Language Arts For Gifted Students

For the first time, the Gifted Child Today Reader series brings together the best articles published in Gifted Child Today, the nation's most popular gifted education journal. Each book in this series is filled with exciting and practical classroom ideas, useful summaries of research findings, discussions of identification and classroom management, and informed opinions about educating gifted kids. Anyone involved in education will benefit from the practical, research-based ideas this unique series has to offer. Students who are gifted in English and language arts are able to discern the authors' purpose, anticipate layers of meaning, and use prior knowledge to make connections between the present text and the previous experiences, a complicated feat for any young child. "Language Arts for Gifted Students" offers information on the characteristics and identification of students who are gifted in English and language arts; how to develop differentiated curricula that include multicultural components; and specific teaching strategies, such as integrating drama with literature, using storytelling activities, and developing a writers' workshop.

The CLEAR curriculum, developed by University of Virginia's National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, is an evidence-based teaching model that emphasizes Challenge Leading to Engagement, Achievement, and Results. In Poetry and Fairy Tales: Language Arts Units for Gifted Students in Grade 3 students will read and analyze various forms of poetry and write their own poetry anthology. They will learn how to identify and use figurative language to create concrete images from abstract ideas. In the fairy tales unit, students will study fairy tales and folklore to understand how and why societal norms and mores are culturally transmitted. These units focus on critical literacy that includes reading diverse sources, understanding bias and cultural contexts, and creating informed consumers of information. Grade 3

Gifted students have the potential to learn material earlier and faster, to handle more complexity and abstraction, and to solve complex problems better. This potential, however, needs stimulating experiences from home and school or it will not unfold. These books are designed to help teachers provide the stimulating curricula that will nurture this potential in school. The units presented in this series are based on research into how these students actually think differently from their peers and how they use their learning styles and potential not merely to develop intellectual expertise, but to move beyond expertise to the production of new ideas. The Math book includes units that ask students to develop a financial portfolio that includes high- and low-risk stocks, options and margins, AAA and junk bonds, mutual funds, and money markets; use math, science, engineering, technology, and art to design and build a miniature golf course; develop games based on probability; and run a real-life small business. Grades 6-8

Language arts is a complex subject area that includes multiple domains (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) and can be infused into many other content areas throughout the school day. Students who are gifted in any area of the language arts need consistently challenging and stimulating instruction. "Language Arts for Gifted Students" is written by two classroom teachers specifically for classroom teachers. Designed to be an initial resource for teachers seeking to add to their instructional repertoire, it provides specific strategies that teachers can use to meet the needs of their gifted language arts students both in the language arts classroom and beyond.

A Teacher's Guide to Using the Common Core State Standards With Gifted and Advanced Learners in the English/Language Arts provides teachers and administrators a blueprint for differentiating the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts for gifted and advanced students through the use of acceleration, depth, complexity, and creativity within and across grade levels. It illustrates the differences between learning experiences for typical and advanced students based on the same standard and provides an array of examples across five of the information text and literary text standards while integrating the other aspects of language arts teaching and learning. The book highlights implementation features, such as classroom management and assessment of student work, that allow teachers to make data-based decisions about instruction for particular students. It also offers guidance to teachers on reading selections for advanced learners at all grade levels.

Using the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts With Gifted and Advanced Learners provides teachers and administrators examples and strategies to implement the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) with advanced learners at all stages of development in K-12 schools. The book describes--and demonstrates with specific examples from the CCSS--what effective differentiated activities in English language arts look like for top learners. It shares how educators can provide both rigor and relevance within the new standards as they translate them into meaningful experiences for gifted and advanced learners.

The CLEAR curriculum, developed by the University of Virginia's National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, is an evidence-based teaching model that emphasizes Challenge Leading to Engagement, Achievement, and Results. In Research and Rhetoric: Language Arts Units for Gifted Students in Grade 5, students will engage in a systematic study of rhetoric as contemplated by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Students will answer the question: When do you appeal to one's intellect, to emotions, or perhaps to one's sense of morality when trying to persuade? In the research unit, students will learn and employ advanced research skills from crafting open-ended research questions and discerning between reliable sources. They will carry out their own research study and present findings at a research gala. These units focus on critical literacy skills including reading diverse texts, understanding a speaker's or author's perspective, and understanding an audience's perspective. Winner of the 2016 NAGC Curriculum Studies Award Grade 5

This book is written for the realist, who looks at the benefits of homeschooling but also wants to be prepared for the challenges. This book is not meant to be a textbook or a curriculum guide. Rather, it was written with a different goal. Some creative learning strategies will be offered to assist you, the parent/educator, as you support your gifted child on the road to academic enjoyment and success. Of course, everyone has a personal view of what constitutes life success, such as meeting academic goals, enjoying social popularity, emotional health, and so on. In this resource book, the goal will be to offer you many methods and alternatives that you may employ when covering the academic topics in language arts with your gifted learner, so that the educational journey toward success will be enriched.