Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

One in a series of reports on a gifted program jointly formed by three school systems in Alberta, Canada, this document presents evaluation information regarding the effects of the program in Strathcona County schools. The Strathcona County school system consists of a mix of rural and small urban schools and is intermediate in size when compared with the other two systems, Camrose and Calgary. The first part of the report describes the development, implementation, and revision of the Challenge Program, which offers orientation, individual development, group enrichment, and independent study activities for fifth- and sixth-graders identified as gifted. The second half of the report discusses evaluation data gathered through interviews with Challenge teachers, counselors, principals, current and former students, and parents of current and former students. The report concludes with findings and recommendations regarding the need for program extension to other grade levels and to visual and performing arts; increased attention on creativity; evaluation in the affective domain; and increased attention on teacher and administrator concerns. (CB)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert