How to Challenge Gifted Students Who Finish Work Early
Create packets with additional work ahead of time., Provide challenging mathematical reasoning problems., Offer activities that encourage scientific investigation., Assign a current events analysis project., Have your gifted student keep a journal...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Create packets with additional work ahead of time.
Teachers will inevitably identify gifted students who finish work early and should thus plan ahead before the start of the school year or specific learning unit.
Compile supplemental learning packets that are self-explanatory and either subject-specific or filled with general educational activities when you’re designing your lesson plan.
That way, you’ll be prepared with rich, engaging content that won't require you to spend too much time away from other students.You can find subject-specific lesson plans and resources on websites like MENSA for Kids (http://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/) and the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (http://nrcgt.uconn.edu/research-based_resources/). -
Step 2: Provide challenging mathematical reasoning problems.
Assign your mathematically gifted student content that helps them apply reasoning skills to everyday problems.
Use word problems that apply that unit’s math skills to specific contexts instead of, for example, simply assigning additional exercises with the same content as the work they’ve just finished.Pre-scripted word problems that apply the unit's skills to real world scenarios won't require you to offer further instruction, keeping gifted students challenged while optimizing your time.
If other students are busy with their work and you have a moment for further explanation, you can also preview the next unit’s content with your gifted student.
Have them begin to work on problems with the next unit’s reasoning skills.
For example, if your middle or late elementary schooler has mastered multiplication and division, introduce them to pre-algebra exercises., Incorporate independent and age-appropriate activities, such as a classroom corner with materials of various buoyancies and densities.
Keep microscopes in the classroom if possible, with sample slides of different geological and biological specimens.You can show the entire class how to operate age-appropriate microscopes and other equipment, then early finishers can engage in self-directed activities until the rest of the class has completed the assignment.
To reduce the amount of time spent offering instructions, prepare worksheets with prompts appropriate for their grade level that follow the scientific method.
For example, ask students on their worksheets, “Which material do you hypothesize will float in water, and which will sink? Describe the procedure you used to test your hypothesis.
How did your experiment prove or disprove your hypothesis?” That way, you can briefly tell your gifted students what to do when they're finished, then they can follow the worksheets' written prompts. , If you’re a social studies specialist, have early finishers research a current news story.
Assign an analysis project with specific and self-explanatory prompts and criteria.For example, select articles ahead of time and create worksheets that ask students to summarize an article, discuss its point of view or biases, and support their analysis with citations.
Have them compare two or more articles on the same current event and discuss the similarities and differences between the articles’ points of view.
You can also assign students to compare current and historical events.
Either assign specific past and present events or have students select their own and explain their bases for making the comparison. , For additional literature or creative writing coursework, assign journal prompts to students who finish early.
For example, if you’re working on a specific genre, like short stories, have your early finishers compose their own story.
Provide a worksheet that directs them to define their story’s components, such as climax and resolution.If you’re working on poetry, try having students compose poems with more rigid structures.
For example, if they’ve already written poems in free verse, have them use their extra time to write works with particular rhyme schemes and forms, such as sonnets.
Free-writing exercises with more open-ended guidelines can also help you keep gifted students engaged and allow you to keep your attention on the rest of the class. , Go for subject-specific silent reading that deepens students’ understanding of the learning unit’s skills or genre.
Consider including worksheets with prompts that reinforce the unit’s reasoning or analytical skills.For example, have early finishers learning about the solar system read articles that detail new findings about dwarf planetoids or planets beyond our own solar system.
Have them compose a summary about how these new findings allow us to learn more about our own solar system’s formation.
Silent reading, with or without supplemental worksheets, is a self-directed and self-explanatory exercise that will allow you to balance your time between kids at varying learning levels. -
Step 3: Offer activities that encourage scientific investigation.
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Step 4: Assign a current events analysis project.
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Step 5: Have your gifted student keep a journal.
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Step 6: Keep subject-relevant books and magazines handy.
Detailed Guide
Teachers will inevitably identify gifted students who finish work early and should thus plan ahead before the start of the school year or specific learning unit.
Compile supplemental learning packets that are self-explanatory and either subject-specific or filled with general educational activities when you’re designing your lesson plan.
That way, you’ll be prepared with rich, engaging content that won't require you to spend too much time away from other students.You can find subject-specific lesson plans and resources on websites like MENSA for Kids (http://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/) and the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (http://nrcgt.uconn.edu/research-based_resources/).
Assign your mathematically gifted student content that helps them apply reasoning skills to everyday problems.
Use word problems that apply that unit’s math skills to specific contexts instead of, for example, simply assigning additional exercises with the same content as the work they’ve just finished.Pre-scripted word problems that apply the unit's skills to real world scenarios won't require you to offer further instruction, keeping gifted students challenged while optimizing your time.
If other students are busy with their work and you have a moment for further explanation, you can also preview the next unit’s content with your gifted student.
Have them begin to work on problems with the next unit’s reasoning skills.
For example, if your middle or late elementary schooler has mastered multiplication and division, introduce them to pre-algebra exercises., Incorporate independent and age-appropriate activities, such as a classroom corner with materials of various buoyancies and densities.
Keep microscopes in the classroom if possible, with sample slides of different geological and biological specimens.You can show the entire class how to operate age-appropriate microscopes and other equipment, then early finishers can engage in self-directed activities until the rest of the class has completed the assignment.
To reduce the amount of time spent offering instructions, prepare worksheets with prompts appropriate for their grade level that follow the scientific method.
For example, ask students on their worksheets, “Which material do you hypothesize will float in water, and which will sink? Describe the procedure you used to test your hypothesis.
How did your experiment prove or disprove your hypothesis?” That way, you can briefly tell your gifted students what to do when they're finished, then they can follow the worksheets' written prompts. , If you’re a social studies specialist, have early finishers research a current news story.
Assign an analysis project with specific and self-explanatory prompts and criteria.For example, select articles ahead of time and create worksheets that ask students to summarize an article, discuss its point of view or biases, and support their analysis with citations.
Have them compare two or more articles on the same current event and discuss the similarities and differences between the articles’ points of view.
You can also assign students to compare current and historical events.
Either assign specific past and present events or have students select their own and explain their bases for making the comparison. , For additional literature or creative writing coursework, assign journal prompts to students who finish early.
For example, if you’re working on a specific genre, like short stories, have your early finishers compose their own story.
Provide a worksheet that directs them to define their story’s components, such as climax and resolution.If you’re working on poetry, try having students compose poems with more rigid structures.
For example, if they’ve already written poems in free verse, have them use their extra time to write works with particular rhyme schemes and forms, such as sonnets.
Free-writing exercises with more open-ended guidelines can also help you keep gifted students engaged and allow you to keep your attention on the rest of the class. , Go for subject-specific silent reading that deepens students’ understanding of the learning unit’s skills or genre.
Consider including worksheets with prompts that reinforce the unit’s reasoning or analytical skills.For example, have early finishers learning about the solar system read articles that detail new findings about dwarf planetoids or planets beyond our own solar system.
Have them compose a summary about how these new findings allow us to learn more about our own solar system’s formation.
Silent reading, with or without supplemental worksheets, is a self-directed and self-explanatory exercise that will allow you to balance your time between kids at varying learning levels.
About the Author
Gary Gordon
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow creative arts tutorials.
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