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Articles from
August 2009
Increasing Depth and Complexity in Curriculum for the Gifted
I have always been a big fan of Sandra Kaplan at the University of Southern California. She has created wonderful techniques for increasing depth and complexity of curriculum—attributes that are at the core of gifted education.
Kaplan’s chart, Facilitating the Understanding of DEPTH and COMPLEXITY, presents teachers with easy-to-follow prompts, key questions, thinking skills, and resources that provide ideas for differentiating curriculum. These ideas can be applied to many subjects including language arts, science, social studies, and math. The prompts and key questions are very helpful when developing universal themes. A few examples include:
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Prompt
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Key Questions
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Thinking Skills
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Resources
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Patterns
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What are the reoccurring events?
What elements, events, ideas, are repeated over time?
What was the order of events?
How can we predict what will come next?
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·Determine relevant vs. irrelevant
·Summarize
·Make analogies
·Discriminate between same and different
·Relate
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Timelines
Other chronological lists
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Ethics
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What dilemmas or controversies are involved in this area/topic/study/discipline?
What elements can be identified that reflect bias, prejudice, and discrimination?
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·Judge with criteria
·Determine bias
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Editorials
Essays
Autobiographies
Journals
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Over Time
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How are the ideas related between the past, present, and future?
How are these ideas related within or during a particular time period?
How has time affected the information?
How and why do things change or remain the same?
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·Relate
·Sequence
·Order
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Timelines
Text
Biographies
Autobiographies
Historical documents
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View the entire chart at the link above and use it as a guide when developing curriculum for the gifted or when differentiating lessons in the regular classroom.
If you have used Kaplan's material in developing units or lessons, please share them through comments at this post.
Building Differentiated Learning Objectives With Web Tools
For some teachers, building differentiated learnings objectives, lesson plans, and units is part of the fun of teaching. It comes naturally for these teachers. For others, it can be a real challenge. For either group, writing learning objectives can require a commitment of time. As schools increasingly emphasize the use of varied, differentiated learning objectives, a teacher's planning time can be stretched.
 For those wanting to save a bit of time or add a spark of creativity to their learning objectives ... enter Ian Byrd, a creative and energetic California teacher. Ian has developed a clever Web application called "The Differentiator." This is a fun little tool that allows you to use a Web interface to build learning objectives by choosing from a set of predefined thinking skills, content, resources, student products, and group sizes. For example, using Ian's site, I created the following in a matter of seconds:
Students will contrast [thinking skill] the multiple points of view of green energy [content] using newpapers [resource] to create a press conference [product] in groups of three [group size].
You may need to do a little additional editing after you build an objective.
The Differentiator is free, and it is certainly worth giving it a try.
Once Ian realized how popular The Differentiator was, he spent some time this summer building a more comprehensive tool called ExtendAMenu. This new tool allows you to build differentiated learning objectives using various types of extension menus and keep a record of those objectives stored online.
Ian has posted a screencast demonstrating the use of ExtendAMenu. ExtendAMenu costs $20.
Win a Free Set of Differentiating Instruction With Menus
Ian and I have worked up a special drawing that will allow four lucky teachers to win a free set of Laurie E. Westphal's elementary-level Differentiating Instruction With Menus or her middle school level Differentiating Instruction With Menus (each set is a $79.80 value). To enter the drawing, visit the ExtendAMenu contest page.
Finally, if you just want to read Ian's thoughts and practical ideas for the gifted education classroom, you can visit his Web site Byrdseed: Practical Ideas for Your Gifted Classroom. The Web site if full of solid information about gifted education and gifted children.
Free Gifted Webinars on Wednesdays (WOW) from NAGC
Beginning August 26, the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) will offer Webinars on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month (plus a monthly “Parent Night”). These Webinars on Wednesdays (WOW) will be free through 2009! This is a fantastic opportunity to get high-quality, professional development without leaving your home or office. Sessions will be broadcast over the Internet with the ability to listen, view slides, access handouts, and pose questions. Presenters will be experts in the field who will share practical advice, as well as updates on the latest issues in gifted education.
The Webinars are designed for classroom teachers, counselors, graduate students, parents, G/T coordinators, and administrators. Although WOW is free through 2009, you must register, as a limited number of “seats” are available for each session.
Registration for each session opens about 2 weeks before the event and closes when capacity is reached. You will want to register as soon as possible for each session as they are certain to fill up quickly. As you will see, the first session is already at capacity.
Here is a list of upcoming topics.
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Date & Time
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Title
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Registration Opens
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August 26
7 p.m. EST
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Classroom Indicators of Giftedness with Mary Slade, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Moderator: Nancy Green
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Registration Is Closed - Capacity Reached
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September 9
12 p.m. EST
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Differentiation Overview with Jennifer Beasley, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
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August 27
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Parent Night
September 16
7 p.m. EST
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Back to School. Back to Gifted with Robin Schader, NAGC Parent Resource Advisor
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September 3
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September 23
7 p.m. EST
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Things Administrators Should Know about Gifted Education with Joyce VanTassel-Baska, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA
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September 10
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October 14
12 p. m. EST
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Pre Assessment: What Are the Tools?
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September 24
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October 28
7 p.m. EST
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Examining the Myths and Truths of Gifted Education
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October 15
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Training and Competencies of Teachers of the Gifted
In the Duke Gifted Letter article, Teaching Gifted Children: National Guidelines and State Requirements, Sarah Boone points out the following: “Since no national degree or certification requirements for gifted educators exist, all policy and funding mandates come from the state and local levels. As a result, requirements for teacher training and ongoing professional development vary widely from state to state and in many cases from district to district within a given state.”
Some teachers are naturals when it comes to teaching gifted students, intuitively understanding the individual needs of this group. Much more often, special training is required for teachers to understand how these kids think and learn, what methods and materials are available to use with them, and how to work positively with their parents. Unfortunately, many gifted programs employ teachers who have no training in gifted education.
Do you know the qualifications of the person who teaches your gifted child? Do you know where your state stands on gifted education policies?
Gifted education policies are determined by states and often individual districts. Some states or districts have specific requirements for educators to fulfill before they are allowed to teach gifted students, but most do not.
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knowledge of the origins and nature of high levels of intelligence, including creative expressions of intelligence;
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knowledge and understanding of the cognitive, social, and emotional characteristics, needs, and potential problems experienced by gifted and talented students;
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knowledge of advanced content and ideas;
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ability to develop a differentiated curriculum appropriate to meeting the unique intellectual and emotional needs and interests of gifted and talented students; and
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ability to create an environment in which gifted and talented students feel challenged and safe to explore and express their uniqueness.
While these competencies are very important, they also are vague.
NAGC also has developed Pre-K–Grade 12 Gifted Program Standards and NAGC-CEC (NCATE) has developed Teacher Preparation Standards. These sets of standards offer guidelines for states, districts, and universities to provide minimal and exemplary preparation of teachers and of programs to meet the needs of gifted students.
For more information on your state's standards regarding gifted education click here.
Music Appreciation for the Gifted
A History of African American Music
Here you can trace the musical contributions of African Americans from the time of slavery to today’s popular styles. An interactive timeline organized by year and genre includes notable Carnegie Hall performances. Photos and historical information are partnered with streaming audio.
This section was designed to teach kids, ages 6–12 about sound, music notation, text, and instruments in a fun, interactive exploration. Teacher resources are included along with the following adventures:
- “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, by Benjamin Britten” where students join Violet as she embarks on an instrument safari, guided by her uncle Ollie, collecting all the instruments of the orchestra.
- “Carnegie Hall Animated History” hosted by Gino the cat who leads an adventure through Carnegie Hall from its founding in 1891 to the present day. It includes a game featuring important figures from this landmark music venue's past.
- “Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9” teaches kids about the structure of the symphony as well as the instruments that are played. This is done with help from Dvořák himself via excerpts from his letters and instructive comments about his life. Engaging activities are also included.
This section is suited for more-advanced learners, exploring issues of technique, interpretation, and composition.
- Leon Fleisher's master classes focus on technique, interpretation, and performance in the four late Schubert piano sonatas. This section will be best understood by advanced piano students.
- “The Emerson String Quartet: The Bartók Quartets, A Guide for Performers and Music Lovers” is intended for performers who are preparing these pieces as well as listeners and concertgoers who wish to learn more about the Bartók quartets and about the many musical decisions that must be made in order to perform these demanding works. This section includes video footage, written commentary, and an animated score. Much of the video was taken during a workshop given by Emerson members in 2003 and has been supplemented with additional video of Emerson members and others speaking about the quartets.
In addition to these wonderfully interactive segments, the Sound Insights section of the Carnegie Hall Web site has a wealth of musical information. Additional sections include video, audio, and written material about composers, artists, and other music personalities.
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