Because most gifted programs require a teacher with a master's degree, student teachers are not often seen in a gifted classroom or aware of how to get a G/T degree.
As schools evaluate their declining budgets, some gifted programs are getting decreased during the course day and regular classroom teachers are becoming responsible for gifted programming through inclusion. It is increasingly important that student teachers are involved in gifted classrooms with experienced gifted education teachers. Observing and Student Teaching in Gifted Classrooms Unless a teacher was in a gifted education program in school, many teachers do not have an awareness of gifted programs. It is important that pre-service teachers are exposed to gifted students in the regular classroom and the gifted classroom so that they can see what gifted education is all about, and how distinctively different gifted students become when they are separated into a group of similar-ability peers. Even if a person is going to teach right out of college (and gifted jobs are rare), student teaching in a gifted classroom prepares pre-service teachers for working with gifted students in the regular classroom, as well offering preparation for teaching advanced level and advanced placement classes. When pre-service teachers are getting their assignments for student teaching, they should request some observation hours with the gifted education program. Observation students and student teachers should go to pull-out programs and see how those programs function, with the delicate and intricate balancing act of scheduling. They should see full day programs, where available, and see how one-hour elective programs work. Requirements for Teaching Gifted Education States vary on their requirements for teaching gifted ed, but it is a safe bet to say that a teacher needs more than the 3 hour undergraduate class on exceptional students. Most states require work beyond a bachelor's degree, and there are many master's and doctoral programs for people who want to become trained teachers working with gifted students. Online Courses for Gifted Education It is possible to get a Master's degree in teaching gifted students by working through online degree programs. It is important to look at the quality and reputation of the school; all-online schools do not seem to carry the weight of a brick-and-mortar university that also happens to offer online courses. The University of Connecticut offers an online Master's class in gifted ed; the classes could be used as part of an independent study course at another university, or students can travel to Connecticut for the two week Confratute workshop and complete other classes online. The University of Connecticut's program is well-known and well-respected among gifted educators, because UConn is the home of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. The quality of gifted programs depend significantly on the quality of the teachers. If pre-service teachers are exposed to gifted classrooms, they can begin teaching in regular classrooms and learn more about gifted students as they work with them. Then, they can teach in their assigned classes and complete master's work, possibly through online classes, and continue to help build a field that is so important to the children and parents that are served by gifted education programs. Originally posted on Suite101 on March 2nd, 2009
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It is exciting to find a book that lends itself to creative thinking, simple research, and logical reasoning. This picture book allows students to think and create. Enrichment teachers know the value of a well-timed picture book. Many gifted students read early, so they move on to chapter books quickly and miss a lot of the fun art of picture books. Also, picture books allow the whole class to enjoy a story and art together. The best picture books allow a class to go beyond the covers and create something new, and Roger McGough's Until I Met Dudley does just that. A Summary of Until I Met Dudley McGough's book is written in a pattern students will quickly pick up on. The innocent narrator offers an imaginative explanation for a common household appliance, and then Dudley offers a technical explanation on the following pages. Because the art is done by the legendary Chris Riddell, it is both playful and precise. When the narrator details how cats lick dishes clean inside a dishwasher, the art is fun and detailed. When Dudley explains how a dishwasher actually works, the art is technical with bright, happy lines. Using Until I Met Dudley to Encourage Creative Thinking After students have seen and heard Until I Met Dudley, many of them will want to make their own similar stories. This is the perfect chance for teachers to develop creative thinking skills. Instruct students to fluently list mechanical objects that they want to learn more about, and then have them come up with a creative explanation of how it works. It is important that teachers allow students a wide range of possible springboards. Many students will choose musical instruments and toys, which is fine. Although everything in the book plugs in, the objects students choose do not need to be limited to electrical appliances. Students should sketch out a picture of the creative explanation, and then then write a short narrative (about a paragraph, like the book) to connect the picture to the back story. Using Until I Met Dudley to Encourage Simple Research Once students have created the creative explanation, it is time to research the real explanation. Even if students think they know how, teachers should insist they look up the technical points because Until I Met Dudley is a very precise book and students will need to echo that exactness. The book The Way Things Work by David Macaulay and the website for How Stuff Works is an excellent resource for students. After students have learned the actual workings of the object, they need to create a detailed diagram and explain how it works, again writing a short paragraph that echoes Dudley's style of explaining. How Until I Met Dudley Encourages Logical ReasoningIn both the creative and the logical explanations, students need to present a logical flow of cause and effect to show how something works. The book is so thorough that students will find themselves developing logical skills simply through the art of creating and discussing diagrams. Teachers should allow at least four hours for this activity, depending on what research resources are available. Binding the pages to create a class version of Until I Met Dudley will tie the whole thing together and offer something to share with parents as they are learning more about the enrichment program and demonstrating how students think, create, and learn individually. Until I Met Dudley: How Everyday Things Really Work (ISBN: 0711211299) was published by Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd in 1999 and is still readily available. It was written by Roger McGough and illustrated by Chris Riddell. Originally posted on Suite101 on June 23rd, 2009 Gifted students love words and laughter; one of the hallmarks of a gifted child is a clever sense of humor. Kids can create Mad Lib games online. Mad Libs are one of the great gifts to offer an enrichment classroom, because they are fun 5-minute activities that help build language arts and collaboration skills. Mad Libs are especially fun for gifted students, because they enjoy using a wide vocabulary and have strong prediction skills. Wacky Web Tales: Online Mad Libs One of the most fun and interesting Mad Libs sites is Education Place. Their Wacky Web Tales are listed for kids in grade three and above, but younger gifted kids would enjoy using them, especially if teachers or stronger readers helped them understand some of the finer grammar terms. Wacky Web Tales has a large and growing collection of tales of a variety of sizes. Some of them are well-suited for holiday use. In order to use them, students need to understand grammar terms such as adjective, verb, and pronoun. To use the site, students:
Because Education Place is sponsored by textbook manufacturer Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, all of the Wacky Web Mad Libs are school and age appropriate, although students can quickly make them inappropriate by adding non-school sanctioned language. It is important that teachers supervise what students are typing. Creating Mad Libs for a Friend Online Older students who are comfortable using email will enjoy Iwiletter's MadLetter , which gives students detailed, step-by-step instructions on creating a MadLetter to send to a friend. Students can create the categories for the Mad Lib-type letters and email the letter to a friend. Creating the letters requires some time for typing; many students will use the bracket key for the first time. Additional Uses for MadLetter Teachers can create Mad Libs to email to their students using MadLetter, which could be a fun way to enhance a unit of study or keep in touch over breaks, and students can make MadLetters to email their parents. After a Madletter is sent in email, the friend can quickly access it and answer it. There are pre-written letters on the site, but they are designed for general use, not school use. Teachers should encourage students to use MadLetter to create their own Mad Libs to share with a friend, and use Wacky Web Tales for pre-designed Mad Libs. Because gifted students have a desire to create, enjoy word-play, and have expansive vocabularies, Mad Lib type activities are the perfect way to play and learn. If teachers want to offer pre-made, school-appropriate Mad Lib experiences, the online collection at Wacky Web Tales is perfect. When students are ready to create their own Mad Libs to share with a friend, Iwiletter's MadLetter is the perfect tool. Originally posted on Suite101 on April 2nd, 2009 Students who leave the regular classroom for gifted classroom often discover they are in a distinctly different learning environment.
Creating and maintaining a positive learning environment in the gifted classroom is essential for student success. Gifted classrooms are often a haven for g/t kids; they are able to reveal sides of their personalities in the increased comfort that is borne of being in a homogeneous group. However, the group is only homogeneous to a degree, and soon conflicts abound. It is important to establish rules and visit them frequently, as new students are often identified and placed mid-year. Developing Classroom Rules With Student Input Because many gifted students stay with the same teacher for several years, it is to the students' benefit if the teacher makes broad rules that can be adjusted as time goes by. Some teachers like to involve students in creating classroom rules, but because gifted education involves frequent additions after the start of school, it seems unfair to create rules without some of the participants. It may be better to have student input on procedures related to rules, and revisit those procedures on a regular basis. For example, if one rule is that students must bring supplies to class, the class may vote on procedures to deal with students that do not bring supplies. Should the students bring extra supplies to loan out to one another? Should the empty-handed student have to return to his or her locker to get supplies? Developing Classroom Rules Without Student Input Having rules established when students walk in, and posting rules on the wall, helps establish boundaries for students. The rules of the gifted classroom can be discussed with parents during placement into the program. To create rules, the teacher should consider the duration of the program and activities in the classroom. Duration Impacts Classroom Rules If students are coming to a pull-out classroom once or twice a week, the classroom rules need to be easy to remember. A lot of rules will lead to a lot of overwhelmed students. If they are allowed to use their pencils in their other classes but only pens in the gifted classroom, the teacher should have a supply of pens. It is not easy for children to remember rules of a class they attend infrequently. Classes that meet daily are able to have more rules, but again, any rules that are atypical for the student's general experience should be highlighted on a regular basis. Activities Impact Classroom Rules Preserving student safety and teacher sanity should be the primary goal of rules. If students are not safe, they will not learn. If teachers are uncomfortable with the amount of movement and noise in a room, the quality of their teaching may reflect their discomfort. It is best to have a rules that everyone can understand and follow. Rules should be given with situations and procedures to help students understand the how to follow the rule. For example:
Gifted classrooms have more flexibility than regular classrooms, but students need rules to take advantage of the opportunities a flexible classroom offers. A supportive classroom has boundaries, and boundaries designed with g/t kids in mind will actually increase the sense of flexibility in the classroom. Originally posted on Suite101 on September 5th, 2008 Reading two books, giving kids notebooks, and providing photos and art supplies will help make a follow-up activities that are worthy of putting in a museum!
Going to a museum can be more meaningful and impacting if kids know what they will be doing with all the visual information they soak up. Gifted kids are usually great with museums. They read all the display cards, they study the exhibits, and without guidance, they end up exhausted and overloaded with information. Books to Read Before Going to the Museum Three books really set kids up to do great work upon returning from a museum. They help prepare kids for what to pay attention to at the museum, what details to look for, and what to create upon the return to the gifted classroom. Using The Night at the Museum for Creative Writing Students will already be familiar with the movie adaptations of Night at the Museum, which lends itself nicely to a museum scavenger hunt. The book is different than the museum. The characters not as developed, and the picture book is actually a mystery that the night guard, Larry, must solve: what happens to the dinosaurs. The follow- up activity for this book will be for students to create their own Night at the Museum story based on exhibits at their museum. After reading the short picture book, instruct students:
Using When Pigasso Met Mootise for Replacement Art and Creative Writing Two animals, a pig who creates brilliant, abstract art and a cow who splashes color across inventive lines, become competitive friends in Nina Laden's beautiful story about the real life friendship and tribulations of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. The art is based on actual Picasso and Matisse paintings, but the humans of the originals have been replaced by animals. The follow-up activity for this book will be for students to recreate art with something else in the place of people (or the reverse), so students should be prepare to find pictures that lend themselves to being redrawn. Instruct students to:
Back in the Classroom Although students will be tempted to make their own picture books, that is an activity that really depends on available work time and student ability. Gifted kids like to get immersed in projects, so creating books could become an option for free-choice centers after the original class books are made. The goal of the projects is to start with picture books, go to a museum, and create something new that can be shared in the classroom. If students are able to bring cameras, remind them to take pictures with the flash off. Otherwise, they can usually print out displays from the museum website or they can even draw pictures. If students are not able to go on the field trip, the Museum of Modern Art in New York has a lovely virtual museum with a lot of odd and beautiful works, including the art from When Pigasso Met Mootise, online for exploration. The Night at the Museum (0764136313) by Milan Trenc was published by Barron's Educational Series in November, 2006. When Pigasso Met Mootise (0811811212) by Nina Laden was published by Chronicle Books in July, 1998. Originally posted on Suite101 July 7th, 2009 Helping gifted and talented students choose appropriate reading materials is a tricky road; gifted children tend to read voraciously and at high levels.
These reading habits are understandable characteristics of giftedness; gifted children are cognitively more developed than is normally expected. However, gifted readers need guidance in book selection. A child reading at a college level is not necessarily ready for college material. Just because a ten year old can comprehend Anne Rice's writing does not mean that a ten year old is ready to meet the Vampire Lestat. This, then, becomes the difficulty for parents. Students of all reading abilities tend to enjoy books about people slightly older than they are, so a ten year old will relate to and be interested in books about thirteen year olds more than books about twenty year olds. Finding books written at a high interest high ability level requires time and work. Choosing BooksDoing an advanced book search at Amazon.com and highlighting the appropriate age range is one tool. Amazon also provides book reviews, and reading those reviews is an excellent start. The reviews are usually written by adults, but sometimes there are child reviews. If there are no child reviews, beware: this is not a book for children. Sorting through reviews can be time consuming, and teen readers can finish books and return them to the public library before their parents see them. Reading the back of the book or the book jacket yields a lot of information, as does flipping through. However, the best approach is just to ask your child one question, “If this book was a movie, what would you rate it?” Whatever the answer – even the safe “G” rating – should be followed up with discussion. This widens those narrowing lines of communication, gives parents insight into their children, and helps promote communication skills in general. High Ability ReadersJust because a child is involved in a higher-level book does not mean it should be taken away, of course. Knowing that a child is reading a book with death, violence, or illicit activities means that parents need to read the book, too. If that is not possible – and it often is not – parents need to open the door for conversations. Children may leave books with inaccurate perceptions, and it is not unheard of for children to have nightmares from the frightening book they fell asleep reading. Sometimes gifted children need to hear, “We'll put this book up until your life experience catches up to your reading level.” When parents say that, they need to drive directly to the library or bookstore and find a book that is of the appropriate interest level. Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Series is more a more appropriate vampire series than Interview with a Vampire or Dracula. Parents as ReadersParents should not discount non-fiction as a reading choice. Adults have a blend of non-fiction and fiction reading; children tend to read non-fiction books as assignments and fiction as free choice reading. Parents may want to share their own reading choices, not as material to be read, but as examples of genre. If parents are reading National Geographic, then National Geographic Kids is an obvious connection for children. Teachers can use parent newsletters to help keep parents up to date on books. Often non-fiction, especially historical readings, are often as fascinating as historical fiction without the elevated drama that requires some life experience to appreciate. Helping gifted children pick out appropriate reading materials helps keep them in common experience with their peers and helps preserve childhood a little longer, which are admirable goals in themselves. Originally posted on Suite101 on July 15th, 2008 Unexpected sick days happen. Avoid worrying about what will happen to students during G/T class time with an untrained sub, by preparing generic lessons in advanced.
When a teacher has a sick child (or is personally sick), there is nothing more miserable than running up to school at 6:30 in the morning to adapt the day's lesson plan for a substitute teacher. Enrichment class time, especially pull-out time, is so limited and special that it seems irresponsible to cancel the pull-out class or have study-time. Instead of rearranging a mediocre version of the planned lesson or spending time calling the substitutes who can sort of the puzzles of differentiated lessons, teachers can create generic lessons to leave for their gifted students that will work any day, any month, any moment. Solve Mysteries as a Class If teachers have a CD player, emergency lesson plans become really easy for the substitute to execute. There are several books on CD that students can listen to, but solving mysteries is interactive and can lead to class discussion. Elementary Mystery Collection on CD The Joe Sherlock, Kid Detective CD Audio Collection by Dave Keane gives about 3 1/2 hours of listening time, which could be the length of a pull-out block. The collection has three books on the CD, including:
The Joe Sherlock, Kid Detective series is appropriate for elementary and middle school students. 3rd-6th grade would be the most interested audience. The CDs are from David Keane's books, and they (along with the books) are published by Harper Collins (ISBN: 0061227609). Middle School and Junior High Mysteries on CD: Jeremy Brown's Four-minute Forensic Mysteries are perfect for secondary students. There are 25 stories on the CDs, and at four minutes long, they can be adjusted for any length of a secondary classroom. Teachers should leave pencils and papers for the substitute to give the students, and they will write down clues as they listen to the stories. Brown's collection is taken directly from his books, which are published by Scholastic. Four-minute Forensic Mysteries: Body Of Evidence is available on CD. (ISBN: 0439898501) The Best Reproducible Thinking Game Books Brain Games (ISBN:1576909697) and Brain Games 2 (1420630180) are worksheet collections that are divided up for different ages and ability, making the collection appropriate for any classroom. The worksheets at the beginning are better for younger students, and the worksheets at the end are better for older students. Teachers can copy these worksheets and leave the book (with excellent directions and an easy to use answer key) for substitutes. The book has worksheets that stimulate students and focus on:
Establish an Area of the Classroom to Leave Emergency Lesson Plans Emergency lesson plans need to be prepared in advanced, and they can be left in a conspicuous place. The location of the emergency lesson plans should be noted in the teacher's general sub folder (which should have the student roster and medical emergency information). Teachers can enlist students for help on where the lessons will be left, so they can help the substitute find the emergency lesson plans. Once teachers accept that it is okay to postpone the presentations or project work – even if students were prepared and looking forward to it – they find that they can leave the sort of fun, all-purpose enrichment lessons that are perfect for days when life gets in the way of teaching. Some preparation in advance makes those unprepared moments so much easier for everyone. Even though it is always best to stay on schedule, students can be flexible and enjoy some logic sheets and solve some mysteries while teachers take care of themselves and their families at home. Originally posted on Suite101 on February 26th, 2009 When teaching creative problem solving, it is important that students develop flexible thinking, the ability to come up with a variety of categories for potential answer In creative problem solving, a student who demonstrates flexible thinking is one who can group ideas into different categories. If a student can generate ideas that fit into many groups, that student is a flexible thinker. After learning fluency which is the ability to generate ideas, students should be able to categorize those ideas. Flexible thinking is an important part of creative problem solving, because problems are often solved by looking at a variety of sources. Solutions come from unexpected directions, and students should be encouraged to think flexibly -- in a variety of categories -- when solving problems. Teaching Flexible Thinking in Elementary Gifted Classrooms Before learning flexibility, students should have a good understanding of fluency. Teachers should either have students generate lists of ideas, or have lists of ideas available to students. At the elementary level, it is important that teachers introduce students to flexible thinking using concrete ideas. Abstract concepts are hard to categorize, even for gifted students. Because abstract reasoning develops at different rates in children, handing a gifted child a mixed list of concrete and abstract ideas may prove to be more frustrating than productive. A Flexible Thinking Activity for Elementary Students Instruct students to bring pictures of pets or magazine cut-outs of animals. The teachers should also have an assortment of animal pictures available. As a class, generate a list of types of animals based on the pictures. Then, have the students individually categorize the list. Some students might be limited to listing animals such as dogs, cats, and fish. Other students might have more categories, and some animals might fit into multiple categories. A student might have mammals, large animals, pets, and animals with tails as categories. A horse would fit into all of those groups. That student would be using flexible thinking. Teaching Flexible Thinking in Middle School Gifted Classrooms Middle school gifted students are ready to tackle abstract concepts as they learn creative problem solving. Although flexibility should be introduced using concrete examples, middle school students will be able to incorporate additional layers with abstractions. In the animal example, teachers might want to include mythical creatures, which would bring in a layer of imaginative thinking. A Flexible Thinking Activity for Middle School Students Even though middle schoolers have outgrown many childhood toys, most middle school students have a childhood toy that they will enjoy bringing to class and sharing. It is important that they bring a toy that they do not mind letting other people touch. Teachers should have additional toys on hand in case some students do not bring them. Students should describe the toy to the class, and the class can make a master list on the board. The list should include features of each person's toy. Some features might include the number of parts, functionality (example: it is an indoor or outdoor toy), if it makes noise, and the materials the toys are made of. After the students have generated a list (fluency), they should individually group different toys into different categories. Grading Flexible Thinking Students should be able to put a large list of ideas into a variety of groups. If a student has trouble categorizing ideas, the teacher first needs to make sure that the original list had obvious groupings. If the list did not lend itself to flexible thinking, a low number of groups would be acceptable. If the list had a variety of different options, teachers should expect a higher number of groupings. Flexible thinking takes time and practice to develop. Grades should reflect growth in ability, rather than meeting a set number of groups. Once students master fluency and flexibility, they are able to generate lists of potential solutions for given problems. These are foundational steps for creative problem solving, and they give students the luxury of having many options to choose from when determining the best answer. Originally posted on Suite101 on October 8th, 2008 When teaching creative problem solving, it is important that students understand the concept of fluency, the ability to generate a lot of ideas on a given topic. In creative problem solving a fluent student is one who can list many potential solutions to a problem. Some potential solutions may just be idea fragments, or they may be too "out there" to be practical. In fluency, quantity is more important than quality, because students will later reflect on their responses and decide which ideas are worth keeping. In creative problem solving, impractical ideas are valued just as much as practical ideas. Solutions come from unexpected sources, and students should be encouraged to look at all possible sources in the initial stages of solving problems. Teaching Fluency in Elementary Gifted Classrooms Students are ready to understand fluency and use it in basic problem solving in elementary school, but they need to be able to write or type for 10-15 minute stretches. For this reason, fluency may be a good activity for 4th and 5th graders rather than earlier elementary, but like so many things in gifted education, it depends on the student. It is important that students understand why they are being asked to write in such great quantities... teaching fluency might be as simple as giving students a topic and asking them to list possibilities. For example, ask students to list things that are green. One word answers are fine. The students should give as many answers as possible in the given amount of time, perhaps 10-15 minutes. It is important that teachers tell students spelling is not an issue. They are simply recording their ideas and writing them to avoid repetition. Teaching Fluency in Middle School Gifted ClassroomsMiddle school students love the game Scattergories, and it is an excellent introduction to the concept of fluency. To understand how fluency relates to problem solving (as opposed to idea-generation for brainstorming), students should be given a simple problem and asked to fluently list all the possible answers. Spelling, grammar, and mechanics are not priorities at this stage, because the goal is idea generation, and pausing will hinder progress toward the goal. Middle school students tend to be competitive and this is a good activity for competition if the question provides a level playing field. Problems with Repetition A question such as "Why do cats have claws" will generate a lot of ideas and it is a topic on which everyone can contribute answers. Sometimes students are tempted to hide behind repetition, because those words will fill lines on the paper. For example, using the cat-claw question, a student taking refuge in repetition might write:
Grading Fluency Being able to provide a coherent answer to the question is one strategy for evaluating answers, but it is not the goal in the first stage of learning fluent thinking. Students should be able to say, "Cats have claws in case they need to climb trees." It is a coherent answer to a simple question based on idea generation. It is tempting to have a partner just check off answers as they are said instead of writing them down. Unfortunately, that makes it tricky to avoid repeating ideas and the work is then unable to be re-used to teach flexibility and frequency. However, if students have ideas listed, the lists can be used later in other creative problem solving activities. When teachers move on to the next step in teaching creative problem solving, flexibility, the students will see that their fluent answers did were inflexible and could not fit into many groups. In fact, the student was being fluent in generating types of trees, not generating reasons why cats have claws. Originally posted on Suite101 on October 8th, 2008 Gifted students crave creative problem solving experiences. The gifted classroom can be a problem solving playground where students discover problems and solutions.
Offering gifted students problems to solve with fluent, flexible thinking is an important element of gifted curricula, especially at the middle school level and beyond. Students are ready for abstract thinking, and many students are aware that the "real world" is full of abstract problems. In creative problem solving, a students learn apply divergent thinking and "out of the box" ideas to solve real problems. Teaching Creative Problem Solving by Explaining What Questions are Asking The first phase of creative problem solving is understand what type of answer a question is truly seeking. Providing students with a list of question terms and the type of answers they require will offer clarity throughout the unit. Having such a list not only helps students answer questions, but it will help them phrase questions more correctly. The following list should be provided to students and posted in the classroom. It is not necessary to make students memorize the list; gifted students will likely pick up on these standards innately.
There are several sources to find problems that students can use fluency and flexibility to answer. One ready and willing source is parents. Teachers can use a newsletter to contact parents and request real problems that require creative solutions. It is important to note that the parents do not have to have a solution; the students will be coming up with solutions to offer. Parents should submit problems they encounter during daily life, from difficulties parking at the soccer field to interesting problems at work, or even national issues to which there seems "no answer". Including parents in question gathering has the bonus effect of increasing parent involvement. An Activity to Generate Creative Questions and Answers Gifted students tend to read at a higher grade level than their peers, and the gifted classroom can utilize that high reading level by offering a variety of "odd news" articles. Secondary students may want to research their own articles, but upper elementary and younger middle school students should have articles provided to them unless the class is also learning research skills. Students should choose an "odd news" article, and read it quietly. Then, students should come up with as many questions as they can based on the article, using the different question terms of how, what, when, where, who , and why. Not every news story will lend itself to every term. After the teacher has proof-read the question, the student should write down each question on a card. Without knowing anything about the news articles, other students in the class (or other classes) should draw out questions and try to answer them. They should use fluency to come up with a list of potential answers, and they should use flexibility to have a variety of categories of answers. Then, after reviewing their answers, students should write the most practical or likely answer on the back of the card. Grading Creative Problem Solving At the end of a creative problem solving activity, students should be have an answer to the problem. The quality of the answer is subjective, but any answer is a start. As students are offered more opportunities to solve problems, teachers should raise their expectations on the quality and quantity of answers. Grading in the gifted classroom is different than other classrooms, because the problems students face are often subjective. Creative problems solving lessons need clear grading standards. At the end of a creative problem solving unit, students should be able to face a variety of problems with confidence. They should be able to come up with a variety of responses, and some should be unique, while others should reflect popular thinking. If questions are well-phrased well, students are well-prepared, teachers should have high expectations for their students to solve a variety of problems in a variety of ways. Originally posted on Suite101 on October 8th, 2008. |
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