Igniting Creativity in Gifted Learners, K-6 : Strategies for Every Teacher

"Contains priceless examples of teachers sharing their particular expertise on how to bring creativity and excitement back to our classrooms. Best of all, the strategies are integrated with required standards."
―Susan Winebrenner, Author and Staff Development Specialist
Education Consulting Service, Inc.

"There are many books that establish the importance of providing creative, stimulating learning experiences, but here is a book that provides strategies for exactly how that can be done."
―Barbara Clark, Professor Emeritus
California State University, Los Angeles

Provide exciting, enriching learning experiences for gifted students through proven strategies from master teachers!

How can I motivate my gifted students using the resources I already have? How can I stimulate their imaginations to further their learning? This book is packed with practical activities that allow students to bring their insights, observations, imaginations, and experiences to the classroom.

Igniting Creativity in Gifted Learners, K–6 helps elementary school teachers use creative methods to enhance gifted students′ learning and stimulate higher-level thinking, discovery, and invention. Linked to curriculum standards, these ready-to-use strategies, activities, and examples help teachers:

• Inspire students in reading, writing, social studies, mathematics, science, and the arts
• Tie creative processes to learning outcomes
• Incorporate technology into instruction where appropriate
• Encourage students to explore new avenues for thinking and learning

Use these contributions from experienced educators to make creativity a vital ingredient in classroom instruction and the learning process!

Joan Franklin Smutny is founder and director of the Center for Gifted, a Northern Illinois University Partner. She directs programs for thousands of bright, talented, and gifted children in the Chicago area annually. She also teaches creative writing in many of these programs as well as courses on gifted education for graduate students at the university level. She is editor of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children Journal, contributing editor of Understanding Our Gifted, and a regular contributor to the Gifted Education Communicator, Parenting for High Potential, and the Gifted Education Press Quarterly. Smutny has authored, co-authored, and edited many articles and books on gifted education for teachers, parents, and administrators, including Challenging High Potential Spanish Speaking Students (2012), Teaching Advanced Learners in the General Education Classroom (2011), Manifesto of the Gifted Girl (2010), Differentiating for the Young Child, Second Edition (2010), Igniting Creativity in Gifted Learners, K–6 (2009), Acceleration for Gifted Learners, K–5 (2007), Reclaiming the Lives of Gifted Girls and Women (2007), Designing and Developing Programs for Gifted Students (2003), Underserved Gifted Populations (2003), Gifted Education: Promising Practices (2003), Stand Up for Your Gifted Child (2001), The Young Gifted Child: Potential and Promise, an Anthology (1998), and Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom (1997). In 1996, she won the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to the field of gifted education.

S.E. von Fremd is an independent scholar, writer, and editor with a background in education, cultural studies, and dance. She performed with the Never Stop Moving Dance Company in Chicago under the direction of Reynaldo Martinez and taught creative dance and theater to children in the city and surrounding areas. Her interest in creativity and culture eventually led her to do a doctorate in performance studies at Northwestern University. This included a year’s research in Uganda, where she focused on the role of popular theater and dance in reviving cultural identity and educating children and young people throughout the country. She has written several book reviews on African musical traditions, a monograph on the cultural legacy of Kenyan novelist Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka, another monograph on refugees in Africa, and an article on the performing arts as a popular forum for education in Uganda. She has also given presentations on Uganda’s creative artists under the reign of Idi Amin and on dance movements throughout the continent of Africa.