Crystallizing experiences are defined as those which involve remarkable and memorable contact between a person with unusual talent, or potential, and the materials of the field in which the talent will be manifested. Several biographies of talented people in several disciplines including music, mathematics, and visual arts are discussed. Examples…

Intended for teachers of gifted children, the handbook is organized into teaching strategies with a brief introduction followed by examples for each strategy. Stressed is the use of the strategies to develop the teacher's own creativity. Described are the following strategies: self awareness activities (such as boundary breaking and encounter…

This document presents curriculum ideas and procedures developed by the Child Development Research Group at the University of Washington for a model preschool program designed for intellectually advanced children 2 to 5 years old. The program was designed to offer teacher- and child-structured learning situations that provided instruction in…

Effective evaluation for curriculum change means that evaluation must become an integral part of instruction and decision-making. This integration begins with the first awareness of a curriculum problem and is maintained until the curriculum change is incorporated into the regular instructional sequence. Six major components of the evaluation…

The unit on nonverbal communication is designed for presentation to elementary, middle, and junior high school gifted students. An introductory section lists four unit objectives leading to awareness of the nonverbal communication transmitted by students themselves and by others; expression and understanding of the nonverbal messages of gestures,…

This paper reviews selected research projects which focus on creating learning environments for special education, including those for handicapped, disadvantaged, and gifted children. Technologies that are applicable for gifted, retarded, blind or visually impaired, and deaf or hearing impaired students are discussed, as well as those for students…

This journal issue focuses on instructional methods for teaching the English language arts to gifted and handicapped children. The articles discuss a variety of topics, including (1) remedial language instruction; (2) improving a dyslexic student's spelling; (3) creative writing for the language disabled; (4) writing instruction for emotionally or…

The document contains proceedings from a seminar on the education of gifted and talented children in Australia. The keynote address, "Expectations for Educating the Gifted and Talented" delivered by R. Strom, is divided into five main sections: school expectations (goal setting and motivation, scope of learning, mental health and…

The writing assignments developed for a course in expository writing intended for gifted eighth grade students are described in this paper. The first assignment described is a causal analysis essay that required the students to examine events from their lives or from newspaper articles and analyze the causes of the actions involved. The paper…

Reflections are offered on the challenge of teaching a foreign language to academically gifted adolescents. At the introductory levels, able students are impatient with materials that are too simplistic. To hold their attention, they need exercises that involve choice, complex structural changes, and creativity. Colloquial dialogues and culturally…

The author examines the status and recent changes in the education of gifted and talented students in Australia and the United States. Seven issues are addressed (sample subtopics in parentheses): ambivalent attitudes toward egalitarianism and excellence (equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcome); definitions and assessment of…

Part 1 of a series of 13 instructor's manuals for the competency based training of curriculum consultants for exceptional children focuses on the evaluation of curriculum. Three competencies are considered: (1) that a curriculum consultant should be capable of providing leadership in designing and implementing and evaluation approach to curriculum…

Part 2 of a series of 13 instructor's manuals for the competency based training of curriculum consultants for exceptional children focuses on the evaluation of instruction. Four competencies are considered: (1) that a curriculum consultant should be capable of implementing varied evaluation techniques for assessing teacher effectiveness (e.g.,…

Part 3 of a series of 13 instructor's manuals for the competency based instruction of curriculum consultants for exceptional children focuses on the evaluation of materials and media. Three competencies are considered: (1) that a curriculum consultant should be familiar with the variety of instructional materials and media available to classroom…

Part 5 of a series of 13 instructor's manuals for the competency based training of curriculum consultants for exceptional children focuses on the evaluation of support systems. Four competencies are considered: (1) that a curriculum consultant should be capable of assessing educational settings to determine needs which may warrant remediation…