I have a first grader who is a gifted student and is pulled out four times a week. I'm having a really hard time challenging her in the classroom. I need help on where to start and what to present to her. Can anyone help me?
What signs is she giving you in the classroom that she is not being c...See MoreOn 10/28/09, TeePea wrote: > I have a first grader who is a gifted student and is pulled > out four times a week. I'm having a really hard time > challenging her in the classroom. I need help on where to > start and what to present to her. Can anyone help me?
What signs is she giving you in the classroom that she is not being challenged? That would be my first question. There should be a certain amount of natural challenge that simply comes from being in school in a classroom with a group of children. If you art and gym and recess, science and social studies - these things should be challenging to any 1st grader gifted or not.
You can individualize a curriculum for her for math - if she is gifted in math. Where do her strengths lie? If reading, you can access a list of good books - try [link removed].
On 11/06/09, kevin wrote: > On 10/31/09, Dee wrote: >> I am taking a class on gifted counseling and guidance. No, >> I do not work with gifted children, just need to understand >> what to do with them if they come to me. I have to do a >> final project and need some suggestions for my idea. MY >> IDEA: To create a club/group for early release days at my >> school. Invite TAG students to participate. Have discussion >> sessions based on topics that they face so they can get it >> off of their chest; provide some activities (fun) for them >> to interact with their peers; provide some off campus >> activities for them to get some exposure to their >> surroundings; provide interest and career exposure that may >> be of interest to them; build self esteem and have them do >> some volunteering and public service activities. Now, how >> to present this idea, I am at a lost. I want to also use a >> few episodes from the Big Bang Theory > > You've identified *your* goals for the class. Now what are > you going to do that will actually attract the students to > come? Most of those activities (as you've described them) > sound like the sort of things most kids (and especially gifted > kids) would pay to avoid---earnest adults trying to "better" > them
Fi...See MoreOn 11/07/09, Dee wrote: > That is why I am asking. I have NEVER worked with TAG students > and I am lost. What would they actually enjoy?
Gifted kids are kids---they like fun activities. They often like puzzles and games that use their brains, so a strategy game club might be popular (chess, go, blokus, connect-4, ...).
Field trips are popular with most kids---field trips appropriate for gifted kids include science museums, sewage treatment plants, engineering design firms, and other places where science and technology are showcased. Art museums can also be good for some gifted kids, but many art museums are distinctly unwelcoming and uninteresting to children---you have to choose carefully there. Artists' studios with artists willing to demonstrate techniques (particularly showy ones like glassblowing) are more promising.
A small number of kids will be attracted by intellectual competitions. Math teams get a few, robotics teams get more, writing competitions get rather less group response, ... .
Afterschool theater will attract a number of kids, including a larger than proportionate share of gifted kids.
I've had good luck teaching the Scratch programming language to 3rd through 10th graders (though not all at the same time---generally no more than a 5-year age range). Scratch is good because it gets the kids creating animations and video games right from the start, and can appeal to artistic, narrative, mathematical, or programming interests.
One of t...See MoreI am teaching my first ever College Honors class and am loving it. What a joy to be with students who want to learn, can think and write critically, and actually get enthusiastic about what they are studying. I mentioned this to my Dean and he said, "You had forgotten what it is like to teach students who want to learn!" How true!
One of the advantages of the Honors program at my university is priority registration. Also when a pure honors class is taken the class size is smaller. Being in a class with fellow students who want to learn is a big plus for these kids.
If you have really sharp kids encourage them to look into and apply to the honors program when they apply to college.
I'm just interested ...See MoreI have not read this book, but I just read a report that listed AR books by how many tests/how popular the books were and this topped a few of the lists, especially middle school. Is this an appropriate book for middle schoolers? The amazon page mentions grades 9 and up but the reviews say it is a story of resilience.
I'm just interested in hearing any and all opinions on this book. Thanks!
On 11/06/09, Cyna wrote: > > This book is in our library, but is in the room with the other > professional books for teachers. I don't think it is appropriate > for middle school
I have a 4th grade student that skipped 2nd grade & is now dealing with bullying. His mom contacted me today looking for help. I welcome any suggestions for websites or literature on this subject.
Bullies look for targets but for a quick if temporary fix - where is this happening? At school? Where at school? On the playground? In gym? In the class?
Bullies shouldn't be given an opportunity to bully - there should be adults around. Find out where this bullying is occurring.
Then - address the bullies. Bullies bully out of a sense there's not enough good to go around. Many bullies come from homes where their needs are not being met. A school can counter bullying by being a strong community but too many schools harbor a few teachers who are inclined toward bullying themselves. Set a tone of community - "We're all in this together." And then mean it.
This child is being bullied because he skipped a grade - that will make other students angry. Why is this child special? Why can't they skip a grade too? Someone needs to speak to this. Why was this child given this special privilege when we often say "No special privileges." It's not an easy question to answer but it should be openly addresses to quell the bullies' interest in him.
How many students per class in your school? If more than 25, that's a problem. What's the general tone of the school? Happy and comfortable or stressed and grim?
As a last resort, I put the bullies by my side and they spend their day(s) there.
I never had these issues when I was in the regular classroom. I don't want to turn into a witch, and our time together is short (only 45 minutes a day). I would appreciate any ideas on how to get and keep these children on track. while maintaining a friendly but firm tone.
I teacher gifted kids from grades 3-5. I currently group them by grades. I also heard that some teachers group kids together. I am just wondering what are the pros and cons of grouping them together.
Some pros of mixing, in my experience: it can even out class sizes--if you only have 4 in one grade and 11 in another, you can instead have classes of 7 and 8--which benefits the smaller group by giving them more interaction with different partners and people, and the larger group by getting more of your attention. Another pro is that you can group them thoughtfully so that you have a more productive personality mix, and/or group them for particular learning purposes (spatial emphasis learners, communication as a strength learners, or even do interest-based groups and have them indicate a preference for a particular set of activities that semester).
Some cons--sometimes other things in the building can wreak havoc with your schedule, like a fourth grade field trip that leaves half your class (the fifth graders) behind, or guest speakers for particular grade levels, or different lunch/specials schedules. You can work around all these things, but it does mean more running around and follow-up to communicate with people--and this is multiplied if the students are not clustered in the same grade level class.
Another con was that some grade levels (with some particular students) were not good mixes. 2nd and 3rd sounded like a good idea, and it worked from November-February, but was rocky at the beginning and end. The second graders were just so young at the beginning--writing tasks were so slow, for example--and the third graders seemed so much older at the end that it wasn't a good fit. I had a similar experience with the 3-4 combination, but there have been years when it would have worked better.
I had good luck with 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, and 7-8 combinations. I have also had particular students--a pair of first graders who joined a 2nd grade class, a particular 2nd grader who joined a third grade class--who "accelerated" for GT successfully.
I am currently working with grade-level groups, all day, once a week. That system has its pros and cons, too, of course.
Grouping is such a tricky issue, because you're trying to maximize time and quality of time--and the class size and personality mix and schedule all influence those things.
On 11/24/09, J.J. wrote: > I teacher gifted kids from grades 3-5. I currently group > them by grades. I also heard that some teachers group kids > together. I am just wondering what are the pros and cons of > grouping them together.
We have matheletics once a year. However, we currently don't do much math on a regular basis, and would like to work on math with kids on a regular basis. Any curriculum to suggest?
KevinOn 11/24/09, Irena wrote: > We have matheletics once a year. However, we currently > don't do much math on a regular basis, and would like to > work on math with kids on a regular basis. Any curriculum > to suggest?
What grade level? Singapore Primary Math is good for K-5th, and Art of Problem Solving is good for 7th-9th
What signs is she giving you in the classroom that she is not being c...See More