. We strive to maintain a competitive, engaging, and rigorous atmosphere. In our efforts to create the most comprehensive and complete program students will participate in classes that are accelerated through curriculum compacting. This means PEAKS students will move through materials quicker, and thus leaving them more opportunity to choose and conduct research with a focus on inquiry-based activities.
In the GT classrooms we strive to not only meet the state standards, but to push beyond the standards and learn content that is considered:
- In-depth,
- Student-driven
- Advanced placement and College preparatory
This is done through curriculum acceleration, high rigor, accountability, and student-driven research projects. In the middle school PEAKS program we must prepare our students for the demands of Advanced Placement (AP) high school courses; therefore many of our classes are structured with this in mind.
Please utilize the drop-down above to access individual classes.
Our GT program utilizes Quadrant D thinking and questioning, of the Rigor and Relevance Framework, as the source for its academic programs. Students must be able to think critically, question, and logically prove an argument.
The Rigor/Relevance Framework is based on the two dimensions of higher standards and student achievement. The low end of the continuum involves acquiring basic knowledge, and being able to recall that information. The high end, requires that students utilize the knowlege to not only apply to real-world situations, but also adapt and assimilate the knowledge for situations in creative and logical ways. PEAKS GT program asks students to think and reason in Quadrant D. (Jones, 2012) |
Quadrant A - Teacher Works
Quadrant B - Student Works Quadrant C - Student Thinks Quadrant D - Student Works and Thinks |
Kentwood's District-Wide Literacy Expectations - Cross Curricular
Students are required to master and demonstrate mastery of the following literacy skills in ALL content areas:
READING
- To comprehend content (both literal and inferential)
- To apply pre-reading, during reading and post-reading strategies to all reading assignments, including determining purpose and pre-learning vocabulary
- To research a topic
- To gather information
- To comprehend an argument
- To determine the main idea of a passage
- To understand a concept and construct meaning to expand one’s experiences and build background knowledge
- To convey one’s thinking in complete sentences
- To debate an issue
- To participate using inquiry in class discussion or a public forum
- To make an oral presentation to one’s class, one’s peers, one’s community
- To present one’s learning through one’s work
- To respond to what one has read, viewed, or heard
- To communicate in a manner that allows one to be both heard and understood
- To take notes
- To explain one’s thinking
- To argue a thesis and support one’s thinking
- To compare and contrast
- To write a constructed response
- To describe an experiment, report one’s findings, and report one’s conclusion
- To generate a response to what one has read, viewed or heard
- To convey one’s thinking in complete sentences
- To develop an expository essay with a formal structure
- To create, interpret and explain a table, chart or graph
- To compute, interpret and explain numbers
- To read, break down and solve a real world problem
- To interpret and present statistics that support an argument or hypothesis
- To identify a pattern, explain a pattern and/or make a prediction based on a pattern
- To detect the fallacy in an argument or a proof
- To evaluate the logic of an argument or solution
- To use analogies and/or evidence to support one’s thinking
- To explain and/or interpret relationships of space and time
Common Core State Standards
Why Common Core?
Parent's Guides to CCSS Academic Success
6th Grade
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7th Grade
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8th Grade
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