Lesson Plans Gifted and Talented

Those of you who are faithful readers of our KH blog (and we appreciate that…thanks!) know that you will frequently get not only my Kendall Hunt perspective, but also my perspective as the mom of a fifth grader who is in gifted classes. This post is one of the latter. 

I received a phone call the other day from my son’s math teacher. She proceeds to tell me that he’s breezing through math, so they gave him the sixth grade math inventory test and he only missed five out of 45 questions. They’re moving him from fifth grade high math to the sixth grade high math group on Monday. I interpret this to mean three things: 1) I will not be able to help him with his math because his math abilities have now surpassed mine (there’s more than one reason I’m not an accountant!); 2) he’s pretty good at math, obviously; and 3) his school really needs a strong gifted and talented math program.

We’ve spoken many times about the lack of talented and gifted resources in some schools. But I’m wondering, even in schools that use accelerated learning resources like Kendall Hunt’s Project M³: Mentoring Mathematical Minds and our newest curriculum, Project M²: Mentoring Young Mathematicians, are there still students who are moved up a grade? Or is moving them up a grade the substitute for a curriculum for high-ability learners? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

So we’ve decided to add a couple of new topics to our blog discussions here: math and online learning. Specifically in the online learning area we want to discuss what, if any online science curriculum you’re using, and what, if any, online math curriculum you have in place. As the PreK-12 world turns increasingly toward at least one online elementary curriculum and certainly as many as several high school programs online, I’m interested in your feedback on those you currently have.

And if you aren’t using any online curricula, do you want to? Have you looked at any? What’s keeping you from using them, or what’s the one thing that would make you jump into the online learning world?

Now, I also said we’d be talking about math, specifically grade school mathematics and gifted and talented math. Okay, math genius I never was and never will be, but I love math…the basic kind, anyway. And if you haven’t checked out our two gifted and talented math programs, Project M²: Mentoring Young Mathematicians, and Project M³: Mentoring Mathematical Minds, please do so. Project M² is geared toward Kindergarten through grade 2 and Project M³ is designed for grades 3-5. These outstanding, research-based, inquiry driven programs offer everything you need to implement a gifted program into your grade school mathematics.

 

As you float in the pool or sink the ball on the 8^th hole, I’m sure the upcoming school year seems far off. But I have to ask this question, more out of curiosity than anything else: What do you do in the summer to prepare for the new school year? Is there a rhythm to your summer? If you’re a teacher of gifted students, my guess is preparing lesson plans for gifted and talented is at the top of your priority list. How about those of you who teach inquiry based science? Do you spend hours sitting on your deck pouring over physical science textbooks as you soak up the rays? Wait, I forgot, we’re not supposed to soak up the rays anymore, sorry.

No doubt that school is never far from your minds. Here at Kendall Hunt Publishing summer is actually our busiest time. It’s when we finalize all our new and revised titles, and begin filling orders from school districts and college bookstores around the country. There’s a rhythm to the summer here, starts out quietly enough then builds to a frenzy by the end of August. It’s kind of comforting. Not as comforting, mind you, as the rhythm of my hammock swinging back and forth between my two big maple trees, but hey, we take what we can get, right?

Getting Ready -- Prepares individuals for the teacher job search by making the most of the student teaching experience.  It includes insider advise on multiple topics, 100 things employers will ask about you, and maintaining a professional web presence.

Getting There -- Teaches the essential tools of the teacher job search including résumés, cover letters, interview portfolios, and tips on where to find jobs.

Getting Hired -- Provides strategic interview responses, knowledge of various interview settings, common interview questions and sure-fire tips to make you stand out above the rest with a knock'em dead interview.

Each book comes with individual access to the Getting Hired Companion Website, which contains a plethora of resources, including: ePlanner Activities: Templates for résumé/letter writing, philosophy statements, common interview questions and topics, and success planning.

Interview Portfolio: Build an Interview Portfolio that can easily become an ePortfolio showcasing standards-based teaching abilities, as well as a tremendous interview preparation tool. The 10 Interview Portfolio templates comprise a powerful self-promotion and interview success tool.

Videos: Watch sample interviews for all levels of instruction, listen in as employers give job seeking advice, and key interview questions and topics.

This book can be used for student teaching courses through college or universities, or to support a job search for an individual in the education field. So if you can't decide what to get your son or daughter who is beginning their student teaching, the student who has helped you create lesson plans for your gifted and talented students for the past three months, or the friend who will be student teaching in the Fall, check out Getting Hired on the Kendall Hunt Publishing website: http://www.kendallhunt.com/gettinghired. 

A colleague found a great article from Teacher Magazine dispelling myths about gifted students and gifted education. You can find it here: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/. It includes a link to a video that shows students tackling some of the myths discussed in the article.

Particularly interesting amongst the myths are “Gifted education requires abundant resources,” and “Gifted students don’t need help; they’ll do fine on their own.” Any of you out there who are charged with creating lesson plans for gifted and talented students, and who don’t have the resources to purchase a curriculum for high ability learners know that it’s possible to create a gifted program on a shoestring budget if you have no other choice. And as to that other myth about gifted students not needing help, as the parent of a gifted child I know that sometimes they need more help simply because more is expected of them and less help is provided because some people assume they don’t need it.

At home the other night we were hard at work on a Social Studies project when I got to thinking about social studies resources for gifted students. I know that these materials can be hard to find and many teachers create their own gifted and talented lesson plans.

But there’s a great social studies curriculum for high ability learners: the Center for Gifted Education (CFGE) at The College of William & Mary. Have you checked it out? You can find it here on the Kendall Hunt Publishing website: http://www.kendallhunt.com/index.cfm?PID=219&PGI=251.

CFGE Social Studies offers great topics, including these, just to name a few:

• Gift of the Nile
• Ancient China
• The Civil War: It’s Causes and Effects
• The Road to the White House: Electing the American President
• Defining Nations: Cultural Identity and Political Tensions

And the program meets the needs of Grades 2 through 12. It even includes implementation support such as guidelines, learning centers and teaching models, along with additional resources. Where else can you find this? As the world gets smaller and smaller, it seems to me at least that our kids really need to learn about these things. Many gifted education books offer science and reading programs, but it seems social studies is a little harder to find.
Do your schools have talented and gifted resources for social studies? Tell me what you’re using and how you use them, I’d be really interested to know.
 

My son was recently invited to participate in an area Eco-Meet. They chose three fourth grade gifted students and two fifth grade students from each of the participating districts to make up that district’s team. This is quite the inquiry based science event, it seems! Each team member received a packet about an inch thick of materials they need to study to prepare. Additionally, they will be working with the gifted and talented teacher, who is the coach, each week leading up to the event in mid-May.

The Eco-Meet is a day long event held at a local park high above the Mississippi River. The park rangers and Army Corps of Engineers will involve the students in activities and presentations on different subjects, including Fish of the Mississippi. After each event, the teams will take a test. The tests will be graded and winners announced.

How can we keep up with all the new and ever-changing technologies that have kids mesmerized? Teachers often feel overwhelmed with the challenges and options this digital culture presents to students. We want students to take advantage of all technology has to offer; however, how familiar are teachers with technology?  Teachers often throw up their hands and say, “My students know how to work this stuff and I don’t” or “How can I utilize and implement something that I don’t understand?”

The digital world is growing and changing very fast. Technology companies release products so rapidly that there is little time for anyone to stop and think of the many issues that may arise with their use. Too often when schools and districts purchase new digital technology for their elementary school textbooks they look at all the bells and whistles and don’t think of how will this fit into an inquiry based science classroom or a teacher's daily lesson plan.

Technology offers exciting opportunities in the science textbook publishing arena, but for some teachers this strange new world can be intimidating.  Thankfully, there is help available…

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has developed the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for students, teachers, and administrators. With these standards, ISTE provides structure for utilizing technology in an effective and responsible way.  This site offers a plethora of information, tips, direction, and support.  You can even visit a school that has embraced the digital world: http://www.istevision.org/watch.php?vid=fc10dbd9251623e4379652fd1cb0ac54e5ad04a5

As an educational publisher we are committed to assisting teachers to best educate students.  Inspiring teachers to transform their classrooms away from traditional teaching toward a new vision of student-centered learning is our mission. 

We aim to offer technology that is relevant and to provide implementation support in our teacher edition textbooks.  And if you are still struggling with turning on the laptop or downloading the Nano Legends game that came with your KH high school biology textbook, just ask your students for help...they love to show off their expertise.