Gifted Child Today articles from March 2002

Gifted Child Today archives from March 2002

"There is a kind of music to it." (From the Guest Editor).(Editorial)
March 22, 2002... Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three (1999) is a fast-paced tale of high adventure from an author many gifted children especially enjoy. If you don't know the book already, it may be enough to say--as Alexander does in the "Author's Note"--that...

Teaching civics.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... Assuming that the recent showing of patriotic sentiment could serve as a spark for thoughtful civics education, the Harvard Education Letter described these characteristics of good citizenship education (Gordon [2001]. Teaching civics after...

Reauthorization of ESEA.(Elementary and Secondary Education Act )(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... The reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) will have an effect on state standards and assessment. It includes the following key provisions. * Testing. The bill requires annual, statewide reading and mathematics...

On the web.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... The National Council of Teachers of English: Standards for the English Language Arts http://www.ncte.org/ standards/ The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) provides solutions, connections, and fresh perspectives for teachers of...

Notable.
March 22, 2002... The National Geographic Society distributed more than 100,000 maps of Afghanistan and other educational materials to elementary, middle, and high school teachers. Lesson plans are available at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education....

Lack of progress on science NAEP.(National Assessment of Educational Progress )(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... On the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), high school seniors' scores fell when compared with scores from four years ago. Although fourth and eighth grade students' scores remained the same, only 53% of high school seniors were...

Challenged books.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... As Harry Potter has risen in popularity so have complaints and allegations against the book series. Detractors suggest that these books give children tools for casting spells and brewing potions or set them on the path toward satanic worship....

Parent involvement.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... To summarize the results of two surveys to schools and parents, the National Center for Education Statistics published a report Efforts by Public K-8 Schools to Involve Parents in Children's Education: Do School and Parents Agree? This report...

Assessment terms.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2002... Given the emphasis on accountability and assessment, the Parents for Public Schools National Office (spring, 2001) published a glossary of terms for parents. For example, criterion-referenced tests measure a student's performance based on...

Grants and awards.
March 22, 2002... The Ronya and George Kozmetsky Foundation offers grants supporting educational, medical, and community initiatives. Education grants support academic excellence, research, literacy initiatives, and women and minorities' interests in math,...

Creative expression for grades K-8. (Contests).
March 22, 2002... Word Dance Magazine was established to give youth a quality forum for creative expression. Submission deadlines for writing and art are November 25, February 25, May 25, and August 25. Students in grades K-8 may submit neatly written or typed...

Future city competition. (Contests).
March 22, 2002... National Engineers Week seeks to increase public awareness and appreciation of the engineering profession and technology by emphasizing their positive contributions to society. The annual future city competition offers students a resourceful...

Young Scientist Challenge. (Contests).
March 22, 2002... The Discovery Young Scientist Challenge (DYSC) is a national scholarship contest for middle school students. The program was developed by Discovery Communications and Science Service in an effort to encourage America's youth to explore science...

Yearbook Excellence Contest. (Contests).
March 22, 2002... The Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society of High School Journalists sponsors an annual Yearbook Excellence Contest. To participate, schools must publish a magazine, newspaper, or yearbook and secure a charter to be a chapter of Quill...

Mystery-Writing Contest. (Contests).
March 22, 2002... Candlelightstories.com sponsors a monthly Kids' Mystery Contest. All entries must finish the mystery that is started each month on the Web site. The winner gets their mystery published on Candlelight Stories and will receive three free mystery...

Meetings.
March 22, 2002... APRIL 28-May 2 47th International Reading Association (IRA) annual convention "Gateway to Global Understanding" in San Francisco, CA. Contact IRA, 800 Barksdale Road, P.O. Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139; (302) 731-1600; fax (302)...

Did you know ...(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 22, 2002... ... 850,000 students were being homeschooled during the spring of 1999. ... 82% of homeschoolers were homeschooled only. ... 18% of homeschoolers were enrolled in public or private schools part-time. ... 50% of homeschooled...

Gifted readers: Who are they, and how can they be served in the classroom?
March 22, 2002... Many of us may not perceive a link between the traditional tale of The Three Little Pigs and Stein's Goosebumps series, but Ivan, a 6-year-old in my classroom, did. I had used the story of The Three Little Pigs, along with other traditional...

Gifted students and philosophy: technology--servant or destroyer? (In the Classroom).
March 22, 2002... What would our life be like without cars, appliances, televisions, and computers? In fact, what would life be like without axes, saws, shovels, and wheelbarrows--not to mention knives and forks? What if all we had between our bare skin and the...

The challenge of "challenged books".
March 22, 2002... The joy of reading offers students the opportunity to explore this wonderful world through books. This seems to be especially true for gifted students. Many, if not most, gifted students are avid readers (Halsted, 1993). In fact, reading often...

Gifted students and the adults who provide for them: lessons learned from terrorism. (Social/Emotional Needs).
March 22, 2002... Every fall, approximately 300 gifted adolescents descend on the Ball State University campus to attend the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities (the Academy). The Academy is a state-funded residential school for academically...

R.I.T.E. reading: constructing meaning by finding what's "wrong" in an informational text.
March 22, 2002... "The gift of reading, like all natural gifts, must be nourished or it will atrophy." --Katherine Paterson If the "gift of reading" is to flourish for gifted and talented students, it must, as Katherine Paterson says, be "nourished."...

Portfolios that serve a specific purpose. (New Products).(The Portfolio Connection: Student Work Linked to Standards )
March 22, 2002... Teachers, parents, and decision makers are becoming more aware of the value of reviewing student work samples, listening to what students say about their work, and reading their reflections about what they have learned. The Portfolio...

Enrich the writing experience. (New Products).(Teaching Young Writers: Strategies That Work )
March 22, 2002... Teaching Young Writers: Strategies That Work (ISBN 0-439-26083-3) offers teachers and their students strategies to ease into the writing process. The author demonstrates and explains with step-by-step lessons how to introduce and implement...

An exploration along the silk road. (New Products).(Marco Polo for Kids: His Marvelous Journey )
March 22, 2002... Marco Polo for Kids: His Marvelous Journey (ISBN 1-55652-377-7) tells the incredible story of the 17-year-old Venetian, weaving in the history and traditions of each country he visited during his Asiatic journeys. Along the way, they will...

Respect unique learner characteristics. (New Products).(The Parallel Curriculum: A Design to Develop High Potential and Challenge High-Ability Learners )
March 22, 2002... Offering a new perspective on developing curriculum and instruction for high-ability students, the parallel curriculum model may be used in both heterogeneous and homogeneous classroom settings. Whether students are working at a basic level of...

Awaken wonder in young minds. (New Products).(Giant Book of Science Experiments )
March 22, 2002... Explore the wonders of botany, chemistry, electricity, motion, molecular forces, temperature, air pressure, sound, sight, and more by investigating the ideas presented in the Giant Book of Science Experiments (ISBN 0-8069-8139-3). With more...

Strategies for managing stress. (New Products).(Stress Can Really Get On Your Nerves )
March 22, 2002... Gifted children are often extremely sensitive, perfectionistic, and plagued with a sense of justice that makes stress management a challenge. Stress Can Really Get On Your Nerves (ISBN 1-57542-078-3) invites kids to examine what causes them to...

Fictional characters in books as positive role models for adolescent females. (A Student's Perspective).
March 22, 2002... As I flip through the television channels on a quiet Sunday afternoon, I have nothing particular in mind that I would like to watch. I spend no more than a few minutes on each station, yet I am already beginning to notice a pattern in the way...

Looking back and thinking ahead. (International Perspectives).
March 22, 2002... As I begin my seventh year of life in New Zealand, I've been reflecting upon the first six and looking forward to the future. I suppose this is reminiscent of New Year's Eve celebrations: looking back and thinking ahead. Over the past few...

Why teachers need to be readers.
March 22, 2002... "I never read a whole book that wasn't assigned by a teacher!" This is not a comment from a fifth grader in the thrall of little league or the Internet, but rather a matter-of-fact statement made by a college senior majoring in education. It is...

The magnitude of our good fortune and responsibility. (Through Another's Eyes).(Editorial)
March 22, 2002... As our young men and women endanger their lives in order to try and bring justice for the world's most horrifying human act of all time, we all sit and wonder. I wonder about those young people. Many of them are just out of high school. I...

The call for raising standards: promising responses.
March 22, 2002... What is the status of ambitious national recommendations designed to develop the talent of our brightest students? Have states, districts, and individual schools taken action? Are we much further along as a nation in raising the expectation...

In memory of Marvin Gold, founder of Gifted Child Today.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
March 22, 2002... What's more exciting than a child with a bright mind or a clear talent? Dr. Marvin Gold, editor and Fay Gold, publisher, used those words to alert people to their award-winning magazine Gifted Child Today (GCT), designed to inform...