Lesson Plans and Resources for
Teaching Gifted and Talented Students

This site contains lesson plans and resources for teachers and parents of gifted, talented, and high-achieving students.
Go to my Special Education Page!


 
Last updated 12-8-2023
 


Site Index: Lesson Plans, Collections of High-Quality Lessons, Organizations and Centers, Articles, Degree Programs, Other Resources, Lesson Plans and Resources for Creativity, Critical Thinking, and Problem Solving, Special Education Lesson Plans

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Lesson Plans and teaching Ideas for Gifted and Talented Students
MENSA for Kids
An excellent resource.


Mensa for Kids Lesson Plans
Lesson plans for gifted and talented students from MENSA for Kids.

Gifted and Talented Enrichment Curriculum
Pdf document from Chesterfield Township Elementary School.


Utopia and the American Dream
One high school lesson plan from the above site.

Teaching Gifted Children: Ideas, Tips, and Lesson Plans
Ideas, lesson plans, and enrichment programs from Bright Hub.

Gifted Resources: Curriculum
Links to resources and curricula from Exquisite Minds.

A Powerful Thinking Strategy: Ranking
Examples of ranking acticites from Big Ideas for little Minds.

Minimus: The Mouse that Made Latin Cool
Minimus is a Latin course for young children.

Gifted and Talented Teaching Ideas
From Pinterest. You have to have to join to view the complete page.

Love to Know: Lesson Plans for Gifted Students
Two elementary-grade lessons plus plus other lesson ideas.

"I'm Done Now, What Can I Do?"
A 4th grade social studies unit from Core Knowledge in which students develop skills to become self-directed learners. See also Not Just for Gods and Goddesses and Mesopotamia for more from Core Knowledge.


Fact or Fiction: Learning About Worms Using Diary of a Worm
Though this K-2 lesson plan from Read/Write/Think isn't only for GT students, it requires the use of higher-level thinking skills.

Aztec Mythology
A unit for fourth and fifth-grade students in the talented and gifted program. See also Aztec and Mayan Mythology.

To Be or Not to Be
A high school lesson plan from the Holocaust Teacher Resource Center in which students read, analyze, discuss, and write about the poem "To the Little Polish Boy Standing with His Arms Up."

Island Hopping in the Pacific
An 11th-grade history lesson plan modified for gifted and talented.

Similarities and Differences Between the Revolutionary War and the American Civil War
A lesson plan for 5th-graders or 4th-grade students who are high achievers.

Science Fiction and the Future
A unit designed to be used in conjunction with the future studies that are a part of the curriculum for seventh grade Talented and Gifted students.

Gifted and Talented Enrichment Curriculum
Pdf document from Chesterfield Township Elementary School.

Activities to Try on Your Gifted Classroom
From Arkansas State University.

Challenging Gifted 10th Graders
Ideas from Teaching History.


AP English Language and Composition Home Page
Scroll down the page to find lesson plans and teaching strategies. See other similar pages for a variety of subjects.

Examples of Differentiated Lesson Plans
Browse by technique, content area, or scroll down the page to view all of the lessons.

 I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me . . .
A unit on 1984 for a 10th-grade honors class.

Five Early Finishers Activities Your Students Will Actually Like
Activities for math.

Teaching Children Philosophy
Ideas for teaching philosophy and ethics to elementary-grade students. See also Lesson Plans from the Center for Philosophy for Children.

Assessing Higher Order Thinking
Ways to define and assess higher-order thinking from ASCD..


Free Online High School Courses & Curriculum Materials
From Hoagie's Gifted Education Page.


So, You're Gifted  . . . Now What?
A WebQuest to promote self-discovery.




Collections of High Quality Lessons (but not necessarily specifically for GT students)

EDSITEment
This site from the National Endowment for the Humanities offers many high quality and challenging lesson plans.

The Kennedy Center Digital Resources Library
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts offers high-quality lesson plans, articles, and performance guidelines.


Smithsonian Learning Lab
This is a new landing page, so you m ight have to use the search to find their high-quality lesson plans
. Most could easily be adapted to the needs of GT students . Click on Educators to find lesson plans.

Docs Teach
Teaching activities and lesson plans based on primary documents in the national Archives. Lessons are correlated to national standards for history, civics, and government. 

Library of Congress
Many wonderful lesson plans using primary sources.

Teaching with Historic Places
From the National Registry of Historic Places. Go to Lesson Plans to browse the collection.

ReadWriteThink
Lesson plans from the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Literacy Association.

National Geographic Classroom Resources
Many lesson plans, activities. and units.


Illuminations

Created by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, this site offers multi-media mathematics investigations, reflections on teaching, links to the best panel-reviewed mathematics web resources and Internet-based lesson plans all linked to the updated NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics .

STEM Curriculum    
A large collection of "science and math investigative learning experiences" for grades 4-12 from Oregon State University


NASA for Educators

I don't find this page to be particularly user-friendly, but the Search STEM Resources and Opportunities option allows you to find lesson plans by subject and grade level.

National Organizations and Centers
National Association for Gifted Children
The home page of the NAGC.

Davidson Institute
"A national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted students
18 and under."


Center for Gifted Education Policy

From APA Online.


William and Mary Center for Gifted Education
Includes information on the William and Mary Curriculum.


Neag Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development
From the University of Connecticut, this page includes information about and links to graduate programs in gifted education, a mentor connection, and various models for gifted education.

Articles
Gifted  Child Quarterly
The Journal of the NAGC

Articles Library
Articles from SENG.

Unwrapping the Gifted
A blog from Education Week.

Unlocking Emergent Talent
Supporting high achievement of low-income, high ability students.

Meeting the Needs of Gifted Students in the Regular Classroom
Ideas from Teachers First.

Nurturing Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children
From the NAGC.

Gifted Education as  a Whole School Model
This article from Education World summarizes Joseph Renzulli's model.

The Underachievement of Gifted Students: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go?
From the Davidson Institute. See also Meeting the Needs of Gifted Underachievers - Individually.

Challenging Gifted Students in the General Education Classroom
One more article.




Degree and Certificate Programs in Gifted Education
The Gifted Education Resource Institute at Purdue University (GERI)  
GERI offers masters and doctoral degrees with a specialization in gifted education.

Center for Gifted Education at William and Mary
Offers doctoral degrees in Gifted Education.

The Curry School of Education (U. of Virginia)
Offers a Gifted Learners in PREK-12 Education Certificate, an M.S. and Ed.S.in Curriculum and Instruction with a Gifted Education Focus, as well as a Ph.D. in Gifted Education. Scroll down to Graduate programs for information.

University of Arizona
M.A., Ed.S., Ed.D., and Ph.D. degrees with concentrations in education of gifted students.

Arizona State University
ASU offers an online graduate certificate in gifted education.

University of South Florida

Entirely online, fully accredited master's degree programs in gifted education.

Mizzou Online (University of Missouri)
Offers an online Master's degree in special education with an emphasis in gifted education.

University of North Texas

Offers certificates for teachers in gifted education.

University of Minnesota

The U of M's certificate in talent development and gifted education is a 12-credit program preparing teachers, administrators, and other professionals to develop, implement, and supervise programs to teach gifted and talented students in K-12 and postsecondary schools and other settings.



Other Resources for Teachers, Parents, and Students

Hoagie's Gifted Education Page
An award-winning resource for teachers, parents, and students. Be sure to see Gifted 101 and Gifted 102.

Glossary of Terms used in Gifted Education
From MiAGC.

Differentiation of Instruction
Information from Hoagie's Gifted Education Page.  

How to Challenge Gifted Students
Ideas from Teachnology.


MENSA for Kids
See their resources Characteristics or Giftedness and Is My Child Bright?

Center for Talented Youth
Information regarding Johns Hopkins SET program.

Education Program for Gifted Youth
E-learning courses from Stanford University.

Gifted Kids' Bill of Rights
From the Lesson Tutor.


 

E-mail me if you would like help in locating the resources you need. Also, please
let me know if you find a link on this site that no longer functions. My name is
Edmund J. Sass, Ed.D.
You can reach me at

esass@csbsju.edu

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