Extensions for Gifted Students – Grade 5
DanR | October 28, 2009
Q: I had an inquiry as to extensions for my higher-level thinkers. I have six TAG kids who often finish early, even with the challenge questions and tasks. Is there an additional resource within the program or on the website I should be utilizing? I appreciate any advice or direction you can give.
- Mili Wilkinson, Sherwood, OR, Grade 5
A: Other than the challenge activities and worksheets in the Bridges units, there are several resources in the program and on the web site you might use to extend challenges to mathematically capable or gifted students:
- The problem-solving workout in Number Corner, which includes a challenge problem each week
- The challenge problems in the Bridges Grade 5 Practice Book
- Some of the Grade 5 Supplement Sets we have recently written. Of particular interest might be Set A9, Multiplying Fractions; Set A10, Integers; Set C1, Triangles & Quadrilaterals; and Set E1, Probability & Technology.
That said, I think much of the instruction in Grade 5, Units 1, 3, 5, 7, and 8, levels the playing field. These units deal with algebra, geometry, data & probability, and measurement. I believe they will provide ample challenges for students at any level.
If you still feel that you need extra resources for your TAG kids, the best suggestion I have would be Visual Math, Courses 1 and 2. The teachers’ guides for both are available from Math Learning Center. They are written for 6th and 7th grade. Since we drew our models and much of the instruction for Bridges Grade 5 from Visual Math Course 1, most of the lessons and materials will look familiar to you, and may provide the extra layer of mathematical depth you need.
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Comments
The tenor of these the comments above are similar and reflective of the responsibility we want to authorize students to have. Students need to view themselves as being in charge of their own learning and, as such, have the opportunity to investigate their own questions or activities that they are particularly interested in such as what Rosalyn and Tara have suggested above. Bill Sheskkey in Curriculum 21 advocates "It isn't the answer anymore - It's the question. Students in today's schools can access all the information they need to know, but they must learn how to ask the right questions.... Whereas before we gathered knowledge to become intelligent, now intelligence is measured by how well we apply knowledge to ask the right questions about how to solve the world's problems."
It seems to behoove us to promote personal investigation as Rosalyn and Tara have done while encouraging students to formulate their own questions or investigating problems of their own determination and interest.
Rosalyn O'Donnell, Grade 5 Teacher, Ellensburg, WA
Here are some ideas. Hopefully they will help, although none is a “magic bullet.”
Keep a list of “Can Do” activities on your board. when students complete work early, they can look to the – “Can Do” list. Ideas to include… - Work Places games you’ve already introduced. “Mathy” games (like the game “24″ that you’ve used or SET…) - Websites with games (for example, multiplication.com has a variety). If you want a list I can look up some I’ve used in the past.
Challenge problems or activities included in the Bridges Lesson. - Be sure you are maintaining especially high standards for your TAG students. Often I find that students need training to challenge themselves. - Can they find more than one way and show it? - Are explanations sufficiently detailed and labeled? - Have they challenged themselves?
Use a system such as “clock partners” to ensure that students partner with a variety of classmates at a variety of levels. - Use a blank clock template and have students sign each other’s names around the clock. (i.e., Suzy puts Ryan’s name at 3 and Ryan puts Suzy’s name at 3.) - When it’s time to get with a partner, call a “clock number.” - I have hints on how to make this work, if you want to actually do it. Sometimes there are a few challenges! - Make sure that students understand that both partners need to be successful and understand. One cannot finish and leave the other behind.
Have students who have strong understanding be helpers as they finish. - For example, today we did “Skeleton Arrays.” Some sets of partners were not measuring correctly and others weren’t leaving spaces between their linear piece sketches. Yet others were not making clear answer keys. I told my first set of partners who finished what to look for and sent them around to help check. - If you set the tone as “We are all helping each other because we all need to learn this…” students will develop a collaborative mindset. I have had comments from our P.E. teacher the past few years about the level of cooperation my students exhibit. I attribute this in large part to developing students’ attitudes that we are here to help each other.
From: Tara Romero, Grade 4/5 Teacher, McMinnville, OR
We handle our TAG kids a bit differently than most schools. Our TAG kids are pulled out of the classroom and our 4th graders do 5th grade curriculum and our 5th graders do 6th grade curriculum. On the years that we haven’t had funding to support this, there are a few strategies that I use when my kids finish early. I hope that all or any of these might be helpful:
1. I allow early finishers to do Work Places with a partner. I place them in a binder with the game pack supplies in a baggie that is hooked on one of the inner rings so that students can go in a hallway or in a corner so as not to disturb others which playing. This provides more practice on concepts studied during the unit and my early finishers enjoy playing with another early finisher so that they have an opportunity to work with a “like” peer at a similar level and rate.
2. Being a member of a “math community” is a large part of the Bridges philosophy and because of this, I sometimes have my early finishers partner with a slower worker to provide assistance. My slower students often feel safe to think out loud with these peers and my quicker students are pushed to explain their thinking to another person. These skills are invaluable in life…the ability to help someone in need, share your knowledge in an appropriate way, and explain your thinking in more than one way. I often find that my early finishers are so used to being fast and correct, that they haven’t had much practice communicating their thinking to others.
3. I am not sure if your school uses GLAD strategies, but using the current unit’s vocabulary to write poems is a fabulous strategy. I wrote a Multiplication Bugaloo and a Problem Solving Sound Off, for example. Because those words are displayed on the pocket chart, it is an easy strategy. You could put a rhyming dictionary, a spiral notebook and a few pencils in a basket to use for a “math poem center”.
4. Allowing those kids to create class quiz questions is fun also. They could write story problems that are class personal. Have them use student’s names, real life moments (field trips, fun run or other fund raisers, etc.) and scenarios.
5. Do you have laptops or other computers available? Make a list of math websites that are fun to visit. Our school’s website has a great list: http://www.msd.k12.or.us/newby. 6. Have students make a math newsletter that provides a narrative about what they are learning in math. If you have Publisher (computer program), it has a newsletter template already there for the kids to type into. 7. Be sure to have them goal set for each unit using the Student Reflection Sheet and have them check in with their goals and see what they are doing to achieve them.