The following article has been excerpted from Teaching Strategies in Gifted Education, one of six exciting books in the Gifted Child Today Reader Series. This series brings together the best articles published in Gifted Child Today, the nation's most popular gifted education journal. Each book in the series is filled with exciting and practical classroom ideas, useful summaries of research findings, and discussions of identification and classroom management, and informed opionion about educating gifted children.

Imagine three types of students in your classroom. One student is a traditional “schoolhouse” gifted student who tests well, picks up new concepts quickly, and displays an overall interest and aptitude for established academics. Another student is a nontraditional gifted student who has an extremely high intellect, but does not perform well on traditional tasks, and who reasons better when allowed to study and perform in a way that fosters a nontraditional style. A third student is one who has particular strengths or interests within an array of personal abilities, but may not be viewed as gifted on recognized measures.

How can a literature unit be designed to provide for the special needs of these three kinds of students? Renzulli’s (1998) schoolwide enrichment and Tomlinson’s (1995, 1999) differentiated instruction models, combined with research in problem solving (Bereiter, Burtis, & Scardamalia, 1988; McCutchen, 1986; Smith, 1995; Wineburg, 1991), inspired the fifth-grade teachers at Sunset Ridge School in Northfield, IL, to design a unit on fantasy literature that did just that. The unit had two overlapping segments. First, students worked in small groups exploring a novel to learn the germane content and genre characteristics. Then, students regrouped to refine and apply what they had learned to a variety of open-ended problems—in the process, creating a representation of their knowledge to share with other students. In all parts of the unit, instruction was differentiated to foster individual strengths, creativity, and interests.

In the problem-solving literature, many researchers distinguish between problems where there is one correct answer (e.g., multiplication equations) and those where the solver finds aspects of quality, open-ended solutions (e.g., choreographing a dance). The best solution path to the former, though possibly complex, is evident to experts, whereas there are multiple quality solutions in the latter situation, all of which are laden with options. Many studies indicate that beginners deal with the multifaceted nature of such open-ended problems by ignoring structural (or genre) information and limiting the amount of content that they bring to bear on the solutions (e.g., Chi, Hutchinson, & Robin, 1989; McCutchen, 1986; Smith, 1995.) The unit projects presented in this article are designed to guide all students in the class to integrate more content and genre information into their solutions of open-ended problems in ways that match their learning styles and intellectual levels.

Initially, all of the students in the grade were given a list of books selected by the teaching team for their genre (fantasy) characteristics, literary quality, gender representation, and range of reading levels. The books were listed from easiest to most challenging, and the descriptions not so subtly reflected this gradation (see Appendix A for a list of books used in the unit). Students were asked to rank order their choice of books and eliminate any that they had already read. All of the books were displayed for review, and students were discouraged from making this a strictly “social” decision. Most students seemed to make selections that were appropriate for their reading ability; however, a few chose books that were probably pushing their instructional level. Whether a social decision or a reflection on how interested they were in a particular novel, students were supported in their decisions.

Once in their book groups, students participated in literature circles. These circles were complemented by activities representative of the kinds of problems faced in the second part of the unit. The literature circles were student-led discussions based on the roles and responsibilities as detailed in Harvey Daniels’ Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom (1994).

These circles allowed students to master content and genre aspects of the novels through a formalized discussion process. Each student was assigned a role connected to a different strength or focus: Artful Artist draws the passage at hand; Discussion Director ensures that all members participate and develop questions for the group; Word Finder identifies and defines important words in the passages; and Passage Picker, within a given range of pages, selects the passages for their imagery, relevance, or interest. Roles rotate at each session. If groups are large, more students can share a role, or the group can be divided into smaller groups that compare their results at the end of the session (see Appendix B for a set of sample questions). The literature circle proved especially successful in encouraging all students to ask questions and respond to each other’s comments. The variety of roles allowed students with particular strengths to employ them to analyze literature, while providing other students opportunities to explore different styles in a small-group setting. One student, for example, who has a strong artistic strength, but a reading weakness, gained confidence in her interpretations and understandings of the novel through this literature experience.

Throughout this section of the unit, students supplemented these discussions with a variety of knowledge application activities designed to help review the information gleaned during the literature circles. These activities were based on Tomlinson’s (1995) student-centered model of differentiation requiring varying approaches to content, process, and product. These activities were structured so that students could sample the kinds of strengths and interests that would be the focus of the second part of the unit. Some of these activities were assigned to all members of a group, and some were left for students to select and pursue independently as they progressed through their novels. These activities included developing “treasure” maps of characters’ journeys, creating characters’ rèsumès for the major tasks in the books, making shopping lists and budgets for characters, creating characters’ postcards home from various key points in the novels, and matching events in the novel to the tracks on the Fantasia CD.

The group that read Lloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron had to deal with the interactions of more than a dozen characters. Activities included creating Web pages for each main character, reenacting and expanding upon the opening council meeting, and delivering eulogies for a fallen hero. Each of these activities was done in first person with all students assuming the role of one of the main characters. These activities paralleled a larger open-ended problem that would become the central focus of one of the groups in the second part of the unit.

During this section of the unit, groups met 3 times a week for 5 weeks to read and discuss their books. During these first 5 weeks, all students read another fantasy book for their choice reading. Many of the students elected to read other books from the original list, which encouraged dialogue about these texts with their peers in that fantasy book group. Each student also created a computer-generated “Fantasy Newspaper” based on the events in the novels. These included a news article, advertisement, and an illustration, and other components, such as editorials, features, or second news articles, were decided upon in individualized conferences between teachers and students.

After completing their novels, students regrouped for culminating projects based on their preferred learning styles and interests. Each project was presented as an open-ended problem that students would solve by using their new insight into the content and genre (see Appendix C for a list of projects). Students rank ordered their project preferences. In assigning groups, classroom teachers considered these rankings along with input from the group leader from the first part of the unit and their own assessment of the students. All students received one of their top three choices. Once students received their groupings, they “threw themselves into” an intense hour-and-a-half session of work. Students worked cooperatively and devoted about 3 hours a week to this project over a 3-week period.

A culminating “Fantasy Finale” took place in the learning center, which was intended to allow students to showcase their projects and reinforce their collective understanding of all the different factors that comprise the fantasy genre. It was an unbelievable experience to observe how students applied the same concepts in very different ways.

The music group chose to explore the genre of fantasy through a combination of writing and listening activities. Initially, the teacher leading the group played a variety of musical selections (without words) ranging from classical, to country, to recognizable radio hits. This activity encouraged the group to talk about the mood and atmosphere generated by music. All students were encouraged to select a piece of music that appealed to them from a library of CDs. Students generated fantasy ideas that matched their music selections and began to think about possible settings, plots, and characters. They then wrote a fantasy story to accompany their musical selection. The students who displayed a talent for music were inspired and able to transfer their musical strengths into writing. For some, different instruments represented different characters, more subtle shifts in key or notes represented an escalation in events, and connections appeared throughout their writing.

A technology group created an interactive Web site, which included “home pages” for several teams of fantasy characters, each of which had strengths and concomitant weaknesses. Another page showed maps of four regions of a fantastic realm. Visitors to the site selected a team that would have to rescue three princesses. Success and direction of the quest depended on the paths chosen through the lands and the talents of the chosen teams. This group moved at an accelerated rate and met more frequently.

The biggest surprises in terms of quality of outcomes came from the “Fantasy Habitat,” “Fantasy in Action,” and “Fantasy Board Games” groups. Students in the games group focused on their mathematical talents as they connected to literature. One pair of students chose to focus on the otherworldly characters found in fantasy books. Each character selected had particular attributes that enabled them to move in very specific ways around a game board. For example, some characters “flew” ahead in sets of five, some went alternately forward then backward, and some were methodical and direct in their progression. There were alternate and overlapping paths through the game board for air-, land-, or water-based creatures. The partnership then had to design a game board that allowed for each character to have a reasonably fair chance of winning the game, requiring use of percentages, probability, and statistics. Several original characters had to be discarded after tests of the game showed them to have an unfair advantage or disadvantage; specific directions on game squares also had to be developed and edited.

Two goals are central to units of this nature. The first is to help all students set high-level academic challenges, and the second is to provide a learning environment that supports their meeting these challenges according to their particular creative and academic strengths. To accomplish these goals, we turned to the literature in problem solving and gifted education.

According to the problem-solving literature, across academic fields (Wineburg, 1991; Zeitz, 1994), mastering content is only part of the requisite for solving complex problems; students also need to know the structures (or schemas) pertinent to organizing the content into novel solutions. Expert problem solvers build solutions over time by making connections between content and structure (Bereiter et al., 1988; McCutchen, 1986; Smith, 1995). Thus, we first decided what content students would need to know (e.g., the conflict in each book, ways in which specific character traits affect the plots) and then what characteristics are particular to the genre (e.g., the kinds of characters found in the fantasy, enchanted settings). The first part of the unit focused on learning these two aspects of knowledge. The second part stressed integrating these aspects to solve open-ended problems.

The unit was also based on a broadened conception of giftedness (Renzulli, 1998; Renzulli & Reis, 2002) that focuses on many kinds of aptitudes, talents, and potentials for learning that exists in school populations. The gifted literature provided guidelines for offering students a variety of opportunities to work together according to commonality in ability, interests, learning style, and preference for various modes of expression.

In short, in the first part of the unit, teachers provided opportunities that helped all the students in the grade master the content according to their own abilities and interests while introducing them to various modes of expression. Once students were familiar with content and structures, the second part of the unit asked them to apply this knowledge to solve problems (e.g., present a fantasy story through movement to music). Problems were structured so that students could work in a mode of expression and at a level of abstraction with which they felt the most comfortable. Graphic, dramatic, artistic, technological, spatial, and dance were considered in addition to traditional written and spoken expression styles. In each case, students applied their knowledge of fantasy according to their individual strengths and interests.

All students are capable of manifesting higher levels of performance if they can learn and apply content in a way that matches their strengths. This holds true whether the students exhibit their gifts in typical “schoolhouse” settings, need special support to exhibit their superior potential, or simply have a particular strength within their unique profile of talents and interests. Therefore, our goal was to develop a unit that increased challenges for all students and promoted an atmosphere of excellence and creativity. We encouraged all students to learn and apply information and structures according to their individual strengths and interests.

Bereiter, C., Burtis, P. J., & Scardamalia, M. (1988). Cognitive operations in constructing main points in written composition. Journal of Memory and Language, 27, 261–278.

Chi, M. T. H., Hutchinson, J. E., & Robin, A. F. (1989). How influences about novel domain-related concepts can be constrained by structured knowledge. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 35(1), 27–62.

Daniels, H. (1994). Literature circles: Voice and choice in the student-centered classroom. New York: Stenhouse.

McCutchen, D. (1986). Domain knowledge and linguistic knowledge in the development of writing ability. Journal of Memory and Language, 24, 431–444.

Renzulli, J. S. (1998). The three-ring concept of giftedness. In S. M. Baum, S. M. Reis, & L. R. Maxfield (Eds.), Nurturing the gifts and talents of primary grade students [Electronic version]. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press. Retrieved November 12, 2002, from http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~nrcgt/ sem/semart13.html

Renzulli, J. S., & Reis, S. M. (2002). What is schoolwide enrichment? And how do gifted programs relate to total school improvement? Retrieved February 9, 2002, from http://www. sp.uconn.edu/~nrcgt/sem/whatisem.html

Smith, K. J. (1995). The developmental influences of content knowledge and linguistic knowledge on experts’ and novices’ construction of expository text. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, New York.

Tomlinson, C. (1995). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Tomlinson, C. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Wineburg, S. S. (1991). Historical problem solving: A study of cognitive processes used in the evaluation of documentary and pictorial evidence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 73–87.

Zeitz, C. (1994). Expert-novice differences in memory, abstraction, and reasoning in the domain of literature. Cognition and Instruction, 12, 277–312.

Please order these books in choice of preference from 1 to 6, with 1 being your first choice and 6 being your last choice. If you’ve already read one of the books, please cross it out (on the line). Please realize that, based on interest and availability, you may not get your first choice.

_____ Seven Day Magic
Five students find magic when they check out an old, shabby book.

_____ The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles
With Professor Savant as their guide, three children travel on an odyssey to the Whangdoodles

_____ The Folk Keeper
A young girl, in charge of guarding the “Folk,” discovers who she really is.

_____ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
An exciting journey into another world.

_____ Ella Enchanted
Ella is under a spell that makes her have to obey commands. Will she ever break free?

_____ The Black Cauldron
A King Arthur-like quest story filled with danger and adventure.

1. How is Corin’s reaction to the Folk unusual?
2. What do you think is happening with Corin’s power?
3. Why does the author choose to focus on Corin’s physical appearance?
4. Which character do you identify with in the story, and what qualities do they have that are realistic? What qualities are fantastic?
5. Where do you think the Folk go during the day?

Join with other students who share your interests and talents! Please rank your choices in order from 1 to 7, with 1 being your first choice and 7 being your last choice.

_____ Write Your Own Fantasy Story
Create a story using the elements of fantasy.

_____ Fantasy in Action
Present a fantasy story through movement to music.

_____ Fantasy Music
Select and arrange songs to accompany a fantasy story.

_____ Create a Fantasy Habitat
Where might a fantasy creature live?

_____ Design a Fantasy Board Game
From start to finish, take your players on an amazing journey.

_____ Scenes from a Fantasy
Readers’ theater comes to life!

_____ Technology
Explore the world of fantasy by creating a PowerPoint™ presentation, HyperStudio project, or Web site.