THE GIFTED STUDENT IN THE
REGULAR CLASSROOM
Julie Nelson- COE 8173
The Gifted Student in the Regular Classroom
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Tyler daydreams in class, doesn’t do his homework,
yet always aces the tests.
Ashley reads eight books a day in school.
Samuel’s constant refrain is, “I’m done! Now what
can I do?”
Danika has a learning disability, yet she is two
grades ahead in math.
What do you do?
(Winebrenner, 2001)
Where to Start
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
Learn to design learning tasks that are responsive to
different styles of learning and different levels of
ability.
Learn to manage a classroom in which students are
working on different tasks simultaneously.
Gifted students learn the same standards, themes, units
and/or concepts as the rest of the class. The simply
require regular opportunities to become engaged with
learning activities that require more depth and
complexity.
(Winebrenner, 2001)
Planning
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“To set the stage for high achievement, it is
essential that the academically advanced student be
afforded an appropriate pace and level of instruction in
the domains of talent.”
(Stanley, 1991; Stanley & Benbow, 1982)
Questioning
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Gifted students
 “When
human beings are not allowed to move beyond
what they have previously accomplished, they often
become bored, discouraged, frustrated, and angry and
feel diminished as persons” (Clark, 2008)

All students
 Renzulli
(1977) “School-wide Enrichment Model”
 All students should be given opportunity to challenge
their minds and think critically
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Questioning
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
Literal Questions that focus on recalling information
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Should be minority not majority
Skill/Concept/Inference Questions
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These questions “require readers to infer answers by using clues in the text
and their prior knowledge” (Miller, 2002) Also, “because the content is
difficult, there will be opportunities for teaching children to actively listen
and learn from each other” (Miller, 2002).
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Questioning (ctd.)
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Critical/Extended/Strategic Thinking questions
Higher DOK levels
 Way for teacher to
know student is
really
comprehending
material
 Allows students to
“really think”
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One Way to Help
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
For content where it’s likely that some students have
learned and mastered the material at an earlier
time, compacting means:
 Finding
the students’ areas of strength
 Pretesting to determine which of the concepts they
already know
 Giving them full credit for that content
 Allowing them to work on more challenging activities
instead of the grade-level work

Known as “compacting”
(Winebrenner, 2001)
“Compacting”
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Gifted students do not benefit from extra work
As soon as they figure out their “prize” for showing
what they know is more work, they might stop
demonstrating what they can do.
“Compacting” is remarkably successful with students
who have become behavior problems and may be
refusing to do their work.
Many behavior problems are caused by boredom
and frustration.
(Winebrenner, 2001)
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Gifted students usually prefer a reading program
that offers choices about what they read and the
activities they do.
Gifted students probably already know most of the
writing skills/math skills you’re planning to teach.
Pre-test first. See who needs to move ahead.
They will benefit most from contracts and alternate
activities.
(Winebrenner, 2001)
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
How can I create these alternative activities when I
hardly have time for everything I already have to
do?
 By
using methods such as “cluster grouping.” In teams, a
few of the teachers are primarily responsible for
differentiating the curriculum for gifted students. The
other teachers plan remediation activities. Each team
gets together to discuss plans and then you decide
which activities fit the learners in your classroom.
 Ultimately, it is our job as teachers to make sure
students will still be mastering all standards while being
challenged in our classrooms.
(Winebrenner, 2001)
Contracts
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Contracts are a great way to hold students
responsible if the would like to work ahead, read
ahead.
Example: what if the student wants to read ahead?
 They
can complete a contract stating that they will not
tell other students what happens in the story and that
they will not participate in predicting activities.
 Pass
out contracts.
(Winebrenner, 2001)
Mini-Centers and Contracts
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Mini-Centers can be a “go-to” thing for students to do if work is finished
early. These should be based on an interest inventory done by students.
Students must fill out a “student-contract” for each activity they sign up for.
This decreases a lot of projects that are started and never finished. It also
teaches responsibility.
Self-Evaluations
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After students complete activities, they must
evaluate themselves before the teacher does.
How do I know what they want to learn?
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Interest Inventories
A
way to hold a student’s attention by focusing
instruction on what students find interesting
 “Because he knows so much about the topic and his
motivation is high, he’s able to read a book of greater
difficulty than a traditional assessment might indicate”
(Miller, 2002)
 A way to show students you care
Interest Inventories
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An example of making use of information from interest inventories:
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Get an index card, and then “jot down their answers and align them side-byside on the bulletin board.” (Beers, 2003)
She also “takes a Polaroid of each student and places it on the other side of the
bulletin board” (Beers, 2003).
Teacher and students work throughout the year on determining which card goes
with each student
Shows students that their interests matter and will be incorporated in
instruction
Will remind teacher throughout the year of individual interests
“I haven’t thought a teacher cared who I was since the second grade”
(Beers, 2003).
Challenge of the Week
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
Each week there is a “challenge.” The teacher gives
a prize to the students that complete the entire
challenge correctly each week.
Games
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“Geogame” is a game where the students are given
clues about where in the world they are and it is up
to them to research and figure it out
Other games that are for “Logic Game” days are
chess, Blokus, and Cranium to name a few
Creative Expression
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
An example of a “creative expression” activity is when the
students had to draw half of their face with the paper folded
in half. They had to draw the other half afterward without
consulting the first side. These were the winners.
More Enrichment Tools for the Regular Classroom
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“Thinkies”
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Thinkies” are labeled Rubbermaid containers in the
cabinet that students know they can grab if they
have extra time. These tubs can range from Sudoku
puzzles to riddles to mind-teasers. These activities
usually take from about five to fifteen minutes to
complete.
Something quick!
Conclusion
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“Gifted children are expensive and time-consuming. They
usually need less sleep than you do, ask more questions
than you can answer, want 100 percent of your
attention 24 hours a day, have obsessive hobbies, are
unstimulated by the school curriculum, react intensely to
everything, endlessly long for a best friend who
understands them completely, and hold perfectionist
standards for themselves and you. But don’t despair.
They have a great sense of humor and their
development is so remarkable that they’re exciting to
watch grow.”
(Winebrenner, 2001)
Conclusion
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Challenge all of your students.
Give your students opportunities to demonstrate that they already
know what you’re about to teach, or can learn it in much less time
than you have allotted.
Use compacting.
Create instructional groups that are flexible and change their
composition depending on the content.
Offer meaningful choices whenever possible.
Focus on open-ended tasks and questions.
Encourage independent research based on topics in which the
students are passionately interested.
Be sensitive to what gifted kids need.
Take advantage to learn more about gifted kids and their
exceptional learning needs.
(Winebrenner, 2001)
References
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Beers, K. (2003). When kids can't read. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Clark, B. (2008). Growing up gifted. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson, Merrill Prentice Hall.
Miller, D. (2002). Reading with meaning. Portland, ME:
Stenhouse Publishers.
Stanley, J.C. (1991). An academic model for educating the
mathematically talented. Gifted Child Quarterly, 35, 3642.
Winebrenner, Susan.(2001). Teaching gifted kids in the
regular classroom. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Free Spirit
Publishing.