Multimedia

Cluster Grouping Basics (podcast): Dr. Marcia Gentry, the director of the Gifted Education Resource Institute and Professor of Educational Studies at Purdue University, speaks with Dr. Julia Roberts about the fundamental advantages of and strategies associated with cluster grouping at the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education February 7, 2012.

Exploring the Excellence Gap (podcast): Dr. Jonathan Plucker, director of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy and professor of educational psychology and cognitive science at Indiana University, discusses the excellence gap with Dr. Julia Roberts. Dr. Plucker describes the gap as the advanced equivalent of the achievement gap and explains its troubling persistence.

 

In Print 

Perfectionism: What’s Bad About Being Too Good? Miriam Adderholt & Jan Goldberg (1999)

This book explains the fine line between healthy ambition and unhealthy perfectionism, offering advice and ways in which to cope with the desire to overachieve. It helps students to recognize the symptoms as well as what harm is can do to the mind and body, explains why girls are prone to perfectionism, and lets students know that they should be rewarded for who they are, not what they do.

 

Growing Up Gifted: Developing the Potential of Children at Home and at School (7th ed.) Barbara Clark (2007)

A primary introduction for teachers of gifted students as well as general education teachers who work with the gifted and talented, this book integrates information and practices from real classroom experience to help tailor a gifted education. The author especially emphasizes an understanding of intelligence and potential in both the classroom and at home. The book incorporates many types of research, practices and evaluation to help children bring their gifts to the world.

 

Standards-based Activities and Assessments for the Differentiated Classroom Carolyn Coil (2004)

In order to differentiate education and curriculum where each student works in different styles and modalities to maximize learning, a book of activities and accompanying assessments like this one is essential. The 49 units cover topics in math, reading, science, writing, social studies, language arts, visual arts, performing arts, and health. With the volume comes a companion CD, containing a PDF version of the book as well as Word forms to add your own activities.

 

Solving the Assessment Puzzle Piece by Piece Carolyn Coil & Dodie Merritt (2001)

One of the most difficult problems facing teachers of the gifted and talented is assessment. This book and accompanying CD includes 134 ready-to-use rubrics in all subject areas as well as instructions for creating your own. In addition, the book features assessment terms, standards, benchmarks, forms of alternative assessment and information about standardized testing.

 

A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students Colangelo, Assouline, & Gross (2004)

The title says it all about this two-volume Templeton National Report on Acceleration from educators and scholars around the country. It is based on the discussions at the summit on acceleration held at the University of Iowa in May of 2003 and features insight into what schools need in order to educate highly capable students.

 

On the Social and Emotional Lives of Gifted Children Tracy Cross (2000)

Tracy L. Cross, the country’s leading authority on the psychology of gifted children, mixes personal experience with up-to-date research to examine the social and emotional issues of growing up gifted. The book offers anecdotes about a gifted child’s place in society and advice for both parents and teachers.

 

The Handbook of Secondary Gifted Education Felicia Dixon & Sidney Moon (2006)

This comprehensive textbook offers current critical research on the subject of an integrated education for gifted secondary students. Each chapter is written by leading scholars in the field – including Nicholas Colangelo, Susan Assouline, Sally Reis, Donna Ford, Joyce VanTassel-Baska and Carolyn Callahan. Topics range from understanding the gifted adolescent, social/emotional issues, curriculum practices, programming options (both schoolwide and subject-specific), teacher education and professional development.

 

Bright Child: An Educational Guide for Parents and Teachers of Young Gifted Children, grades K-6 Lynn Fox & Andrea Prejean (1999)

This resource, written by two experts in the field, contains examples and characteristics to identify children who are particularly gifted in reading, mathematics and science. It presents a framework for educating both in the home and in the classroom as well as an extensive gifted resource section.

 

Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom Diane Heacox (2002)

This guide offers a practical approach to differentiated education. Teachers looking to cater to the individual needs of each student will find discussions and tiered assignments, curriculum units, “one-sentence lesson plans” that encompass content, process skills and evidence of learning and methods of evaluation. Each chapter emphasizes getting to know each child’s strengths and limitations using Bloom’s Taxonomy, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, other experts in the field and her own experience in the classroom. Includes reproducibles.

 

Girls and Young Women Leading the Way Francis Karnes, Suzanne Bean & Rosemary Wallner (1993)

One girl started a lending library with the members of her local scout troop. Another child started collecting food for the homeless and now at age eight is running her own foundation. Others have organized recycling projects and food drives. Still others have instituted programs about endangered species and for the handicapped and latchkey children. Each of the 20 stories contained within this book proves that young women can and do make a difference. Chapters are followed by a “What You Can Do” section and a list of questions and resources to contact for more information about a particular cause.

 

The Ultimate Guide for Student Product Development and Evaluation Francis Karnes & Kristen Stephens (2000)

This guide helps teachers to integrate new products, such as animations and WebQuests, into their curriculum while adhering to state and national standards. It offers ideas, plans and evaluation strategies for teachers to help students use and display creative projects.

 

Aiming for Excellence: Gifted Program Standards Mary Landrum (2001)

This comprehensive review of the National Association for Gifted Children’s program standards represents the professional consensus on gifted education practices to help school and teachers to develop and evaluate their gifted programming. It is organized into seven sections: program design, program administration management, socioemotional guidance counseling, student identification, curriculum instruction, professional development, and program evaluation.

 

Designing Services and Programs for High-Ability Learners: A Guidebook for Gifted Education Jeanne Purcell & Rebecca Eckert (2005)

A guidebook created by 29 leaders in the field to help educators in grades K-12 with gifted students. It is helpful to both establish or improved upon a gifted program, offering practical tips, templates and plans of action.

 

Why Bright Kids Get Poor Grades Sylvia Rimm (1996)

Dr. Sylvia Rimm developed the Trifocal Model to help the millions of gifted children who are failing to reach their potential, a condition that she calls underachievement syndrome. Rimm uses her years of counseling experience to develop the model, a practical, six-step program to help these children succeed.

 

Enrichment Opportunities for Gifted Learners Julia Roberts, Francis Karnes & Kristen Stephens (2005)

Dr. Julia Roberts, Executive Director and founder of The Center for Gifted Studies and the book’s author, explains it this way: “Enrichment provides students with opportunities to extend learning. There are three primary purposes for enrichment: fostering interest; nurturing talent, developing expertise, or both; and increasing achievement.” This book offers an introduction to structuring and developing enrichment activities for gifted children both in an out of the classroom.

 

Strategies for Differentiating Instruction: Best Practices for the Classroom Julia Roberts & Tracy Inman (2007)

Differentiated education by its definition offers many options so that each student’s needs are met. This best-selling guide is geared towards teachers who are new to differentiated instruction and offers practical advice for recognizing students’ abilities, implementing differentiation strategies and organizing and assessing learning. The second edition features a revamped Developing and Assessing Products (DAP) Tool with an improved performance scale and new levels and new lessons and activities for each differentiation strategy.

 

Best Practices in Gifted Education: An Evidence-Based Guide Ann Robinson, Brude Shore & Donna Enerson (2007)

In order to get the best, most up-to-date research-based advice for educators, administrators and parents, look no further than Best Practices in Gifted Education. The 20 practices included examine what works and what doesn’t work in teaching the gifted and talented. Its main goal is to provide a holistic approach, integrating both the multiple intelligences and the learning styles models.

 

So Each May Learn: Integrating Learning Styles & Multiple Intelligences Harvey Silver, Richard Strong & Matthew Perini (2000)

This guide for integrated learning focuses on giving educators the tools they need to seamlessly incorporated the multiple intelligences and learning styles models into their instruction, curriculum and assessment. It offers classroom examples, activities, tools for educators to identify their own style and intelligence profiles and lesson plan templates.

 

Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom: Identifying, Nurturing, and Challenging Ages 4-9 Joan Franklin Smutny, Sally Yankhe Walker, Marjorie Lisovskis & Elizabeth Meckstroth (1997)

This guide for integrated learning focuses on giving educators the tools they need to seamlessly incorporated the multiple intelligences and learning styles models into their instruction, curriculum and assessment. It offers classroom examples, activities, tools for educators to identify their own style and intelligence profiles and lesson plan templates.

 

Helping Gifted Children Soar Carol Ann Strip & Gretchen Hirsch (2000)

Features in this user-friendly guidebook for both the experienced gifted teacher and the educator new to the gifted field include: Gifted minority and gifted disabled issues; Strategies for parenting and teaching gifted children; Social and emotional concerns specific to gifted children; A question and answer section for further understanding; and An in-depth reference appendix for additional support.

 

The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of all Learners Carol Tomlinson (1999)

This concise Merrill/ASCD introductory text is geared towards a a wide variety of education courses in Educational Psychology, Advanced Educational Psychology, Differentiated Instruction, Inclusion/Mainstreaming, Mild/Moderate Disabilities Methods or General Methods (K-12). The author shows examples of real teachers using differentiated instruction to effectively show readers what, how and why to differentiate instruction.

 

How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd ed.) Carol Tomlinson (2001)

Another concise Merrill/ASCD text, this time focusing on the mixed-ability classroom. It provides guidance, principles and strategies for teachers to create learning environments to address the diversity of their mixed-ability classrooms.

 

Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom: Strategies and Tools for Responsive Teaching Carol Tomlinson, (2003)

This book, while it provides a theoretical framework for differentiation, also offers real anecdotes and the strategies that go along with this for practical application. It presents these issues in the context of other planning considerations in order to fully incorporate differentiation into everyday use.

 

A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children James Webb, Janet Gore, Edward Amend & Arlene DeVries (2007)

This book addresses the challenges of raising gifted children through practical guidance in areas such as: characteristics of gifted children, peer relations, sibling issues, motivation & underachievement, discipline issues, intensity and stress, depression and unhappiness, educational planning, parenting concerns and finding professional help.

 

Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom Susan Winebrenner & Pamela Espeland (2001)

“The Orange Bible” as teachers call it has 150,000 copies in print is a best-selling resource for both the philosophy and strategies for teaching gifted students in the mixed-ability classroom. The new edition offers a new chapter on identifying gifted students as well as step-by-step how tos for using the strategies without losing control, causing student resentment or hours of extra preparation.