Differentiation for the Gifted Learner

"The surest path to high self-esteem is to be successful at something you perceived to be difficult. Unless kids are consistently engaged in challenging work, they will lose the motivation to work hard." ~ Dr. Sylvia Rim

According to Susan Winebrenner, differentiating learning for gifted students involves adjusting the content, the learning processes, the types of products created and the learning environment through different expectations, places to do their work and assessment practices.

The 4 C's of Gifted Differentiation

Complexity
Curriculum Compacting
Creative/Critical Thinking Skills
Choice, choice and more choice

Some thoughts about differentiated programming for gifted learners:

initially, identify the student's areas of interest / strength through individual conferences, student surveys, etc.
incorporate the ideas and suggestions of the student when making plans; work as a team to plan appropriate activities
make curriculum connections
facilitate regular meetings / conference with the student in order to monitor progress, make modifications to the plans, encourage and praise
use the student's input in planning and implementing both formative and summative assessments; create the assessment tools along with the student when possible

Ideas for Program Differentiation:

use Bloom's Taxonomy of Thinking Skills to create higher level thinking challenges within any given unit or topic of study
create opportunities for peer-tutoring,coaching,teaching
encourage student proposed leadership opportunities
use Independent Learning Kits or centres within your class
provide a resource centre which has an interesting selection of reference texts, science experiment books, etc. which challenge higher level thinking
use the computer - these students can often explore new programs and become the expert for their classmates as well as for you
offer the chance for them to be news editors for newsletters, etc.
encourage the writers to write a short story, novel, play, speech, etc. .
provide opportunities for Independent Study projects - topic, format, plans, assessment, etc. negotiated between student and teacher - there are many ways these can be used in the classroom - as an alternate activity while the class is done something else, as an ongoing project to be worked on when other work is completed, etc.
provide choice by using Extension Menus which offer a variety of ways for students to show their understanding