Central to The Lab School model is Sally Smith's Club Methodology, the full immersion of students into a time period where historical information is learned through multi-sensory activities. While immersed, through the use of costumes and elaborately decorated classrooms, students are engaged in project-based learning. As the student's…

To determine whether having a program is sufficient one must first define what is meant by "program." If by program one refers to the pullout program in the elementary school, or the afterschool enrichment program in the middle school, or the Advanced Placement program in the high school, or the hockey program, then certainly having a "program" is…

Suggestions are given on planning successful field trips and using current events, public and personal, as educational tools. (JD)

Ideas are offered for in-depth projects that foster individual creativity and production in elementary and middle school gifted students. The projects cover various topics in the areas of charting, essay writing and theme writing, journalism, graphing, politics, speech, government, biography, history, state history, investigation, and industry.…

Ideas for the development of creative exploration in mathematics are offered, including games to play in class (e.g., card games and tangrams), competitions (sample problems), clubs and math evenings (math relays and treasure hunts), projects (possible topics in patchwork quilting, art, and music), and math camps. (DB)

Three companies (Voyager Expanded Learning, Mindsurf, and EXPLORE) have introduced after-school programs that emphasize stress-free academic enrichment activities. The companies differ, but share a fun-learning concept, maintain low staff-child ratios of about 1:8, and serve grades K-8. The operative words are flexibility and affordability. Some…

The gifted education model described here provides elective "talent pool" classes--within the standard class schedule--that integrate enrichment activities with the academic curriculum in any given subject area. (MCG)

Outdoor education teaching materials are presented for grades 3-6. The term "plot studies" encompasses those investigative activities which can be carried on within a small, defined land area on or near school grounds for the purpose of enhancing and extending classroom and textbook activities. Natural science activities deal with plant and animal…

The Concept Game, which focuses on the attributes of parity, balance, majority, closure, and skip of seven-digit binary numbers, is described. Originally written as a computer program, the game is modified so that pupils can play with construction paper chips of just paper and pencil. (MP)

Topics that deal with prime numbers are presented with the intent of allowing the student to re-create the excitement of the original investigation. Suitable for advanced high school students as an introduction to number theory at the college level or as a text for courses in teacher education, the book covers the following topics: (1) the number…

Describes the ninth-grade curriculum of the Downingtown Educational Enrichment Program (DEEP) that includes student design and implementation of independent-study contracts. The program serves identified gifted students through a year-long scheduled elective course option that meets every other day and offers one-half credit. (CR)

Urges teachers of gifted students to allow students unstructured recreational computer time in the classroom to encourage student exploration and discovery, to promote creativity, to develop problem-solving skills, and to allow time to revisit programs and complete their own tasks. Different types of educational computer programs are referenced.…

Number sequences are useful complements to traditional drill and practice. Described is an activity in which the basic rule, add the tens digit to five times the ones digit, is used to generate a sequence of numbers. The dialogue between teacher and student discussing characteristics of emerging patterns is given. (MDH)

The use of clock arithmetic patterns to make geometric patterns is presented as a tool to instruct students in the understanding of multiples in different systems. (MP)

Presented is the solution to the problem of calculating the probability of winning or losing a game played by moving a counter from the center of a hexagonal grid according to the number shown after the toss of a die. The exercise is an example of an interesting mathematical investigation. (MDH)