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##  Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom. ERIC Digest            E595.                                                                        

Recognizing and nurturing giftedness in young children presents an              important challenge to educators. Schools need to respond to their              educational needs before their abilities diminish or become less                recognizable to those who can do something about them. 
Giftedness             in young children refers primarily to "precocity," a rapid rate of              development in one or more realms. To some people, giftedness is                purely academic and means, for example, that a child earns all A's              on report cards. That child may be gifted, along with the children              who, at age 3, can count to 100 or read a book, or pick out a tune              on the piano. 
But giftedness is more than developing skills faster            or going through the developmental milestones earlier. Young gifted             children are intensely curious, produce a constant stream of                    questions, learn quickly and remember easily, and think about the               world differently than their age-mates. Their intense curiosity may             get them into trouble, particularly when they try to figure out how             something works. They may have a super-high energy level and yet be             highly sensitive and perfectionists. Young gifted children are at               risk for boredom, frustration, and depression. Recognizing                      giftedness is important because to persist, giftedness needs                    nurturing. IDENTIFYING GIFTEDNESSSchools have often shied away            from early intervention precisely because of the challenge of                   identification, and because initial assessments are often minimal               estimations of a child's actual talent. The most effective way to               recognize and identify giftedness is to use a variety of approaches             over an extended period of time. Physical, social, and cognitive                development is rapid and variable in young children. Cognitive and              motor skills come suddenly: one moment the skill is not observable,             then it suddenly appears. For this reason, testing may work at one              time and not at another. A more complete picture of giftedness in               young gifted children would involve observations of behavior and                verbal ability in different classroom settings, anecdotal                       information from parents, and child products (art work, diagrams,               inventions, Lego buildings, stories-written or told). 
Gifted                  Behaviors. One way to begin finding gifted children is to focus on a            range of behaviors that occur in the daily conversations,                       activities, and responses to learning opportunities in and around               the classroom. Here is a list of characteristics common in gifted               four-, five-, and six-year olds: 
*  express curiosity about many              things 
*  ask thoughtful questions 
*  have extensive                        vocabularies and use complex sentence structure 
*  are able to                express themselves well 
*  solve problems in unique ways 
*  have            good memories 
*  exhibit unusual talent in art, music, or creative            dramatics 
*  exhibit especially original imaginations 
* use                 previously learned things in new contexts 
*  are unusually able to            order things in logical sequence 
* discuss and elaborate on                   ideas 
*  are fast learners 
*  desire to work independently and              take initiative 
*  exhibit wit and humor 
*  have sustained                  attention spans and are willing to persist on challenging tasks 
*             are very observant 
*  show talent in making up stories and telling            them 
*  are interested in reading. 
Consulting with Parents.                 Since about 80% of the parent population can identify their                     children's giftedness by ages four or five, a short cut to finding              these students is to consult with parents. They have spent hours                every day with their children over a consecutive number of years,               observing them closely and interacting with them in a variety of                contexts. In most cases, this makes them the most realistic                     predictors of their children's abilities and needs. Teachers can                begin to tap this resource by composing a short letter at the                   beginning of the year introducing themselves, describing the goals              for the year, and asking specific questions about the children's                strengths, learning styles, and interests. Later, they can develop a            system for sharing information and insights as the year                         progresses. 
Portfolios. Portfolios present another option for a               talent search in the classroom. A portfolio is a collection of                  products (e.g., assignments, paintings, drawings, stories,                      observations) from school, home, or a community center. It is a                 repository of what a child has done or can do. Categories of                    achievement and ability could include any of the following: use of              language; level of questioning; problem-solving strategies; depth of            information; breadth of information; creativity; focus on or                    absorption in a task; profound interest in existential and spiritual            questions; self-evaluation; preference for complexity or novelty;               ability to synthesize, interpret, and imagine. Portfolios provide               authentic assessment. Conducted over an extended period of time,                such evidence is valuable in determining instructional plans,                   especially for children in kindergarten to third grade. Both parents            and teachers may use portfolios to identify talent and document its             development over time. GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING YOUNG                  GIFTED CHILDRENMany schools today have chosen to serve their                gifted student population by enabling teachers to provide                       educational alternatives for them within the existing curriculum and            in the regular classroom. There are a number of practical strategies            teachers can employ to give young gifted students the challenge and             stimulation they need without overburdening themselves with a great             deal of extra work. 
Create a Learning Environment. One of the                 first steps to consider when meeting the needs of young gifted                  students is the classroom environment. The classroom needs to be a              place where all children can easily engage in activities and                    projects at their own level and pace. Here are some suggestions for             designing a child-friendly classroom: 
*  create a room that                   invites inquiry (pictures, books, areas for music, art, and a                   variety of materials); 
*  use thematic instruction to connect                 content areas; 
*  make a wide range of materials available; 
*               arrange for activity centers for self-initiated projects; 
*  have             flexible seating arrangements; 
*  offer attractive, lesson-related            activity options for students who finish work early; 
*  vary the              atmosphere of the room through music as well as opportunities for               creative movement, mime, dance, singing. 
Developing learning                  centers can support creative learning in the classroom environment.             A linguistic center, for example, could have a variety of books,                dictionaries, magazines, storybook character puppets, magnetic                  letters with boards, crossword puzzles, alphabet games, and computer            software for word processing and story writing. 
Allow for Flexible            Grouping. Group work is common in preschool through the primary                 grades. For gifted students, cluster groups, where four or five                 gifted children work together, provide the most productive situation            for learning. Grouping young children should always enhance the                 strengths students have, and the kinds of groups formed (structured,            open, creative, divergent, content-based, etc.) should emerge from              learning goals established for each classroom activity. Here are                some guidelines for organizing small groups: 
Provide variety.                 Offer opportunities for children to work with a variety of students             grouped differently (interests, complexity level of assignments,                motivation). 
Offer choices. Whenever possible, allow children to              choose group mates and topics and assist in designing projects and              their format. 
Create ground rules. Discuss ground rules with                  children. Rules for discussion may include: if you can't agree on               what to do, try more than one idea; take turns sharing ideas; listen            to others in your group; make your best effort; help each other; if             you don't understand or agree, talk about it with your group; get               the teacher's help if you need it. 
Evaluate students individually.            At the conclusion of group work, it is important to evaluate them               individually. Evaluations (mastery tests, portfolios, checklists,               oral responses, drawings, written compositions, etc.) should focus              on individual learning rather than on how students contributed to               the group. 
Compact the curriculum. A proven strategy for serving              young gifted children in the regular classroom is to compact--a                 process of compressing the essentials so that they can advance                  beyond the material they have already mastered. Most teachers create            a system of testing and observation to determine the children's                 level of mastery. There are a couple of options for compacting. One             is to allow gifted children to choose activities (unrelated to                  material covered in class) that particularly interest them. The                 other is to design an activity related to the current lesson that               challenges their talents. In order for this practice to work in the             long run, the teacher will need to design some kind of learning                 contract (signed by both the child and teacher) that stipulates the             activities or projects chosen, the conditions for their completion,             and the outcomes. The teacher can then help them locate resources               both in learning centers and the library. 
Incorporate creative                thinking. Another way to serve young gifted children in the regular             classroom is to incorporate creative thinking and activities into               daily lessons--a strategy that benefits the other students as well.             Young children particularly enjoy "what if" questions to stimulate              new and alternative ways of exploring a subject or theme. A study of            the rainforest, for example, might allow a child with an interest in            lizards to become a lizard for a day. "What if you really were a                chameleon living in the rainforest? What would you enjoy most about             being one? Why?" Activities could include gathering new facts about             that animal for the purpose of a mimed story, a self-portrait (which            the child then explains afterwards), or written (or dictated) story.            Teachers can support these activities by asking questions and                   suggesting different media and resources for their imaginative                  exploration. 
Brainstorming with gifted children on what kinds of              projects they could do may also generate ideas teachers may never               have thought of on their own. The point of the brainstorming is to              teach children at an early age to think of the different things they            can do with the information they have learned. What would they like             to do with it? What else could they find out? How would they like to            express what they know? Activities could range (depending on the age            and ability of the student) from map-making to naturalist studies of            animal life, dramatic enactment's, creative movement, art projects,             and science experiments. This is where teachers' understanding of               their students' unique strengths becomes vital in providing                     appropriate learning activities. A kindergarten class just beginning            to explore numbers may be very dull to an artistically gifted child             who already knows how to count to 50 and recognizes these numbers by            sight. A teacher who understands the child's talent could offer                 encouragement to undertake an art project involving the theme of                numbers (e.g., drawing objects or animals in multiples, then                    counting them, making designs out of numbers, exploring the                     relationships between numbers through art, etc.). This integration              of subject areas also makes learning possible in multiple directions            and allows young children to develop talents in different content               areas. ASSESSING AND DOCUMENTING DEVELOPMENTLike                          identification, assessment should be ongoing. Teachers can use                  tests, class assignments, observations, informal interviews,                    consultations with parents, and portfolios to assess how the                    children are doing. However, they are only meaningful if conducted              repeatedly over time and within a variety of classroom activities               and projects. In this way, teachers gain a more comprehensive                   understanding of their students' talents and can create further                 learning opportunities for their development. CONCLUSIONEarly             identification and intervention are essential for the growth and                development of young gifted children. Equipped with practical                   teaching strategies and creative resources, classroom teachers are              in a unique position to advance their talents in a stimulating                  environment of original thinking and discovery. A sensitivity to the            special needs of young gifted children can make a significant                   difference to their future development and                                      happiness. RESOURCESClark, B. (1992). Growing Up Gifted:                  Developing the Potential of Children at Home and at School, 4th ed.             New York: Maxwell Macmillan International. 
Kingore, B. (1993).                Portfolios: Enriching and Assessing All Students, Identifying the               Gifted, Grades K-6. DesMoines, IA: Leadership Publishers. 
Smutny,             J. F. (Ed.) (1998). The Young Gifted Child: Potential and Promise,              An Anthology. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. 
Smutny, J. F., Walker,            S. Y., and Meckstroth, E. A. (1997). Teaching Young Gifted Children             in the Regular Classroom: Identifying, Nurturing, and Challenging               Ages 4-9. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing                               Inc. 
Winebrenner, S. (1992). Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular              Classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing Inc. 
Joan                  Franklin Smutny is Director, The Center for Gifted, National-Louis              University, Evanston IL, coauthor of Teaching Young Gifted Children             in the Regular Classroom, and editor of The Young Gifted Child:                 Potential and Promise, An Anthology. 
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ERIC Digests are in              the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated, but            please acknowledge your source. This digest was prepared with                   funding from the Office of Educational Research and                             Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education (ED) under Contract            No. ED-99-CO- 0026. The opinions expressed in this publication do               not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI or the                Department of Education.                                                     **Title:** Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom. ERIC Digest            E595.                                                                        **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Council for            Exceptional Children, 1920 Association Dr., Reston, VA 20191-1589;              Tel: 800-328-0272 (Toll Free); E-mail: [email protected]; Web                 site: http://www.ericec.org                                                  **Descriptors:**  Ability Identification,  Academically Gifted, Classroom Design,                Curriculum Design, Educational Environment,  Inclusive Schools,                 Parent Teacher Cooperation, Portfolio Assessment, Preschool                     Education, Primary Education,  Talent Development, Young Children            **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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