Not only should basic skills development be included in the educational plan for all gifted students, but as much enrichment as possible should be provided by the teacher. In class, teachers can respond to gifted students (and other children) by structuring, modeling, and using positive reinforcement to sustain prosocial behaviors already present. Discussion, creative movement, field trips, role play, collections, drawings, music and stories should all be used effectively.
Resource people should be scheduled into the classroom. For example, a father who speaks French or a mother who demonstrates the uses of a calculator. A piano with color-coded keys and color-coded music may be provided for students who show an interest in music. Dramatic play and science experiments should be developed and used frequently. In addition to field trips to usual places such as the fire station and the zoo, the students might visit art museums to examine masterpieces and interesting buildings to study architecture. After the trips, make experience charts that describe the trip in the students’ own words.
The unit approach is especially appropriate for use with gifted students at all levels. They may want to go into more detail than the rest of the class. In a unit on transportation, for example, the gifted student may be interested in hydroplanes and balloons as forms of transportation, and the teacher could have them look through magazines for pictures and words about different types of transportation. A unit on likenesses and differences in people could be expanded to include people in different geographic areas as well as those of different races.