Gifted Programming
Elementary Teachers
Ginger O’Brien, Gifted Programming
Development and Support
According to our Special Education Plan . . .
Screening – WJIII: Passage
Comprehension, Applied
Problems, Academic
Knowledge
85th
> at or above the
percentile in any one of
these
> collect work samples,
present information to ALT
and Psych. Ed. Consultant
to decide if C-CAT or WISCIV administered
Giftedness
An unusually advanced degree of general intellectual ability that
requires differentiated learning experiences of a depth and breadth
beyond those normally provided in the regular school program to
satisfy the level of educational potential indicated.
Special Education A Guide for Educators 2001
According to Professionally Speaking. . .
• Professionally Speaking – Gifted
Who is gifted anyway?
He fidgets to beat the band but can solve a fourby-four Rubik’s cube in less than five minutes. She
goes the extra mile in all her school assignments,
even in subjects that bore her mightily. What
unites these very different children is that they’re
both gifted.
Simply put, they’re so smart that they need to be
taught differently.
“What is the best way to teach gifted
children? It all depends on how each child
learns best.”
(Professionally Speaking, March 2012)
Common approaches:
• Acceleration – moving ahead
• Compacting – assess for mastery – provide other independent
learning options
• Ability groupings – different groups for different subject areas
• Enrichment – opportunities to go deeper and wider into subjects
• Withdrawal programs and congregated classrooms
– time with intellectual peers
We provide a combination of these approaches . . .
It’s about differentiated instruction . . .
• The Ontario Curriculum indicates what must be assessed. If students
have already mastered concepts, we need to provide other learning
opportunities. After a pre-assessment, we determine our students’
instructional needs and the result directs our teaching.
Characteristics of giftedness:
• learn at faster rates
• find, solve and act on problems more readily
• manipulate abstract ideas and make connections
(Van Tassel–Baska, 1988)
What is curriculum differentiation for gifted?
(according to NSW Dept. of Ed.)
• Gifted students need the opportunity to work through the curriculum at a faster
pace and need less time on basics and revision. A differentiated curriculum is a
program of activities that offers a variety of entry points for students who differ
in abilities, knowledge and skills. In a differentiated curriculum teachers offer
different approaches to what students learn (content), how students learn
(process) and how students demonstrate what they have learned (product).
What resources to do we have?
• 0.5 Gifted Support Teacher
• Public website with links to resources for students, teachers, parents
• Congregated learning opportunities for junior/intermediate students
• On-line community of learners
LDCSB Gifted Web Site
Students who are registered in enrichment
modules in grades 5, 6, 7 & 8 have access to an
on-line community
Desire2Learn
The vision . . .
Create a community for gifted students to give them
opportunities to interact with like peers – on line and in person
(i.e., consistent group of students participates Grade 5, 6, 7, 8)
What about permission to participate?
• Permission forms will be posted on D2L so only students who are
registered in enrichment modules class lists will have access
• (SPST please remind student and Classroom Teacher)
• Student downloads form and gets it signed by parent/guardian and
submits to Classroom Teacher
Questions?
• Contact Ginger O’Brien, Gifted Program Development and Support
globrien@office.ldcsb.on.ca