Terminology - for the differentiated classroom

Curriculum telescoping - is a form of acceleration as students complete several years of the school curriculum in less time than their peers. Note that material is not 'skipped', rather, students move through the program more rapidly by increasing the pace of instruction.

Enrichment - the student's learning pace is faster than that of their cohort. The student's learning is broadened by enrichment activities that are related to the content area.

Extension - leads to deepening of knowledge and a greater understanding. Students are given additional tasks, projects, and research questions and have a variety of ways to present their work such as by publishing it to the Internet and by teaching it to others. Extension activities are more challenging, abstract, have advanced content and are appropriate in difficulty.

There are five levels of giftedness: mild, moderate, high, exceptional and profound.

Differentiation - is where students learn differently and have different needs. It's where there is a commitment to plan for students' differences. It celebrates diversity. Its goal is to maximise student growth and to promote individual student success. It builds academic self esteem.

In the differentiated classroom

You will find:

- layered tasks
- creative thinking
- higher order thinking
- differentiated assessment
- at least three levels of appropriate activities
- planned layering
- the needs of all students are met
- acceleration, extension and enrichment

What are the needs of gifted children?

- The mythical "norm" fits very few students.
- There are both emotional and educational needs.
- Gifted children have learning needs that require a special educational program.
- Gifted children need a responsive school environment.
- Gifted learners need careful nurturing, by home, the community and by schools.
- A general education program does not respond adequately to their specialised needs because of the emphasis on teaching basic skills.

Notes on identifying and teaching the gifted and talented child

- gifts will not be translated into talent (high performance) without a facilitative environment.
- with curriculum compacting, a student's program is compacted by removing any content/processes where mastery is demonstrated.
- curriculum differentiation is where we modify the curriculum; adjust the content, processes and the learning environment; and include enrichment and extension activities.

Signs of a gifted student include:

- an increased power of concentration, a long attention span
- an unusually well developed memory
- a large vocabulary
- the student is an independent learner
- is widely informed about many topics
- the student shows good judgement and logical thinking
- the student produces original/unusual products