Every year, on the first day of G/T classes, I showed Powers of Ten to my 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade students. By the time my students reached fifth grade, many had seen this nine-minute video three times. They never complained; in fact, they loved telling new students, “Oh, wait ’til you see this; it’s so … Read more
This is the first in a series of posts related to the study of CRYPTOLOGY for advanced students in grades 3-5. See also Part Two: Crack the Code! ~ FIND A VIRTUAL SLIDE SHOW READY-TO-SHARE WITH STUDENTS HERE! Here’s a unit of study that incorporates math, science, history, engineering and also involves solving puzzles! No … Read more
The kid-friendly puzzles described below were originally offered by THE PUZZLE SOCIETY, but appear to be unavailable right now. These particular brands were suitable for advanced elementary-aged students, and I’m sorry to see them go! I will keep this post alive in case they are reinstated at some point in the future. Here are a … Read more
Is there a YEAR ZERO? What does CIRCA mean? If a man was born in 17 B.C. and died in 27 A.D., about what age did he die? Why do the 1800s make up the 19th century? These are the kind of questions that I want my students to be able to answer, and they … Read more
It’s been around for decades and is still used frequently in business and education, but many people can’t really articulate the meaning of the phrase “thinking outside the box,” and some wonder if it should be reframed. In GT classes, lateral thinking is often a key curricular component introduced in early grades (see Six-Hat Thinking), … Read more
If your students are fans of the 24 Game, they might enjoy “Triple-A” Analogies. While looking for some challenging math problems and puzzles, I ran across a type of analogy I had not seen, and even though the YouTube video was not narrated in English, I was intrigued by the math enough to try it … Read more
Many teachers who work with gifted students incorporate Socratic Dialogue, Socratic Seminar, Shared Inquiry, Philosophical Chairs, or other methods of facilitating scholarly discourse and discussion. The methods and goals vary depending on the objectives. Some begin with reading a specific text or quote (see Philosophy for Kids), and some lean more towards debate, but all … Read more
If you’re looking for ways to incorporate advanced vocabulary while having fun with words, here are a few activities to add to those presented in previous posts (see Pun and Games… and Kid-Created Word Puzzles). INFLATIONARY LANGUAGE Many of you reading this are too young to remember the Danish musician, conductor, and comedian Victor Borge. … Read more
In a previous post, I shared instructions, tutorials, and links for introducing two types of Japanese number logic puzzles to your students: Kakuro and Futoshiki. Here are two additional types that are also less well known, along with tutorials and free resources you can use in your classroom. Hashiwokakero or Hashi o kakero means “building … Read more
Scavenger hunts have come a long way since the days of hiding items and clues around the school! Today’s virtual challenges can really shake up a class routine and get students moving, thinking, and creating! Here are some ready-made resources created specifically for homebound scholars, as well as instructions for creating your own in a … Read more
