The article describes the Designed Improvement Program for gifted and talented fourth through twelfth grade students. Sections address three types of enrichment activities based on the J. Renzulli Enrichment Triad Model: general exploratory activities, group training activities, and individual or small group investigation of real problems. (SBH)

Able students can be motivated by enrichment activities to make connections between what has happened in the past and what is happening now. Examples of language arts, math, and science enrichment activities and the resulting learning are described. (CL)

The article offers guidelines for organizing a Quiz Bowl for middle school gifted students. Figures are included on study and quiz questions, a sample elimination and tournament schedule, and rules and regulations. (SB)

Archaeological digs can be important learning experiences for gifted students. Determining the site, planning for the dig, and identifying the artifacts should be carefully planned. Ten related activities are described, such as researching the dig site and interpreting the artifacts. (CL)

An approach to locating mentors for gifted programs breaks down recruitment/location tasks into four phases, beginning with searching nearby and moving farther out into the community. (CL)

The article examines areas of conflict between teachers of gifted and talented children and regular class teachers and offers suggestions for improving teacher-teacher cooperation. (CL)

A popular allegorical defense of special programs for gifted students is updated. The allegory expores issues of differences among students and implications for instruction. (CL)

A unit of classic literature for gifted students focuses on R. Browning's version of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Booklet activities are considered in eight stages. (CL)

Suggestions for motivating gifted students in astronomy are based on J. Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model. (CL)

A beginning teacher of intermediate gifted students describes her experiences with a mentorship program involving seven preservice teacher trainees. Both students and mentors responded positively to the approach. (CL)

The author describes a program, Serendipity, in which gifted elementary students designed a museum for primary age children. (SB)

The author reviews varied concepts of differentiated curricula for gifted students and identified four curricula which must be considered: the general education curriculum, the specialized curriculum, the subliminal/covert curriculum (including affective factors), and the curriculum of nonschool educative settings. Factors involved in each of the…

A literature unit is based on three books with major characters to whom gifted students can relate: "A Wrinkle in Time" by M. Engel, "The Mark of Conte" by S. Levitin, and "Very Far Away from Any Place Else" by U. LeGuin. (CL)

Metaphors, whether universal (ones which apply to common feelings, thoughts, and behaviors) or prescriptive (ones constructed specifically for an individual child) may be used with gifted children in a three-phase process: identification, projection, and insight and integration. (CL)

Asking gifted students to find inconsistencies, half truths, and un-truths in their textbooks can help promote creative divergent thinking. Examples are cited from an English textbook with internal inconsistencies and inadequate definitions and rules. (CL)