Challenging the bright children in the classroom

Hiscock, Clarissa (1975) Challenging the bright children in the classroom. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of the internship was to design and implement a challenging program for bright children in a classroom. Such a program should be an integral part of the total school curriculum as one way of providing maximum learning opportunities for all children. -- The review of literature indicates that unless the bright child is challenged he will be handicapped in his development. A number of successful programs providing such a challenge have been operating for over forty years. An evaluation of these programs shows that bright students do benefit from the activities provided. -- The internship was carried out in a grade three classroom from April to June, 1975. The subjects were two girls and four boys whose I. Q. scores ranged from 116 to 130. -- The program was implemented through a variety of techniques. The classroom library was expanded to include books on areas of special interest to the students as well as a selection of books of general interest. A resource centre was provided for related literature, art, and science activities. -- The intern met with the subjects for approximately one and one-half hours each day. This meeting usually took place outside the regular classroom. Some aspects of the program were individualized reading, drama and puppetry, science projects, creative writing, and mathematics. -- The effectiveness of the internship and the extent to which its purposes were achieved were reflected in the students' classroom work, their willingness to share their experiences with other members of the class, and their interest in continuing the projects at home. The opinions of the teachers and parents indicated that the program had been enjoyable, effective, and worthwhile in challenging the students' capacity for learning. -- It is recommended that bright children should be identified early and that a challenging program should be implemented for them. To assist the classroom teacher in providing this program, it is recommended that inservice training be given and a university course provided.

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