A 10-Step Inclusional Model: Giftedness

Giftedness and understanding how to support the gifted students. If you are uncertain about meeting the needs of gifted students within the regular classroom, these 10 steps will put you on the right path. These ten steps point out strategies that enable you to present learning opportunities to promote learning.

1. Always provide choices. When you're establishing learning opportunities, provide more than one choice for them to demonstrate understanding. For instance, Let's say you're studying a country, let the students determine how they will present their information. Will they put together a tourist brouchure? Meal Menu from the country? Put together a commerical to entice people to come to the specified country. Create a poster, skit or radio announcement promoting the country. You want to be able to provide choices that maximize student interest.
2. Let the students establish their learning goals and self-assessment strategies. These students need opportunities to self-assess and make critical judgements about their work.
3. Deviate from the same old, same old! This is an important step. These students tend to learn best with non-traditional methods. Discovery learning needs to be promoted. Prompt them with questions like: How can you find out?', Where can you find that information?, How do you know?
4. Always find out what these children already know. Remember, if the learning isn't new, what are you doing it for? Use the KWL Chart (PDF) KWL charts to help with this process.
5. If a child already understands the concept, move onward. Always give them credit for what they already know.
6. Remember that gifted children often grasp concepts more quickly. Be prepared for this. Have challenge activities ready!
7. Always build upon their interests. Again the KWL chart will help establish what the interests are within a given topic.
8. Peer support is critical. Provide opportunity for gifted students to work with their intellectual peers.
9. Avoid drill and practice and note taking activities. This will cause boredom which often escalates into unacceptable behaviors. Keep them challenged. Provide ongoing challenging activities with a problem solving focus. For instance, instead of saying what is the perimeter of this 4 x 3 rectangle. Pose it this way: How many different rectangles can you make with a perimeter of 14 units? Give them dot paper or geoboards to discover the solutions. Ask if they've found all of the rectanges and do they know if the have.
10. Give project based learning PBL opportunities as much as possible!