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Planning a lesson
The most effective lessons for gifted and talented learners are those that are planned. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority offers useful guidance for lesson content:
- breadth – going beyond the prescribed curriculum
- depth – within the curriculum and increasing the level of challenge
- acceleration – covering work quicker than others
- independence – link to personalised learning agenda
- reflection – making understanding explicit
The lesson structure should display key teaching skills:
- differentiating work
- setting effective classroom tasks
- questioning effectively
- defining learning objectives
- explaining effectively
Relevant documents and links
- Thinking skills - adding challenge to the curriculum – Overview of thinking skills and how to promote and encourage thinking in the classroom.
- KS3 module: Questioning – Training module from Key Stage 3 on improving questioning techniques in school.
- Accrediting prior learning – What are the best strategies to use to find out what students already know about a topic and how do you respond to this? This document includes some information on mind mapping.
- Aide memoires – A document to aid task design and help your students to benefit even more from the lesson.
- Complexity – Find out how you can effectively introduce complexity into students" thinking and learning.
- Diagramming – Diagramming involves representing a written text in diagrammatic form. Some examples are shown here.
- Strategy: most difficult first – An initial step towards more formal compacting, this is most effective with skill-based assignments. This is an overview of the strategy.
- Planning checklist – Map of the issues to consider when planning lessons for gifted and talented students.
- Review of provision strategies – Review of the different strategies teachers may need to employ to teach gifted and talented children in different contexts.
- Bloom"s Taxonomy - The Three Little Pigs – Using The Three Little Pigs with Bloom"s Taxonomy activity.
- Bloom"s Taxonomy & Holes – Using "Holes" by Louis Sachar with Bloom"s Taxonomy activity.
- Bloom"s taxonomy & Holes – One set of suggestions for classifying questions in the Bloom"s taxonomy and Holes task.
- Lesson observation schedule – Template form for observations about the effectiveness of the provision for gifted and talented pupils.
- Ofsted advice - providing for gifted and talented children – An evaluation of Excellence in Cities and other grant-funded programmes.
- Oxford Brookes - gifted and talented professional development – Professional development materials on gifted and talented provision.
- KS3 guidance - The Standards site, DfES – KS3 National Strategy.
- KS3 English Guidance - The Standards site, DfES – KS3 Strategy for English.
- KS3 Maths Guidance - Standards site, DfES – KS3 Strategy for maths.
- KS3 Science Guidance - Standards site, DfES – KS3 Strategy for science.
- Foundation subjects - Standards site, DfES – KS3 Strategy for foundation subjects e.g. art.
- QCA site – National Curriculum tasks and tests.
- BBC Schools homepage – Learning resources for home and school.
- Count on – KS2 Maths.
- Making the Modern World – Stories about science and invention from the 18th century to now.
- The Royal National Theatre – The Royal National Theatre.
- G&TWISE - Support for Gifted and Talented Education – Reviews and recommendations of good resources for gifted and talented.
- Primary lessons for challenge - Oxford Brookes – Lesson activities from Oxford Brookes teacher training.
- Excellence and Enjoyment: Learning and teaching in the primary years – The Primary Strategy.
- Teachernet – Information for teachers and schools on education.
Continue with Step 5: Overview of provision