Modification of Curriculum Instruction and Activities For the Gifted

Editor's Notes

• #5: To understand more clearly, let us compare the characteristics of a bright child to a gifted one… Having gifted students in our classroom is a challenging one. As teachers we must see to it that their needs are met. So we need to design a program suited to their needs. These is done through modification of the curriculum… here are modification and activities for the gifted child..
• #6: To begin with, lets start with enrichment. What is enrichment. Such programs were originally intended for gifted students but are now also used for students experiencing educational difficulty or socioeconomic disadvantage.
• #7: . It is a supplement to, not a replacement for, the core of work being undertaken. It can broaden pupils’ horizons and help them to look at different aspects of their work.
• #8: Able children need as much motivation and recognition as other pupils, sometimes more. There is always need to guard against the assumption, especially in mixed ability classes, that these children will motivate themselves and keep themselves interested. This belief is not borne out by the research. It is also evident from a scrutiny of Ofsted reports (Wallace 2000) that even in a ‘good’ school there is all too often not enough differentiation of classroom activities to extend the very able child. Enrichment can have an important contribution to make here.
• #13: Enrichment may include but is not limited to:
• #14: These activities are designed to provide students with as wide a range of experiences as possible, and include excursions, club, interest centres, visiting speakers and brainstorming sessions. Through involvement in Type I experiences, students will realize that they are expected to pursue further exploration and decide on alternative suggestions for further research.
• #15: Skills to be developed include creative and critical thinking, learning how to learn, using advanced level reference materials and communicating effectively. activities are open-ended and allow students to escalate their thinking processes to the highest level possible. Type II activities should also introduce students to more advanced kinds of studies.
• #16: Students apply the knowledge and skills they have developed while working through Type I and Type II activities. They become investigators of real problems, working on specific areas of study towards presentation to a real audience. Activities include researching, debating, surveying, making a presentation, writing a journal article or producing a book or play. Type III activities are more appropriate for gifted students, as they allow for the generation of creativity.
• #17: Gifted and talented students have a higher capacity for learning than their peers. Because of this enhanced academic ability, these students commonly are not challenged by the academic activities presented to the general class. To ensure these students receive the enrichment necessary to thrive, teachers can provide them with higher-level activities that challenge and intrigue these highly skilled students. Self-Directed Portfolio The only rule is that it should be something in which the student has a keen interest. Help the student gather books and other media and learn about the topic. Then, allow the student to create a representation of his understanding by writing a story, composing an essay, creating a work of art or producing any other product of his choice. Place this work in his portfolio. Continue to allow the student to select and study his own topics, making his education unique to him and allowing him the opportunity to be guided by his interest, in any direction he selects
• #18: School Improvement Plan Ask the student to research the area that he selected and create a plan for improvement. Assist the student in creating a draft of his improvement plan and even planning out a budget that outlines how much the improvement would cost. To conclude the project, allow the student the opportunity to present his plan to the school principal or other school officials.
• #19: For example, if other students are asked to answer comprehension questions about a written piece, compose another assignment in which you ask gifted students to apply the information in the written work to their own lives. Print out these more challenging assignments on bright yellow paper, immediately setting them apart from Gold Sheet Challenges the standard lesson. When you hand these assignments to your gifted students, make it clear that the work is extra challenging because you believe in their abilities. As other students see these special papers, they too will want to develop the skills necessary to complete them. If these other students excel in a certain activity or topic, allow them to attempt to complete the gold sheet challenges as well. Science Fact Presentation Provide the student with resources related to the assigned topic, and instruct him to gather information independently from these resources.
• #20: Gifted students commonly finish work more rapidly than their classmates. If you do not have a prepared activity for them when they finish their regular classwork, learning time will be lost. Working independently on the study of a favorite author will ensure that gifted students always have work to fill in the gaps created by their faster working speed.
• #22:   gifted/talented children may be advanced thinkers and enjoy the challenge of new tasks. one of the key themes should be independent learning. Try to avoid “telling” the student new information; instead encourage them to seek it for themselves. Try to move towards more investigative, resource-based and active forms of learning. Where possible, try to allow them to choose the method or activity that they would like to do in order to learn, as this promotes a sense of autonomy and “ownership” of learning. However, do encourage them to try new activities in order to broaden the learning experience. Here are ten approches to broaden their learning experiences: Task Able children can be challenged by setting tasks that encourage them to think at higher levels through the inclusion of problem-solving, investigation and the use of higher-order thinking skills. Outcome Learning how to explain something to someone else so that they can understand a concept or process can be very challenging. An able child could be asked to explain or teach something to someone else, or write to someone else, or write or design something for children of a different age group.
• #23: 3. Pace Children are given a common task but the time allocated for completion is based on prior skills. An able child might be expected to spend less time completing the core task than others and may then undertake some more challenging extension work (i.e. opportunities for extending the breadth and depth of learning related to the core curriculum objective rather than moving on to the next learning objective). Many able children miss the chance to do extension tasks where they are available because they take too long completing the core task, through lack of interest and motivation. Where appropriate, some children should be allowed to skip activities (known as ‘compacting’) and move quickly to extension work. 4. Support Children work on a common task, but some receive more or less support than others. An able child may need help in weak areas of their own such as recording, use of ICT, developing study skills or co-operative learning. 5. Resources Children are set a common task, but are given different resources, which require more advanced reading or research skills. Able children can be encouraged to use a range of resources or alternative methods for presenting their work
• #24: 6. Grouping Children have a common task to complete but are grouped in a way that ensures success for all. Able children can sometimes be grouped with peers of similar ability and expected to perform at a higher level. 7. Information Children are set a common task but are given different information, or different amounts of information, which can support or stretch their thinking.
• #25: 8. Role Children undertake a common task but individuals are given different roles. An able child could be given the role of the main researcher, or organiser of the group’s information and resources. 9. Homework Children are set different homework whilst some pupils may need time to complete work started in class. More able children might be given more complex aspects of the topic to research in more depth, or to carry out a different task. 10. Dialogue/Using Questions The teacher adapts the questions they pose and the responses they make to different children. Differentiation by dialogue has recently been stressed as a key area to consider in meeting the needs of highly able children. The use of questions is summarised on the following page.
• #26: Work can be made more demanding, and children’s thinking extended through the use of a wide range of teaching strategies. Deborah Eyre (1997) identified the following: 1. Plan/do/review Able children can be expected to plan more systematically and with greater rigour, and to be more critical and analytical in the reviewing stage. 2. Working from more difficult texts Useful in that children can work on the same content but research information from more challenging texts and resources. 3. Using a wider range of information/resources As above, but children are expected to bring together information from many more sources. 4. Recording in alternative or more imaginative ways Children can be encouraged to move away from recording in a written format and explore more imaginative ways of presenting information. 5. Role play Encouraging children to interpret and empathise with different people and situations, to bring greater life and meaning to their learning.
• #27: 6. Problem solving and enquiry tasks Children can be encouraged to explore alternatives to solving problems and research real-life problems. The Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) programme has been used as a highly effective tool in this area and has recently been extended into the areas of mathematics, technology and performing arts. 7. Choice in how to handle content Choice usually results in greater motivation. Able children can often think of more unusual and challenging lines of enquiry. 8. Decision making Children can be given the outline of a task and then given the choice of how to develop and record their ideas. 9. No correct answer This is often linked to work on open-ended tasks. Children are asked to research widely and then use their critical skills to consider the pros and cons of arguments. 10. Using one text or artefact Limiting the stimulus can help children to look more carefully, think more deeply and more imaginatively.
• #28: In some cases, students who are assigned to different groups are exposed to different curricula and/or educational methods; in other cases, students in all groups study the same material in the same way. Ability grouping can be implemented in regular and special education classrooms. Groups are typically small, consisting of ten or fewer students.Ability groups may be formed in regular classrooms or in special education resource rooms.
• #29: Here are answers to some of the most common questions on ability grouping, based on current research: Given these special needs, perhaps it is not surprising that students who are grouped with other gifted individuals in school learn more in a year than students who have classmates of more varied ability.
• #30: . For example, many mathematically talented students are ready to learn statistics/probability, geometry, and pre-algebra long before those topics are introduced in school. If the advanced material is presented, gifted students will learn it, thereby boosting their academic achievement.
• #31: Students who are grouped with other highly able students may experience a slight decrease in the perception of their academic ability. Even if this does occur, it is nothing to worry about. If such changes occur at all, they are very slight. Gifted students' academic self-esteem does not drop below average when they are grouped by ability. Further, if a slight decrease does occur, it is specific to academics and simply reflects the reality of the new social comparisons. Ability grouping is not related to a dangerous drop in self-esteem for gifted students.
• #32: When changes are experienced, they are likely to be positive—that is, the self-esteem of lower ability students may increase when they are grouped with other students of similar ability. This slight increase is to be expected given the impact of social comparisons on self-esteem, as discussed above.
• #33: Boredom is a risk factor for academic problems, including loss of interest, lack of motivation, and underachievement. Such problems may occur even with ability grouping, if the curriculum is inappropriate for gifted students. Social and emotional risks may be present in mixed-ability settings, as well. The more outstanding a student's abilities, the more likely that student is to have difficulty fitting in socially with fellow students in a mixed-ability classroom. Therefore, highly gifted individuals often benefit socially, as well as academically, from ability grouping.
• #34: For example, if a school has three different third grade classrooms and five gifted children in third grade, all five of these children would be placed in one of the three third grade classrooms rather than split up and placed in the different classrooms. Cluster grouping is an inexpensive way for schools to meet the academic needs of gifted children. However, teachers must be able to differentiate instruction for the different levels of ability in the classroom.
• #35: Developing curriculum that is sufficiently rigorous, challenging, and coherent for students who are gifted is a challenging task. The result, however, is well worth the effort. An effective curriculum for students who are gifted is essentially a basic curriculum that has been modified to meet their needs. The unique characteristics of the students must serve as the basis for decisions on how the curriculum should be modified . What are the things to be modified? Modifying Content Content consists of ideas, concepts, descriptive information, and facts. Content, as well as learning experiences, can be modified through acceleration, compacting, variety, reorganization, flexible pacing, and the use of more advanced or complex concepts, abstractions, and materials. When possible, students should be encouraged to move through content areas at their own pace. If they master a particular unit, they need to be provided with more advanced learning activities, not more of the same activity. Modifying Process To modify process, activities must be restructured to be more intellectually demanding. For example, students need to be challenged by questions that require a higher level of response or by open-ended questions that stimulate inquiry, active exploration, and discovery. Although instructional strategies depend on the age of the students and the nature of the disciplines involved, the goal is always to encourage students to think about subjects in more abstract and complex ways. Activity selection should be based on student interests, and activities should be used in ways that encourage self-directed learning.
• #36: Modifying Environment These includes a wide variety of materials, provides some physical movement, which is generally complex, and connects the school experience with the greater world. teacher establish a climate that encourages them to question, exercise independence, and use their creativity in order to be all that they can be. Modifying Product Expectation and Student Response Teachers can encourage students to demonstrate what they have learned in a wide variety of forms that reflect both knowledge and the ability to manipulate ideas. . For example, instead of giving a written or oral book report, students might prefer to design a game around the theme and characters of a book. Products can be consistent with each student's preferred learning style. They should address real problems, concerns, and audiences; synthesize rather than summarize information; and include a self-evaluation process