Gifted and Talented Tidbits 3
By Lenora Barnes 9/16/16
This Week
This week each class worked on logic problems at their level. Logic problems are great for developing deductive reasoning and the students enjoy them. We started out with two fairly simple problems, at each level, to ensure that the students who were unfamiliar with logic problems would be able to understand the process and be successful with their first attempts. We will work with increasingly more difficult logic problems throughout the year.
At the beginning of class, the students were given a question to respond to that is designed to require critical thinking and provoke discussion. The students shared their thoughts and responded to others. I facilitated the discussion by asking additional questions that required the students to look at the situation from multiple perspectives and evaluate "What If" situations related to the discussion. The students will be given a different question to respond to each week.
During the third and fourth grade classes, I began reading the book, "Orientation- The School for Gifted Potentials." The book is set in the future and is about a young gifted boy named Everett. While this is a fictional book, it addresses giftedness and the nature and needs of gifted students in a way that students can understand and related to. As we read, we will discuss those topics and allow the students to share as they feel comfortable.
This week the classes were doing a variety of activities and were at different points in those activities. Some of the students were wrapping up their product creation from last week. Others were videotaping their commercials. Due to the holiday last week MES has not yet started that activity. MES and other classes that were ready to move on to our new activity began working on the new challenge. The students were given five photos and a bag of fifty word cards. They were given the following scenario:
It is 2025 and news has become a much more integral part of our lives. Journalists now make up over 50% of the population, so to get the best story out is a tough task. Your teams of journalists are running out of stories to tell, so you dig up old newspapers from half a century ago. You decide that you will cut up old headlines and photographs, and then combine the words and pictures to create new and exciting stories.
The students were required to make up three headlines using only the words on the fifty cards to relate to the pictures provided. The group had to decide which of their headlines was the best and then write the article and assemble the pictures to go with it. The students are in various stages of working on this. A couple of the classes did not have an opportunity to start the activity this week. All of the classes will work on this activity during our next class time and will present their article when they finish.
UPCOMING
9/19 - 9/23/16 No Pullout Class Due To GT Identification
DID YOU KNOW?
The Dualities of Giftedness Part 2
- The child who has a wide range of interests; develops one or more interests to considerable depth may also be the child that seems scattered and disorganized; takes on too many projects at once; gets obsessed with a particular interest; resists direction or interruption; rebels against conforming to group tasks; disrupts class routines; may be perceived as stubborn or uncooperative.
- The child who has an advance vocabulary may also be the child who talks too much; uses words to intimidate other people; finds it hard to communicate with age peers; seems pompous or conceited; plays word games that others don't understand or appreciate; dominates discussions; has trouble listening.
- The child who is an avid reader may also be the child who buries himself or herself in books and avoids social interaction.
- The child who learns quickly and comprehends readily may also be the child who gets bored with the regular curriculum; gets impatient with peers for being "slow"; dislikes drill and practice; resists doing assignments that don't present a challenge or new learning; does inaccurate or sloppy work.
Galbraith & Delisle (2015)
The Qualities of a Successful Gifted Education Teacher Part 3
- Provide a wide range of learning materials, including those that are appropriate for older students.
- Network with organizations and local experts who can help gifted kids.
- Be aware that gifted students need less time with practice and more time with complex and abstract learning tasks.
- Be willing to advocate for what gifted students need.
Winebrenner (2012)