Type 2s For You

You can have big dreams and high expectations when it comes to having your students complete projects. But if they lack the skills necessary to complete those projects, you’re going to run into some trouble.

That’s where Type 2 activities come in.  Type 2 activities provide students with how-to-think and how-to-learn skills.  The term Type 2 falls within Dr. Joseph Renzulli’s Enrichment Triad Model (For a full description, visit https://gifted.uconn.edu/sem/semexec.html).

Type 2 activities could mean teaching cognitive thinking skills, such as critical and creative thinking. It could also involve teaching how-to-learn skills, such as note-taking, organizing information, keyboarding, and research. If you think about it, Type 2 activities not only prepare students to handle more ambitious projects, but they also help them develop the type of skills that contribute to success in all aspects of academic life.  A high school student who can type, research, and creatively problem-solve (at least in my eyes), is one that is better prepared to enter an Advanced Placement class than one who is lacking these skills. Now, that you’re hopefully sold on the value of Type 2 activities, I am going to provide a series of lessons and programs that provide training and opportunities in this realm. These wonderful ideas originate from colleagues in the field of gifted education, who shared their best Type 2 strategies during a recent school district training. Enjoy.

Doodle for Google

This competition serves as a great vehicle for helping students develop creativity. Students must illustrate the solution to a world problem. Check the Google site for updates. Generally this competition starts around the beginning of the year. A creative team of teachers also came up with the idea to convince a local Starbucks to display their students’ Doodle for Google drawings.

The Stock Market Game

This online simulation provides excellent training in critical thinking skills as students must invest virtual funds in various stocks and track their performance. Depending on where you teach, some states, such as Florida, cover the cost for the competition. For complete details, visit www.stockmarketgame.org/.

Hour of Code

Teaching students to code opens the doors for creative and critical thinking. This kid-friendly site,   https://code.org/learn, provides tutorial videos and allows children to experience the basics of coding.

Keyboarding

There’s a host of different online keyboarding games that teach student basic finger placement and typing skills.  Here’s one http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/keyboarding_games.html

Ed Pals

To develop writing and communication skills, students can participate in cross-cultural exchanges using this site, www.epals.com/.

Type 2s help students become independent learners and tackle the larger projects they are capable of completing. These sites are just as sample of the Type 2 offerings you can share with kids.  If you have other sites or Type 2 activities to share, please post them here!

Wishing you the best,

Steve