Identifying Children from Poverty and DiversityThrough Classroom Learning Experiences:

Why and HowTexas Association for Gifted and Talented • Houston, TX

December 4, 2009 • 12:00 AM

Dr. Bertie Kingore

Professional Associates PublishingPO Box 28056 • Austin, TX 78755-8056

Toll free phone/fax: 866-335-1460www.kingore.com

Download a full-sized version of the handout at:

www.bertiekingore.com/tagt.htm

Visit Dr. Kingore at:

Booth #411/510

IDENTIFYING CHILDREN FROM POVERTY AND DIVERSITY THROUGH CLASSROOM LEARNING EXPERIENCES: WHY AND HOW

Bertie Kingore, Ph.D.TAGT, November, 2009

Some people like to say that all children are gifted. Actually, all children are a gift but onlysome children exhibit gifted potential when learning. Gifted potential means a child learns at afaster pace (with minimum repetition) and a higher level (with more complex and in-depth ideas).Children with gifted potential are not more valued; they just learn differently and need nurturingto experience continuous learning.

Identifying Advanced Potential

• Do not dismiss some children exhibiting advanced potential when they have been environ-mentally enriched. Something within the child enabled the environmental nurturing to work.Continuing providing challenging, beyond grade level learning opportunities and observe chil-dren’s responses.

• Children of poverty and diverse cultures are successful learners whose environments providedifferent experiences than the opportunities for literacy development and academic responseswe seek in school. Offer a wide-range of rich learning opportunities and observe which chil-dren bubble up over time. √ Read aloud well-crafted, complex stories and discuss characters, their motivations, and

inferences such as: What might happen if... Why do you think...√ Talk up to children. To develop an academic vocabulary, incorporate interesting, content-

specific words in a meaningful context and encourage children to use those words.Encourage children to quickly sketch what words mean, such as a sketch of a magnetattracting a paper clip or a sketch of a globe showing the location of the equator.

• Over time, collect products to document observed high-level behaviors and to substantiatethat advanced children continue to progress rather than remain at grade level, waiting for oth-ers to reach mastery and catch up.

• Listen to parents. At home, children may demonstrate skills that are not prompted at school.

Classroom Suggestions for Differentiating Instruction

• Enrich the classroom environment to prompt advanced behaviors. Provide many open-endedlearning experiences and strategies that allow all children to succeed while providing anopportunity for advanced students to demonstrate the highest levels at which they are ableto respond.

• Call on advanced children proportionately to other students. They should not dominate classdiscussions nor should they be ignored. All children need educators’ respect, feedback, andencouragement.

• Provide faster-paced instruction when children demonstrate readiness to expand learning.Children with advanced potential learn well and stay more mentally engaged with minimumrepetition of skills and concepts.

Kingore, B. (2010). Austin, TX: Professional Associates Publishing.

• As children work, talk with them about what they are doing to elicit their perspectives and provide a window into their high-level thinking.√ How did you figure that out?√ What is another way to do that?√ What do you plan to do next?

• Young gifted children often want to talk with adults not because they can’t socially fit in withtheir age-mates but because they seek idea-mates (intellectual peers) who understand whatthey are interested in discussing. They enjoy someone who gets their jokes!

• Advanced children’s heads are often ahead of their hands. They experience frustration whentheir writing or drawing cannot express what they want to say. √ Listen to their ideas as often as you can.√ Scribe for them sometimes. √ Let them use a recorder to orally record their ideas. √ Arrange for them to work with an aide or older student for brief times.√ Encourage abstract thinking by inviting them to sketch and explain symbols for ideas.

• Expect more depth and complexity from gifted students. Settling for less breeds poorlearning habits. Recognize and reinforce effort as well as capabilities to promote the highestprobability of children setting high expectations and reaching high achievement.

• Acquire a wide range of materials for every segment of learning you plan. When studentsdemonstrate understanding at one level, enable them to continue learning at a higher levelrather than repeatedly practice what they already know. Ask a librarian or media specialist tohelp acquire appropriate materials.

• Provide non-fiction materials. Advanced readers have a voracious appetite for reading abouttheir interests and need opportunities to read beyond grade-level text.

• Use flexible peer learning groups. At different times, gifted students need to work with otheradvanced students, with a mixed-range of learners, and by themselves.

• Encourage and honor diverse ideas rather than expect only simple, right-answer responses. √ Tell me what you mean? √ Why do you think that?

• Don’t feel guilty for not differentiating enough. Make a professional effort to enable every childto experience continuous learning, and celebrate every success.

ResourcesKingore, B. (2009). Recognizing gifted potential: Planned experiences with the KOI. Austin, TX:

Professional Associates Publishing.Kingore, B. (2008). Developing portfolios for authentic assessment, PreK-3. Thousand Oaks, CA:

Corwin Press.Kingore, B. (2007). Reaching all learners: Making differentiation work. Austin, TX: Professional

Associates Publishing.Kingore, B., Ed. (2002). Reading strategies for advanced primary readers. Austin, TX: Texas

Education Agency.

Kingore, B. (2010). Austin, TX: Professional Associates Publishing.

P U R P O S E S O F I D E N T I F I C A T I O N

• Know and understand all learners;witness students’ capabilities.

• Cast a wider net; giftedness exists in all populations and should reflectthe demographics of the community.

• Create a safe and engaging learning environment that invitesadvanced work.

• Implement data-driven instruction.

• Establish a climate that is safe for risk-taking.

• Identify areas of giftedness beyond traditional academically gifted.

Kingore, B. (2009). RGP: Professional Development Presentation. Austin: Professional Associates Publ.

Kingore, B. (1998). Engaging Creative Thinking. Austin: Professional Associates Publishing

THE ALIEN: STUDENT COPYBertie Kingore, Bonnie Hood, and Julia Griffin

PROBLEM

Work in groups primarily using recyclable materials to build a three-dimensional alien thatis exactly two feet tall and free standing.

MATERIALS

1. Masking tape--one roll for each team

2. Scissors--one pair for each child

3. Recyclable trash for building materials--each team is limited to 15 items, e.g., aluminumcans, boxes, cardboard, plastic containers, cardboard rolls, and newspapers

4. One 12-inch ruler for each team

CRITERIA

1. Your team’s alien must be exactly two feet tall.How can you accurately measure it using onlyone 12-inch-ruler?

2. It must be made from exactly 15 recyclable orreusable items.

3. It must be free standing.

4. It must be sturdy enough to be moved withoutbreaking.

5. Each construction team will have 50 minutes to design and assemble it.

PROCEDURE

FIRST DAY

Brainstorm as a team:a. What will your alien look like, and how will that reflect its abilities?b. What kinds of recyclable or reusable items are needed to make it two feet tall?c. How can you construct it so that it stands by itself ?d. What recyclable items from home should each person try to bring to class? (More

than 15 items should be collected.)

Kingore, B. (2007). Recognizing Gifted Potential. Austin, TX: Professional Associates Publishing.

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Literature Correlated to the Kingore Observation Inventory (KOI)Advanced Language

Edwards, Pamela Duncan. (1998). Some Smug Slug. NY: HarperCollins.Frasier, Debra. (2000). Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster. San Diego: Harcourt.Schotter, Roni. (2006). The Boy Who Loved Words. NY: Schwartz & Wade. Shulman, Mark. (2006). Mom and Dad are Palindromes. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle. Steinberg, L. (2003). Thesaurus Rex. Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books.Walton, Rick. (2006). Around the House the Fox Chased the Mouse: A Prepositional Tale. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith.Wilbur, Richard. (2000). The Pig in the Spigot. Orlando, FL: Voyager Books.

Analytical ThinkingCrews, Donald. (1995). Ten Black Dots. NY: HarperTrophy.Konigsburg, E. L. (1996). The View from Saturday. NY: Scholastic. LaRochelle, David. (2007). The End. NY: Scholastic.Sachar, Louis. (1998). Holes. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.Seeger, Laura. (2007). First the Egg. New Milford, CT :Roaring Brook Press. Shannon, George. (1996). Tomorrow’s Alphabet. NY: Greenwillow.Smith, David J. (2002). If the World Were a Village.Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press..

Meaning MotivationBaker, Jeannie. (1991). Window. NY: Greenwillow.Radunsky, V. (2004). What Does Peace Feel Like? NY: Atheneum. Reynolds, Peter. (2003). The Dot. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. Van Allsburg, Chris. (1984). The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Waber, Bernard. (2002). Courage. Boston, Houghton Mifflin.

PerspectiveBanyai, Istvan. (1995). Zoom. NY: Viking.Fleischman, Paul. (1988). Joyful Noise. NY: Harper & Row.Hoberman, Mary Ann. (2004). You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Fairy Tales. NY Little, Brown.Perry, Sarah. (1995). If. Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum.Steiner, Joan. (1999). Look-Alikes, Jr. (1998). Look-Alikes. Boston: Little, Brown.Turkle, B. (1992). Deep in the Forest. NY: Puffin Books.

Sense of HumorBaget, Brod. (2002). Giant Children. NY: Puffin. Barretta, Gene. 2007). Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones. NY: Holt. McGee, Marni & Ian Beck. (2006)..Winston the Book Wolf. NY: Walker.Orloff, Karen & David Catrow. (2004). I Wanna Iguana. NY: Putnam & Sons.Prap, Lila. (2005). Once Upon... 1001 Stories. La Jolla, CA: Kane/Miller Books. Pulver, Robin. (2002). Punctuation Takes a Vacation. NY: Holiday House.Watt, M. (2007). Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend.Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.

SensitivityAliki. (1998). Marianthe’s Story: Painted Words and Spoken Memories. NY: Greenwillow.Yangsook Choi. (2001). The Name Jar. NY: Dell Dragonfly.Root, Phyllis. (2003). The Name Quilt. NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.Saltzberg, B. (2006). Star of the Week. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.Smothers, Ethel Footman. (2003). The Hard-Times Jar. NY: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.Turner, Glennette Tilley. (2006). An Apple for Harriet Tubman. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company.

Accelerated LearningBarretta, Gene. (2006). Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin. NY: Henry Holt.Goldstone, Bruce. (2006). Great Estimations. NY: Holt.Levitt, P. (2009). Weighty Words, Too. (2000). Weighty Word Book. Albuquerque, NM: University of New MexicoNeuschwander, Cindy. (2006). Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter. (2003). The Sword in the Cone. (2001).

Great Knight of Angleland. (1999). Dragon of Pi. (1997). First Round Table. MA: Charlesbridge.Scieszka, Jon & Lane Smith. (2007). Science Verse. NY: Viking.Tyson, Leigh Ann. (2003). An Interview with Harry the Tarantula. Washington, D.C.:National Geographic Society.

Resources by Bertie Kingore(2009). Bertie’s Book Notes. Interactive CD-ROM. Austin: Professional Associates Publishing(2007). Recognizing Gifted Potential: Planned Experiences with the KOI. Austin: Professional Associates Publishing.(2003). Literature Celebrations, 2nd ed. Austin: Professional Associates Publishing.(2001). The Kingore Observation Inventory (KOI), 2nd ed. Austin: Professional Associates Publishing.

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