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Challenge

OPPORTUNITIES

FOR

TODD STANLEY - THE GIFTED GUY

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Learning Objectives

Why do gifted children need to be challenged?

How do you plan for these?

What are specific opportunities for challenge?

1.

2.

3.

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Why challenge?

Prevents Underachievement

Promotes True Learning and Growth

Builds Resilience and Perseverance

Supports Social-Emotional Health

Encourages Creativity and Critical Thinking

Prepares Them for Future Demands

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These are planned and are set up beforehand so that when it lends itself to it or students find themselves finished early, there are opportunities to deepen or further the learning.

OPPORTUNITIES

Intentional

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BONUS OPPORTUNITY

EXPANSION

Opportunities for challenge

SCAFFOLDING

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Bonus Opportunity

Could be put into:

    • Homework
    • Assessment
    • Project
    • Lab
    • Assignment

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Challenge Question for Math homework

The Number Maze

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You start with the number 1.

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You may repeat the following steps in any order:

Multiply the number by 2

Add 3

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Question:

Is it possible to reach the number 31 exactly?

If so, show one sequence of steps.

If not, explain why it is impossible.

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Assessments

Regardless of what was on the test, what was the most important thing you learned during this unit (content/skill/other) and why is it so important?

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Expansion

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Do you have a plan?

    • Tiered learning assignments
    • Real-world problem-solving activities
    • Open-ended questions and self-directed assignments
    • Creative arts integration
    • Educational technology

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Expansion activities by subject area

ELA

    • Write an alternate ending to the story.
    • Create a diary entry from the perspective of a minor character.
    • Compare the text to a different book, movie, or current event.
    • Develop discussion questions for a book club.
    • Turn a scene into a short play or comic strip.

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    • Create and solve a real-world word problem using today’s concept.
    • Find multiple methods to solve the same problem.
    • Design a puzzle or riddle for classmates using the concept.
    • Explore patterns, “what if” scenarios, or generalizations.
    • Research how the math skill is used in a specific career.

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    • Extend an experiment with a new variable.
    • Build a model or diagram that explains the concept.
    • Connect the lesson to a real-world problem (climate change, medicine, technology).
    • Design an investigation that could test a related question.
    • Write a “how it works” article for a younger student audience.

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    • Create a primary source (diary entry, letter, newspaper article) from the time period.
    • Debate how events might have changed if a key decision were different.
    • Research an underrepresented perspective in the lesson.
    • Map connections between past events and modern issues.
    • Develop a mini-presentation teaching the concept to peers.

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MATH

SCIENCE

SOCIAL STUDIES

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The Problem (Real-World Impact)

Illustrate and explain:

    • What humans are doing (building, fishing, pollution, farming, etc.)
    • Why humans are doing it (jobs, food, homes, profit)
    • What is happening to the ecosystem because of this

Draw or diagram THREE solutions:

    • Helps people the most
    • Helps the ecosystem the most
    • A balanced compromise

Each solution must include:

    • One benefit
    • One drawback

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Reflection Questions:

    • How does learning about the suffering and loss during the Trail of Tears make you feel?
    • What would you have done if you were in the position of a Native American leader during this time? A solider moving them?
    • How does this event make you think about fairness, justice, and responsibility in your own life?

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    • Students explain in words or diagrams how they solved the problem.
    • Can extend to adding 3 fractions or mixed numbers for challenge.

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Scaffolding

Using more and more challenging questions to increase the level of thinking students are doing

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How might this story change if it were set in today’s world?

What happens to the Logan children on their way to school with the bus?

Why is land ownership so important to the Logan family?

How can the Logans’ strategies for standing up against injustice be applied in real life?

What are the similarities and differences between T.J. and Stacey?

Which character shows the most courage in the story? Support your view with examples.

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Lower level Bloom’s

Higher level Bloom’s

Middle level Bloom’s

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Scaffolding on assessments

FOR EXAMPLE:

Name the Amendments in the Bill of Rights and what each of them does.

Explain how three of the Amendments from the Bill of Rights help to bring about freedom to Americans.

Pick one of the Amendments from the Bill of Rights you feel is the most important to our country. Justify why it is important with several real world examples to back your position

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Tiered Lessons

HOW DO YOU PLAN?

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Tiered Lessons

    • Level 1 - Above grade level

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    • Level 2 - At grade level

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    • Level 3 - Below grade level

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Steps to creating a tiered lesson

Identify a learning goal

Assess student readiness

Design the base activity or set the bar

Developing tiered activities

Choose flexible grouping

Scaffold as needed

Incorporate student choice

Assess and Reflect

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Identify a learning goal

Should be based on either:

    • Content standard
    • Learning objective
    • Essential question

This should be obvious to the students and they should be able to tell you what it is at any given time.

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Assess student readiness - Pre-Assessment is a must

    • Determines what students know and what they don’t know.
    • Allows you to set the middle level.
    • Informs the amount of instruction you will need to give.

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Match the diagram using the numbers from the list below.

1. Condensation _______

2. Groundwater _______

3. Infiltration _______

4. Evaporation _______

5. Transpiration _______

6. Precipitation _______

7. Runoff _______

8. Solar Radiation _______

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Most of the energy that drives the water cycle comes from...

a. The Sun

b. Earth’s cores

c. Earth’s oceans

d. the equator

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What is the driving force behind excess runoff after a big precipitation event.

a. precipitation

b. steepness of a hill

c. gravity

d. solar radiation

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Pre-assessment shows

    • 8 students already know how a water cycle works.
    • 12 students get the basic concept but are fuzzy on some of the details.
    • 5 students are unclear of how it works.

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Level 1 - Determine how the water cycle can be contaminated and what causes this to happen.

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Level 2 - Explain the process and the interconnectedness. What happens when one part doesn’t work?

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Level 3 - Identify and label the basic steps.

Levels

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Scaffold as needed

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Creating Your own Lesson

PDF available at www.thegiftedguy.com/prof-development under Differentiating Up

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What tools will you need to challenge your students?

How will you create opportunities to challenge students?

How do you design opportunities that students want to take?

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Email

thegiftedguy@yahoo.com

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LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-stanley-59aa082bb/

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YouTube

@thegiftedguy3374

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WAYS TO STAY IN TOUCH