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Shared Stars

A unit of work designed for a Year 5 class with a gifted cluster

Storytelling - understanding oral traditions using archeoastronomy

Please note: Pre-testing needs to occur because in this case, there may be students who have high potential and high interest in this subject, but who may not be identified through current school procedures or programs. This may particularly apply to Aboriginal students. This is one example of a pre-test, and it is fun.


Pre-assessment scenario

Read: Space travel through the solar system is now common. People have started travelling through the solar system in family sized spacecraft, stopping off at each planet to explore it. So far, no travel brochures have been produced to inform people about the planets. Flight Centre has given Class xx this job. To produce this brochure, we need to travel through the solar system ourselves and use our collective knowledge.


(Provide students with a narrow strip of paper about 30cm long)


You are now leaving from the spaceport on the Sun. Draw the sun at the far left of your paper. Travel 2cm and arrive at the nearest planet to the sun. Draw this planet. Name it and describe it. (Information for all planets could include how long it takes the planet to orbit the sun, is it a terrestrial planet or a gas planet, number of moons, surface temperature and conditions, how long a day/year is, origins of name etc). You are now leaving for the next planet, so fly another 2cm and land on the next planet. Draw this planet. Name it and describe it (as above). The third planet is Earth. Fly another 2cm to Earth. Draw it and label it. Earth has one moon. Draw it and label it. Next to your drawing write how the moon affects the Earth. Nearby write how the earth gets its seasons. After leaving Earth you reach the next planet. Draw, name and describe this planet. Soon after leaving this planet, you come across the asteroid belt. Draw the asteroids. What are they – write a sentence describing asteroids. Nearby write why this would not be a good place to spend a holiday. Continue with rest of solar system (Jupiter 2 cm, Saturn 3 cm, Uranus 3 cm, Neptune 2 cm). Now it is time to return to Earth. Get your spaceship to do a U turn. As you return you see groups of stars. If you can, draw their patterns and name them. Once you have returned to Earth, park your spaceship, and add any further information that you wish to your solar system map. Discuss your journey with your neighbour. Add to map where necessary.


Analyse maps for prior knowledge and use this as an entry point for individual students. Any student that can name and draw three or more constellations would be considered having enough knowledge to do extension work. Grouping these students will be an effective teaching strategy.

 

Unit designed for a Year 5 class with a gifted cluster

 

Content description

  • (General) The Earth is part of a system of planets orbiting around a star (the sun) (ACSSU078 - Scootle)
  • (General) Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses (ACELT1610 - Scootle)
  • (General) Communicate ideas, explanations and processes using scientific representations in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS093 - Scootle)
  • (General) Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations for defined audiences and purposes incorporating accurate and sequenced content and multimodal elements (ACELY1700 - Scootle)
  • (General) Plan the display of artworks to enhance their meaning for an audience  (ACAVAM116 - Scootle)
  • (Extended) The Earth is part of a system of planets and other space phenomena, including other stars than our sun
  • (Extended) Compare ideas in literary texts conveyed from cultural viewpoints, which lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses
  • (Extended) Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations for chosen audiences and purposes incorporating accurate and sequenced content and multimodal elements, through storytelling (ACELY1700 - Scootle)

 

Elaborations

  • Identifying the planets of the solar system and comparing how long they take to orbit the sun
  • Modelling the relative size of and distance between Earth, other planets in the solar system, the stars seen from our solar system and the sun

 

Critical and Creative Thinking

  • Creative thinking enables the development of ideas that are new to the individual, such as shared stars and this is intrinsic to the development of scientific understanding
  • Scientific inquiry promotes critical and creative thinking by encouraging flexibility and open-mindedness as students speculate about their observations of the world
  • Links are regularly demonstrated between and within subjects and key learning areas such as science and literacy
  • Regular engagement in thinking that requires students to organise, reorganise, apply, analyse, synthesise and evaluate knowledge and information and establish the links between different cultural interpretations of constellations
  • Provocative questioning

 

Strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learning

  • Explore how cultural stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples explain the cyclic phenomena involving the sun, moon and stars and how these explanations differ from contemporary science understanding
  • Research Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s understanding of the night sky and its use for timekeeping, navigation etc
  • Connect school knowledge with real-life contexts, by taking Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mythologies and valuing them as a part of oral traditions. We learn through the stories we share
  • Employ narrative accounts such as the interpretations of the constellations by different cultural groups to enrich student understanding, as children have a strong identification with narrative


Lesson 1

Content: What is a star? What is the life cycle of a star (incorporating the energy changes that occur)?

Process: Define using a dictionary. Provide multi-modal texts for students to discover: What is a star? Describe the life cycle of a star. Is the sun a star? As students read, view and listen, what further questions are engendered?  Discuss. Refer to NASA. Collect a vocabulary list e.g., nuclear, equilibrium, gravity. Start drawing conclusions and providing explanations based on the information gathered.

Introduce ‘star mythology’ in the story of Orihime and Hikiboshi. Show a film on the Tanabata or Star Festival. Alternatively, learn how the Pleiades are represented in so many ways.

Product:

Explanation writing

If learning about Tanabata, develop an art installation through weaving, folding origami, writing on paper strips, and hanging tanzaku wishes for the future.

Differentiation:  Use multi-modal sources to discover i.e., video, text, art, podcasts (variety).

                    Excursion to planetarium or book a mobile planetarium (high mobility)

                     Read folk tales from two different cultural groups.

                           Create a new folk tale from the mixture of both.

                           Present in any form you choose. (Choice and synthesis)

                           Questioning: What are the relationships between the stars?

                                           What stops the stars from crashing into one another?   

                                           What energy does a star produce?

                                           How does the term ‘fusion’ relate to stars?

                                           Create an analogy to explain stars to a friend.

                                           Why does a star twinkle?

                                          What is stardust?


Lesson 2

Content: What is a constellation? What are some of the major constellations? Introduce concept of shared stars, space histories and Aboriginal astronomy.

Process:  Introduce the concept of constellations. What are oral traditions? Who uses them? Why are oral traditions important? Break students into ability constructed literacy groups. Provide each group with a diagram and text (with varying rigour) about a well-known constellation: e.g., Taurus, Canis Major, Southern Cross, Gemini, Orion. Target a specific literacy skill identified through formative assessment. Provide each group with a matching text outlining how Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders interpret each constellation.
Product: Using their bodies, each group shows the placement and name of the stars in their constellation, while summarising the text orally. Students must include how important the constellation is to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and why.

Research mythology from other cultures pertaining to each constellation. Any connections? Students locate ‘star stories’ from their own heritage to share. Use ‘read aloud ‘strategies (pause, pitch, emphasis, attending to punctuation) to engage the audience.

Differentiation:  Use ability grouping to provide more capable readers with challenging texts

                           (structured and unstructured activities enable both intellectual and socio-effective goals).

                      Using the stars in the constellations, join them up to see if the picture of the animal, person etc can be formed.

                             (Complexity)   

                           Excursion or speaker:

                             Dreamtime Astronomy or

                             join the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for an evening of stargazing around a campfire,

                                          listening to dreaming stories about the creation of the stars.

                           Questions: Name some ways that the stars are important to Aboriginals.

                                           How do different aboriginal peoples interpret the Southern Cross?

                                           How do we know how cultures interpret constellations?

                                           What are the connections between the constellations around the world?

                                           Many of the world’s peoples and cultures see the same constellations.

                                                    What are the similarities and differences in their stories?

                                                   Why would this have occurred?

 

Lesson 3

Content: What makes a good storyteller? How can I write and tell a story?

Process: Singly or in pairs, create and name a constellation and name the stars that make up the invented constellation. Invite their classmates’ interpretations. Emphasise the fact that as the students have seen different patterns in their created constellations, so too, have various cultures when looking at stars in the night sky. Where does the student created constellation sit in the night sky? Discuss planning as part of the writing process. Plan a myth for the created constellation. Share plans. Students evaluate how the story connects with the constellation.

Organise and invite a storyteller to visit your school. (There are several storytelling associations around Australia). Students list and discuss characteristics of successful storytelling.

Product:  Students draft their story around their created constellation. The publishing process will be a storyboard, which should form a work of art using colour, texture, collage etc. Supported by the storyboard, practice retelling the story. Learn the story by heart and keep practising using the observed storytelling skills. Set up a storytelling café and students invite chosen guests, including family. Students now become ‘human stars’ and using their storyboards, they retell their narrative. Students can self-assess.

Differentiation:  Students choose personal working arrangements – singles or pairs. Study of People. Open endedness. Gifted students in the social-emotional domain can plan a storytelling festival – Starfest – for gifted storytellers to present to a larger audience, such as a school assembly.

                           Questioning: What would the constellations in the night sky look like from Australia?

                                                    Compare how they might look from Europe.

                                           What is heliacal rising?

                                           How are the sun and moon represented in oral traditions?

                                          How is the Milky Way represented in oral traditions?


Appendix 1: Further enrichment activities

Reach for the Stars


  • Create a Radio Station for the Stars. Transmit through the cosmos (playground) at a chosen break time. Students play original ‘star studded’ singles, music from the ‘stars’, talkback sessions with ‘Dr Cosmos’, interplanetary weather reports, solar system traffic reports, cosmic news etc.
  • Much of cosmology is based on the laws of gravity proposed by Isaac Newton. Conduct an internet search to review these laws.  Appraise these laws and demonstrate how they can be applied to objects in your house or classroom.
  • Research the difference between meteors, meteorites, meteoroids and micrometeorites. Compare the characteristics of each. How are they alike and how do they differ? Present in a visual form, or in an article for a science journal.
  • Computers now play an important part in generating the visual cosmic web that was once only theorised. Explore internet sites that show some of these visualisations. Can you transfer them to a diagrammatic form? Include an explanation of each.
  • Research scientists such as Copernicus, Einstein, Aryabhata, the Mayans, Democritus, Hubble, Galileo, Newton, Kepler and Hawking who have made significant contributions to the understanding of the universe. Form a panel with a group of friends and discuss/debate who might be the greatest contributors.
  • Examine current research that is being conducted in space exploration, particularly by NASA. What types of experiments are being explored onboard the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Create a PowerPoint on this subject.
  • Watch a science fiction movie that portrays outer space such as ‘Star Trek’ or ‘Star Wars’. Look for the portrayal of the vastness of the universe. Was it portrayed accurately? Did you see any contradictions from what you have read about or researched? Create a critical analysis, in a format of your choice, on your observations.
  • A Star Wars exhibition a few years ago was marketed with the slogan – Where Science Meets Imagination. Please explain.
  • What is light pollution and what is its effects on people? Dark Sky organisations are springing up in protection. What do we mean by dark skies? Describe this issue in terms of your neighbourhood. Some say this is – ‘A Global Problem with a Local Solution’. What solutions can you devise?
  • Measure the perimeter of your home or classroom in millimetres. Using millimetres to measure the size of a room is somewhat like using kilometres to measure distances in space.
  • The Galilean Moons: Where are they? What are they? What can you find out about them? Why is it important to know about them?
  • What is a songline in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture? How are the stars and Aboriginal songlines connected? Create your own ‘memory map’ for a journey you take regularly e.g., travelling to school
  • Investigate the contribution that Australia has made to the exploration of space. Gather and analyse your data. Use a computer application to present the results of your research.
  • Design and make an alien that could survive on a chosen planet from our solar system. Research this planet to identify its characteristics and surface conditions. You need to consider: the alien’s energy source, ambulation, breathing, body temperature control and any other special adaptations that the alien needs to survive on this planet. Share with a chosen audience.
  • How could the energy in stars be harnessed to meet our needs on Earth? Create designs and test strategies, which must show deep knowledge of energy conversion processes. Describes how scientific understanding about the sources, transfer and transformation of electricity is related to making decisions about its use.
  • How does light travel though space, how is it measured and what is the impact on current astronomical studies?


Co-designed by Lynda Lovett and Blake Nuto


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Resources

What can teachers do to ensure gifted students are engaged and learning?

By Kylie Bice • January 22, 2025
There is a vast amount of literature related to gifted students and their education. Decades of research has culminated in clear and consistent information about identification, characteristics, underachievement, strategies in the classroom, accelerative options, social/emotional needs, and how to plan appropriately challenging learning programs. Despite this, gifted students remain widely under-served, under-stimulated and demonstrate limited academic growth on school-based, standardised and national testing. Karen Rogers, in her meta-analysis of decades of research in the field of gifted and talented education, identifies five key “lessons” that describe what is consistently known and understood to be key strategies for gifted students. 1. Gifted learners need daily challenge in their specific areas of talent. 2. Opportunities should be provided on a regular basis for gifted learners to be unique and to work independently in their areas of passion and talent. 3. Provide various forms of subject-based & grade-based acceleration to gifted learners as their educational needs require. 4. Provide opportunities for gifted learners to socialise and to learn with like-ability peers (most likely not same-age peers). 5. For specific curriculum areas, instructional delivery must be differentiated in pace, amount of review and practice, and organisation of content presentation. (Rogers, 2007) The “daily challenge” message makes it clear that classroom teachers are the critical ingredient in ensuring gifted students are learning every day, and this message is reiterated within the AITSL Australian Professional Standards for Teachers Standards. Teachers of ability grouped, streamed or mixed-ability classes have strategies available to them as they are planning and implementing differentiated learning for gifted and talented students within their class. Engagement In order to maintain engagement in their education, it is important that gifted students are actually learning when they come to school each day, and see school as a place where their prior learning is recognised and new learning occurs. To ensure this happens on a daily basis, we must: Pre- and formatively assess students to determine prior knowledge and avoid students practicing and repeating skills, knowledge and understandings they have already mastered. Gifted students often experience school as a place where week after week, topic after topic, and year after year, they are asked to unnecessarily practice and repeat skills. It is important to find quick and efficient ways to find out what students know and have mastered, and to plan class and homework that introduces and builds upon new learning. Make sure students are not asked to complete ‘core’ work before they can access the work that is genuinely at their level and will offer challenge. Extension and challenge tasks that are given out after students have finished, fall into this category. A core principle of differentiation is that all students are working at their level from the beginning of a class, rather than having to ‘earn’ the work that they should be able to access from the beginning of a lesson. Gifted students often experience years of being ‘rewarded’ for completing their work by being given more, and over time they become demoralised or learn to avoid the extra work by finding ways to waste time. Avoid asking the strongest students to mentor, coach or teach other students. Teachers often do this with the rationale that this helps both students. In reality, neither the weak nor the strong student benefits from this arrangement. It is important to remember that our brightest students deserve to be learning new material rather than being a substitute teacher, just as other students expect to do every day. Gifted students enjoy and should be able to work with intellectual peers on a daily basis, in order to feel accepted, express their ideas without fear of criticism and to be appropriately challenged. Avoid asking students to catch-up on missed work if they are out of the classroom to access extension work or gifted programming. This is especially true if the missed work includes unnecessary practice and repetition! Whenever students are involved in withdrawal or pull-out programs, it is important to look for ways to assess knowledge and credit learning between the classroom and pull-out program. Gifted students enjoy learning when they can see the big picture and whole-to-part teaching works well to achieve this. Strategies such as introducing an ‘essential question’ or ‘big idea’ at the beginning of a unit of work, can increase student motivation to learn the necessary underlying skills and knowledge, and serve as a reminder to teachers to keep a focus on the high order aspects of the learning. Essential questions or big ideas must be higher order and interest can be increased by making them provocative, ambiguous and/or thought-provoking. Daily challenge There are a number of ways that teachers can offer daily challenge to students as they plan their differentiated success criteria, learning goals, resources, lessons, activities, assessments and programs. Level of abstractness – consider extending the thinking that students do, by increasing the level of abstractness. This can be done through questioning and task design, and can be a simple way to ensure students are thinking about and engaging with learning at a higher level without necessarily changing the activity or resource. Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) is a good resource to assist with this planning, and research done by Davis and Rimm (2004) found that it is important for gifted and talented students to be working in the top three high order areas (Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation) the majority of the time. Pace – differentiating the pace at which gifted and talented students are able to access and move through new material is vital to ensuring students are engaged and experiencing daily challenge. In order for teachers to differentiate pace, they need to be pre and formatively assessing to determine what students already know and how quickly they are grasping new knowledge, skills and conceptual understanding, with an aim to reduce the amount of unnecessary repetition and practice. Degree of complexity – making a task more interconnected with other ideas can increase the rigour of the thinking required from students. We extend students when we ask them to think about multiple ideas and the connections between these ideas, rather than asking them to engage with one idea at a time. The SOLO Taxonomy (1982) is a good resource to assist with planning this type of learning, questioning and assessment, and teachers should aim for gifted and talented students to be consistently working in the top two areas (“Relational” and “Extended Abstract”). Accelerative options – Extension, enrichment and the strategies listed above are important ways to plan appropriately challenging learning experiences for gifted and talented students, however accelerative options are equally important, if not more so. Accelerative options are any learning material that offers above-grade material or access to this material. For many gifted and talented students, there is only so much differentiation, extension and enrichment that is possible before they genuinely need to explore and learn above-level material. VanTassel-Baska and Stambaugh (2006) argue that accelerating content must be considered as a priority by teachers when planning learning experiences for gifted and talented students. Learning gain As teachers we need to ask if we have the information we need to measure the learning gain of our gifted students. If we can’t measure learning gain, it is unlikely we are offering them daily challenge and may mean they are not learning at all, even if they seem to be achieving. To ensure we can measure learning gain, we need to design our pre assessments so that we can find out the point at which students do not know material. If a preassessment is too easy and students get every aspect correct, then we have not discovered a baseline from which to plan our teaching and we will not be able to measure learning gain if it occurs. We also need to ensure our summative assessments offer enough difficulty to assess the advanced learning that students have been accessing. Implementing these strategies in no way implies that gifted students deserve more than any other student. Rather, we are endeavouring to level the playing field for these students, to provide the same degree of challenge as other students experience each day at school, to foster the same ability to persevere with tasks that are difficult, to see themselves as learners, and to experience school as a place where learning occurs on a daily basis. References Biggs, J., and Collis, K. (1982). The SOLO Taxonomy. New York: Academic Press. Bloom, B.S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: Longmans, Green. Davis, G.A., and Rimm, S,B. (2004). Education of the gifted and talented. University of Michigan: Pearson. Rogers, K.B. (Fall, 2007). Lessons Learned About Educating the Gifted and Talented: A Synthesis of the Research on Educational Practice. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51(4), 382-396. VanTassel-Baska, J., and Stambaugh, T. (2006) Comprehensive Curriculum for Gifted and Talented Learners, 3rd Edition. College of William and Mary: Pearson.

Engaging gifted students in the early years

January 17, 2025
You will have students in your group or class who upon entry, will already know how to read, or have an inherent knowledge of numbers and their patterns. It is vital for you, as a teacher, to understand student mastery of concepts, which is best done through pre-assessment and talking to the student’s parents. This will guide you to plan appropriate adjustments to meet each child’s learning needs. Every student has the right to learn something new every day. A question, that you, as a teacher, can ask yourself is: Am I meeting the needs of ALL my students, or just some of them? While it is vital that teachers know their students and how they learn, this response focuses on the overall classroom learning environment. The learning environment must meet the needs of all students in an inclusive, safe, and accepting way. All student contributions should be valued and respected equally by both teachers and classmates. Play based structures are one way of meeting these needs. Activities, tasks, lessons and enrichment, for this age group, are best done incorporating play, discovery and inquiry. Consider the unit you are currently teaching. Consider the main concept and translate that to ‘big picture’ ideas. Gifted students love ‘big ideas.’ Some examples (F-2) using the Australian Curriculum HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) units include: My personal world: Key concept Identity How my world is different from the past and can change in the future: Key concept Change Our past and present connections to people and places: Key concept Connections Science-based tasks and activities where creativity abounds, lend themselves beautifully to this ‘key concept’ scenario. This way all students can access the activity, but the gifted students will take it to a deeper level. Observe these students and create annotations, which can be used as just one identification tool. This will provide data for recommending further identification measures. You could have several activities grouped under one theme e.g., Change . Provide the activities as part of play-based choices but extend student thinking by providing provocative questions. These could be written on large cards. This provides the students with choices, which is a strategy to meet the needs of gifted students. Some examples: 1. How can we change plastic bottles so they can grow plants? (Adult supervision will be needed for cutting) Provide : plastic bottles, pictures, plants and other relevant materials. Design: Arrange plants and rocks in a way that people will be able to see them all clearly. Provocative questions: You are making a terrarium. In a terrarium you do not need to water your plants. Where will the plants get their water from? How has changing the bottle to a terrarium helping the environment? What other objects could we make out of plastic bottles? Adjustment to the core curriculum : Complexity 2. How can we change a torch into a communication device? Provide: torches, a dark space and a Morse code chart Design: Choose a word to send to a friend in Morse code Provocative questions : Invent a new method of communication. How will your new method of communication change people’s lives? Adjustment to the core curriculum: Choice 3. How can we change a paper glider to turn left or right or loop the loop? Provide: templates to make paper gliders, cardboard, plasticine, paperclips, sticky tape, scissors Design: Add weight and/or folds to change flight trajectory. Test and modify. Provocative questions: How is the way my glider flies, similar to that of birds? What makes you say that? (Provide a way to observe bird flight e.g., near a window, you tube clip) What other changes could be made to an airplane and why? Adjustment to the core curriculum: Abstraction 4. How have push/pull toys changed over the years? Provide : old and modern push/pull toys, pictures of old push/pull toys and modern push/pull toys, websites that demonstrate the push/pull action, materials to build a toy that moves Design : Invent a toy that moves. Provocative questions: How can your toy be changed to move uphill? How can your toy be changed to carry a load? Adjustment to the core curriculum: Critical and creative thinking These differentiated adjustments to the core curriculum will give you an idea of the strategies that can be employed for young, gifted children. They may be inspired by the provocative questions, or they may come up with their own. Providing open-ended activities will allow each student to shine, swap ideas respectfully and discuss collaboratively. Allow students to share their thinking and encourage their classmates to actively listen. Promote respect and awe by praising and encouraging innovation and invention in student-constructed products. These strategies will create whole class cohesion and a safe space for ALL students to thrive.

Giftedness testing and levels of giftedness

January 16, 2025
Identification of giftedness can help schools and parents determine their child’s academic and social emotional needs. Educators in the field of gifted education recommend multiple assessment strategies be used in the classroom to determine giftedness. However formal identification showing levels of giftedness, can only be administered by a registered professional. These can include school psychologists and private educational and clinical psychologists. Commonly used assessments in Australia include: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children WISC-V (Age 6 -16) Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence WPPSI-IV (Age 2 -7.7) Stanford-Binet V (Age 2 - 85+). Educational psychologists consider a gifted IQ to be 130 or higher (98th percentile) on any of these three tests. The IQ scores and levels of giftedness however, have different meanings when comparing the WISC or WPPSI with the Stanford-Binet. If you need to compare two different tests, you can look at the percentile score, rather than the IQ number. For example, a profoundly gifted student whose IQ is at the 99.9 percentile will score a full-scale IQ of 145+ on the WISC-V and WPPSI-IV. However, they will score 180+ if administered the Stanford-Binet V. Levels of giftedness on the WISC-V and WPPSI-IV are as follows: Level 1 (terms superior to moderately gifted on IQ tests) have IQ scores of around 117 to 129 Level 2 (terms moderately to highly gifted on IQ tests) have IQ scores of around 125-135 Level 3 (terms highly to exceptionally gifted on IQ tests) have IQ scores of around 130 to 140 Level 4 (terms exceptionally to profoundly gifted on IQ tests) have IQ scores of around 135-141+ (or 145+ on either a verbal or nonverbal domain of the test) Level 5 (term profoundly gifted on IQ tests and generally score at the 99.9th percentile), have IQ scores of around 145+. IQ and levels of giftedness on the Stanford-Binet V are as follows: Mildly gifted, IQ range 115-129 (prevalence > 1:4) Moderately gifted, IQ range 130-144 (prevalence 1:40 - 1:100) Highly gifted, IQ range 145-159 (prevalence 1:1000 - 1:10 00) Exceptionally gifted, IQ range 160-179 (prevalence 1:10 000 - 1:1 million) Profoundly gifted, IQ 180+ (prevalence < 1:1 million). The challenges in administering these tests vary. They take several hours to administer and score, which makes them expensive. The verbal component scores may be impacted by culturally or linguistically diverse student groups and so they can be less effective in these individuals. They also do not measure other forms of giftedness, such as creative giftedness The strengths of these tests are that they are written for targeted age groups. They also have rigor in standardisation, rigor in the medium of measurement and consistency in administration requirements. These tests, therefore, are reliable, valid, and objective. The assessments have a long history based on large normative samples and validity has been established in multiple countries.  These instruments measure both verbal and non-verbal reasoning. They are administered individually, and the reports not only give a test score but also observations about behaviours during the testing process such as levels of attention and emotional dependence. This individual administration may also reduce anxiety levels for the student.

School Staff & Parent Views on School Attendance Survey

August 7, 2024
Researchers at Deakin University are interested to hear your views and experiences of school attendance and school attendance challenges. Are you a school staff member in an Australian school program? OR Are you: The parent of a school-aged child? Living in Australia? Fluent in English? Follow this link to complete the survey. Upon completion of the survey you may enter a draw to win a retail gift voucher. Contact glenn.melvin@deakin.edu.au for further information. This study has received Deakin University ethics approval (reference number: HEAG H 94_2023) Deakin University CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B

Two Ways of Seeing Maths

By Michaela Epstein, Founder & Director, Maths Teacher Circles • July 21, 2024
Maths has an identity problem.

Unlocking potential

By Eddie • July 18, 2024
We only attend the campus two or three days a week and also work from home. School has been a wonderful process over the past few years I’ve been doing it. The teachers have been very nice over the whole period. A normal school wouldn’t have worked for me as I’m a very gifted child in some areas but in others areas I’m very low at as I have dyslexia. Let’s start with reading. Dyslexia makes reading very hard for me and I find it very hard to read big words. The teachers help because they let us use talk to text and iPads rather than handwriting. Now let’s go to science. Science I’m very gifted and I often work at year 7 science level. But that’s not the most gifted subject at all. There’s one more that stands out the most and that is maths. I’m doing year 10 maths at the age of 8. The other subjects I am at normal level although I have a deep understanding. I use assistive technology to write this (called my Mum) and she also helped me to aurally learn a script of 69 pages. 

Gifted & Talented Action Research

By Brenda McCullagh • July 16, 2024
"It gave me the enthusiasm to bring these ideas back to my school and advocate and cater appropriately for our gifted and talented students"

Kids Teaching Teachers

By Kids Conference • July 15, 2024
Kids Conference 2024

The Two Faces of Being Gifted

By By anonymous 10 year old. • April 18, 2023
Artwork Title: Flirting, flying, bursting, burning, yet hugely and hatefully heavy.

The Challenges of Giftedness

By ChatGPT • March 20, 2023
We asked the AI bot ChatGPT about the challenges of giftedness
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