Highly Capable Characteristics

Characteristics of
Highly Capable Students

How to Spot a Gifted Student
The gifted student




Asks many questions
and is very curious
Possesses a large
amount of information
Has a good memory

But . . .



Source: www.teachersfirst.com/gifted/spot.html

Easily gets “off task”
and “off topic”
Is impatient when not
called on in class

The gifted student







Learns new information
quickly
Retains information easily
Masters reading skills
earlier
Demonstrates strong
abilities in math
Displays unusual
academic achievement
Finishes classwork
quickly

But . . .







Is easily bored
Can become
disruptive in class
Shows strong
resistance to
repetitive activities
and memorization
Completes work
quickly but sloppily

The gifted student





Is interested in many
things
Becomes involved in a
variety of activities
Is motivated to try new
things
Enjoys a challenge

But . . .






May resist working on
activities apart from areas
of interest
Leaves projects
unfinished
Takes on too much and
becomes overwhelmed

The gifted student




Thinks independently
Expresses unique
and original opinions
Is self-motivated

But . . .





Challenges authority
Does not handle
criticism well
Does not work well in
groups

The gifted student





Uses higher level
thinking skills
Makes connections
other students don’t
see
Considers unusual
approaches to
problem-solving

But . . .





Tends to be absentminded regarding
practical details
Forgets homework
assignments

The gifted student



Has strong sense of
justice
Likes to debate
current issues and
real life problems

But . . .





Can be very critical of
self and others
Likes to argue a point
Is perfectionist and
expects others to be
perfect as well

The gifted student




Has sophisticated
sense of humor
Understands subtle
humor
Enjoys plays on
words and satire

But . . .




Easily gets carried
away with a joke
Has a tendency to
become the “class
clown”

The gifted student





Demonstrates strong
expressive skills
Is sensitive to feelings
of others
Elaborates on ideas
Shows skill in drama/
art/music/language

But . . .





Sometimes perceived
as a “know-it-all” by
peers
Is sometimes “bossy”
to peers in group
situations

Myth 1


Gifted kids are like cream that rises to
the top in a classroom
Not necessarily. Gifted children can have
hidden learning disabilities that go undiscovered
because they can easily compensate for them in
the early years. As time goes on though, it
becomes harder and harder for them to excel –
which can lead to behavior problems and
depression.

Source: www.ri.net/gifted_talented/character.html

Myth 2


Gifted students are so smart they do
fine with or without special programs:
They may appear to do fine on their own, but without
proper challenge, they can become bored and unruly.
As the years go by they may find it harder and harder as
work does become more challenging since they never
faced challenge before.


Myth 3


Gifted & Talented Means the Same Thing
There is no rule that states that a child who is capable of
scoring high on achievement testing (i.e. WASL) must be
considered gifted. Such a child is most definitely academically
talented. Further IQ and out of level testing must be given
before we can define that child as gifted.
At the same time, there is no rule that states a child identified
as gifted should be achieving to high standards in the
classroom. This type of stereotyping can do damage to both
groups. Any child can benefit from enrichment or high
standards. Intellectually Gifted children need a a differentiated
curriculum and possibly even a different environment.

Myth 4:


Giftedness is something to jealous
about.
This is a damaging myth . More often than not, gifted
children can feel isolated and misunderstood. They
have more adult tastes in music, clothing, reading,
material, and food. These differences to other children
can cause them to be shunned and even abused
verbally or physically by other children. Experts in the
field of gifted education are beginning to address higher
incidences of ADHD and Spelling/Handwriting disabilities
in the gifted population verses those in the much larger
general population.


Highly Capable Characteristics

Ten Things All Administrators Should
Know About Gifted Children
 Gifted


students are not all alike
 Gifted students benefit from interaction with peers
 Gifted students need various forms of acceleration
throughout school years
 Gifted students are capable of producing high level

products in specific areas of learning at the level of a
competent adult
 Gifted students need to be challenged and stimulated
by advanced and enriched curriculum
Source: National Association for Gifted Children /
Joyce Van Tassel-Baska, Center for Gifted Education, College of William & Mary

Ten Things All Administrators Should
Know About Gifted Children
 Gifted

students need to be instructed by personnel
trained in education of gifted students
 Gifted students at elementary require differentiated

staffing and flexible schedule
 Gifted students have counseling needs that require

psychosocial, academic, and career preparation on an
annual basis
 Gifted students have affective characteristics that

render them vulnerable in school settings such as
perfectionism, sensitivity, and intensity.
 Gifted students in general have healthy social


relationships and adjust well to new situations.
Source: National Association for Gifted Children /
Joyce Van Tassel-Baska, Center for Gifted Education, College of William & Mary

General Behavior Characteristics of
Gifted Students









Many gifted children learn to read early, with better
comprehension of nuances of language.
Gifted children often read widely, quickly, and intensely and
have large vocabularies
Gifted children commonly learn basic skills better, more
quickly, and with less practice.
They are better able to construct and handle abstractions.
They often pick up and interpret nonverbal cues and can draw
inferences that other children need to have spelled out for
them.
They take less for granted, seeking the “hows” and “whys.”
They can work independently at an earlier age and can
concentrate for longer periods.
Source: www.ri.net/gifted_talented

General Behavior Characteristics of
Gifted Students . . . continued


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
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Their interests are both widely eclectic and intensely focused.
They often have seemingly boundless energy and can
concentrate for longer periods.
They usually respond and relate well to parents, teachers,
and other adults. They may prefer the company of older
children and adults to that of their peers.
They like to learn new things, are willing to examine the
unusual, and are highly inquisitive.
They tackle tasks and problems in a well-organized, goaldirected, and efficient manner.
They exhibit an intrinsic motivation to learn, find out, or
explore and are often very persistent. “I’d rather do it myself”
is a common attitude.


Learning Characteristics of Gifted
Students








They may show keen powers of observation and a
sense of the significant; they have an eye for
important details.
They may read a great deal on their own, preferring
books and magazines written for children older than
they are.
They often take great pleasure in intellectual activity.
They have well-developed powers of abstraction,
conceptualization, and synthesis.
They readily see cause-effect relationships.

Learning Characteristics of Gifted
Students . . . continued



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


They often display a questioning attitude and seek information
for its own sake as much as for its usefulness.
They are often skeptical, critical, and evaluative. They are
quick to spot inconsistencies.
They often have a large storehouse of information about a
variety of topics, which they can recall quickly.
They readily grasp underlying principals and can often make
valid generalizations about events, people, or objects.
They quickly perceive similarities, differences, and anomalies.
They often attack complicated material by separating it into
components and analyzing systematically.

Creative Characteristics of Gifted
Students









Gifted children are fluent thinkers, able to generate
possibilities, consequences, or related ideas.
They are flexible thinkers, able to use many different
alternatives and approaches to problem solving.
They are original thinkers, seeking new, unusual, or
unconventional associations and combinations among
items of information.
They can also see relationships among seemingly
unrelated objects, ideas, or facts.
They are elaborate thinkers, producing new steps, ideas,
responses, or other embellishments to a basic idea,
situation, or problems.
They are willing to entertain complexity and seem to
thrive on problem solving.

Creative Characteristics of Gifted
Students . . . Continued







They are good guessers and can readily
construct hypotheses or “what if” questions.
They often are aware of their own impulsiveness
and irrationality, and they show emotional
sensitivity.
They are extremely curious about objects, ideas,
situations, or events.
They often display intellectual playfulness and
like to fantasize and imagine.
They can be less intellectually inhibited than
their peers

Highly Capable Characteristics

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Highly Capable Characteristics