enduring practices for gifted elementary students
According to a synthesis of strategies outlined by Alberta Education (2012), British Columbia's Ministry of Education, and New Brunswick's Department of Education (2007), teachers can consider making changes to the curriculum in four areas to accommodate gifted students:
1. Content (what)
2. Engagement (how student works with information)
3. Product (how students represent their knowledge)
4. Environment
Strategies for providing content at an appropriate level include:
Acceleration: the practice of placing students at a higher than normal level of instruction to meet learning needs (advanced curriculum, skipping grade, specific courses at a more advanced level).
*Acceleration has been shown to be positive for overachieving and underachieving gifted learners in the majority of documented cases (Benbow & Stanley 1983; Kulik & Kulik, 1992).
Telescoping: the practice of reducing the amount of time a student takes to cover the curriculum. There is often overlapping content from one grade level to the next, and gifted learners may not need as much time to learn or recall the material. An example of telescoping is a student completing two grade levels of a subject in one school year. This practice can be used in combination with acceleration. It is about finding a level of the subject that is cognitively challenging for the gifted learner (Benbow, 1986).
Compacting: the student spends less time on regular classroom assignments and has more time working on applications. It allows students to demonstrate what they know, to complete tasks in areas where work is needed, and then to be freed to work on other curricular areas. The process of compacting can be used to develop an Individual Education Plan (IEP)/ Individualized Program Plan for students.
Independent Study: an opportunity for students to pursue areas of personal interest or to independently investigate course topics. This practice includes identifying and developing a focus, developing skills in creative and critical thinking, using problem solving and decision-making strategies, learning research skills, developing project management strategies, keeping learning logs, evaluating the process and the product, sharing the product with an intended audience beyond the classroom, and keeping a portfolio of results. These projects are student-directed with access to teacher support. The student learns to develop a plan of action, to follow through on it and to self-monitor.
Tiered Assignments: designed to meet the needs of a group of learners functioning at a range of levels. Students within the group work on the same content, but are asked to answer different questions and are provided with different tasks, assigned according to ability. Students can be involved in designing the units of work. They are encouraged to come up with questions and activities for different levels of thinking (Bloom’s Taxonomy). The teacher works with students to decide which tasks they will be responsible for completing and determining evaluation criteria.
Learning Centers: physical stations where students engage in activities designed to extend their understanding and expand their thinking about a certain topic. This might include working on individual or small group investigation, watching a video, listening to an audio recording or working on a device. Games could be used as reinforcement of a concept. In extending the interests of students, the center might not be directly related to curricular content, but introduce new possibilities for study.
Further practices outlined by British Columbia Education include:
Concurrent or Dual Enrolment: A student is officially enrolled in a specific grade level but takes course(s) at a higher academic level. This could be taking calculus at the university level and receiving credit upon successful completion (AP), or completing chemistry curriculum at the high school level before the student has entered high school.
Correspondence Courses: A student completes advanced coursework outside of conventional school instruction (ex. by mail, online, or other media)
Credit by Examination: A student’s advanced standing is acknowledged when they successfully complete a form of mastery test or activity. This is also referred to as ‘course challenge’ or ‘testing out’.
Extracurricular Programs: A student is enrolled in coursework outside of regular school hours, including evenings, weekends, or summer programs that provide advanced instruction and/or credit.
Mentoring: A student is matched with a mentor or expert tutor who provides more advanced content or works through the curriculum at a rapid pace.
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/gifted/
Studies have shown that few regular classrooms make the core curriculum adequately adjusted for gifted students. For this reason, differentiated curriculum is suggested for students that are 2 standard deviations above the mean. Differentiated curriculum that increases students thinking skills through high-level inquiry, creative problem solving, critical thinking problem based learning, constructivist approaches, complexity and abstraction are recommended (Silverman, 2012). In a specialized setting, Silverman (2012) suggests gifted students will thrive when with other gifted students, taught by a specially trained teacher and the material is advanced and fast paced. Gifted students enjoy finding creative solutions for difficult and complicated problems and ideas (Silverman, 2012).
Successful teaching practices include thoughtful, reflective, divergent questioning instead of direct instruction. For example, instead of directing, teachers will reflect questions presented by students back to their peers. Use ‘we’ statements and ask “what students need” (Silverman, 2012).
1. Content (what)
2. Engagement (how student works with information)
3. Product (how students represent their knowledge)
4. Environment
Strategies for providing content at an appropriate level include:
Acceleration: the practice of placing students at a higher than normal level of instruction to meet learning needs (advanced curriculum, skipping grade, specific courses at a more advanced level).
*Acceleration has been shown to be positive for overachieving and underachieving gifted learners in the majority of documented cases (Benbow & Stanley 1983; Kulik & Kulik, 1992).
Telescoping: the practice of reducing the amount of time a student takes to cover the curriculum. There is often overlapping content from one grade level to the next, and gifted learners may not need as much time to learn or recall the material. An example of telescoping is a student completing two grade levels of a subject in one school year. This practice can be used in combination with acceleration. It is about finding a level of the subject that is cognitively challenging for the gifted learner (Benbow, 1986).
Compacting: the student spends less time on regular classroom assignments and has more time working on applications. It allows students to demonstrate what they know, to complete tasks in areas where work is needed, and then to be freed to work on other curricular areas. The process of compacting can be used to develop an Individual Education Plan (IEP)/ Individualized Program Plan for students.
Independent Study: an opportunity for students to pursue areas of personal interest or to independently investigate course topics. This practice includes identifying and developing a focus, developing skills in creative and critical thinking, using problem solving and decision-making strategies, learning research skills, developing project management strategies, keeping learning logs, evaluating the process and the product, sharing the product with an intended audience beyond the classroom, and keeping a portfolio of results. These projects are student-directed with access to teacher support. The student learns to develop a plan of action, to follow through on it and to self-monitor.
Tiered Assignments: designed to meet the needs of a group of learners functioning at a range of levels. Students within the group work on the same content, but are asked to answer different questions and are provided with different tasks, assigned according to ability. Students can be involved in designing the units of work. They are encouraged to come up with questions and activities for different levels of thinking (Bloom’s Taxonomy). The teacher works with students to decide which tasks they will be responsible for completing and determining evaluation criteria.
Learning Centers: physical stations where students engage in activities designed to extend their understanding and expand their thinking about a certain topic. This might include working on individual or small group investigation, watching a video, listening to an audio recording or working on a device. Games could be used as reinforcement of a concept. In extending the interests of students, the center might not be directly related to curricular content, but introduce new possibilities for study.
Further practices outlined by British Columbia Education include:
Concurrent or Dual Enrolment: A student is officially enrolled in a specific grade level but takes course(s) at a higher academic level. This could be taking calculus at the university level and receiving credit upon successful completion (AP), or completing chemistry curriculum at the high school level before the student has entered high school.
Correspondence Courses: A student completes advanced coursework outside of conventional school instruction (ex. by mail, online, or other media)
Credit by Examination: A student’s advanced standing is acknowledged when they successfully complete a form of mastery test or activity. This is also referred to as ‘course challenge’ or ‘testing out’.
Extracurricular Programs: A student is enrolled in coursework outside of regular school hours, including evenings, weekends, or summer programs that provide advanced instruction and/or credit.
Mentoring: A student is matched with a mentor or expert tutor who provides more advanced content or works through the curriculum at a rapid pace.
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/gifted/
Studies have shown that few regular classrooms make the core curriculum adequately adjusted for gifted students. For this reason, differentiated curriculum is suggested for students that are 2 standard deviations above the mean. Differentiated curriculum that increases students thinking skills through high-level inquiry, creative problem solving, critical thinking problem based learning, constructivist approaches, complexity and abstraction are recommended (Silverman, 2012). In a specialized setting, Silverman (2012) suggests gifted students will thrive when with other gifted students, taught by a specially trained teacher and the material is advanced and fast paced. Gifted students enjoy finding creative solutions for difficult and complicated problems and ideas (Silverman, 2012).
Successful teaching practices include thoughtful, reflective, divergent questioning instead of direct instruction. For example, instead of directing, teachers will reflect questions presented by students back to their peers. Use ‘we’ statements and ask “what students need” (Silverman, 2012).