SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
Below you will find several suggestions on how to differentiate lessons in order to meet the needs of our gifted students. These ideas can be applied to all fields of study, and can easily be modified to fit your class. Pick any one and give it a try! if you have any ideas you want to share, make sure to visit our teacher forum.
Movie Trailers
Instead of writing a summary, why not create a movie trailer for the book or story you are reading? This trailer can also be accompanied by movie posters promoting the book and can be shared with other classes at school.
Puppets/Puppet Shows
Puppet shows are another excellent way to summarize the plot and main theme of a story, and can take on many creative avenues. This can even be accomplished using the iPad, using apps such as Puppet Pals and Sock Puppets.
Publishing a Story using Storybird
Storybird.com is a website that allows students to create original story books using a wide variety of free artwork. The advantage is that when students finish their project, it becomes an actual published piece of work with a copyright!
Field Trips
A field trip is always a wonderful learning experienced for gifted students. If possible, try setting one up early and set up a set of learning activities to go along with the trip. And, technology also provides avenues to provide virtual field trips for classrooms. Our schools are each equipped with a video conferencing systems, and there are many websites, such as Smithsonian.com, that provide virtual and remote tours of museums and other sites.
Mind mapping
Mind mapping can be accomplished with all grade level and different topics. Generate an idea or topic, and have student try to make as many connections step from this. Try to see how far they can extend these connections, and involve them in discussions around the topic.
Games
Gifted students, as all children, enjoy games. But, even more importantly, they enjoy creating games. After a book or unit of study, have them generate board games, card games, or even design computer games related to what they have learned. They can share their games with others.
Structures
Creating structures is a great way to practice creative skills. It also provides an alternative for gifted students that are more visually inclined. The structures could be purposeful, such as creating buildings for a village or city while studying urban areas. They can also be tied to specific novel, such as designing the perfect home for a particular character in a book or drawing a bridge between the characters in two separate fairy tales.
Trading Cards
As students read books and novels throughout the year, they can begin a collection of 'trading cards' that contain important details about some of their favorite characters. These can be modeled after baseball cards, and traded with one another or even exchanged with students in other campuses. Websites such as ReadWriteThink provide some automatic card generators.
Inventions
As with structures, inventions are important to the creative process and provide an excellent opportunity of higher order thinking among gifted students. After reading a novel, have the students generate an invention that would make the main character's life simpler, or would help them solve the conflict faster.
Book Talks
Quite simply, after the class finishes a novel, they gather around discuss questions they generated about the book. These can be recorded, and hung on a website for others to listen.
Comics
Students are familiar with the structure of comics, and it allows students that are more visually inclined to use their artistic abilities to summarize a novel or a unit of study. For students that might not me as artistically talented, programs like ComicLife allows them to use images instead to tell their stories.
Fake Tweeter/Facebook pages
What would Cinderella's facebook look like? what would be some of her likes and what types of conversations would she carry on with her friends? Students can explore character details by creating fake social media accounts, on paper or by using a variety of templates found online, such as in classtools.net.
Songs/Musical Instruments
Songs, jingles and raps are always fun to write and perform. In addition, students can design their own instruments fashioned out of items around the classroom.
Robots/Superheroes
If the main character of the novel you just read was a superhero, what powers would he have? What would happen if you created a robot version of the protagonists? These are questions that can lead to very engaging novel projects.
Alternate Egos
What would happen if the protagonist (or antagonist) of a story had an alternate ego? What type of qualities would they possess? Students analyze the details that define a character in a book, and create an "alternate ego" that is the opposite. They can then discuss the ways in which the main conflict and plot of the story would be affected by this change. They can also have fun writing a dialogue between the character and his/her alter ego.
Cooking
Recipes can be used at several levels. At its most basic, writing and following recipes allows students to analyze procedural text. But, it also presents an opportunity to make connections to culture. Students can learn about the traditions of other nations through research of recipes and traditional food. Also, at a higher order level, students can generate hypothetical recipes that can allow them to explain "How to Create a Tall Tale Hero" or "How to Bake the Perfect Fairy Tale."
Vocabulary
Studying vocabulary in the gifted classroom extends beyond simple writing definitions and taking vocabulary tests. It should aim at helping students integrate words into their own vocabulary by finding patterns and studying the langauge of the discipline. There are many activities that can help students achieve this, such as acting out individual vocabulary words or creating games such as pictionary, hangman and crossword puzzles.
Travel Brochure
How would a travel agent get people to travel to the Land of Oz? How about Terabithia or Middle Earth? By studying patterns of details in travel brochures, students can generate a pamphlet to travel to any novel they read.
Advertisements
What type of products would Little Red Riding hood promote? Perhaps a security system! Students can discuss the traits of the different characters in a novel, and generate advertisements for a variety of products and services. These can take the form of printed ads or even radio and TV spots.
Mock Trials
Who will defend the Big Bad Wolf against this piggy accusers? There are several mock trials available online if one searches, but it is even more fun and creative to have students generate their own trials. This allows them to analyze the main components of a novel at a deeper level while actually learning about the legal system as well!
Animal Projects
Rather than a simple research paper or diorama, studying animals can take on many creative ways. How about researching two separate animals and combining them into one? How would this animal look like? What would it eat and where would it live? In presenting the project, students can creatre an Animal Planet style show to reveal what they have found.
Creature Exchange
This is a particularly fun project for to try out during October. Students working in groups communicate with another class in a different campus, and create large original monsters or creatures. Then, a detailed description is written down and sent to the groups in the other campus. They in turn will do the same, and the task will be to draw each others creatures using ONLY the descriptions written. During the big reveal, the video conferencing carts can be used to see how closely the two classes came to drawing each others creatures.
Readers Theater/Skits
Reader theaters and skits are commonly used, but they can be expanded upon to differentiate for gifted students. One way of doing so is by looking at different disciplines, such as journalism and filmmaking, and having students then create newscasts or documentaries. The final products can be shared with others in the campus through a "viewing party" or exchanged with other campuses through video conferencing.
Dioramas
Again, dioramas are quite commonly used. However, instead of your traditional shoe box display, students can get creative and actually create "living" dioramas. In addition, students can gather dioramas with a common theme to create a "museum," taking the role of a docent or expert on the field.
KAHOOT Quizzes
Students can engage in creating or playing quizzes with one another, especially using such websites as KAHOOT.
Instead of writing a summary, why not create a movie trailer for the book or story you are reading? This trailer can also be accompanied by movie posters promoting the book and can be shared with other classes at school.
Puppets/Puppet Shows
Puppet shows are another excellent way to summarize the plot and main theme of a story, and can take on many creative avenues. This can even be accomplished using the iPad, using apps such as Puppet Pals and Sock Puppets.
Publishing a Story using Storybird
Storybird.com is a website that allows students to create original story books using a wide variety of free artwork. The advantage is that when students finish their project, it becomes an actual published piece of work with a copyright!
Field Trips
A field trip is always a wonderful learning experienced for gifted students. If possible, try setting one up early and set up a set of learning activities to go along with the trip. And, technology also provides avenues to provide virtual field trips for classrooms. Our schools are each equipped with a video conferencing systems, and there are many websites, such as Smithsonian.com, that provide virtual and remote tours of museums and other sites.
Mind mapping
Mind mapping can be accomplished with all grade level and different topics. Generate an idea or topic, and have student try to make as many connections step from this. Try to see how far they can extend these connections, and involve them in discussions around the topic.
Games
Gifted students, as all children, enjoy games. But, even more importantly, they enjoy creating games. After a book or unit of study, have them generate board games, card games, or even design computer games related to what they have learned. They can share their games with others.
Structures
Creating structures is a great way to practice creative skills. It also provides an alternative for gifted students that are more visually inclined. The structures could be purposeful, such as creating buildings for a village or city while studying urban areas. They can also be tied to specific novel, such as designing the perfect home for a particular character in a book or drawing a bridge between the characters in two separate fairy tales.
Trading Cards
As students read books and novels throughout the year, they can begin a collection of 'trading cards' that contain important details about some of their favorite characters. These can be modeled after baseball cards, and traded with one another or even exchanged with students in other campuses. Websites such as ReadWriteThink provide some automatic card generators.
Inventions
As with structures, inventions are important to the creative process and provide an excellent opportunity of higher order thinking among gifted students. After reading a novel, have the students generate an invention that would make the main character's life simpler, or would help them solve the conflict faster.
Book Talks
Quite simply, after the class finishes a novel, they gather around discuss questions they generated about the book. These can be recorded, and hung on a website for others to listen.
Comics
Students are familiar with the structure of comics, and it allows students that are more visually inclined to use their artistic abilities to summarize a novel or a unit of study. For students that might not me as artistically talented, programs like ComicLife allows them to use images instead to tell their stories.
Fake Tweeter/Facebook pages
What would Cinderella's facebook look like? what would be some of her likes and what types of conversations would she carry on with her friends? Students can explore character details by creating fake social media accounts, on paper or by using a variety of templates found online, such as in classtools.net.
Songs/Musical Instruments
Songs, jingles and raps are always fun to write and perform. In addition, students can design their own instruments fashioned out of items around the classroom.
Robots/Superheroes
If the main character of the novel you just read was a superhero, what powers would he have? What would happen if you created a robot version of the protagonists? These are questions that can lead to very engaging novel projects.
Alternate Egos
What would happen if the protagonist (or antagonist) of a story had an alternate ego? What type of qualities would they possess? Students analyze the details that define a character in a book, and create an "alternate ego" that is the opposite. They can then discuss the ways in which the main conflict and plot of the story would be affected by this change. They can also have fun writing a dialogue between the character and his/her alter ego.
Cooking
Recipes can be used at several levels. At its most basic, writing and following recipes allows students to analyze procedural text. But, it also presents an opportunity to make connections to culture. Students can learn about the traditions of other nations through research of recipes and traditional food. Also, at a higher order level, students can generate hypothetical recipes that can allow them to explain "How to Create a Tall Tale Hero" or "How to Bake the Perfect Fairy Tale."
Vocabulary
Studying vocabulary in the gifted classroom extends beyond simple writing definitions and taking vocabulary tests. It should aim at helping students integrate words into their own vocabulary by finding patterns and studying the langauge of the discipline. There are many activities that can help students achieve this, such as acting out individual vocabulary words or creating games such as pictionary, hangman and crossword puzzles.
Travel Brochure
How would a travel agent get people to travel to the Land of Oz? How about Terabithia or Middle Earth? By studying patterns of details in travel brochures, students can generate a pamphlet to travel to any novel they read.
Advertisements
What type of products would Little Red Riding hood promote? Perhaps a security system! Students can discuss the traits of the different characters in a novel, and generate advertisements for a variety of products and services. These can take the form of printed ads or even radio and TV spots.
Mock Trials
Who will defend the Big Bad Wolf against this piggy accusers? There are several mock trials available online if one searches, but it is even more fun and creative to have students generate their own trials. This allows them to analyze the main components of a novel at a deeper level while actually learning about the legal system as well!
Animal Projects
Rather than a simple research paper or diorama, studying animals can take on many creative ways. How about researching two separate animals and combining them into one? How would this animal look like? What would it eat and where would it live? In presenting the project, students can creatre an Animal Planet style show to reveal what they have found.
Creature Exchange
This is a particularly fun project for to try out during October. Students working in groups communicate with another class in a different campus, and create large original monsters or creatures. Then, a detailed description is written down and sent to the groups in the other campus. They in turn will do the same, and the task will be to draw each others creatures using ONLY the descriptions written. During the big reveal, the video conferencing carts can be used to see how closely the two classes came to drawing each others creatures.
Readers Theater/Skits
Reader theaters and skits are commonly used, but they can be expanded upon to differentiate for gifted students. One way of doing so is by looking at different disciplines, such as journalism and filmmaking, and having students then create newscasts or documentaries. The final products can be shared with others in the campus through a "viewing party" or exchanged with other campuses through video conferencing.
Dioramas
Again, dioramas are quite commonly used. However, instead of your traditional shoe box display, students can get creative and actually create "living" dioramas. In addition, students can gather dioramas with a common theme to create a "museum," taking the role of a docent or expert on the field.
KAHOOT Quizzes
Students can engage in creating or playing quizzes with one another, especially using such websites as KAHOOT.