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Strategies for Gifted and Talented Students
Instruction in a heterogeneous classroom must be adapted to help gifted learners achieve their full potential. Fortunately, many of the instructional strategies that are effective for students with special needs are also appropriate for gifted and talented students. Some effective instructional strategies for gifted and talented students include:
- Questioning. Gifted and talented students may benefit from more opportunities to explore Essential Questions. Complex concepts that demand cognitive effort build positive attitudes toward learning and increase intrinsic motivation. Open-ended questions that call for thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation can help gifted and talented students apply new knowledge to other situations.
- Explicit Modeling. Because gifted and talented students often employ higher-order thinking skills, teachers must devise ways to help students describe their thinking strategies. By asking pertinent questions and listening to student interactions, teachers can observe the kinds of thinking students are using as they work on projects and provide appropriate instruction and support.
- Feedback. When gifted and talented students work on projects that challenge them to take risks and stretch their thinking, feedback helps them attack problems and monitor their progress in more professional and expert ways.
- Cooperative Learning. Gifted and talented students sometimes feel exploited by working in groups where they may have to take on additional responsibility to ensure success. In fact, they may find it more difficult to collaborate successfully than other students. Providing instruction in collaboration strategies and setting ground rules for group interaction can minimize problems and increase group productivity. Grouping students flexibly for different purposes can address their concerns while maintaining the benefits of collaborative learning.
- Alternative Assessments. Differentiating instruction for gifted and talented students depends on accurate and ongoing assessment. Catharine Reed (2004), a math teacher who works with advanced students in a regular geometry classroom, explains, “A teacher should pre-assess understandings central to a unit and then purposefully modify activities to eliminate repetition and drill for those who already demonstrate mastery.”
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