Differentiation for Advanced Learners: A Starting Point

As the title suggests, this is a resource for you to initiate a “starting point” for you to begin on a journey to differentiate for advanced learners. It might also foster new thinking for more veteran “differentiators.” Because advanced learners spend a lot of time in mixed ability settings, the resources cited below focus primarily on meeting advanced learner needs in the general classroom.

Please spend a few minutes reviewing the “don'ts” of working with advanced learners in the blog entry by the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). It is easier to avoid implementing a bad instructional practice than trying to break one.

Serving Gifted Students in General Ed Classrooms (For Do's and Don'ts): https://www.nagc.org/blog/serving-gifted-students-general-ed-classrooms

Websites:

• Challenge Your Top Students

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/challenge-your-top-students/

• Differentiating Curriculum for Gifted Students

http://www.davidsongifted.org/search-database/entry/a10342

• The Five Dimensions of Differentiation

https://gifted.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/961/2018/07/Five_Dimensions_of_Differntiation.pdf

• How to Differentiate Objectives for Gifted Learners

https://www.byrdseed.com/four-ways-to-differentiate-objectives/

• Six Strategies for Challenging Gifted Learners

http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/apr16/vol58/num04/Six-Strategies-for-Challenging-Gifted-Learners.aspx

• Strategies that Differentiate Instruction

https://www.tie.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/9StrategiesThatDiffInst4_12BookletReduced.pdf

Videos:

• Differentiating for Gifted Learners Top 10 List

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR010kC3NRw

• Differentiating Instruction: It’s Not as Hard as You Think It Is

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7-D3gi2lL8

• Getting Started on Differentiation

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGYa6ZacUTM

The Musts of a Differentiated Classroom (National Association for Gifted Children): https://www.nagc.org/mini-course-musts-differentiated-classroom

If you have specific questions related to your classroom or school, don’t hesitate to contact us at the Illinois Association for Gifted Children. We are committed to helping you!