Ms. Marshall's 7th grade GATE students recently read The Lottery Rose.  Abused by his mother and her boyfriend, Georgie Burgess learns to hide his hurt. When Georgie wins a small rosebush in a grocery store lottery, he gives it all the love and caring he has never had. His life begins to open up when the courts send him to a home for boys where he will be safe. Slowly, and not without pain, Georgie learns to give--and to receive love.
 
The students were given a choice of a number of projects to culminate their reading.  These choices included a power point presentation on the care of roses, character drawings and analysis, create a crossword puzzle from story vocabulary, and/or write an obituary for one of the main characters.  Here is some of their work. We hope you enjoy it!

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8th Grade:

In the tradition of Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson, Hatchet is a story of individual survival against great odds. It tells how a routine journey turned into a life-threatening and life-changing experience. The central character, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson (whose name echoes his literary ancestry), is stranded alone at a lake deep in the Canadian wilderness for fifty-four days.  On a trip to the Canadian oilfields to spend the summer with his dad, the pilot of the Cessna he is traveling in suffers a heart attack and dies. Brian must land the plane in the forest and learn to exist in this wilderness. He faces many dangers including  the need for shelter, hunger, animal attacks, and even a tornado. This book gives the reader a better understanding of what it is like to survive in an untamed land.

  
The culminating project for Hatchet was to create a "How-to-Survive in the Wilderness Guide. Requirements included finding/creating shelter, food, surviving animal attacks, etc. A trouble shooting guide and illustrations were also a must.  Information was to be taken  from both Brian's point of view and through the student's own research. Please enjoy some of the brochures and if you ever find yourself trapped in the wilderness I hope you have one of these wonderfully gifted and talented students by your side!   Ms. Marshall

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Walter W. Stiern Middle School’s Gifted and Talented Education program emphasizes the student’s capability of excelling in stimulating, exciting, and challenging activities. The program stimulates creative and critical thinking. To be considered for the GATE program a student must be nominated by either a teacher or parent. The student must then pass a rigorous testing process to actually be in the program.

  

Many GATE students participate in a number of competitions including the BCSD Oral Language Festival, Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, and various Scholastic Art and Writing competitions.  Every GATE student is required to participate in the annual GATE Fair.

 

On top of everyday curriculum, Ms. Marshall’s 7th grade English Language Arts GATE students each write a 26 chapter Alpha biography of their lives that is published at the end of the school year.  Her 8th grade students create a magazine each year. This year they are researching a college of their choice, producing a magazine that covers all aspects of their chosen college, including academic programs available, enrollment requirements, campus life, how to obtain financial aid, and a litany of other questions asked by college bound students.

 

As part of the daily homework curriculum each GATE student must read from a list of core and extended literature novels. After they have completed the book the student creates a project that ties into their reading. As an example, when they completed “Flowers for Algernon” each student created a three dimensional working maze. The GATE students will read a minimum of nine novels per year.

 

Ms. Marshall’s 8th grade GATE students take a field trip each year to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles to further their understanding of concepts related to prejudice, racism, and injustice. This is an experience they look forward to for two years as the class is with Ms. Marshall as 7th graders as well.

 

If you have any questions about the GATE program and its offerings please don’t hesitate to contact Ms. Marshall at 661-631-5480