Challenge pull-out enrichment program
The JAWS program serves students one day per week, in a pull-out model. The JAWS curriculum is a challenging three year course of study that develops skills, attitudes and self- understanding. Participation in JAWS offers students an opportunity to explore aspects of giftedness through the cognitive and affective domains. Academically it is differentiated for highly capable students, with work of greater depth and complexity in high interest areas outside the regular core curriculum. The JAWS program enriches and supplements the regular core curriculum; it does not supplant it.
A student successfully completing the JAWS curriculum is on the way to becoming a competent, self-motivated, lifelong learner who can do research and gather information, think critically and creatively, communicate with others and problem solve. The JAWS program has five areas of focus which are taught through various content/lessons at each grade level. The list below offers examples of what students may experience while in the JAWS program.
Gifted students experience asynchronous development, (that is, uneven development in their intellectual, physical, social and emotional growth). They also have an unusual perspective on the world around them. The gifted must learn how to best use their cognitive powers to make sense of their emotional and social needs. All too often, the pressure to achieve has negative effects on the emotional development of the gifted that have not been given the opportunity to know themselves as people and learners. This kind of learning is needed throughout the academic career. Students should know and understand techniques and principles of social cooperation. In JAWS, students will develop/strengthen their self-awareness and social skills through experiences relating to:
ATTITUDE AND SELF-UNDERSTANDING SKILLS
Research is the art of investigation. Teaching research is a developmental process. Many gifted learners work independently in their areas of high interest or unusual ability. Therefore, methods of research, research concepts, and research location skills are needed if gifted learners are to move efficiently along the continuum toward more autonomous learning. In JAWS, students will develop/strengthen their research skills by:
RESEARCH SKILLS
Critical thinking is a composite of attitudes, knowledge, and skills that facilitate in-depth, reflective research for valid conclusions which solve problems, resolve doubts, and enable choices. “Learning is learning to think” (John Dewey). Students should know and understand the components of various systems of thinking. Societies need thinkers and problem solvers. In JAWS, students will develop/strengthen critical thinking skills through:
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
“Without knowledge, imagination cannot be productive. Without imagination, abundant knowledge cannot help us to live in a world of change. Without the ability to synthesize, evaluate, and develop our ideas, we achieve no creativity.” (Parnes) Creative thinking can be taught and enhanced in environments that allow for ambiguity, openness, questioning, production, independence, exploration, inferring, testing hypotheses, and creative expression. Societies need creative thinkers and problem solvers who invent/find alternate solutions. In JAWS, students will develop/strengthen creative thinking skills through various methods including some of the following creative thinking techniques:
CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS
Gifted students need to develop self-awareness, learn to work with others, and contribute to their community. They need to learn how to function in a group, as well as independently. Communication is a key to dealing with others. In JAWS, students will develop/strengthen communication skills in the following areas:
COMMUNICATION SKILLS