ilearn schools
gifted & talented
2023-2024
Continuum of Services
iLearn Schools offers various tiered programming and services for gifted and talented students, with highly selective eligibility requirements for Tier III programming, i.e. iStellar.
Students who achieve above a certain percentile ranking among their district peers but didn’t officially qualify for G&T services (top 2%-6%) may still be considered for the Rising Talent Pool and benefit from certain Tier I & II services.
Tier I: ACCOMMODATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM
iLearn Schools Gifted and Talented Department provides Accommodations in the Classroom for K-12 students identified as G&T through a variety of programming options and services.
← To read more about G&T accommodations in the classroom, please click on the available educational programming and service options as outlined under individual tabs on the left side of this column.FOR TEACHERS
iLearn Schools has put together a G&T Handbook for Teachers that provides information on giftedness, common traits and characteristics (including twice-exceptionality), and educational programming tools and strategies appropriate for K-12 classroom use:
DIFFERENTIATION
WHAT IT IS NOT?
- Individual Lesson Plans
- A set of strategies
- A list of choices
- Additional Assignments
- Not just different (Roberts & Inman, 2012, slides 4-5)
WHAT IT IS?
“Differentiation instruction is a proactively planned, interdependent system marked by a positive community of learners, focused high quality curriculum, ongoing assessment, flexible instructional arrangements, [and] respectful tasks.” (Beasley, 2009, slide 2)
HOW-TO USE DIFFERENTIATION IN THE CLASSROOM
To learn more about Differentiation, implementations strategies and case examples in the classroom for different subject areas, please review the relevant section of the iLearn G&T Program Staff Handbook and G&T Strategy Manual.
ADDITIONAL READING
"Differentiating Curriculum and Instruction" National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)"Five Dimensions of Differentiation" Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development, UCONN"Curriculum Compacting" National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)"Compacting" Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development, UCONN"Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom" Carol Ann Tomlinson, Tonya R. Moon. ASCDGROUPING
Grouping gifted children is one of the foundations of exemplary gifted education practice. The research on the many grouping strategies available to educators of these children is long, consistent, and overwhelmingly positive (Rogers, 2006; Tieso, 2003).
Flexible Grouping
Like-ability Cooperative Groups
– when a teacher decides to use cooperative learning groups in a mixed ability classroom, the highest ability 3-4 students are grouped together for a differentiated cooperative task or learning experience and given differentiated expectations or assessments for the experience
HOW-TO USE GROUPING STRATEGIES IN THE CLASSROOM
To learn more about Flexible/Ability Grouping, implementations strategies and case examples in the classroom, please review the relevant section of the iLearn G&T Program Staff Handbook and G&T Strategy Manual.
ADDITIONAL READING
"Differentiation Through Flexible Grouping" Ford. Michael. P. 2005. University of Wisconsin Oshkosh"A Teacher's Guide to Flexible Grouping and Collaborative Learning" Brulles. Brown. Spirit PublishingACCELERATION
Acceleration occurs when students move through traditional curriculum at rates faster than typical.
Advanced Placement
iLearn Schools offers acceleration at the high school level, through AP course offerings in grades 9-12.
MORE ABOUT ACCELERATION IN THE CLASSROOM
To learn more about Acceleration, implementations strategies and current offerings, please review the relevant section of the iLearn G&T Program Staff Handbook and G&T Strategy Manual.
ADDITIONAL READING
"Acceleration" National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
TWICE EXCEPTIONALITY
Twice-Exceptional students are;
those who are identified as gifted and talented who also have met criteria for an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a Section 504 plan.
NAGC Definition
A term used to describe a student who is both gifted and disabled. These students may also be referred to as having dual exceptionalities or as being gifted with learning disabilities (GT/LD).)
MORE ABOUT TWICE-EXCEPTIONAL SUPPORT IN THE CLASSROOM
To learn more about Twice-Exceptionality, identification strategies and current support programs, please review the relevant section of the iLearn G&T Program Staff Handbook and G&T Strategy Manual.
ADDITIONAL READING
"Twice-Exceptional Students" National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)
Tier II: ACCOMMODATIONS BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
iLearn Schools is committed to serving students with gifts and talented outside of the classroom through G&T after-school clubs, workshops featuring expert speakers, academic winter and summer camps, field trips, leadership training, and one-on-one academic and social-emotional support counseling.
← To find out more about G&T accommodations beyond the classroom, including list of club offerings (with syllabi and teacher resource links), details on upcoming workshops, camps, field trips, and one-on-one counseling services, please click on the individual tabs located on the left side of this column.
iLearn Schools Gifted and Talented Department organizes annual winter and summer accelerated intensive academic camps and field trips open to G&T & Rising Talent Pool students. For upcoming camp and filed dates and locations, please visit the Camps | Trips tab often.
2023-2024 Events:
TBA
Past Events:
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MathCON Chicago Trip April 29th-31st, 2022 "MathCON Finals Competition"
iLearn MathCON finalists compete at the national round of Chicago-based mathematics competition on April 30th, 2022.
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iStellar Winter Boot Camp @ Montclair State University January 18th-19th, 2020 "2-Day Accelerated Competitive Mathematics"
iStellar students participate in a 2-Day intensive competitive mathematics boot-camp at Montclair State University, and train for MATHCOUNTS, Math League, Math Kangaroo, and AMC 10/12 competitions. Featuring sports, chess, board game tournaments, and prizes! Lunch provided. -
MathCON Chicago Trip April 26th-28th, 2019 "MathCON Finals Competition"
iLearn MathCON finalists compete at the national round of Chicago-based mathematics competition on April 27th, 2019.
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IN COLLABORATION WITH ILEARN SCHOOLS COUNSELORS
One-On-One Counseling
iLearn Schools Counselors work with students identified as gifted and talented, provide counseling services in academics, career planning, and social emotional needs.
COUNSELING G&T STUDENTS
To read more about counseling Gifted populations, please refer to iLearn Counseling Gifted Students Staff Handbook.
For more information on G&T One-on-One Counseling, please reach out to your school campus counselor.
iLearn Schools Gifted and Talented Department may endorse the following list of clubs under designated subject categories. Club offerings are subject to student demand and campus teacher availability. If you would like to see any of the clubs listed below offered in your school campus, please fill out the Campus Club Access Form.
I. MATHEMATICS & COMPUTATIONAL THINKING:
- Chess Club (1-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Gifted Math Club (1-3) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Competitive Mathematics Club (4-5) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- MathCounts Club (6-8) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- PRIMES Math Circle (9-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
II. ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS:
- Battle of the Books (3-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Gifted Literacy Club (1-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- NYTimes Literary Club (5-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
III. COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING DESIGN:
- Girls Who Code (3-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Hacking Club (4-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Robotics Club (3-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
IV. FINTECH:
- Crypto & Blockchain Club (4-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Stock Market Game Club (4-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
V. LEADERSHIP:
- Lead4Change Club (6-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
VI. ARTS:
- Gifted Artists Club (1-12) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
iLearn Academy is a federal grant program funded by the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) initiative dedicated exclusively to supporting local afterschool, before-school and summer learning programs.
iLearn Academy offers select Gifted & Talented Department endorsed courses on a first come first serve basis, making gifted programming and services more accessible for all avid learners. Course offerings are subject to student demand and campus teacher availability. Current course offerings may include;
- Chess (4-8) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Crypto & Blockchain (4-8) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Hacking (4-8) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Lead4Change (6-8) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- NYTimes Literary Challenge (4-8) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Robotics (4-8) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
- Stock Market Game (6-8) (Syllabus) (Teacher Resources)
For more information on admissions and program application process, visit iLearn Academy website.
The Mission of iLearn Schools’ Pathway to College (PTC) Program is to prepare students in 7th to 12th grades to become well-rounded individuals by actively following their interests, diversifying their experiences, and getting more education.
Pathway to College Program (PTC) is designed by Counseling Department at iLearn Schools to help qualified students to improve their academic and social skills, support personal development and enrich education with extracurricular activities.
For more information on admissions and program application process, visit iLearn Pathway to College (PTC) Program website.iLearn Schools Gifted and Talented Department offers district-wide workshops on contemporary academic, intellectual, and artistic topics featuring expert speakers throughout the academic year. For more information on upcoming G&T workshop event dates and RSVP links, please visit the Workshops tab often.
Are you a subject expert? Are you interested in sharing your professional talents and interests with iLearn G&T students? To host or request a new workshop not listed below, please complete the iLearn Community Resources Form.
2023-2024 Workshops
To be announced.
Past Events
CyberStart America April 1st - 27th, 2022
"High School Cybersecurity Competition Training" featuring Veselin Zehirov | M.Ed. in Computer Science (RSVP)
iLearn Gifted Month Workshop March 30st, 2022
"Crafting The NY Times Editorial Piece" featuring Emily Susko | B.A. in English, Rowan University (RSVP)
iLearn CSEd Week December 12th-18th, 2021
"Computer Science Ed Week: G&T/CS Workshops and Artificial Intelligence Day Camp powered by MIT Media Lab" featuring Mr Yasin Kocak and Mr Veselin Zehirov
iLearn AMC 10/12 Competition Week November 10th-16th, 2021
"AMC 10/12 Competition Week: G&T Workshop and Official Competition Day" featuring Mr James Candela (RSVP)
iStellar Workshop February 4th, 2021 "Exploring Computer Science and Engineering Careers" featuring Igor Ganichev | MIT
'06, UC Berkeley '11 | VMWare, Google (RSVP)
iLearn Gifted Month Workshop March 31st, 2021
"Crafting Your First NY Times Editorial Piece" featuring Emily Susko | B.A. in English, Rowan University (RSVP)
iStellar is iLearn Schools’ Advanced Achievement STEAM Saturday programming for students with gifts and talents who want to excel in their problem solving, analytical thinking, creative and leadership capabilities through rigorous content instruction and competition training.
With its stellar team of experienced and academically driven educators, iStellar aims to promote a love of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, instill in their students a competitive spirit, and prepare them for success in the intensely demanding academic environment of nation’s top colleges and universities.
First launched in November 2018, iStellar offers Fall-Spring semester weekend programs, and intensive Winter boot camps for advanced students. Based on the “recitation” model of top colleges like MIT and CalTech; iStellar class setting is small in size, and is a place for active learning through discussion of key concepts, and mastery of problem solving techniques.2 SEMESTERS
2 X 10 Week sessions in Fall and Spring.
SATURDAY CLASSES
3 X 1H 15 MIN Sessions
GRADES
4-8
COURSE OFFERINGS
- Competitive Mathematics
- English Literary Arts
- Computer Science / Coding
If you are interested in iStellar Saturday program,
please visit istellar.org/admissions for more details.
