Teaching Gifted

Students
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF SPECIAL EDUCATION
TEACHERS
 Definition
 Giftedness: Refers to children and
youth with outstanding talent who
perform or show the potential for
performing at remarkably high levels
of accomplishment when compared
with others their age, experience or
environment.
 Overview
 Gifted students exhibit high
performance capability in
intellectual, creative, musical and/or
artistic areas, possess an unusual
leadership capacity or excel in
specific academic fields.
 They require services not ordinarily
provided by schools
 Prevalence
 Ithas been assumed in
Federal reports and
legislation that approximately
3-5% of the school
population can be considered
gifted or talented.
 Prevalence
 Since each state establishes its own
definition of giftedness, percentages of
children identified as gifted and talented
vary from state to state.
 In general, children are not identified
and placed into gifted programs until
at least the 3rd grade
 Overview: Bright Versus
Gifted Students
 If you ask the teacher who the gifted kids
are, they are likely to point out the ones
that are bright.
 Bright kids are a normally a joy to teach.
In general, they listen well, rarely
question the teacher, work hard, and
answer questions. They don't challenge
the teacher's competence or stray off the
curriculum.
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
 The gifted student on the other hand may
be spending almost all of the school day
thinking or doing something other than
what the teacher wants.
 Gifted students find the constant
repetition so boring that they often don't
shine in the classroom. You might find the
gifted student day dreaming, looking out
of the window, reading a book instead of
listening.
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright student.... A Gifted student....
 Asks the
questions -
Knows the sometimes deep
answer probing
questions of an
abstract nature.
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright student.... A Gifted student....
Has a
Enjoys

preference for
individualized
group work
projects
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright student.... A Gifted student....

Is Is very
interested curious
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
 A Bright student....
 A Gifted student....
Is very creative-
 Carries out Likes to play her
school own way
assignments and
follows  Creativeness and
procedures very inventiveness-
“highest form of
well giftedness”

 Creativity is the
production of new
and original ideas
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student....
Discusses in
Answers the detail,
questions elaborates
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student.... Is beyond
the group
 Is in the Top
academic
Group(s) in
school
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student...
 Listenswith Shows strong
interest feelings and
opinions
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student...
Already
Learns
with ease knows
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student...
 1-2
 6-8 repetitions
repetitions for mastery
for mastery
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student...
Prefers adults,
older children or
Enjoys seeks out other
peers very bright or
gifted peers.
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student...
Initiates
 Completes
assignments projects
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student... Creates a
Copies new design
accurately
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student... Enjoys
Enjoys learning -
school but may
hate school.
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
 A Bright A Gifted student....
student... Outstanding
Memorizer,
 Good
often doing
Memorizer
so without
even trying
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student... Is keenly
observant -
Is alert seems to
remember
fine details.
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
A Bright A Gifted student....
student...  Is highly self-
critical - can be
Is pleased perfectionistic to
with own the point of
tantrums when
learning young.
 Bright Versus
Gifted Students
 A Bright A Gifted student....
student...  Thriveson
 Enjoys straight- complexity -
forward and/or needs the
sequential whole picture.
presentation
 Teaching Strategies for
Gifted Students
 Quicken the pace of learning. Gifted
students need their academic
curriculum to move at a more rapid
pace to keep them interested and
motivated in school.-After a while
will not distinguish work from play
 Teaching Strategies for
Gifted Students
 Broaden the range of experiences.
Give the student more opportunities
to expand his horizons.
 Teaching Strategies for
Gifted Students
 Give them challenging problems.
Gifted students enjoy complex and
challenging situations. They take
great pride in being able to figure
out complex and detailed types of
problems.
 Teaching Strategies for
Gifted Students
 Create projects that involve more
creative thought. One of the
qualities of gifted students is that
they tend to be very creative.
 Teaching Strategies for
Gifted Students
 Challenge them with questions
where there is no correct answer.
One of the beauties of working with
gifted students is that they enjoy
trying to solve problems for which
there are no solutions i.e. If you
were on a boat with your family and
could only save one of them, whom
would you save.
 Teaching Strategies for
Gifted Students
 Allow the student to pursue
individual projects that require
sophisticated levels of thinking.
Gifted students enjoy working on their
own and should be encouraged to do so.
Do not make the assignments easy
either-Challenge them and try to avoid
giving away answers.
 Teaching Strategies for
Gifted Students
 Teach them how to play chess.
Chess requires great skill,
concentration, and strategic
planning. This is an ideal game for
gifted students to learn how to play.