Supporting Gifted Learners with Bibliotherapy

Table of Contents

The Survival Guide for Gifted Kids

Pg. 3

Identity Development

101 Secrets for Gifted Kids

Pg. 4

Friendship/Bullying/Perfectionism

The Most Magnificent Thing

Pg. 5

Perfectionism

Beautiful Oops!

Pg. 6

Perfectionism

Save Me A Seat

Pg. 7

Bullying/Friendship

Counting by 7s

Pg. 8

Identity Development/Friendship

Out of My Mind

Pg. 9

Identity Development

Jack and the Geniuses:
At the Bottom of the World

Pg. 10

Identity Development

The Survival Guide for Gifted Kids is a resource for teachers, parents, and students. This book includes topics ranging from advice on friendships to facts about the gifted learner’s brain and how it works. Over 1,000 gifted learners were surveyed for this book about what it is like to be gifted and how they embrace their giftedness. Gifted learners will be able to relate to the situations in this book because it was written with them in mind. Teachers could use resources from this book for morning meetings, identity development, interest surveys for gifted learners, etc. The Survival Guide for Gifted Kids is the essential guide to growing up gifted. For ages 10 & under.

Classroom Activity

Why am I gifted?

Fact or Myth
There are many different ways of being gifted.

Morning Meeting
Teacher picks a statement from the book associated with gifted learners. Students will have to either prove or debunk the statement by collaborating with their classmates and researching the topic. Students are able to collaborate with their classmates while learning more about gifted learners.

Question of the Week
Display a question for students to answer. Students use a sticky note to display their answers. Teacher can facilitate a class discussion based on the responses or students can work with a partner or in a small group. Students will be able to collaborate and engage with their classmates while getting different perspectives on the topic.

Classroom Activity

Friendship/Bullying/Perfectionism

101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids is a handbook that provides resources that could be used by teachers, parents, and students in support of their gifted learners. Teachers could use resources from this book for morning meetings, identity development, interest surveys for gifted learners, etc. The topics covered in this handbook include a range of issues faced by gifted learners from learning to build friendships to how to deal with perfectionism at home and school. The 101 success secrets within the handbook details common issues faced by gifted learners and the tips and proven strategies they could use to deal with those issues. This book is recommended as a tool for gifted learners that want to achieve success in school and life as well as the teachers and educators that support them. For ages 8-12.

True or False

Classroom Activity

Gifted learners take a pretest to show what they already know about friendships. They then take a post test after they receive a lesson on friendships to see if their feelings have changed and what they have learned.

Giftedness and Friends Pretest
1. It’s okay if I insist on playing the games I like to play. My friends really don’t mind.
2. My friends like it when I tell the truth, even when it hurts.
3. There is nothing I can do about my crazy emotions or those of my friends.
4. To fit in, I have to hide my giftedness.
5. Being smart and emotional the way I am isn’t really normal.

Perfectionism

The Most Magnificent Thing is a children’s literature picture book that can be used to support gifted learners in Kindergarten through 3rd grade having issues with perfectionism. Gifted learners facing this issue want everything to be perfect and usually set unrealistic expectations for themselves. If not addressed, it could cause some gifted learners to have feelings of worthlessness or become depressed. The Most Magnificent Thing details a young girls attempt to make the most magnificent thing. She gets frustrated as her attempts do not meet the vision in her head. This book will help gifted learners learn strategies to use when they are faced with feelings of failure due to perfectionism. Lexile level: AD380L.

Classroom Activity

Strategies to cope with Perfectionism
Teacher will read aloud or watch the YouTube reading of The Most Magnificent Thing. After reading the story or watching the video, ask the gifted learners what did the main character do when she became upset that her creation was not magnificent. Ask the students why do they think she took a walk. The main goal of the activity is for the gifted learners to realize that the main character took a walk to calm down because she was frustrated. Discuss other strategies that they could also use when they are in a similar situation.

Perfectionism

Beautiful Oops! is an interactive children’s literature book that can be used to support gifted learners in Pre-K through 2nd grade having issues with perfectionism. Gifted learners facing this issue want everything to be perfect and usually set unrealistic expectations for themselves. If not addressed, it could cause some gifted learners to have feelings of worthlessness or become depressed. Beautiful Oops! details, through drawings and pop-ups, how mistakes can be turned into beautiful opportunities. This book will help gifted learners become comfortable with making mistakes and encourage them to see their mistakes as an opportunity for growth instead of an oops. Lexile level: AD320L.

Classroom Activity

"It's perfectly okay to be imperfect!" (Gailbraith, 2014, p. 63)

Create A Masterpiece
Inform your gifted learners that you have been saving all of their art-work, writing, and classwork that they have thrown in the trash because they felt they made a mistake. Their assignment will be to make a masterpiece out of the items that you have been saving. They can use whatever materials they would like to turn someone’s mistake into a beautiful opportunity. Supply them with crayons, paint, glue, etc.

Bullying/Friendship

In Save Me a Seat, the main character Ravi is a new student that has moved to America from India. He was the smartest student in his class in India, but is finding it hard to fit in and make friends at his new school. While trying to fit in, Ravi catches the eye of the class bully Dillon and becomes his target. Ravi becomes friends with the person he felt he had nothing in common with, Joe. Together they find a way to speak up for themselves to stop the bullying. This book could be used by teachers as a novel study for whole group instruction or during small group literature circles to combat bullying and show how friendships are formed. Lexile level: 780L.

Classroom Activity

Can you relate to a situation that Ravi or Joe experienced in the novel?, If so, what situation?

Literature Circle or Novel Study
Gifted learners will read the novel Save Me a Seat and participate in a class novel study or group literature circle. Literature circles and novel studies benefit gifted learners as they promote critical thinking, collaboration, and engagement with others and the text. Gifted learners will answer questions about the text, analyze the characters, determine the theme, etc. Gifted learners are better able to connect with a text when they see themselves represented in the characters that they are reading about.

How did Ravi and Joe resolve their problem of being bullied by Dillon?

Identity Development/Friendship

Counting by 7s is a heart-warming novel that can be used as resource for teachers to discuss identity development, friendship and the perseverance of gifted learners. The main character, Willow Chance is a genius who has recently lost both her foster parents in a car accident. Throughout the novel, Willow learns to embrace her giftedness, build friendships, and persevere through the tragic events that she has faced. This book could be used by teachers as a novel study for whole group instruction or during small group literature circles to help gifted learners become comfortable with who they are, show how friendships are formed, and how to persevere when faced with challenges. Lexile level: 770L.

Classroom Activity

Literature Circle or Novel Study
Gifted learners will read the novel Counting by 7s and participate in a class novel study, group literature circle, or author study. Literature circles and novel studies benefit gifted learners as they promote critical thinking, collaboration, and engagement with others and the text. Gifted learners will answer questions about the text, analyze the characters, determine the theme, etc. Gifted learners are better able to connect with a text when they see themselves represented in the characters that they are reading about. The author of the novel, Holly Goldberg Sloan has two sons that are gifted which were her inspiration for writing the novel.

What characters in the novel were you able to make a connection with and why?