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Each student will create an original form of biography—the student will tell about the person in a genre that is appropriate for that person (e.g., a student who studied an artist may create a piece of art that reflects the artist’s life). Have the student explain why he/she chose the form of biography and why it is appropriate for the person.
A completed project includes:

1.   Description of reasons student chose the form of biography and why it is appropriate for the person

2.   Research log, note cards, and/or research process sheets

3.   Biography, including references or works cited

4.   Timeline of person's life

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The product

Each student will create an original form of biography—the student will tell about the person in a genre that is appropriate for that person (e.g., a student who studied an artist may create a piece of art that reflects the artist’s life). Have the student explain why he/she chose the form of biography and why it is appropriate for the person.

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1.   Summarizing. Each student should create a timeline of key events in the person’s life.

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Choose one person to study
Asking guiding questions. Once students have selected a topic, each student should think of three to five guiding questions, such as:

1.     When did this person live?

2.     How did the person reflect the time period in which he/she lived?

3.     What are the person’s attributes?

4.     What are the person’s gifts and/or talents?

5.     What challenges did the person face?

6.     How did the person use his gifts and/or talents to overcome those challenges?

7.     What did the person contribute to others?

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Choose one person from each category:
Gather biographical information about one person from each of the categories. For each person, talk about these questions:

1.     What were the person’s attributes and areas of strength?

2.     What challenges did the person overcome?

3.     How did he/she use strengths to overcome those challenges?

4.     What were the person’s gifts and talents? How did he/she use them?

5.     What episode or story from the person’s life best characterizes him or her?

6.     What did the person contribute to others?

Then compare and contrast the people chosen.

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Discuss definitions of giftedness and how people have different talents

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Discuss attributes of the famous people from activity #1 by category. What attributes do they have in common? How are they different?

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Brainstorm famous people from different areas, such as entertainment, sports, or literature. You can use examples from Attachment #1, Famous People. Students may continue to add to the list throughout this unit.

Take it a step further and categorize the famous people from the brainstorming session. Use categories such as athlete, artist, musician, politician, inventor, or entertainer.

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Phase 2 Biographical Information Questions

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Phase 2 Biographical Information Questions

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How can parents determine if their child is gifted? Assessing a child for giftedness can be a complicated process, given the conflicting views that surround the topic. Some educators argue that every child is gifted, which can also be taken to mean that no one is gifted.

While parents may wonder what a gifted child looks like to see if their child looks similar, categorizing a child as gifted is difficult because not everyone defines "gifted" the same way. Yet, psychologists and educators have researched gifted children enough to provide a profile of the traits these children tend to have. The more one learns about gifted children, the easier it becomes to identify them.

IQ tests can be used to determine giftedness in some children. Depending on which test is used, mildly gifted children score from 115 to 129, moderately gifted from 130 to 144, highly gifted from 145 to 159, exceptionally gifted from 160 to 179, and profoundly gifted -- 180.

These ranges are based on a standard bell curve. Most people fall in the range between 85 and 115, with 100 the absolute norm. This range is considered normal. The farther away from the absolute norm of 100 a child is, the greater the need for special educational accommodations, regardless of whether the distance is on the left or right of 100.

Exceptional talent is the ability to perform a skill at a level usually not reached until later years, sometimes as late as adulthood. A 3-year-old may be reading like a third grader or a 9-year-old may be playing piano like an 18-year-old who has studied for years. If the exceptional talent is in a non-academic area such as music or art, the children may not be identified as gifted by the school because most testing for gifted programs is based on academic ability or achievement.

Gifted children are usually, but not always, high achievers. Even when they don't achieve good grades, they tend to score high on achievement tests, most often in the 95-99 percentile range. They love to learn and their love of learning, good memories, and ability to learn quickly and easily enable them to succeed. However, if a gifted child has lost the motivation to learn, he or she may not do well in school, although achievement test scores will usually remain high.

Whether or not a gifted child excels in school, she has the potential to do so. Many gifted children are intrinsically motivated, which means the motivation comes from within. They become motivated by interest and challenge. When these children are interested and appropriately challenged, they can and will achieve. Even though a gifted child may not be achieving in school, she may still be learning and achieving on her own at home.

Although heightened sensitivity is rarely, if ever, used to identify gifted children in school, it is so common among gifted children that it is one of the characteristics that set them apart from other children. They may be emotionally sensitive, crying over what others considered trivial. They may be physically sensitive, bothered by tags on shirts or seams on socks. Psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski called these "over-excitabilities."

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How can parents determine if their child is gifted? Assessing a child for giftedness can be a complicated process, given the conflicting views that surround the topic. Some educators argue that every child is gifted, which can also be taken to mean that no one is gifted.

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ERIC Identifier: Publication Date: Author:
Source:

Defining Giftedness. 1985 Digest.

Historically, giftedness has been closely linked with the concept of genius. This association began around the turn of the century when psychologists developed tests that were designed to measure intelligence (Termam 1925); people who scored on the low end of the scale were labeled retarded, and those who scored on the high end were considered geniuses.

The use of intelligence tests as the single measure of giftedness has been greatly criticized in recent years, primarily because the tests are often biased in favor of the white middle class and because they penalize children with differing linguistic styles.

Also, many researchers and educators have come to believe that giftedness is more than high intellectual ability; it also includes creativity, memory, motivation, physical dexterity, social adeptness, and aesthetic sensitivity.

Dissatisfaction with a limited perspective has led researchers and educators to develop "broadened" definitions. One of the first educators to write about such an expansion was Hollingsworth. Although her research focused on children with IQ's above 170, Hollingsworth believed that children can have other types of gifts, such as mechanical aptitude or artistic ability (Pritchard 1951).

During the 1840s, the conception of giftedness was expanded further when the federal government began to take an interest in the education of gifted and talented children. This federal interest was sparked during and after World War II when policy makers perceived a need for technological advancement in order to maintain the nation's military and political superiority.

By 1950, Congress had passed the National Science Foundation Act which marked the first time the federal government provided funds specifically for the gifted and talented (Zettel 1982). By providing funds for encouraging students to develop their abilities in mathematics and the physical sciences, the Act led, in essence, to the designation of specific academic aptitude as a type of giftedness.

Another significant development in defining giftedness was the publication of Guilford's (1959) studies of the structure of the intellect. As early as 1950, Guilford had urged psychologists to explore the area of creativity, or divergent thinking, but it was his structural model of the 120 theoretical components of intelligence that led to the development of tests to measure intellectual abilties other than those measured by conventional IQ tests.

The development of creativity tests and the results of many studies of the relationship between intelligence and creativity (Getzels and Jackson 1962) have led many educators to include creativity in their definitions. Renzulli (1976), for example, considers giftedness to be a combination of above average ability, creativity, and task commitment.

In 1969, Congress mandated a study by the U.S. Commissioner of Education to determine the extent to which the needs of gifted and talented children were being met (Sisk 1980). The ensuing document, known as the Marland Report (1972), contains a definition of giftedness that has been and continues to be the one most widely adopted or adapted by state and local education agencies. The Report states:

Gifted and talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons who, by virtue of outstanding abilities, are capable of high performance. These are children who require differential educational programs and/or services beyond those provided by the regular school program in order to realize their contribution to self and the society.

Children capable of high performance include those with demonstrated achievement and/or potential ability in any of the following areas, singly or in combination:

--General intellectual ability

--Specific academic aptitude

--Creative or productive thinking

--Leadership ability

--Visual and performing arts

--Psychomotor ability

Although the definition has been criticized as being limiting (Reis and Renzulli 1982) and of promoting elitism (Feldman 1979), more than 80% of the 204 experts polled for their reactions to the Marland definition agreed with the selection of the categories of high intellectual ability, creative or productive thinking, specific academic aptitude, and ability in visual or performing arts. Approximately half of the experts agreed that social adeptness and psychomotor ability should be included (Martinson 1975).

The federal government has included five broad areas in the definition found in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981. In this act, block grants for education have been provided to the states; some of these funds may be used for:

special programs to identify, encourage, and meet the special educational needs of children who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership capacity, or specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities.

More recently, the Regulations for the Educational Security Act of 1984, which provides grants for strengthening the skills of teachers and instruction in mathematics, science, foreign languages, and computer learning have defined the term "gifted student" as a "student, identified by various measures, who demonstrates actual or potential high performance capability in the fields of mathematics, science, foreign languages, or computer learning." Gifted students may come from "historically underrepresented and underserved groups, including females, minorities, handicapped persons, persons of limited English-speaking proficiency, and migrants.

By placing an emphasis on math, science, foreign languages, and computer learning, this latest federal definition highlights the fact that the ways in which schools operationally define giftedness are often based on the needs of society. Definitions are also influenced by cultural and socioeconomic factors.

As Bernal points out, "what is clever and creative for a child in the barrio or on the reservation, where different value systems are in operation, will not be the same as for the child who grows up in the suburbs" (1974). For economically disadvantaged populations that place a heavy emphasis on preparing students for employment rather than college, a definition might recognize that students can be gifted in areas that are generally nonacademic in nature, such as carpentry or mechanics (McClellan 1984).

WHY DO WE NEED TO DEFINE GIFTEDNESS?

A definition of giftedness is the foundation upon which an educational program for gifted children is built. The specific abilities included in a definition determine the kinds of identification criteria that are used to select children for a program and the kinds of educational services that are provided to those children. The selection of abilities to be included in a definition is, therefore, very important to educators who must determine which children are designated as gifted and what kinds of educational services are provided to them.

For example, a definition that incorporates creativity as a category suggests that schools provide experiences aimed at developing the potential of children who have been identified as being creative; a definition that includes leadership ability suggests other types of identification criteria and educational experiences.

Educators who are charged with the reponsibility of creating or maintaining programs for gifted children and youth face a different task when they must decide what giftedness is, how gifted children can be identified, and what services schools should provide. The following points are a guide for helping them make those decisions:

--The concept of giftedness is not limited to high intellectual ability. It also comprises creativity, ability in specific academic areas, ability in visual or performing arts, social adeptness, and physical dexterity.

--A program for gifted children should be based on the way in which the school system operationally defines giftedness. A definition should be the basis of decision regarding the selection of identification procedures as well as the provision of educational services for gifted children.

--Definitions of giftedness are influenced by social, political, economic, and cultural factors.

--Giftedness is found among all groups, including females, minorities, handicapped persons, persons with limited English-speaking proficiency, and migrants.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Bernal, E. M. "Gifted Mexican American Children: An Ethnoscientific Perspective." CALIFORNIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 25 (1974):261-273.

Feldman, D. "Toward a Nonelitist Conception of Giftedness." PHI DELTA KAPPAN (1979):660-663.

Getzels, J. W. and P. W. Jackson. CREATIVITY AND INTELLIGENCE. London: John Wiley and Sons, 1962.

Guilford. J. P. "Three Faces of Intellect." AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST 14 (1959):469-479.

Marland, S. P. EDUCATION OF THE GIFTED AND TALENTED. Report to the Congress of the United States by the U.S. Commissioner of Education. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972.

Martinson, R. A. THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE GIFTED AND TALENTED. Reston, VA: The Council for Exceptional Children, 1975.

McClellan, E. DEFINING GIFTEDNESS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACH. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 1974.

OMNIBUS BUDGET RECONCILIATION ACT OF 1981, Section 582, 42 USC 3842.

Pritchard, M. C. "The Contribution of Leta Hollingsworth to the Study of Gifted Children." In THE GIFTED CHILD, edited by P. Witty. New York: D.C. Heath, 1951.

REGULATIONS FOR THE EDUCATION FOR ECONOMIC SECURITY ACT OF 1984. Part 208, Section 208.3

Reis, S. M. J. S. Renzulli. "A Case for a Broadened Conception of Giftedness." PHI DELTA KAPPAN 63 (1982):619-620.

Renzulli, J. "What Makes Giftedness?" PHI DELTA KAPPAN 60 (1978):180-184.

Terman, L. GENETIC STUDIES OF GENIUS: VOLUME 1, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL TRAITS OF A THOUSAND GIFTED CHILDREN. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1925.

Zettal, J. J. "The Education of Gifted and Talented Children from a Federal Perspective." In SPECIAL EDUCATION IN AMERICA: ITS LEGAL AND GOVERNMENTAL FOUNDATIONS, edited by J. Ballard, and others. Reston, VA: The Council for Exceptional Children, 1982.

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ERIC Identifier: Publication Date: Author: Source: Historically, giftedness has been closely linked with the concept of genius. This association began around the turn of the century when psychologists developed tests that were designed to measure intelligence (Termam 1925); people who scored on the low end of the scale were labeled retarded, and those who scored on the high end were considered geniuses.