Differentiating Instruction for the Gifted Student in a MixedAbility Classroom

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Differentiating Instruction for the Gifted
Student in a Mixed-Ability Classroom
Kathryn Shaw Instructional Coach Rincon High
School
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Objectives

• Participants will have an opportunity to
• CONTENT
• Identify needs and challenges of teaching Gifted
  and Talented Students
• Match specific needs with specific strategies and
  techniques.
• Create a lesson within your content using one of
  the strategies
• LANGUAGE
• read an article about one teachers experience
  with teaching GATE students in a mixed-ability
  classroom
• discuss with peers how to apply specific
  strategies to specific learner needs

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Round the Clock Learning Partners

• Sign your name on the top of your paper.
• Avoid people seated at your table.
• Find a different partner for
• 300, 600, 900 1200
• Trade signatures.
• Sit down as soon as you have all signatures.
• You have 2 minutes 14 seconds.

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PRE-ASSESSMENT

• 4 Mat Brainstorm Activity
• What is Differentiated Instruction?
• What questions do you have?

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Who are the Gifted?

• Gifted students range from the highly gifted to
  the cooperative teachers pet, and from the
  artist to the rebellious underachiever.
• Federal law (PL 91-230) defines gifted and
  talented children in fives categories
• General Intellectual Ability
• Specific Academic Aptitude
• Creative or Productive Thinking
• Leadership Ability
• Visual/Performing Arts

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Needs of Gifted Students

• Gifted and talented elementary school students
  have mastered from 35 to 50 percent of the
  curriculum offered in five basic subjects before
  they begin the school year.
• Most regular classroom teachers make few, if any,
  provisions for gifted and talented children.
• Most of the highest achieving students in the
  nation included in Whos Who Among American High
  School Students reported that they studied less
  that 1 hour a day.
• Its easy to see why so many gifted students say
  they are bored in school.
• From National Excellence A Case for Developing
  Americas Talent (1993)

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How We Teach Makes A Difference!
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High performance is never an accident it is
always the result of high intention, sincere
effort, intelligent direction, careful planning,
and skillful execution it represents the wise
choice of many alternatives. Adapted from
Willa A. Foster
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Learning Cycle and Decision Factors Used in
Planning and Implementing Differentiated
Instruction

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Specific Concerns when Teaching Gifted Students

• Students could become interested in topic, but
  the teaching style doesnt match the learning
  style.
• Student already knows the skill or concept that
  is being taught.
• Student will learn the information, skills and/or
  concepts faster than most others in the class.
• Student does not feel academically or
  intellectually challenged.
• Student has given up on school, is unmotivated,
  wants to be entertained rather than work.

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• Student could become interested in the topic, but
  learning style does not match teaching style.
  Remember most of us teach the way we learn.
• Individual lesson plans (ILPs) based on
  Learning Styles, Multiple Intelligences, and/or
  interests.

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SoWhat to do?

• First-Get to Know Your Students
• Learning styles
• Multiple Intelligences
• Interests

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Whats Your Learning Style?
Puppy (abstract random)
Beach Ball (concrete random)
Clipboard (concrete sequential)
Microscope (abstract sequential)
Gregory Chapman
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Which Intelligence is your Strength/Weakness?

• 3 Main Categories of Gardners Multiple
  Intelligences
• I. Language Related II. Object Related III.
  Personal Related
• Verbal/Linguistic Logical/Mathematical Intraperso
  nal
• Musical/Rhythmic Visual Spatial Interpersonal
• Bodily/Kinesthetic
• Naturalist

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How are you Smart?
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Think-Pair-Share

• Find your 600 partner
• Get together and discuss the implications for
  your teaching in knowing your students learning
  styles and multiple intelligences.

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ALWAYS PRE-ASSESS

• To find out.
• What the student already knows about the unit
  being planned.
• What misconceptions the student might have
• What further instruction and opportunities for
  mastery are needed
• What requires re-teaching or enhancement
• What areas of interests and feelings are in the
  different areas of study
• How to set up flexible groups T-total,
  A-alone,P-partner, S-small group

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Pre-assessment Strategies
Anticipation guide
Journals
Word splash
Squaring Off
Written pre-test
Boxing
Placemat brainstorm
4 Corners
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When the student already knows the skill or
concept that is being taught use

• Flexible Grouping
• skill/readiness level
• interests
• multiple intelligences
• learning styles
• Curriculum Compacting
• Learning Contract

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CURRICULUM COMPACTING
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When the student will learn the information,
skills, and/or concepts faster than most others
in the class

• Independent study
• Student becomes a resident expert on some facet
  of the topic
• Thematic Units
• Learning Contract

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When the student does not feel academically or
intellectually challenged

• Questivities
• ILPs at the higher level of Blooms
• Enrichment activities that involve real life
  problem solving
• Tiered Lessons/Units

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Using Tomlinsons Equalizer to Chart Complexity
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When a student is unmotivated, wants to be
entertained rather than work

• Provide choice
• Pursuit of special interest area
• Personal goal setting
• Develop leadership skills to promote
  self-confidence.

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Pair-Share-Squared

• Find your 900 partner grab another pair of
  partners
• Look over the examples of Flexible Grouping,
  Curriculum Compacting, Learning Contracts,
  Questivities, Tiered Lessons, and ILPs?
• How do you see yourself utilizing these
  strategies in your classroom?

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Baby Steps A Beginners Guide Find your 1200
partner. Using the Say Something Paired Reading
Strategy, read and discuss the article.
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Its Your Turn

• Find someone else in your content area.
• Choose one strategy from those we discussed
  today. (Learning Contract, tic-tac-toe board, ILP
  based on Learning Styles, Blooms or Multiple
  Intelligences, Tiering a Lesson or Questivities)
• Create a plan

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FINAL COUNTDOWN
One Question you still have
Two New Ideas
Three strategies to use with Gifted Students
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Bibliography

• Coil, Carolyn. Teaching Tools for the 21st
  Century. Pieces of Learning, 2005
• Gregory, Gayle Chapman, Carolyn. Differentiated
  Instructional Strategies. Corwin Press, Inc Sage
  Publications,2002
• Gregory, Gayle, Kuzmich, Lin. Differentiated
  Literacy Strategies. Corwin Press, Inc Sage
  Publications, 2005
• Wormelli, Rick. Fair Isnt Always Equal.
  Stenhouse Publishers, Portland, Maine, 2006