Five Ways to Challenge Gifted Students When They Finish Their Work

What do I do when they finish their work early?

This is a common question posed by teachers when it comes to gifted students. But it really shouldn’t be a problem—if you have the right training, the right philosophy and some “go-to” strategies in your teaching toolbox. Some teachers simply give gifted students more of the same work. The student finishes the assigned math problems—so have them complete 10 more of the same type of problems. In other classrooms, teachers ask gifted students to tutor classmates. Other gifted students are allowed to read independently.

While these activities might be acceptable at times, these approaches are often frowned upon by the gifted education community. For instance, gifted education advocates argue that this population has the right to learn new knowledge, new skills, and be academically challenged every day. Having a gifted child assist a classmate might teach them leadership and kindness for others—but done regularly deprives them of their own right to learn.

So what do you “do” with them? How do you meet their needs when you have a class full of students at different ability levels? Research has shown that gifted students on average spend as much as half the school day waiting for peers to catch up—this means they are reviewing material they already know or wasting valuable learning time—this is simply unacceptable to me. We have to do better by these children. With limited time and resources, you must work smarter—be more skillful in your approach with the gifted. What really helped me and other teachers I worked with over the years was adopting a different mentality when it comes to teaching the gifted. To academically challenge this group, you must consider how you can tweak or revise the current lesson (not entirely re-write it) so it becomes more complex, contains more depth, and requires more intellectual rigor; if you can do that, you will be effectively challenging these students on a consistent, daily basis. A recent visit to a full-time gifted education academy—which uses best practices in its curriculum-reminded me that we can in fact meet the academic needs of these children if we assume the correct approach.

Now, for some particulars.

1. Adding Depth and Complexity

   A quick search for Kaplan’s Depth and Complexity will provide you with a plethora of resources to enhance your current lessons (start here: http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~skaplan/). This model enables you to add rigor to instruction by teaching students to use “icons” to consider topics from multiple perspectives, ethical standpoints, patterns and thematic approaches, and more. For instance, when reading a grade-level text, I would have my gifted students search for unanswered questions within the article or story, to consider different viewpoints, and look for trends, etc. This naturally extended the students’ thinking and provided the basis for rich discussions.

2. Different “Angles”

   DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats is another masterful way to extend students’ thinking by having them examine an issue or lesson from various angles. For instance, students could read and highlight a text for negative (Black Hat) aspects, positive (White Hat) implications, or creative thinking (Green Hat). Another strategy is to divide students into groups based on the hats and have them consider a debate topic or statement wearing their “hat.” These strategies will aid students in expanding their perspectives and ability to analyze problems and situations.

3. Inquiry-Based Learning

   Allowing gifted students to pursue lines of questioning is another method to provide challenge. Why not allow them some independent research time to delve deeper into the material? Perhaps a student finishes an assignment about the life cycle in science—why not allow them to research using classroom books and/or the Internet to learn more about how the life cycle applies to various species? How the environment impacts the cycle? How life cycles differ between animals? So many possibilities. The student could then provide a brief presentation at the end of class to share what he or she has learned.

4. Talent Development

   Dr. Susan Baum has proposed a unique approach, the Talent Centered Model, for gifted students, particularly those considered twice-exceptional (identified as having a disability and being gifted). The model encourages placing a student’s talent area at the center and building curriculum, emotional-social development, and other components around that talent. If a gifted student finished work early, why not allow he or she to develop within their talent area(s)? For instance, if a student shows an affinity toward building or constructing, maybe she can create a model to show the current learning. A writer can draft a story or a poem to express the main idea and supporting evidence of a text. The artist can create a collage and so forth.

5. Acceleration

   While this practice might be more difficult in some cases, depending on your school district’s policies, it might be necessary to allow a gifted student to learn higher-grade level content. You might find through pre-assessment or classroom performance that a child shows mastery of the entire fifth-grade math curriculum. In this case, it might be appropriate to have that student engage in the next grade-level curriculum in that subject area. Though reservations exist regarding the practice of acceleration (namely in the area of emotional/social impact), research has suggested predominately positive effects. Technology has expanded options for teachers—for example, I once had a fifth-grade student learn higher-grade level content through the district’s online instructional site, so she never had to leave my class. Of course, you must become familiar with your state's and district’s guidelines on acceleration and follow the proper channels if this is the path of action you think is best.

While not an exhaustive list by any means, these five strategies provide classroom teachers with some effective, fairly easy-to-implement methods to providing challenge and rigor to gifted students. However, I do recommend that teachers seek additional training in gifted education since most will at one time or another have a gifted child in their classroom.