Building a Rigorous
Pre-AP Program for All
Clear Creek ISD
Laura Ozinga, Social Studies
Emily Auffarber, ELA
Robin Sabo, Secondary SS Coordinator
Before
WAVE – GT Magnet,
school with in a school on
2 campuses
 OMEGA- Home campusbased primarily GT
interdisciplinary program

(matrix guided student
eligibility)

Pre-AP—General
advanced academic
program in core content
areas
After


WAVE – GT Magnet,
school with in a
school on 2 campuses
OMEGA/Pre-AP –
Joint ELA/SS openenrollment advanced
academic program
Intermediate
Advanced Academics
CCIS style
Omega/Pre-AP Initiative Net
 Increase
recruitment and retention
 Expanding opportunities
 Rigorous advanced academic
courses
TASK—develop an advanced
academic program open to
all and building on the
strengths of previous
programs; interdisciplinary,
thematic, high expectations







Balanced ELA/SS
Blended Omega and Pre-AP
Diverse campus representation
Innovative teachers with
Learning Focused classrooms &
TEKS content knowledge
Manageable numbers
Teacher Development Team
Building a Common Understanding
A day on the lake…The
challenges with different
understandings.
Omega/Pre-AP overlay is designed to
improve the preparation and retention of
advanced academic students in rigorous
courses.
 Rigorous instruction includes scaffolding
critical thinking skills.
 A program that provides student choice
and opportunities to demonstrate learning
in unpredictable ways addresses the
unique needs, talents, and interests of
highly capable students.

Catch of the Day
Rigor, Rigor, Rigor….What is it?
Used research to ground the curriculum writing
work and build common vision for the new
blended program with all teachers
Writing sessions
were divided ½
study/PL and ½
application/work
Social and Emotional
Needs
Overexcitabilities
 Asynchronous
development
 Perfectionist
tendencies
 Disproportionate
anxiety and fear

Tips for Teachers
Celebrate differences
 Mentor
 Explore intellectual
thinking, esp. about
life
 Networking
 Problem-solving skills

The Fears and Anxieties of Gifted
Learners

Welcome
◦ What is Omega/Pre-AP PowerPoint
◦ Icebreakers modeling critical thinking

Skill Builders

Thematic, interdisciplinary projects

District collaboration opportunities
End Results =Overlay
Welcome Week
Resources
To establish a safe, rigorous culture
•Ice breakers designed to demonstrate
critical thinking expectations
•Orientation to Rigor cartoon – helping
students and teachers understand what
rigor is and is not
Habits of Mind
. . .having a disposition toward behaving
intelligently when confronted with
problems. -- Arthur Costa
16 attributes of what human beings do
when they behave intelligently.
What did we do as a team?
*Chose the habit of minds/critical thinking pieces
essential for 6th graders and suited to themes.
Thinking Skill
Learning Skill
Analyzing Perspectives
Describing reasons for a personal viewpoint as well as
the viewpoints of others.
Constructive Support
Building a case for assertions by providing evidence,
proof, or logical arguments.
Deductive Reasoning
Identifying specific examples to support a general
statement, rule or principle.
Inductive Reasoning
Inferring unknown generalizations from information or
observations.
Persistence
Sticking to a task until it is completed.
Listening with understanding and
empathy
Attending to another person’s words while monitoring
one’s own thoughts.
Thinking Flexible
Being able to shift at will through multiple perceptual
positions.
Thinking Interdependently
Working cooperatively in groups to solve problems.
What did we do as a team?
then. . .
*Developed Skill Building lessons based on these 8
habits of mind. Intended to be no more that 15
minutes each. All follow a similar pattern based on
the mini-lesson design.
* Campus teams decide which will be taught in the
Language Arts setting and which will be taught in
Social Studies.
Persistence Skill
Builder

Welcome Week
◦ Persistence
◦ Connecting Past Experiences to New Knowledge

First Nine Weeks
◦ Thinking Flexibly
◦ Thinking Interdependently
◦ Listening with Understanding and Empathy

Second Nine Weeks
◦
◦
◦
◦
Analyzing Perspectives
Constructing Support
Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
Skill Builder Lessons
Framed content connections
around themes
Cultures, Change and Conflict
Cultures
1st Nine Weeks
2nd Nine Weeks
• Personal narratives in regard to
• Cause and effect w/ structure of
people moving and family cultures
society8 and connotative words
• Folktales in relation to different
• Dystopia vs. utopian government
cultures
structures
• Poetry
• Non-fiction
Had curriculum
writingtext structures and
• Non-fiction narratives team identifyauthors
purpose in relation to
content
• Theme
“then and now”
per
grading
period
that
• Religious Holiday
• CultureCommunism/Free Market
related to each them to
3rd Nine Weeks
4th Nine
help them
see Weeks
• How does conflict shape culture
• Character analysis of various
connections
between
over time (POV)
native groups of Latin America
ELA and
SS
• POV-as related to different cultural
• Persuasive
techniques used in
influences
• Fiction selections/folktales
• Short stories written using
structure of folk tales
different cultures
Rigorous Assessments DO . . .
Sustain and extend rigorous
instruction
Ask students to apply what they
learned to real-world and
unpredictable situations
Ask students to solve interesting
problems
Ask students to apply what they
have learned
Rigorous Assessments DO NOT . . .
Mark the end of instruction
Ask students to apply what they
have learned to formulaic and
predictable situations
Ask students to do nothing more
than solve algorithmic problems
Ask students to do nothing more
than remember what they have
learned
Ask students to answer the how and Ask students to answer only the
why
who, what, and when
Rigorous Assessments
*Geographic/Culture Skit
*Immigration Connections
*International Cause Grant
Theme Projects
Rolled out with professional
learning, and district
collaboration
•Curriculum writers lead overview
professional learning session
•Encouraged campus interdisciplinary teams
to attend trainings and collaboration days
together
Any questions …
Contact Information
Laura Ozinga, SS Space Center
Intermediate,
lozinga@ccisd.net
Emily Auffarber, ELA Victory
Lakes Intermediate,
eauffarb@ccisd.net
Robin Sabo, Secondary SS
Coordinator, Clear Creek ISD
rsabo@ccisd.net;
@rsabo11228