B. Content Knowledge
Content consists of the facts, concepts, and principles that govern a body of study. The following are some ways to differentiate content for gifted/talented learners:
- Pacing is modification of the rate at which students advance through the content. Some examples of pacing include allowing the gifted student to
- learn or become familiar with new content knowledge early, and
- perform more in-depth and longer explorations of specific topics.
- Enrichment is an elaboration on the basic concepts taught in the regular education
program. Some examples of enrichment include allowing students to
- reason from concrete to abstract, familiar to unfamiliar, and known to the unknown;
- explore the discipline by going beyond memorization of facts and concepts into exploring generalizations, principles, theories, and laws; and
- investigate the many layers within a discipline through details, patterns, trends, unanswered questions, and ethical considerations.
- Sophistication is access to a larger system of ideas and concepts related to the basic
content knowledge. Some examples of sophistication include allowing students to
- extend content within, between, and across disciplines through the study of themes, problems, and issues;
- discover relationships between and among ideas; and
- examine relationships from multiple points of view.
- Novelty is exposure to completely different material than any material in the regular
curriculum. Some examples of novelty include allowing students to
- develop relevant and individualized meaning of unique concepts and themes;
- express ideas in original, creative ways; and
- provide students with a completely original curriculum.
Listed below is a sample of resources for instruction in the four core content areas. There are many other good resources available on the Internet—for all content areas and all grades levels.