What is Gifted, Creative and Talented?

Definitions
"The term gifted and talented, when used with respect to students,
children, or youth, means students, children, or youth who give evidence of
high achievement capability in such areas as intellectual, creative, artistic, or
leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or
activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those
capabilities." - No Child Left Behind Act
*There is no federal definition

Gifted and Talented

Includes areas of performance that arent intelligence

Programs nourish those gifts
Programs no longer only target those with high IQ
Gifted: Can be present at one point in life then disappoint at another point.
Talented: Advanced in performance areas such as sports, math and music.
Creative: A mental activity performed in situations where there is no prior
correct solution or answer
A process of developing new, uncommon, or unique ideas

Signs and Characteristics of Gifted/ Talented Students:

Gifted students are often perfectionistic and idealistic.

Gifted students may experience heightened sensitivity to their own

expectations and those of others.

Some gifted students are mappers (sequential learners), while others

are leapers (spatial learners).

Gifted students may be so far ahead of their chronological age that

they know half the curriculum before the school year begins!

Gifted children are problem solvers.

Gifted students often think abstractly and with such complexity that
they may need help with concrete study and test-taking skills.

May learn to speak and read early.

Interests that are common of older kids or adults

High energy/motivation

Love pursuing tasks and finding solutions to problems

Risk takers

Love to try new activities

Think abstractly

Need for mental stimulation

Learn complex information at a fast pace

Need to explore subjects in depth

Unusually large vocabulary and complex sentence structure for age

Advanced comprehension of word nuances, metaphors and abstract

ideas

Highly developed curiosity

Interest in experimenting and doing things differently

Puts idea or things together that are not typical

Keen and/or unusual sense of humor

Desire to organize people/things through games or complex schemas

Vivid imaginations

Creative Characteristics

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.

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 are in

expressing opinions and ideas, and they often disagree spiritedly with
others' statements.

Gifted and Talented Identification Process

1.

Screening

2.

Data collection

3.

Classroom observations

4.

Parent/peer nominations

5.

Teacher nominations

6.

Achievement tests as well as creative/motivation assessments

7.

Evaluation of projects

*Most identification happens in schools and is for the purpose of selecting

students to participate in the schools gifted program. There are no nationwide or even state-wide standards for identification. Each school district
makes a determination about which and how many students it is able to
service within its programs based on its definitions, philosophy and
resources.*

Accommodations and Modifications

Encourage students to explore concepts in depth and encourage

independent studies or investigations.

Encourage creative expression and thinking

Expand students time for free reading

Provide learning centers where students are in charge of their learning.

Determine where students interests lie and capitalize on their

inquisitiveness.

Employ differentiated curriculum to keep interest high.

Ask students higher level questions

Encourage students to make transformations- use a common task or

item in a different way.

Environment

Create a room environment that encourages creativity and discovery

through the use of interesting literature and reference materials.
Allow flexible seating arrangements.
Encourage students to get involved in school clubs and extracurricular
activities that support and extend their learning and experiences.
Supply reading materials on a wide variety of subjects and levels.

Create an environment where ideas are accepted without being

evaluated and criticized; where risk-taking is encouraged.

Provide a learning-rich environment that includes a variety of

resources, media, tasks, and methods of teaching.

Allow children to be highly mobile as they move in and out of groups

and tasks at their own pace.

Provide an adult mentor that shares similar interests.

Classroom Management

Provide alternatives for students who complete their work early.

Allow students to make choices in their learning.

Help them learn to set their own learning goals, then provide them with
the opportunity to work towards those goals.

Create a contract with students that outlines tasks to be completed,

concepts to be learned and the evaluation technique so students can be
active participants in their learning.

Assessment

Evaluate students individually instead of as a group.

Allow gifted students to take an assessment before starting a new unit
to see what information is already familiar to them.

Accelerative Options
Acceleration occurs when students move through traditional curriculum at
rates faster than typical. Among the many forms of acceleration are gradeskipping, early entrance to kindergarten or college, dual-credit courses such
as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs and
subject-based acceleration.

preschool playgroups with children a year older

early admission to kindergarten or first grade

in-class grouping by skill levels, usually for reading and math

curriculum compacting and differentiation of instruction in regular

classes

advanced curriculum in self-contained (homogeneous) gifted classes or

a special school

pull-out, part-time classes (unfortunately, some of these dont provide

genuine acceleration, and gifted students still have to endure the rest of
the week in a regular classroom)

mixed-grade classes, with gifted students telescoping or condensing

two years in one or three years in two

subject-matter acceleration (e.g., going to a higher class for specific

subjects in elementary school or to one or more classes at a higher grade
in secondary school)

grade skipping or double promotion

participation in high-level competitions such as Mathcounts, the

National Geography Bee, the American Mathematics Competition, or the
Intel Science Talent Search

high-level summer classes sponsored by colleges and universities,

regional talent searches, and other organizations

online classes that yield high school or college credit (these often lead
to early high school graduation)

Advanced Placement (AP) courses and International Baccalaureate (IB)

programs, both delivering college-level classes taught at the high school,
so that students arrive in college with advanced standing

concurrent or dual enrollment in high school and college

early college entry, independently (if necessary) or in programs
admitting students one to four years early
enrolling in a selective college or university
once in college, enrolling in an honors program or honors college,
taking graduate-level classes as an undergraduate, engaging in
undergraduate research with a faculty mentor, or participating in
academic competitions
full-time or part-time homeschooling
In a study of high-ability children who had been accelerated, 71%
reported satisfaction with their acceleration experience.Some argue that
acceleration can be harmful to students self-concept, ability to fit in with
older peers, or other social-emotional needs. However, research on

acceleration has demonstrated multiple academic benefits to students

and suggests that acceleration does not

Accelerated students have also been shown to outperform non

accelerated peers academically in the long term.

Acceleration is a cost-effective intervention. Grade-based forms cost

little to implement.

Teaching Strategies
Become familiar with the characteristics of gifted students

Dont assume due to stereotypes

Gifted students arent always straight A students

These students learn differently

o

Different academic needs

Provide the gifted student with opportunities to grow

Encourage them to think and develop their abilities

Think outside the box with their assignments

Or ways to promote their unique way of thinking

Allow the student for opportunities to explore a subject further

Example: Giving an end of unit test to introduce new content matter to

students

Have those who score high on this test pursue other topics in more
detail
o
o

Don't force them to relearn what they already know

Offer projects and other opportunities to learn about the subject
further

This also works by giving an end of year informal assessment at the

beginning of the year for subjects like spelling and math to get an idea of
who is further along compared to most students
o

This helps the teacher to identify those who are advanced in

those subjects
Prevents relearning and boredom

*This is otherwise known as curriculum compacting

Work with the parents

Parents want to know that the teacher is looking for ways to help their
child grow and develop their abilities.

Explore ways to challenge their child

Communication is key to the childs success

Similar to other exceptional learners

Become more aware of other teaching options

AP courses

Online courses

Telescoping
Teaching multiple grades in a condensed timeline

Grades 4, 5, 6 in two years

Areas to be careful with

Using your gifted students as tutors

This can be a frustrating experience due to the gifted students

unique way of thinking
Giving the student more work when they finish early

This is a common thing to do with teachers

Counterintuitive because the work theyre given is probably too easy

for them
Consider giving them more challenging work to begin with

Having them move ahead with the coursework

This uses their time for efficiently

This creates boredom and could encourage the student to rebel. This
could happen because the student would rather read or spend time
thinking rather than doing an easy assignment that they MUST do.

Focus on their strengths

Offer them activities and assignments that align with their strengths

Things to expect when teaching gifted students

Allow yourself time for advanced preparation for lesson plans and
activities catered towards gifted students.

As a teacher it helps to love what you do (PP and delete below)

Gifted students respond better to classroom instruction through

teachers who enjoy what theyre teacher.

Makes the gifted students enjoy the class more and theyll put
more effort into the class

Teacher should have access to delivering instruction in a variety of

ways

Specifics on the strategies used for gifted students

Curriculum Compacting: Give gifted students opportunities to show

mastery of content at the beginning of units. If students can get through
the unit with relative ease, they can be given study guides of the
material, assuming responsibility for learning the material at a faster pace
while freeing up time to pursue enrichment opportunities. Gifted students
can still participate in periodic assessments with the rest of the class

Differentiation: Just as materials are adapted to meet the needs of

students with disabilities, scaffolding materials for students with
advanced abilities. Gifted students should be offered more challenging
versions of class projects and assignments.

In-Depth Learning: Gifted students often comprehend cause and

effect relationships at higher levels than other students their age. As part
of the differentiation process, allow students to study problems from
different angles and points of view. Have students extend their learning
into enrichment projects and experiments.

Distance Learning: The Internet provides opportunities for students

to take classes in subjects that are not offered at their schools and also
enable secondary students to take college-level courses.
Blooms Taxonomy

This is a model of critical thinking

Encourages a higher level of thinking skills

Questions to ask
Remember: Show the students ability to recall facts.
What is?
How would you describe?
Why did?
How would you show?
Understanding: Displays the student's ability to summarize the
information.
What shows that?
How can you compare?
How can you classify?
Can you explain?
Applying: Encourages the student to use the information in a different
situation.
What would happen if?
How would you?
Analyzing: Allows the student to show how the information is put together
but taking it apart.
What do you think will happen?
What is the relationship?
What things confirm?
Evaluating: Encourages development of opinions.
How could you prove?
How could you choose?

Creating: Promotes the student to establish something new by using

different ideas.
What could be done instead?
How would you test?
What would you predict if?
Works Cited
Academy of Art University - Different Types of Questions based on Bloom's
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Characteristics and Behaviors of the Gifted. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9,
2015, from http://www.ri.net/gifted_talented/character.html
Chen, G. (n.d.). 10 Characteristics of the Gifted Child |
PublicSchoolReview.com. Retrieved December 9,
2015,http://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/10-characteristics-of-thegifted-child (Links to an external site.)
Common Characteristics of Gifted Individuals. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9,
2015, from https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/my-childgifted/common-characteristics-gifted-individuals
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http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching-resources/classroom-practice/teachingtechniques-strategies/creativity/defining-creativity/
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CLASSROOM. (2004, March 9). Retrieved December 9, 2015, from
http://www.grandviewlibrary.org/CurriculumAdaptations/General_Gifted.pdf
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http://www.nsgt.org/giftedness-defined/
Tips for Teachers: Successful strategies for teaching gifted learners. (n.d.).
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http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10075.aspx
Wichita, D. (n.d.). Gifted Presentation. Retrieved December 9, 2015, from
http://www.slideshare.net/WichitaDaniel/gifted-presentation