Free Gifted Education Resources
Please enjoy a selection of the FREE RESOURCES and CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS I have created to assist educators on their journey to differentiate for gifted students BELOW!
1.) The General Pre-Assessment of Students (GPS) :
Description: No need to create a new pre-assessment for every unit! You can use this tool all year long regardless of the topic or domain. The GPS works best with 3rd-12th grade students.
2.) Depth and Complexity Model Icons Video:
Description: Sandra Kaplan's Depth and Complexity Model uses eleven icons to help students think like an expert in a given field of study. I have created a YouTube video for students, which explains each icon and how to use them to think more deeply.
3.) Depth and Complexity Mobile App:
Description: Click the link below to go to an application I created to help students and teachers better understand the Depth and Complexity Model icons and always have them readily available to refer to.
4.) SCAMPER Mobile App:
Description: Click the link below to go to an application I created to help students and teachers learn the elements of SCAMPER in order to encourage creative thinking. SCAMPER stands for substitute, combine, adapt, modify/magnify/minify, put to other uses, eliminate, rearrange.
5.) Habits of a Scholar Video Introduction for Kids
Description: Sandra Kaplan outlined the 12 habits scholars adopt in order to become an expert learner. This video introduces the Habits of a Scholar to students.
6.) Fat Dogs and Coughing Horses Curriculum Unit for 9th grade:
Ruhl, J., Veatch, J., & McIntosh, J. (2013). Animal contributions to human health: Fat dogs and coughing horses high school curriculum, grade 9. Purdue University and National Institutes of Health.
7.) Fat Dogs and Coughing Horses Curriculum Unit for Grades 1-3:
Menonno, A., Wackerly, A., & McIntosh, J. (2013). Vets, pets, and me! Fat dogs and coughing horses elementary curriculum grades 1-3. Purdue University and National Institutes of Health.
8.) Individual Excellence Goals Form:
Description: Classroom teachers can use this form to help students identify an area of interest, develop an independent study plan, and create a year long goal. Students work on their projects when they "buy back" some of their time if they compact out of a subject or finish early.
9.) Why Differentiation for Students is Important Video:
Description: Differentiation for students in today's classrooms is critical. Watch the video below to find out why!
10.) "Viewing Creativity as the Map and Not Just the Destination: A Framework for Using Wallace's Four Stages of Creativity to Develop Curriculum":
Description: In 1926, Wallace identified the four stages of creativity: 1) Preparation, 2) Incubation, 3) Illumination, and 4) Verification. This session will demonstrate how Wallace's ideas can be used as a framework to develop curriculum for gifted students that embodies creativity at its core instead of simply being an afterthought. A sample unit will be described and materials provided so that participants will have the tools necessary to infuse creative thinking into standards-based lessons designed with the Common Core in mind. The process begins with the teacher selecting the standards to address and pre-assessing the students for prior knowledge. Next, the teacher facilitates the grounding of students in the content and presents a messy problem that needs to be solved creatively. The students then PREPARE for the development of a creative solution by practicing several creative thinking techniques the teacher introduces. INCUBATION occurs by providing students with time to brainstorm ideas and conduct research. ILLUMINATION inevitably takes place as students sketch out tentative plans and settle on a final solution. VERIFICATION through self-reflection and peer feedback solidifies the process and provides additional opportunities for research and field testing.
11.) Printable Poster for Classroom Wall:
Description: I created this poster and referred to it often in my classroom in order to establish the fact that differentiation would be the norm in my classroom. The poster reads, "Fair is not everyone getting the same thing...Fair is everyone getting what they need to be successful!"
12.) Emergency Survival Kit / Dystopian Literature Graphic Organizer:
Description: As a huge fan of dystopian literature, I designed a graphic organizer teachers can use to help students compare the world we live in today with whatever dystopian world the students are reading about. The idea is to help students think through the causes leading to the dystopian world's situation and determine how we might keep our society from making the same mistakes.
13.) Principles of Differentiation Video:
Description: Watch this video to learn the recipe for differentiated instruction: 2 C's, 2 F's, & 2 P's!
14.) "My Thought Experiment" Graphic Organizer:
Description: How to guide your students in conducting a Da Vinci like thought experiment.
15) NAGC 2019- Six Classic Differentiation Strategies Reconceived PPT
Description: Moving from differentiation to ADVANCED differentiation. A fresh take on classic strategies.
16) NEW- Integrated Curriculum Model Planning Template
Description: The 4 page document you can download below is a tool I created to help train teachers to use Joyce VanTassel-Baska's Integrated Curriculum Model framework to write curriculum.
17) A Proven Recipe for Designing Powerful Curriculum for Gifted Students
Description: Presentation given at TAGT on 11/30/2022
18) The S.C.R.U.B. Reasoning Model - Presentation
19) Using Conscious Discipline in the Gifted Classroom - Presentation
Description: Presentation given at AAGT 2026
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