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Differentiating for Gifted Learners Carrie C. CB School District
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Page 1: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Differentiating for Gifted LearnersCarrie C.CB School District

Page 2: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Truth or Myth?

• I will reveal a statement related to gifted learners and gifted education.•Decide as a group if it is true or false.• If you believe it is true, hold up your

green card.• If you believe it is false, hold up your

red card.

According to NAGC

Page 3: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Truth or Myth?

Gifted learners are not at risk so they don’t need the teacher’s help.

FALSE – Intelligence is developed through a combination of genetic factors and environmental opportunities. Therefore, as teachers, it is our responsibility to provide environmental opportunities that will challenge gifted learners appropriately to fully develop their abilities or potential. If we don’t provide the appropriate level of rigor, gifted students get bored and frustrated, which can lead to low achievement or unhealthy work habits.

Page 4: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Truth or Myth?

A student receiving B’s and C’s can be gifted.

TRUE – There are a variety of reasons why a gifted learner may not be performing at the level of which they are capable. Some students lose interest or develop poor work habits due to being unchallenged. Some students mask their ability in order to fit in socially. While other students may have this discrepancy because of an unidentified disability.

Page 5: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Truth or Myth?

•All children are gifted.

FALSE – The label “gifted” in an educational setting means that the child has an advanced capacity to learn and apply what is learned when compared with students of the same age.

Page 6: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Truth or Myth?

•Gifted students are happy, popular and well-adjusted in school.

FALSE – It is estimated that 20 to 25% of gifted learners have social and emotional difficulties. While many gifted learners are able to flourish, some gifted students suffer from perfectionism and anxiety or the inability to relate to their same-age peers, leaving them ostracized or wanting to isolate themselves.

Page 7: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Truth or Myth?

•Giftedness is measured by intelligence tests (IQ).

FALSE – Identifying giftedness is a complex task, due to the complexity of brain development. It requires a variety of samples of a person’s abilities from many different areas.

Page 8: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Truth or Myth?

• It is not beneficial for gifted learners to review skills they already know by teaching other students.

TRUE – This is not beneficial for gifted learners or average learners. Watching or learning from a peer who already understands what the average student does not, is detrimental to the self-confidence of the average student. At the same time, gifted learners are not being appropriately challenged and would benefit from having opportunities to complete more rigorous tasks with learners with similar abilities.

Page 9: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

What is Differentiation?What It Is

• An approach that recognizes learning differences and taps into them

• Allowing students to explore curriculum content through active learning and flexible grouping

• Providing varied activities or assignments that meet varied needs

• An environment that is enjoyable, challenging, and choice-filled

What Is Is Not• Assignments are the same

for everyone with variety in the level of difficulty of questions.

• Allowing students who finish early to play games related to curriculum content

• Providing extra homework or extra projects after advanced students have completed their “regular” work

Page 10: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

The Four C’s of Differentiating for Gifted Learners

1. Compacting2. Complexity3. Creative/Critical Thinking4. Choice

Turn and talk with your grade level about how you are already doing this for your gifted learners.

Page 11: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Compacting Curriculum•What does it mean to compact the

curriculum?• To provide a way for students to “buy back” school time

that we planned for them, so they can spend it in ways that extend or accelerate their learning.

•Reasons to do it• Students who are just going through the motions to

please the teacher become actively engaged in learning.• Careless students start caring about the quality of their

work because they are invested in their learning.• Unmotivated students actually want to learn because

they can spend time on areas of interest.

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Compacting for Skill Work

1• Identify learning objectives required for all students.

2• Pre-assess all students to determine which students

already have mastery of skills.

3• Eliminate drill, practice, review of any skills students

already have mastered.

4• Have un-graded extension activities available.

5• Keep a record of compacting.

Page 13: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Keeping a Record

Learning Objective/ Standard

Pre-assessmentType of

Extension Activity

Handout p. 2

Page 14: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Compacting for Skill Work

Most Difficult First

Pre-test for Volunteers

The Learning Contract

Strategies that work great for math computation, spelling, grammar, word skills, etc.

Page 15: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Most Difficult First Strategy

Great way to start – compact one lesson at a time!

• Determine which problems in the class assignment are most difficult (4-8 examples) and post them as part of the assignment

• If students try the most difficult problems first and demonstrate 85% accuracy, they do not complete the rest of the assignment

• Students move on to extension activities

Page 16: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Pre-test for Volunteers Strategy Compacting curriculum that takes a week to cover

• The assessment you plan to use at the end of the week should be available to take at the beginning of the week.

• Invite volunteer students to demonstrate that they are already at a mastery level.

• Students may stop taking the pre-test at any time if they think they will not meet the score to demonstrate mastery.

• Students who score a 90% may spend their time working on extension activities.

Page 17: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

The Learning Contract Strategy Compacting one unit at a time – the most effective!

• Based on pre-assessment (daily, weekly, or at the beginning of a unit) students who demonstrate 80% mastery of a skill may “opt out” of direct instruction of that skill.

• Students who “opt out” work on pre-determined extension centers that relate to curriculum content.

• Meet with students to establish and sign a learning contract that states expectations for working on extension centers.

Page 18: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

The Learning Contract Handout p.3, 4

Skills mastered/ lessons students may opt out of

Extension Activities available

Choice!

Expectations

Page 19: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Compacting for New Content• In content areas where material is new for

everyone, some gifted learners still need differentiation.• Compacting for new content allows students to

learn material at a faster pace.• This is best for those students who don’t

complete assignments, yet still seem to ace the test.

The Study Guide

Page 20: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

The Study GuideReducing the amount of time students must spend learning grade-level standards• Describe to students the characteristics/abilities they need to be

successful with this strategy first!• Develop a list of 10 key standards from the unit.• Create a detailed task description that tells students what they

need to learn/be able to do.• Write these statements on the Study Guide in the order they

will be taught.• Include a “checkpoint” or assessment in the study guide at the

point in which they will occur. These assessments should be the same that all other students complete.

• Allow students to learn material independently at their own pace as long as they are successful on checkpoints and adhere to behavior expectations.

• This can be used in conjunction with extension activities.

Page 21: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

The Study Guide

Key standards or objectives

Checkpoint

Handout p. 5-8

Page 22: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Types of Extension Activities• Learning Centers• A collection of curriculum-related activities that challenge

students and extend grade-level skills or standards• Tic-Tac-Toe Menus/Choice Boards – Handout p. 9• Carefully designed activities from which students can choose to

extend their learning• Independent Study Project – Handout p. 10• Students choose a curriculum-related topic to explore or research

that goes beyond grade-level standards.• Personal Interest Project• Students are given time to explore a topic they have an extreme

interest in.

Page 23: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Creating Extension Activities• Bloom’s Taxonomy – Handout p. 11• Challenge learners to go beyond the Recall and Comprehension

levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.• Learning Modalities• Include a variety of activities for different learning styles.

• Cross-Curriculum• Develop activities that require students to make connections with

other content areas.• Open-ended• Create activities in which students can be creative with how they

communicate their learning

Page 24: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

The Four C’s of Differentiating for Gifted Learners1. Compacting2. Complexity3. Creative/Critical Thinking4. Choice

Turn and talk with your grade level about something you would like to change about how you teach your gifted learners.

Page 25: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Taking the Leap…

Possible Fears

• It’s a lot of work and will take too much time.• It will be difficult to

manage student behavior while they work on extensions.• I need to differentiate

every subject area for every gifted student.

Professional Potential• It will require initial time investment

but will actually save you time in the long run. Partner up with a colleague, try it together, and split up the work!

• If you invest time in establishing expectations and provide challenging, meaningful activities, students will be so invested in their learning that you won’t have anything to “manage”.

• Not all gifted learners demonstrate a need for differentiation in all subject areas. Be sure to pre-assess to determine student needs. Then, start small with just a few extension activities and differentiating one lesson at a time.

Your gifted students will thank you!

Page 26: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Evaluation• Please complete

the evaluation sheet before you leave!

Page 27: Differentiating instruction for Gifted Learners

Resources

Printed Professional Resources:• Teaching Gifted Kids in Today’s Classroom: Strategies and

Techniques Every Teacher Can Use by Susan Winebrenner

• Advancing Differentiation: Thinking and Learning for the 21st Century by Richard M. Cash, Ed.D.

Gifted Resources:• National Association for Gifted Children – www.nagc.org

Educational Websites:• www.education.com• http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/diff_instruction.html