At McGraw Elementary, an IB World School, all students receive a level of support that enables them to succeed within the range of their abilities. Our staff implements learning and teaching practices that address individual student's learning needs. This is especially true for our Gifted and Talented students. The IB Primary Years Program is designed to promote student agency and enrich and extend student learning. As a result, our students are well prepared to take advantage of acceleration opportunities, where appropriate, in both the middle school and high school setting.
Each classroom provides differentiated instruction. Differentiation begins with the process of identifying, in partnership with each learner, the most effective strategies for achieving learning goals. Dynamic groupings within classrooms, use of pre-assessments to discover students' strengths and areas to focus instruction on, targeted instruction based on ongoing assessments and provision of resources designed to address students' level of readiness are some examples of how students’ learning goals are achieved. Enrichment groups and other opportunities may also be offered, based on the needs and interests of students who qualify for GT services at McGraw.
The IB Primary Years Program curriculum engages students in rich tasks which invite an open-ended exploration of a topic or concept. It presents substantive, real problems to solve and engages learners in taking self-initiated action which has a positive impact on our local and global communities. Inquiry, as the dominant mode of instruction at McGraw, takes many forms. A few examples of inquiry are Socratic Seminars, inquiry circles, individualized student research projects, Genius Hour and the 5th Grade PYP Exhibition.
At McGraw, students explore transdisciplinary units with concept-based central ideas to develop depth and detail in their knowledge and understanding. During these units students integrate knowledge and skills to challenge and extend their thinking and learning (e.g. explaining a phenomenon, solving a problem, creating a product or raising new questions).
Please see our responses to these frequently asked questions about how we meet the needs of students identified as gifted and talented.
Contact Paul Schkade, McGraw Gifted and Talented Program Coordinator, at pschkade@psdschools.org with any further questions you have about the Gifted and Talented program at McGraw.