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| SAGE. A program designed to develop higher level thinking skills and to improve academic achievement by providing a differentiated specialized curriculum for gifted and talented elementary students. Approved for gifted and talented students, grades 1-5. |
Description The objectives of the SAGE program are to develop higher order and critical thinking skills and to improve academic achievement by providing a differentiated specialized curriculum for academically/intellectually gifted and talented elementary school students. The regular school curriculum is extended based on a three-fold model incorporating thinking skill development, mini-study units, and independent study. Activities presented in the thinking skills development portion of the curriculum stimulate and challenge students to think and to perform at higher levels of thinking; assist in the development of critical, inductive, deductive, and creative thinking skills; and present specific instruction in areas of information gathering, organizing and using resource materials. Mini-study units, extensions of the basic curriculum, are interdisciplinary in nature, and incorporate thinking skill activities in broad topic areas. The third segment of the SAGE core curriculum is independent study, which allows students to extend and to enrich their knowledge of interest/content areas. A mentorship program, utilizing experts in the areas of student interest, is an outgrowth of independent study.
SAGE develops new themes annually. There is a SAGE Network of adopters who share thematic units as well as curriculum adaptations made for the regular classroom. Thinking skill booklets for the regular classroom teacher are available through the program's supplemental materials component.
The SAGE materials are adaptable to a variety of program designs. Guidelines are provided for schools in the initial program development stages. Schools which already have established a gifted/talented program may use the materials to enhance their current program. The SAGE Tri-Fold Curriculum can be easily implemented in one of three instruction models or a combination of the field-tested models: separate classroom, resource room, consultant teacher. Classroom teachers can be trained to implement SAGE for the academically/intellectually gifted students in the regular classroom.
Developmental Funding: ESEA Title IV-C.
JDRP No. 83-43 (5/27/83)
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